Meet Jason Silverstein. He's a 23 year old from New Jersey who now lives in Manhattan. And with a Sharpie and food tray, got himself on the back page of Newsday.
Silverstein emailed me this morning to let me know he was the guy in the picture. Gave me his number and then proceeded to tell me his story.
He came to the game with the intention to hold up a "Fire Isiah!" sign. He has a friend who has season tickets right there behind the Knicks bench, right next to the tunnel that leads to the locker room. Prime real estate at the Garden. Coincidentally, Silverstein is into real estate.
He brought a blank sheet of oak tag to the game and kept the Sharpie in his pocket. He knew if he wrote "Fire Isiah" on it before he entered the building, they'd never let him in. So he kept it blank and kept it by his seat. But by halftime, Garden security, who had taken notice, decided to confiscate the blank sheet.
But Silverstein had his white, styrofoam tray that came with his food. You see, lower bowl people get waiter service.
Late in the game, as the Knicks crumbled to dust in yet another embarrassing loss, Silverstein scribbled the collective refrain that echoed throughout the Garden:
Fire Isiah.
He added an arrow and held it strategically, so it pointed in the direction of the subject.
Within seconds, Garden security removed the sign and escorted Silverstein out of the building. But not before photographers from the local papers caught his act.
During our conversation, Silverstein also made it a point to back Mara Altschuler, the fan from that same area who last week said Isiah chastized fans behind the Knicks bench when the Knicks played the Mavericks on Dec. 10. "Everything she said was true," said Silverstein, who says he attended that game as well.
A little background on Silverstein: He graduated last year from Thomas' alma mater, Indiana University. He runs a team in the EBC at Rucker Park called "Team Certified" and, in those circles, he's known as "the Mark Cuban of Rucker."
Once Garden officials moved him out of his section, Silverstein said he went peacefully because he had made his point (and hoping James Dolan, seated adjacent to him, saw the sign). He wouldn't give the Garden officials his name because he was afraid it might lead to being banned.
"If I can't go to Knick games, my life is over," he said. "As bad as it is, I'm still going to go to the games."
* *
I believe it was posted in the comments section, but I'll give it some pub here. There is a growing campaign for a fan protest rally to take place Dec. 30 at the Garden before the Knicks-Bulls game. If you're mad as hell and don't want to take it anymore, click on www.knicksprotest.wordpress.com and get your angry on.
Comments (36)
The Knicks were ti2e at 64. Did they quit? Is it Isiah's fault? Do they have no heart? Or are they just trying to get rid of Isiah?
Tod
It's a myspace account for the fans!!
Just started it, but I will update
To echo Alah Hahn & Jason Silverstein......
The next blow-out loss by the fearless Knicks at home could be very ugly especially for the "profit" Isiah.
Massive protest inside the Garden are being planned & organized by fed-up NYK fans. There will be "Fire Isiah" posters that fans will be flashing throughout the Garden IF the game becomes a blow-out along with the chorus of my favorite mantra: "Fire Isiah."
A civil war is brewing inside MSG, nothing that we've seen in our collective lifetime as sports fans. Seriously, if everything goes according to plan, this could be a life-changing event in the professional sports platform.
Also, protest and petitions will be organized outside the Garden at the next home game.
Makes you wonder how Team Isiah and Jimmy Dolan will deal with this. Will they ban the FIRE ISIAH posters? Will they confiscate them? Will they hire extra security? Will they have TSA and Homeland Security officials screen fans & their bags?
From a very concerned die-hard Isiah fan = MAKUNAT
Also:
From Charles OAKLEY''s School of Safe Driving
Do not drink & drive.
On second thought......
* Firing Isiah will be rewarding him $ 24.0 mil.
* I don't have the answer but how can we as fans make him walk on his own accord?
* He has already been quoted as saying: "You can take away my dignity but you cannot take away my money."
Wishful thinking but Lord Weasel will not quit on his own.
Dec. 30 = this could be an epic day in the history of professional sports.
I'll bring a Fire Isiah sign to the Jets game that day in support of you guys!
