Bleacher Report - Articles by B.D. Gallof

NY Isles Lighthouse Project: The Rabbit-Hole Goes as Far as the Republican GOP?

B.D. Gallof — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:58:12 -0400

We have been on top of the Lighthouse Project issues ad nauseum. Later this week, on Thursday, March 26, at 7pm at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale, the Lighthouse Development Group will host a Community Outreach Education session.

This meeting will be open to the public and allow for questions about the project to be asked directly to Lighthouse staff and consultants.

Charles Wang and Scott Rechler will be available to discuss the project. Tom Suozzi and other government leaders will be on-hand. Our suggestion is to get there early, especially to get a good spot, or to sign up to speak.

Speaking of local government...

The Rabbit Hole

In talking to those inside Long Island politics this weekend, there is even more evidence that the issue between Kate Murray's Town of Hempstead and the Lighthouse Project is far bigger. It might be a tug of war between Nassau County Democrats and Republicans.

What many have been reluctant to mention through all of this on hockey team owned newspapers, team sites, blogs, message boards, and other avenues is the role of Nassau County Republican party head Joseph Mondello is in all of this.

While Nassau County Exec Tom Suozzi, Democrat, has leaped onto the Lighthouse project vision publicly, the Republican party, much like Kate Murray, has been noticeably silent.

The only Republican voice has been Bob Barra, who was a former employee of the Isles. It is only on this tiny, minuscule level that any mention has really been made on the record.

Off the record, several have admitted backing the project. For it captures all the Republican tenants of business and capital that they are for in a general sense. But on the record...

One source said it best: "I called the Nassau GOP asking for their official position on the Lighthouse. They brushed me off but the woman I spoke to let slip 'I don't think we have one'."

And there you have it.

In the world of Long Island politics, which is all about "what can you do for me," the project might be sinking into the political quagmire of what LI Republicans are getting as part of the deal. Even stranger...

Seven of the nine Republican Legislators in Nassau County voted for the Lighthouse in 2006.

Source: "Kate Murray is known as (Joseph) Mondello's creature. You can be sure that that the reason she's not at meetings or publicly supporting the project is because she's been asked not to."

Meanwhile, concern has been made by several that this project is well-past the Town of Hempstead's abilities. Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino was pressed on this very same issue. He denied it, citing the Roosevelt Raceway handling. Others have differed on opinion.

Source: "They made a mess out of many a project, including the Archstone condos in Westbury (evacuation due to mold)."

Others have cited that the ToH is currently under investigation for racketeering while under Murray's watch due to a lawsuit filed. It has been insinuated that the Town of Hempstead is rife with all sorts of conflicts of interest, nepotism and such.

Another source agreed: "The Lighthouse Project is stuck in the worst sort of politics: Long Island politics."

As Tom Suozzi presses even further on the Lighthouse Project, like on the WFAN, Murray's response has been mind-numbing.

Kate Murray: "The judge in a criminal trial having lunch with the prosecutor and not inviting the defense attorney."

Huh? So, now it is a trial? This statement of hers speaks volumes on the mechanics beneath the surface here. It is a battle. But not really of ideology. It is one of "what is in it for me" rather than "what is in it for us."

What needs to happen is pressure on the Nassau GOP, especially their own town meetings to ask them pointblank where they stand on it. Inviting Murray and the constant catcalling on her specifically is a giant lark.

It is far more than this. It is the entire Long Island political apparatus that is gumming the channels and has the Lighthouse Project voices even wondering about Queens again.

So, they can all call for Kate. But what it is really time for is the Nassau County Republican GOP to answer the call instead.

- BD

Magic Pill: NY Islanders Must Have Top Draft Pick, Plus Lighthouse Project

B.D. Gallof — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:22:28 -0400

"One pill makes you taller
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all"
- Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit"

Pill #1: Top Draft Pick or BUST!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Isles got the first or second draft pick? John Tavares could come in and heal Rick DiPietro's knees. He'd also give DP a Vulcan mind-meld to get his brain on track to be more mature. Then he'd then wave a magic wand, making fans flock to the Coliseum in droves.

