"Jim Dolan = Disaster"So says a sprawling Sports Illustrated story about MSG's chairman, who has painted the Garden into the corner we find it in today. Dikembe Mutombo is one of the few who will talk the chairman up, but his words don't come cheap:
Mutombo says he's "shocked" by Dolan's continuing support of his $29 million hospital project in Kinshasa, capital of his native Democratic Republic of Congo.Well, OK, good on Dolan: Kinshasans needs hospital care a hell of a lot more than the Knicks need a playoff run. But it doesn't say much for the chairman that a reporter has to go fishing in such waters for a friendly quote.
The only other people in this article who saying nice things about Dolan are:
1) Reported alcohol abuser Vin Baker, who Dolan confided in while Baker was playing at MSG. (Again, good on Dolan.)
2) Mark Messier and Wayne Gretsky: Demi-gods who don't rock the boat just for the hell of it. If these guys ever have a complaint, their assistants' assistants can inform the offender through a back channel. And Mutombo's bigger than either of them. His "F#@& Isiah" statement notwithstanding, Mutombo is not going to go jeopardize funding for his institution for some SI story.
If these are the only glimpses of goodwill a billionaire can find in a story this exhaustive, then it's not just the NYC papers and the NYC fans that have your number. It's every analyst to date with a pair of good eyes.
(Headline changed, image added retroactive-like)