AWESOME spearheading ALAN,you are clearly an activist from the old school, and i appreciate it. journalism is more than just reporting, it also has a role as the voice of social consciousness, and i am very happy to see you, isola and vescey taking up the reins and leading the charge. i will be at the garden this morning at 11am, protesting this reign of ineptitude, and signing the 8' long pink slip for isiah.
i want to repost some thoughts i added to late to last nights blog, because i think they are relevent to today's dialogue:
......which makes me think, wouldn't it be an awesome promotion for some company to hand out fire isiah tee-shirts outside of knick games? the shirts would be a huge hit in the garden and around town. instant collectables, to remind us later of the nightmare we are living through now. some radio station or liquor company ought to jump on this.
i watched isiah's post game conference. he's got a lot of nerve blaming the players for playing with no heart. he picked every one of them, he is their coach, their leader, and the decider of who plays and who sits. it was nauseating listening to the softball questions from the press, like "how do you feel eddy played tonight?" or "what do you think happened in the 3rd quarter when the game was 64 all?". YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!! what about the most obvious and fair question, "isiah, given that you chose these players, and given the results in the four years since you have been here, and given the abysmal quality of play this year, at what point do you stand up and take responsibility for this mess?"
WHERE IS THE FREE AND INTELLIGENT PRESS?!!
alan, i really repect what you have done with this blog, the tenor you set, your up to date insider reporting, the quality of the bloggers you attract. PLEASE, please explain how it is that i never hear isIah really put on the hot seat by the press. i understand that press access in limited, but when the opportunity presents itself..... this man deserves to be BOMBARDED with tough questions! instead he is allowed to get away with obfuscation and transference of blame. his reign with the knicks ranks as one of the great failures in ny sports history, alongside RICH KOTITE and RAY HANDLEY, yet this inept liar is not HOUNDED AND CRUCIFIED by the press on a regular basis? i mean c'mon, this is fair game here, this is red meat to dogs, HE DESERVES to be eaten alive by you guys CONSTANTLY!
POWER TO THE FOURTH ESTATE!
POWER TO THE FANS!
You're all mistaken on the culprit. Isiah sucks as a coach, no question. However, so long as Jim Dolan is running the team, the Knicks will be a joke. They were a joke with Lenny Wilkens. A joke with Don Chaney. They'll be a joke with a new coach. You all are thinking way too simplistically.
The goal should be to have the NBA be so embarrassed about the state of the franchise that David Stern feels compelled to "nudge" the Dolans out of their controlling stake in the Knicks. Or, at a bare minimum, have the Dolan family, who, from all other endeavors, seems relatively bright and successful, remove Jim from his position and replace him with a more upstanding and decent human being from within the family.
Firing Isiah seems like the right idea, but it is not the reason for why the Knicks are a miserable franchise. The coach isn't always the answer. Plus, its not like the players will suddenly vanish. The ownership must be affected, not the coach.
Man this is funny. I never remember this type of backlash with any coach or GM in the history of NY sports. Its starting to seem a little Racist to me. I've been through the Jets sucking for 9 years the Nets for 10 and I never witnessed people protesting a firing outside of a game. You guys really need to look yourself in the mirror before doing this. Your hatred for Isiah is purely founded on race.
MAK wrote "Firing Isiah will be rewarding him $ 24.0 mil." This is important to remember, unless the Weasel, in his efforts to continue to deflect any and all blame, continues to violate the media policy and he can be canned at a discount like Brown. There is no chance he will walk away, no matter how hot things get for him, and that's not only because he is a weasel. Although you can never say never in the NBA (how many long time fans saw their franchise turning into this), the Knicks are almost certainly the Weasel's last NBA job, so if he leaves, there is no high profile, big salary basketball position waiting for him anywhere.
BklynMike: agree that Dolan is the main problem. He doesn't coach the team or assemble the players though, so replacing the Weasel with someone competent should bring some improvement. It would also be nice to not have to hear the coach refuse to take any responsibility after each blowout loss for the team of no heart creampuffs that he assembled and coaches. All his main trade acquisitions - Eddy, Marbury, Zach, were available for lesser "talent" because their former teams had problems with their attitudes or perceived them not to be winners. Most recently Portland took Frye (no all-star) and the ghost of Steve Francis (who cost them millions to buy out) just to get Zach and his contract off their team. Now, having built a team out of guys who were all jettisoned by their old teams for being selfish, soft, lazy, cancers or generally losers, Isiah is surprised that they don't play winning basketball? Shocking!
A GM is supposed to have more insight into a player than his scoring average. Trading away picks and contracts for high priced losers has filled the roster with guys who can't be traded for anything of value, but who you can't win with. One reason I want him out is because I don't want to see anymore lottery picks, or young players like Trevor Ariza shipped out for junk that other GMs can't wait to get rid of.
"Where is the free and intelligent press?!!" Good question. The fourth estate is dead. Power to the people. Think for yourselves. Stop being sheeple. Baaaaaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
jersey j I don't think this is racially moviated, I was on that same path with Willie last summer, you want to see minorities make it, but when the results are 4 years of going backwards the GM/ coach has to take the blame. Being a person of color my 1st reaction is typically is it racial? Turn that record around 17-7 and the fans would be loving Zeke, its all about results plain and simple.