Hedman would walk right into Kate Murray and Tom Suozzi's offices, and shame them into relenting on their political aspirations that have the Lighthouse Project affixed as a centerpiece. He'd then grab Charles Wang and put them in a room to take out their frustrations and then get down to business.

Tavares, along with his scoring prowess, could also help internally for the Isles fill all the gaps which they cut to pieces this past January. Maybe he could work a camera, put together Isles Illustrated for MSGplus, and also head community projects?

Hedman, when not learning the NHL game, could help develop the potential of all the young kids who the Isles' future really depends on.

We could keep going with this pile of malarkey . . .

Fact is, despite the need for a top flight player and draw, neither the first or second draft pick will solve the myriad of issues with the NY Islanders. The Isles need fundamental changes and new building blocks in many areas.

There seems to be a magic pill delusion coming along for the ride this season, and chances are, that Garth Snow and Scott Gordon aren't buying. As they gauge and assess talent on the NHL level and below, they are hellbent on building a foundation to climb upon next season and beyond.

This means they are not thinking any one top draft pick is an answer and a sudden turnaround. Instead, they feel that rebuilding and developing those currently on the NHL, AHL and other rosters is far more paramount, for those are in their actual control. The top draft pick is merely a hope. The future of the Isles depends more on action and not on this panicked sense that if they float to a third or fourth pick, all is lost.

For it means that those players who are on the ice are stepping up and building something.

Now, if only the Isles and their ownership could solve the Lighthouse Project fistfight with the local town, and quit playing politics, we might get even further to solid ground.

Pill #2: The Lighthouse Project Hoopla and Blame Game

The latest mind-bender was on Chris Botta's Pointblank website, that he has heard of an underground campaign to get opposition to next week's meeting. That's an interesting grenade that really begs for further clarification and information.

"Point Blank has been told by residents via email that the Town of Hempstead has begun an underground campaign encouraging dissenters to show up in full force."

This is a tremendous charge, and residents might want to provide some proof there that it's truly the ToH. Or perhaps to Botta, they already did? If so, a scan of it might be in order

Is there truly a discordant note and attempt by the Republican-led ToH to manufacture dissent? Or are some civic associations who have been against the Project (Garden City and Uniondale) trying to piggyback and create some drama? Or are these hypersensitive perceptions from some residents and more political plays at an attempt to merely let local towns know of the event?

To me, the biggest problem about the Lighthouse Project is that people all-around need to just get a grip.

I want the Lighthouse Project as much as anyone, but I cannot sit here and buy what is being presented on Isles channel's wholesale. From my vantage point, it takes two to play a political tug of war. Right now, there are far more than that at play here. The Media, the Lighthouse Project, Democrats, Republicans, and a bewildered rest of us are being pulled on strings.

When I spoke to the ToH back last fall and even earlier, they were just as gung-ho on the Lighthouse Project as anyone else. They made it sound like it was a forgone conclusion that it would happen. The only caveat is that projects of this immense size take time.

Since then, the most talking and political button-pressing has been coming from constant leaks to the press, the NHL, and PR hype that has spun the ToH as the out and out bad guys and impediments here.

Meanwhile, Tom Suozzi, a Democrat whose position is up for re-election this November, and the Project have gotten quite close. Their message has been in almost unison. Kate Murray, a Republican who most feel is the next one to press for that same position, has been on the defensive ever since. The ToH has battened down the hatches and muffled voices to speak to anyone.

Suozzi on WFAN alluded that the only real issue is that Kate Murray doesn't like to talk about individual projects or work with him on smoothing that process. She has been reluctant to appear at meetings she's been invited to, including, mindbogglingly, a lack of presence at events that ToH itself has held in regard to the project. Or is this new feature due to the constant pressure that the Project has created by concern over a timetable?

