More On: charles oakley
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Spike Lee and Charles Oakley starred in full-page newspaper ads Friday as heroes of the downtrodden. But where would racial hustlers be if not for selectively sighted, pandering, frightened media? Since the Lee-Jimmy Dolan hassle — an epic struggle between the excessively self-entitled — Oakley, who had his own war with Dolan, has repeated his …
Spike Lee and Charles Oakley starred in full-page newspaper ads Friday as heroes of the downtrodden. But where would racial hustlers be if not for selectively sighted, pandering, frightened media?
Since the Lee-Jimmy Dolan hassle — an epic struggle between the excessively self-entitled — Oakley, who had his own war with Dolan, has repeated his nauseating, historically cheap assertion that, “It’s a plantation over there.”
As a plantation slave under Dolan, Oakley not only was paid many millions of dollars for seasonal work, but also had what no slave ever had: the right to quit.
And, as objectionable as Dolan has been as the Garden’s owner since 1996, renewing the claim that Dolan’s a slavemaster doesn’t absolve Oakley of his own sins, including his arrest two years ago in a Las Vegas casino for reportedly pulling back a $100 chip after knowing he had lost a bet.
The case, the latest and least ugly of three casino hassles that involved Oakley, was resolved when he agreed to pay a $1,000 fine.
As for attention-starved Lee, if Dolan were eager to mistreat him, why, for 25 years, has Lee been allowed to jump on MSG’s court to accost players, intrude on games and excessively demonstrate his self-entitled presence, the kind that would have earned others ejections?
Many Lee hustles are given look-away passes. In 2005, weeks after Hurricane Katrina wrecked New Orleans, always at risk of massive flooding, Lee appeared on Bill Maher’s HBO show.
From there he seconded crackpot Louis Farrakhan’s reckless claim that levees were purposefully allowed to be destroyed as per a plan of President George W. Bush and the U.S. Corps of Engineers to rid the city of black neighborhoods. There was no mention that the entire city’s population had been strongly urged to evacuate.
Another guest, Tucker Carlson, then with MSNBC, challenged Lee’s claim as irresponsible, incendiary and preposterous, saying, “You’re saying it’s entirely possible when you know perfectly well it’s not possible.”
Lee’s response was, “How is it not possible?” And that’s all the proof he needed that it was true.
Also discounted or dismissed is Lee’s dangerous behavior. In the wake of the racially enflamed acquittal of George Zimmerman, accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Lee decided to tweet to his 250,000 followers the home address of Zimmerman, thus issuing a wanted-dead-or-alive dictum.
According to several news sources, Lee, before he removed the tweet, sent, “I don’t give a f–k what you think kill that Bitch. HERE GO HIS ADDRESS, LET THE HUNGER GAMES BEGIN.”
Lee, however, had the wrong address. The one he tweeted was the home of an elderly couple who, terrorized, were forced to flee.
Lee’s punishment? He made an out-of-court settlement with the couple, believed to be for $10,000.
That episode, which would reasonably lead to the arrest and incarceration of most anyone else, was quickly forgotten, making less news than his row with Dolan.
Still, Lee lectures about racial injustice when he’s a steady beneficiary of it.
Don’t expect refunds for sports channels that don’t have sports
This coronavirus scourge will blow over and out. I guarantee it. And if it doesn’t? Well, no one will be around to tell me I was wrong.
But when this thing ends, there will there be lots of sorting out to do — TV deals, scheduling, player salaries, advertising contracts, vendors of all sorts.
And scores of other sports-money matters — with TV money, as always, at the head of the line.
There’s tons of compromise to negotiate. But how much of it on behalf of you?
Hope for a tad, but expect none. The fans — the devoted customers, the lifeblood — are always the last served, if they’re even allowed in the line. It’ll be bad business as usual, the con after the storm.
Consider that cable and satellite systems carry four MSG Network channels, two of which remain mostly empty during healthy times. Now, all four are empty. Think you’ll be provided some financial relief for that? Neither do I.
My cable system carries five ESPN networks. Now they’ll all be free of live sports. But that’s our problem. No one will go to bat for subscribers.
Ticket refunds, credits or discounts will be slower than Robinson Cano — if they ever arrive.
And if networks such as YES, SNY, ESPN, MSG, BTN, NBCSN, CBSSN, NBA TV, NHL Network, FS1, Golf Channel provide relief to the systems that carry them will we see one penny of that? Not likely.
Who is going to go to bat for you? The Governor? The FCC? The sports commissioners? That has never happened and never will. An unforeseen deadly virus for which you’ll be billed.
Not one commissioner has ever decried price-gouging for tickets, parking or eats and drink. Judging by his silence, Rob Manfred is good with 3½-hour rain delays, no refunds.
Thus not even a colossal calamity such as this one will be enough to cut the suckered masses — the bread and butter — even half a break.
Since the 1980s, cable multiple system operators (MSOs) that drop sports programming with unsubstantiated claims that their rights are too expensive have not passed savings back to subscribers. The MSOs and satellite systems pocket the savings while pretending to be on “your side.”
Time-Warner cable refused to clear the NFL Network, claiming that no one wanted it. But when the two parties reached a financial accord, T-W pitched the addition of NFLN as a hooray! The long wait is over! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Sign up now!
When the Dolan family’s Cablevision monopoly — built on the hideously conflicted interests of owning both systems and programming, and with the silence of friendly, grateful relations with New York politicians — in 1989 lost Yankees rights to MSG Network, it simply removed Yankees telecasts from its systems.
That lasted for more than a year despite Mike Francesa’s all-knowing, ironclad, inside-info promise that such would never happen for even one game.
In 2006, Cablevision went to the wire, threatening not to clear the Mets on SNY because it was too expensive (read: Cablevision’s competitors owned much of SNY.)
There’s much to be resolved when the air clears and the virus bans are lifted. But the financial fights and negotiations and compromises will be over you, not for you — specifically, who can best pull from your sorry carcasses. Everyone else will be treated fairly.
Gronk finds a perfect ring
Finally, the kind of TV gig that makes sense! Rob Gronkowski has signed to join Vince McMahon’s WWE.
Gronkowski (below) first needs some inside mentoring. His childish, vulgar, asinine public behavior is just a good start. Much worse will be expected of him.