Jersey, Youre a bum
Yea race has to do with sexual harrasment, bad coaching, bad trading, undheard of contracts, yelling at fans and more. It's because he's black, right?
Oh and, it's worse when a white male calls a black female a "bitch" then if a black person does?
Isiah is a bum, lying motherfucker. I'm a white boy that raps, grew up around black people, smoke blunts with black people, sold drugs to all people...(and no im not happy about that)
But race has nothing to do with it on my behalf.
So dont post anymore
I also have been a fan for ... awhile. Holzman had Frazier and Barnett. Riley and Van Gundy had multiple PG's including Starks at times but had Patrick and a team that was always on the same page as far as playing defense first. Brown had Sparrow at PG who understood that it was B. King's team.
Thomas recognized the importance when he traded for Marbury. He just made the wrong choice. The PG sets the tone. and the Tone Starbury set was one of starting and getting personal stats is more important than winning.
In the last few weeks Magic said that Marbury needs to lead more and Garnett said he thought Marbury quit in the big loss to the Celtics. You would have hoped that was a wake call but nothing changed.
... then Marbury walks away from the team when he doesn't start. The problem is neither Collins or Nate is ready, they are not going to buy out or trade Marbury's $20 mil. .. and they are still only TWO lossses and 3 wins behind the Nets.
I agree the Knicks need to look to themselves to raise their game. THey can't wait for the PG to set the tone this time... He won't or can't anymore
KnicksDan,
Your are the loser!!! Keep smoking blunts and experimenting with drugs hopefully you can kill yourself to spare us from your pointless postings
If you take out the harrasment charge, what has he done that the last couple of GM's aren't guilty of. We didin't protest to get them out. Scott Layden was the worst but we never had a patition or rally in front of the garden for his dismisal.
Also keep in mind that we all can be charge for sexual harasment. All you have to do is attend a workspace class from HR and you will realize the sexual harrasment happens in most companies daily.
Jersey J,
Race? Nope.
A total disregard (and hostility!) toward the fans that pay the checks, a complete lack of game plan, amazingly inept coaching, abject refusal to even shake up a lineup that can't get anything done on either end of the floor, and an inability to even admit the depth of the problems the team faces?
Yep. I don't care if the coach/GM (and let me include ownership here) is white, black, yellow, purple or plaid - the level of ineptitude here is something that never should have been let within 50 feet of a professional sports franchise.
And I was a fan of Isiah the player. He has much to be proud of in that respect, and I'd never try to take that away from him.
Isiah the coach/GM? Not so much.
kunklehead Dan
your right race has nothing to do with the sex thing, or harrasement, neither does basketball, but that is what everyone seems to judging the so knowledge of the game on, it the truth be told, yes we want the knicks to be better, but not under zeke. we now want Chris, why, I have nothing against Chis very fine ball player, but really what has he done, to show he is so much better than zeke, really guys its just the luck of the straw, but because we can not see any futher than color, we blame zeke and James.what has our belove Joe for them dam yankees done but not all of you guy decided to sign a slip for his dismeisale. please lets stop complaing about a game and get to the real issuse and try to become better people.how can you admitt to selling drug but them say any thing bad about someone else, because of soem of the things zeke has done we lost basketball games, this guy is killing people and still thinks he has the right to comdemm zeke, lets everyone clean up our own yard then we can help other with thiers
Knicksdan,
Easy there Ace! We wouldn't want to upset you in
that Lazy boy rocker you barely move from!
We sure don't want it to fall over because if it does,
your Trailer Home will tip over too!
I don't want Mullin. If he wants a NY gig (and from what I've read, he doesn't), let him go coach the Johnnies.
We need a GM that isn't afraid of (or best buddies with) the owner, who can tell him what's wrong and what it takes to fix it.
Jersey,
Why are you creating a race issue when there isn't one? We booed the hell out of Layden. He wasn't around long enough for things to get this bad. The newspapers crucified him daily. The difference (if you feel like looking past your racial diatribe) is that Zeke is ruining the Knicks in a dual role rather than just being a puppet GM to Dolan as Layden was. We all knew Layden would be short lived after the fans chanted for his hide. There are no signs that Dolan is going to remove Zeke any time soon no matter what the fans or press pleads .
That is the difference. Take the race out of it. You sound like an idiot on a soapbox. There are many more racially charged issues that come about every day. There is no reason to create one where there isn't. Are you Sharpton's nephew or something ?
How can you compare Joe to Zeke ???? The Yanks made the playoffs last time I checked. When was the last time the Knicks did that ?