The question remains: What does the Nassau GOP feel about the project? What does Murray feel about the project? Those who float the Lighthouse flag and pom poms allude to the idea that she must not support it. This, in lieu of the ToH line before these games began, seems not to be the case....until perhaps the politics and game unfurled this past fall and winter.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale, the Lighthouse Development Group will host a Community Outreach Education session. This meeting will be open to the public and will allow for questions about the project to be asked directly to Lighthouse staff and consultants. Wang, Rechler, Suozzi and others will be there. It is very unlikely that Murray herself will show to what has turned into a proverbial witchhunt.

Meanwhile, Tom Suozzi has admitted that the ToH has not done anything wrong. He just cites, basically, that she has not been as hearty and gung-ho to grease the wheels or smooth anything to make sure it happens. Is this really what this battle is all about? That simply Murray's ToH has not been willing to play political ball with "the team" so to speak?

Meanwhile, Newsday had a piece on it's web spin cycle blog about Assemblyman Bob Barra (R-Lynbrook), who give a dissertation on the benefits on the Lighthouse project in a Baldwin community forum event, neglecting to say he was recently a part-time sales consultant of the Islanders. So for that, GOP support is pretty suspect. So, does the GOP stand with the Lighthouse, or are they the only element not quite going with the "flow"?

There has always been a small smattering of dissenters to the Lighthouse Project. From the self-interested Uniondale School District superintendent, who wants the tax dollars to reap something for nothing over the possible (and improbable) influx of children there who might go to his school system. Then there are some Uniondale and Garden City local district groups concerned about traffic. Garden City is also hellbent on that there is no train system running through them. Then again, Garden City doesn't like Jews living in their neighborhood. So what do they know?

This opposition, though scattered, is not a ToH manufacture, but groups who have stated these concerns long before the snit between parties began. But it is more a smattering of people who seem to have pet peeves, and are likely usual suspects to any sort of change issue.

Possible Conclusion?

However, there is something that does stick out over this. Barra's plugging of the Lighthouse Project appeared on the Republican GOP website. If other GOP-ers are on-board, perhaps this is not such Republican/Democrat snit as it might appear.

Instead, is it Murray dragging feet simply because the project size and scope is too large for them and the town of Hempstead to handle? They seemed completely unprepared for the political blowback back months ago, and still seem out-to-lunch for most things, including some oddball comments in a Newsday interview piece.

Meanwhile, on local cable, we watch some strange commercials on what a swell job Murray is doing for Long Islanders. Is she more focused on a November political future than what is currently on her plate? Her presence at Lighthouse functions is now paramount... if not for the project, perhaps for her own political future.

PREDICTION: Who Will Be the Next Captain of the NY Islanders?

B.D. Gallof — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:24:52 -0400

When Bill Guerin was sent to Steel Town USA, it was clear to why he was sent away. In his last year on the Isles, it was very obvious that the paths of some vets diverged between the Isles amid a rebuild.

A captain or vet and a young coach might debate or argue, but to ship that captain off tells a tale of a young rookie coach benefiting being the singular voice to the young kids.

A singular message that is undiluted by some wise wily vets who don't buy it simply because they are not quite tailor-made to utilize that new system.

No matter how words might be minced or softer now that he's gone, there was a reason Bill Guerin was dealt...whether to remove that disbelieving element, because maybe he wanted a last playoff shot, to make space, or to pass a torch.

So will the next Isles captain will be some bridge like Brendan Witt, Richard Park, a possibly re-signed Dougie Weight, nor even darkhorse fan candidate, Trent Hunter? Could it be Marc Streit?

Might it be some Vancouver-like choice in making their goalie captain. DP. Doubtful. Even if the Isles bent in this direction, has not quite shown the maturity or poise with himself to get himself healthy and back to an All-Star level. Chances are that won't be installed on this team.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the Isles will look younger for their captain, to the new breed and generation, who Scott Gordon clearly has a better communication line with anyway.

Could your next captain be Josh Bailey?

When the Isles drafted Bailey, I spoke to several Isles brass who were simply ga-ga over the kid.

