This is all staged so the Knicks can move from basketball into WWF cage fighting...Oakley will be the ambassador of the Smackdown in the Garden debut!
I surmise that McEnroe is a brilliant ventriloquist who used Oakley's voice for personal entertainment.
And that one was great as well.... That's the type of journalism I crave. Stick the knife in, and twist it (to the people that deserve it). Maybe Oakley brought the whole thing upon himself? Maybe not. It doesn't matter. Being such a legend for the Knicks fans(and others like myself), the whole situation should have been handled in a different manner. And, I feel bad for the security boss that got fired. Maybe I shouldn't, however it sure appears to me that Dolan is just trying to cover his ass....
I personally can't think of anyone I'd want more as a security chief than this. The sheer amount of training, skills, calmness under pressure, organization, and discipline that it takes to be a Secret Service Agent, in any capacity (regardless of past scandals), is off the charts. I think they fired him to cover their own ass. It was obvious that he was good enough to serve under (not one, but two) PRESIDENTS....now the guy gets fired because some belligerent idiot won't leave peacefully when told to? I don't think so. This stinks to high heaven of the Knicks ownership being a dumpster fire. I hope Bendetto sues. That being said, there is the possibility that Bendetto let his security personnel get lax in their training and how to handle situations like this. But this is the Knicks, so even if that is their reasoning, I'm not sure I'd believe it. Since I'm the minority in this thread of thinking Oakley got what he deserved, then it's pretty pointless arguing logic here. It seems most of the answers in this thread use the same kind of logic that school children argue with. But man.....watching the footage that's out there, may I just say how thankful I am that I got out of security when I did. Because even when you're right...you're wrong.
Why do you think this? I can see why everyone else is siding with Oakley since he went on to do interviews and there is just a general disdain for everything James Dolan. We do not know what went on before Oakley is surrounded by 6 to 7 security members because none of the videos show the start of the altercations, unless of course the start is to send 6 to 7 people to remove Oakley which seems like it would be more likely start a big incident then sending one or two people to ask him to remove himself from the arena. So it just leaves me curious on to how you came to the conclusion you did regarding Oakley.
Several things. 1) The MSG is PRIVATE property. Private. Dolan has THE sole authority to decide who comes in and leaves his arena. He can kick the Pope out if he wants to after blessing the crowd. He owns it, it's his decision. Do not let the fact that MSG is used for public venues fool you into believing that anyone can just come and go as they please. That is NOT the case, and there are extensive Private Property laws that explain this. So the idea that Oakley had a RIGHT to be there because he bought a ticket, or because he's a "legend" or any of that other nonsense is irrelevant. Ultimately, DOLAN decides who comes into HIS arena. Period. 2) It matters not one bit how many security guards come and confront you. 100 or 3, it doesn't matter a bit. You were asked to leave, and I have NO doubt that he was asked peacefully to leave. Even the most incompetent group of security in the country knows that you approach things verbally and non-aggressively BEFORE you move to physical contact. When you poke a man in the face...and I don't care if he called you every racial slur in the book, called your mother a fat whore, whatever....you have escalated that confrontation from verbal to physical. And then you follow it up with pushes......and you can't figure out why security had to get physical with you and literally drag you out of the building? Come on man. This whole "well, he wasn't caught on camera before then being irrational" argument is bullshit. I can tell you what he WAS caught on camera being: belligerent and physical. And that is why he was removed. I didn't even know who Dolan and Oakley were before now (80s basketball was well before my time, and I never cared who owned MSG). But it sounds to me like Oakley has a history of getting into fights with people. This kind of behavior from him, therefore, should not come as a surprise, and it shouldn't come as a surprise when someone his size is confronted by security when he's standing yelling at someone. Don't yell at someone, and sure as fuck don't get physical.....and you'll be fine. Not hard to do. That being said, the Knicks were 9-40 something yesterday when I saw their record while looking for something unrelated. I can't imagine that is easy on anyone, and I have no doubt that it's most likely Dolan's fault. But his team's record, and how he conducts the affairs of his building, are two separate issues.
Here's a more extensive, detailed article about the incident. I just found it; haven't read it yet. http://deadspin.com/knicks-claim-charles-oakley-said-all-of-you-suck-dolan-1792234698 EDIT: Yep. Oakley was being a dick. Don't act like a dick, and you'll be fine. It really isn't hard to do, folks. Real life is not the internet: there are rules and basic courtesy when you go out in public that you have to obey and follow.
If every person that was acting like a loud mouth A-hole, possibly due to a few drinks, was removed from sporting events, all the stadiums would be half empty. I am not condoning bad behavior, just making a point that Oakley was a target, not the real problem. This was an abuse of power by Dolan. There is very little evidence to back up Dolan targeting of Oakley. What I do see in the video is a lot of people looking in Oakleys direction. But not one person that is behaving in a manner that indicates they feel threatened by Oakley, or that they are endanger. And this includes all of the fans that are standing very close to Oakley. How many people would be standing so close to Oakley if they felt threatened? None, they all would be leaving the area. Dolan has an agenda against Oakley, and is abusing his power. Fuck Dolan.
ummm, I guess I saw different things. Dolan maybe a super ass, I really don't know. Don't really care either. But he was not the guy shoving people around. I have no idea WTF is bothering Oakley, and again, don't really care either. I just have one question in my mind after viewing the incident, What the hell did Oakley think was going to happen when he starts shoving people around? It looks like a reasonable projection happened! I just wonder if he saw it coming, or he maybe he doesn't much care either.