No I'm not related to Mr. Sharpton, no I have nothing at all against Joe, both very fine people, I'm referring to us fans, we really think we own these team, and we are not using basketball and corp.knowledge when we make the request that are being made, and if it is as easy as most of you think don't you think there would be more winning teams, we do have a good team assembled, we just have to give time to work together, I'm saying has Zeke made mistakes of course, have you made mistakes at you place of employment???? what if your bosses everytime something went wrong received chants from your co workers to fire you would any of you like that, I think not, so this is why I suggest it has to be something bigger, THINK About the names mention to replace the horrible coach we have then tell me what is the real difference, yea I probaly need a soap box I'm only 5'5 with mad basketball skills.and I know game and I know ?????
i can confirm that knicksdan smokes blunts with black people
i went to the pink slip rally today, it was a good experience, and i think the beginning of a real movement which will grow in force daily until either (of the) dolan(s) or stern will be forced to act. the media came out in full, i gave passionate interviews to the a.p., post, news, channels 1-7, and sny.
it should be interesting tonight with the "fire isiah" inserts from the daily news papering the garden. the news was smart, and handed out free papers at the rally today.
funny, what ultimately lit the fuse of the wrath of the public was not the atrocious management or play, but the repression of free speech. the spirit of our founding fathers burns bright in knick nation.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!
Pssst...I just overheard Curry guaranteeing the Knicks a playoff spot and that he will be MVP.
" I'm saying has Zeke made mistakes of course, have you made mistakes at you place of employment???? what if your bosses everytime something went wrong received chants from your co workers to fire you would any of you like that, I think not"
Of course we have all made mistakes at our jobs. Do you think that people are booing because of 1 mistake ? Dude, if you made as many mistakes as he has and had a standoffish attitude about it, u wouldn't have to worry about boos. They don't boo the unemployment line.
Gee, Alan, how do you compare this to Milbury? :)
I miss your coverage of the other winter warriors who wear blue and orange. But I've got your books. Are you thinking of another such project for the folks at MSG? :)
It is time for fans to coordinate and stage a full-blown strike. This means stop attending games. Cancel MSG, if you can, and stand out MSG with strike signs reminding people how bad the situation is in there. Hit Dolan in the pocketbook, and let the world know why. And come up with a unified list of demands on what it would take to return. Like, you want a competent GM in here, and Dolan to step down from responsibilities.
Make it a strike. Not a whine session. Not a boycott. But a full-blown strike.
I READ ALAN HAHN TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR A POINT GUARD TO SET UP HIS TEAM MATES AND MAKE JAMAL AND Z-BO HAPPY. AS IF JAMAL AND Z-BO ARE THE ONLY IMPORTANT PIECES TO THE KNICKS SEASON. EVEN IF U HAVE JASON KIDD OR STEVE NASH, ALONG SIDE JAMAL A STREAKY SHOOTER AND Z-BO WHO NEVER PASSES THE BALL ONCE HE TOUCHES IT. ARE U KIDDING, JAMAL IS THE WORSE SHOOTING GUARD IN THE NBA, PLAYS NO DEFENSE AND CHUNKS UP SHOTS AFTER SHOTS. IF ISIAH LETS MARBURY PLAYED THE WAY HE DID DURING MID JANUARY, I BET U THE KNICKS ARE IN A BETTER WAY OF WINNING MORE GAMES. SECONDLY ISIAH NEEDS TO KNOW THAT JAMAL IS A BENCH PLAYER WHO CAN COME OFF THE BENCH TO PROVIDE ENERGY AND CHANGE THE MOMENTUM OF THE GAME. LIKE A MANU GINOBLI TYPE OF PLAYER WITHOUT THE DEFENSE AND THE QUALITY OF SHOT SELECTION. I WAS READING THE NY POST YESTERDAY AND GREENBERG HAD AN ARTICLE THAT SAID THE KNICKS WHO WENT 2-5 WITHOUT MARBURY ARE BETTER. DID HIS MATH TEACHER DIED WHEN HE WAS IN PRE-K, 2-5 AND U TALKING ABOUT THE KNICKS ARE BETTER WITHOUT STEPH. THOSE TWO GAMES THAT THEY WON WAS AGAINST THE NJ NETS. THE KNICKS COULDN'T BEAT AN UNIMPROVED SEATTLE SUPERSONICS TEAM AND GREENBERG IS HERE TALKING ABOUT THE KNICKS ARE BETTER WITHOUT STEPH. DURING THE GAME AGAINST THE PACERS, WALT FRAZIER SAID IT THE MOST, THE KNICKS WERE MISSING STEPH BECAUSE OF HIS KNACK OF GETTING TO THE PAINT AND COMMAND THE ATTENTION OF THE DEFENDERS WHICH SETS HIS TEAM MATES FOR WIDE OPEN SHOTS. ITS NOT LIKE AM DEFENDING STEPH BUT COME ON PEOPLE, WHY DOS HE GETS MOST OF THE BLAMES WHY THERE ARE GUYS LIKE JAMAL AND Z-BO WHO NEEDS MOST OF THE BLAME. AND ISIAH IS MAKING A BIG MISTAKE BY NOT PLAYING NATE, CHANDLER AND MORRIS. HE WILL NEVER KNOW THEIR POTENTIAL WITHOUT INSERTING THEM IN THE GAME TO SEE WHAT THEY GOT. ISIAH TRUSTS JAMAL SO MUCH THAT HE IS THE LEADER IN MINUTES PER GAME.