He was brought in not as a center for Kyle Okposo, or to be just a center for one of the top two lines. He was far and away their choice due to his character and leadership capabilities.

League scouts and draft analysts also agreed, citing that he had that type of intangibles that are true of team leaders. Others felt he was potential team captain material.

Most hearken to the death of his teammate and friend, Mickey Renaud, who was captain of the Windsor Spitfires. Bailey stepped in and performed. The emotionally decimated team held with him at center.

This is the type of intangibles and presence the Isles were looking for that were above and beyond perhaps the 60- to 70-point type of player that many figured him for.

The Isles see far more. Or at least they did back then. Nothing I've heard this season really has changed that view.

With the Isles rebuilt and coalescing, is there any better time to leap towards the future, assigning him the captaincy while giving A's to the gamut of excellent players/vets around him?

I think not.

Even if the Isles assign someone like Witt or Streit captain (the latter might be very possible...if not probable), you still might see Josh Bailey captain of the NY Islanders within the next four years. It will be an easy decision because it has been in their mind since they drafted him.

It might even be a lot sooner.

Just my take.

NY Islanders' Lighthouse Dogs: A Bloody Standoff Developing Over Nassau Coliseum

B.D. Gallof — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:20:14 -0400

In Quentin Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs, we are invited into a jewel heist gone horribly wrong and witness as the after-effects cause each member to fight with one another. The bloody conclusion is a Mexican standoff that kills all three members taking part.

Except for Mr. Pink, Steve Buscemi, who stays far too long to witness all that transpires and likely does not make a clean getaway as the cops move in.

The Lighthouse Project, much like the movie, seems to be going in this disturbing direction as the ongoing issue that has developed between the Project and Town of Hempstead supervisor Kate Murray that is becoming a potential bloody fight.

In today's Newsday are two pieces relating to the Lighthouse Project near the front of the paper. One is about how Charles Wang and Scott Rechler trying to see if they can get stimulus dollars since the project will create jobs.

All well and good, and due diligence on their part since it is a huge real estate project and might fall within the new White House initiative. Right?

Or if you look a bit deeper, it alludes that basically that they are looking for taxpayer dollars, purportedly over $700 million. How will this go over to many of the fan faithful when they have constantly pushed the notion that they are paying for everything out-of-pocket?

At the very least, they have opened themselves up for criticism.

The other piece is by Eden Laikin, one of the writer's to Sunday's convoluted mess of an article that was left as a needle to pierce some fans ire. Her follow up is from the Town of Hempstead itself and Kate Murray's fresh attempt to stir the pot of something she and the town have parroted incessantly: Why don't they renovate the Coliseum first?

Murray herself also goes further, alluding to the stimulus initiative herself, citing that immediate work on the Coliseum would create jobs right away. This plows into the same repetitive notion that they have pushed since Wang got antsy over the time table, that if it is so important then start the lesser work now.

However, this is easier said than done, for this is much more than just a local hockey team anymore. This is about far more money, land, business and politics. Murray knows what the answer is, yet was able to pound home another shot in this war of attrition through the article.

Most interesting is that it might make clear the possible source for the Sunday hatchet job, the Town of Hempstead itself? We'll never know for sure, but I am willing to bet that sources within the ToH have been using Newsday's fresh face to ply old arguments.

It lends itself that this has ceased to be about the good of Long Island anymore, and now more about a politic battle.

What is becoming clearer and clearer is that these players are getting into a dangerous game, as the stress and agita rises higher and higher.

Though I am doubtful that Mrs. Blond, Kate Murray, will seek to bite off an ear, she is throwing a lot of gas over things, and might even scorch herself and political futures in the process. There is a gambit being played here where many irate fans might deep-six any further political notions and/or delusions she might have.

NY Islander fans are not only passionate, but in much higher numbers than many think. The NY Islanders' Web site is one of the top five NHL US team destinations in the NHL.

Murray is playing with fire to a powder keg of a fanbase.

Meanwhile, do we the fan sit bleeding in Mr. White's (Lighthouse Project) arms waiting for that final bullet to come?

For the Lighthouse Project, in a letter to Nassau Exec Tom Suozzi (our Mr. Pink), declared an actual date for final approval plus lease or else. October of 2009, the start of next season. They cited Murray's own letter as a "political puck" and alluded that political party issues are infiltrating here from Murray.

Suozzi, per the Newsday piece, is already negotiating that lease himself so that all is ready upon approval. Is this enough to avoid bullets flying? And when they do, will he still be there or will he be ducking for cover more concerned about his own read end?

The Town of Hempstead have been pushing this same official line of renovating the Coliseum first for months now. Meanwhile, they have started to entrench themselves in some sort of foxhole as what members felt was a sure thing of it going through suddenly has become battening down the hatches and seat-belting themselves in for a fight.

Has Charles Wang's impatience set this off? Or has Kate Murray had no interest of being the one to greenlight such a project when she might have political aims that would be better off without it on her record?

Did Kate Murray first declare intentions last season on Town of Hempstead night where she was surprisingly not present for it. Did the schism first occur here that the ToH or at least her aims, and most sport fans and Long Islanders do not see the issue eye-to-eye.

Furthermore, what is Newsday's role? Will they continue to be a ping pong ball to this game? Or will they actually attempt to sift through the public relations from all parties and provide a clearer view than the murk they seem to be helping throw?

Clarity seems to be missing for us readers and Long Islanders as the game gets far deeper and far more concerning to the future of a project that has far more meaning that just a refurbished venue for our local hockey team.

Above all, something has to give here lest we are thrust with the Tarantino violent ending.

- "Nice Guy" BD

Drats! TheNew York Islanders Win Again! Plus Lighthouse Follies in Newsday

B.D. Gallof — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:14:36 -0400

With Bill Guerin shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a glorified bag of pucks, one of the last speedbumps to Gordon's overspeed system has been removed. This coupled with Brendan Witt's change of heart since his speaking out has made it clear to who runs Bartertown on LI.

While Bill Guerin was not a purposeful impeding force, he was an old school player forced to deal with a new school and philosophy that needed commitment even when suffering loss after loss.

When the New York Isles faltered in December, belief from vets wavered. Opinions flew. The team sunk into a confused malaise and dug themselves deeper. The kids followed the vets own doom and gloom, and most of December was a public wreckage.

The Isles, since, shed themselves of nonbelievers or just ill-fits (Comrie). They sit poised to see if they can resign Hilbert and Weight, two who thrived in that system.

Of course, as the Isles win these last month of games, those fans who look at this coming draft placement hearts skip a beat or two. For is the Isles keep winning they will play themselves right out of the top two slots where they were to be assured a franchise-type of blue chip pick in Hedman or Tavares.

These two are the kind of players that can make a fundamental difference on two levels, on-ice and in getting fans into seats.

Of course, since next season has Scott Gordon's and perhaps also Garth Snow's ass on the line, they might care less about that pick and more about longterm development and improvement, draft be damned.

Therefore, it is likely they will want those wins and something to build on as a group. This takes priority than any draft pick, which might come to many a fan's horror.

While other teams freefall into oblivion and a draft position, the Isles are removing themselves from a Degobah-like swamp based on belief and a system that now only has yes-kids.

Lights Out at Newsday

There is much to be concerned on Isles County. Charles Wang game of chicken versus a reticent decision and leadership-addled Town of Hempstead has shaken up the faithful.

Meanwhile, Newsday seems to tap the vein with aplomb and glee, leading to a sloppy sensationalistic piece in Sunday's paper that is just a rehash of issues and arguments than any education or information.

Huge Misinformation

"The development's new housing would result in an enrollment increase of 333 children for the Uniondale Union Free School District."

First of all, this is the biggest pile of rubbish. The housing is high $$, and the Uniondale school system is far from an attractive destination. It is a rough and tumble school system, despite strong attempts to equalize it, rife with gang problems.