What will a new coach do with these players?
How about a new GM?
After next season the Knicks have a chance to be in line or under the salary cap. Calm down.
Everyone has the answers to the test after the quiz. There are worst coaches and GMs out there. Knee jerk reactions to win at all cost is how we got the payroll at 90 million in the first place. And isiah didn't do that.
It would be great for Newsday and the sorts to have you out there. Everyone wants to lead or be part of a movement.
Malik, Marbury, and Q need to go so the young guys in those positions can develop. Just not at the expesne of our salary cap flexibility.
No one is going to give us their All-Star to save our franchise. This team as bad as they are collectively are assets that can bring back more value than our historical past.
Easy with the torches and broomsticks.
When was the last time a journalist was hired to run a team and they won a championship?
Isiah has forgotten more about basketball than everyone who has ever posted on this blog.
But I respect your passion as Knicks fans.
still...zeke has to go
I've never seen anything like this before. A protest outside the arena? Brilliant!!
Knicks don't need a point guard. They need a national guard, to protect them from the fans. 20 more losses like this and the fans will eat each other and throw limbs onto the field.
And you KNOW Eddie Curry and Jerome James will fight for those more than they would a ball dribbling out of bounds.
B-Mike – I agree that it makes sense to start from the top. I’d love to get rid of Dolan. But Isiah is at least a big part of the reason the Knicks are in miserable shape, as well. And the problem is, you can’t fire an owner. So the next best move is definitely to fire Isiah. But I’m with you. I wish there were something we could do about Dolan. But he ain’t alone. Plenty of responsibility to go around at the moment.
Put it this way – can anybody imagine we could do any worse by firing Isiah? There’s enough of a season left that a savvy GM and a decent coach might be able to start moving this team in the right direction.
Jersey – one of the reasons you haven’t seen demonstrations like this elsewhere is that there are few owners of pro sports teams as stupid as Dolan. Normally, when a GM/coach has failed as overtly as Isiah . . . he’d have been fired a long time ago. So it usually doesn’t get this bad. I’m not going to address whether or not there are racial issues at work. That was pretty well talked out last summer. At least the worst offender in that regard doesn’t post here anymore. But there are plenty of very good reasons to shout for Isiah’s removal on purely basketball grounds . . .
Wish I could've been at the protest today.
Isiah wants to be fired and get his 24mil in the process. Dolan, make it happen!!!
wow they won. lets see what happens now Jersey Joe
Two very encouraging signs that have been sorely missed. Is it possible that Q is beginning to play his way back into shape after that surgery? There was so much hype over the summer about how well the surgery went, maybe we were expecting too much, too soon. It's been slow, admittedly. But he's been showing signs lately. Another nice 16/7 effort from Q tonight. If he can bring it every night, all of a sudden, it changes the complexion of this team, and it gives the coach a lot more options. Although I still say, play Q at the 2. Find a PG, and start Balkman/Jeffries until you bring Artest. All of a sudden, that’s a legit team.
Second very encouraging sign was the game Lee had. I hate to repeat myself, but I wonder if he also wasn’t quite 100% yet when the season started? The Knicks are gonna win some games when he gives them 20/10.
If these two guys can start playing at the level they were at last year before they were injured (because, let’s face it, neither has come close yet this year), then the new GM can focus on a PG and Artest. All of sudden, the Knicks could begin to resemble the team that generated so much anticipation and optimism before the season started. But the way Isiah is coaching, Lee could get 11 minutes next game. And put up 6/5.
Can’t get too high over one win, or two low over one loss. Low has been the direction for most of this season so far. Still, I’m encouraged. Lee and Q could be a big part of turning this stillborn season around.