Add to this, chances that families that would come into that housing is low and as to when...something even more fuzzy.

Furthermore, the chances of high-cost homes leading to families to send their kids to a less than stellar school system? Nil. Zero. Nada. Not a chance.

The superintendent, Dr. Lloyd, is playing a fiddle that the schools are at capacity in order to get something for nothing. It is politic prostrating, nothing more. He's clanging a tin cup for his school system who would not be affected by the project at all, except maybe, within the next 20 years, to create an upward swing. By then, Dr. Lloyd will be long gone.

Other issues cited by Newsday are just as fuzzy and meant to be scintillating and sensational than much else. They look for alternative if not debatable points to just make empty arguments.

It is a poorly done piece and makes a mockery of journalism standards that Newsday has sought to provide for years and years. Is the next step to sell Newsday next to The Globe and National Enquirer.

Basically, the more you see sports chest-thumper, Anthony Rieber, in the news pages, the more you might as well sell Newsday as a rag than any source of news.

Far too little information and much too much drama for drama's sake. Shame on Newsday.

So What Is the Real Deal?

As I broke here, Charles Wang has met with at LEAST one prospective interest group or owner groups on either the NHL/Bettman's behest or on their own to assure that all options have been explored. That said, the one I know of is NY based, not KC rumored as the press has tried to run with.

KC, despite attempts otherwise, is not a good fit for the Isles and might not even have the league support for the Isles to move there even if it was. Add a legal wrangling, despite any purported loophole to the contract with SMG that is up in 2015, and you have a good idea on how messy it could get.

It is my belief that is IF the Lighthouse Project fails, which would be a monumental catastrophe for sport fans and long islanders, the league would pressure for a sale to a NY-based group. Though the only way it fails is that the poltical battle of attrition becomes far more public and nasty, which would decimate an already weak and willy-nilly Republican led Town of Hempstead and deep-six any long term political desires.

Back To The Ice

In the meantime, the Isles have gotten younger on-ice and have had Bridgeport call-ups excel. This proof positive that the Gordo system which has been installed on the AHL level works and allows for an easier transition to the NHL game.

So, though I might hope for them to lose a couple of oh-so-close heartbreakers, a franchise top-flight dman or forward would really make that future oh-so-brighter. If the Isles can win one thing this season, let it be the top draft position WHILE succeeding in having players, coach and GM see that overspeed does in fact work and be built on.

Trade Deadline D-Day for New York Islanders Fans: D for Likely Disappointment

B.D. Gallof — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:21:59 -0500

While teams gather themselves for a playoff run or shed for fire sale, the NY Islanders are in a different place altogether (besides dead last). They cannot jettison too many players lest they fall below the plimsoll line that the cap minimum capitulates.

This very fact seems all but forgotten as some sites reap the trade rumor "buzz" rewards that they are so quick to denigrate other sites for.

For all the complaint and criticism of trade rumors and trade rumor site flotsam, many fans hang onto any word to the Isles as some hopeful cast on what has been a horrid year for their favorite team.

Meanwhile the largest move the Isles have likely done was their shearing off of the very unhappy ChrIs Campoli and removing Mike Comrie's dead weight.

My post-game observation of Comrie was that he spent more time more interested on where he was going to hang with his buddies after games. That is anathema to a young wide-eyed rookie class who need to focus on the work on ice.

The Islanders sit with a very high and low pick in the first round. They have three second rounders as well for this coming draft. The only way they can take everyone off the books is taking on the kind of salary that can offset it.

This means Martinek, Witt, Guerin, Weight, MacDonald/Danis and Hilbert can only be all sent off IF they are willing to take on the kind of salary that gives them some advantage in a deal to reap an additional draft pick or prospect that makes it worth their while.

Another possible way to deal all the above for draft value is to pickup some waiver pieces that also do the same job on the bottom line. If the Isles deal Joey Mac to some goalie depth starved playoff team, might they take on Gerber's half salary if he enters waivers after the deadline? Or something else like that?

Or perhaps Garth Snow and company have an extensive look and feel for the cap-ology and know what they can get away with since we are so far into the season.

Whatever the case will be, it will not be likely high drama for what the Isles actually do. Though we can question if simple deals will be dramatic as they seem to have extra onus in a season that has been hard to swallow, but somewhat promising on some of the youth brigade.

The likely asking price originally for Bill Guerin is a second round pick and a prospect. That price will not be paid.

Expect third round picks, fourth round picks, and above for most that the Isles actually do move. This will all leave us worth the far bigger pinnacle for the Isles this summers draft day.

Today should be a bigger yawner in Isles Country. This is why I am spending my lunch out with my publisher at a swanky restaurant and then a cigar bar.

Wake me up when it is over.

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...No, It's Another Mess by the New York Islanders

B.D. Gallof — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:55:43 -0500

Leave it for the NY Islanders to make another public relations masterpiece theater over the simple sitting of their captain for a game. Bill Guerin seems destined to not only land somewhere else, but to have a few choice opinions on how it was done. Sloppy. Dopey. And any other seven dwarfs names you can think of will apply.

The man who Snow surprised him (and everyone else) by handing him the captaincy, only two years later, is unceremoniously being dumped into a hockey limbo.

Garth's done some smooth moves as GM, don't get me wrong. But, here with Bill Guerin, they make a huge gaffe that embarrasses their reputation which is already putrid within the league, with another confusing, miscommunicated, and misguided media scrum.

It destroys any credibility within the league that has already been jackhammered by fiascoes over the last 15 years of haplessness.

The Isles seem to lack the internal communication and mechanics to make a simple trade these days, whether the other team or not accepted the deal, into an unqualified mess. Say what things are.

Instead, we have subterfuge, as if rocket science is being developed over at Nassau Coliseum.

If it is, then they keep shooting off their own toes.

Look. We all want this team to do better. But, at least do the business basics with at least a touch of some professionalism?

There have been many scratching of the heads this season by the Isles internal organization. Front and center it starts with the resignation of Chris Botta, their VP of PR, back over last summer.

Botta's resignation, whether forced or by choice, was abrupt and it domino into a cavalcade of follies and foible's over injury reports, political backstabbing, emails out to the Lighthouse project, and capped off by a load of position cuts to the business organization back about a month ago.

The business side has been gutted and remade, and is it no wonder that every fart and fizzle stinks to high heaven?

Meanwhile, the team structure has also followed suit, and just as badly mishandled by a rookie coach, a GM who brought in certain players only to be left out in the cold as youth was served.

Make no mistake about it...youth must be served since the first two years under Garth have been a mishmosh of partial success and partial missteps. But this year, the rebuild is all well and good, but why has everything else seemed to slam into some shortbus of clowns since?

If pulling Guerin for the game was to drive up interest in some cockamamie idea to create value when there is little to none, it might backfire with giving any league vet pause this summer to join a team who treats their leaders so shabbily.

Perception is a mighty thing, and if this happened last summer, would someone like Streit or Weight have wanted to come knowing there is a severe disconnect with the coach and vet players along with an organization and the simple steps of being a hockey club?

All it could have taken is a Brian Burkesque statement of how Guerin has done a fantastic job but their paths...the team and captain, have moved in separate directions. Instead we get some vacuum and a Isles fanbase wondering what the hell is going on.

The winner to all this is Chris Botta and also Newsday. Botta has done great work as despite a "team sponsored blogger" (as NYRewsday usually puts it) who has stepped on some toes with the organization thanks to his desire to be as independent as he can.

He is getting much laurels and they are well-deserved. His contacts and insight has filled that space between regular bloggers, lack of mainstream media, and created a new kind of blog beat writer. Botta has changed the game, so to speak, and put himself right in that gaping hole of coverage. Maybe he knew that going out.

While the Isles make mess after mess, Botta, along with others, clean up with insight and opinion.

Meanwhile, for the Isles, it gets a touch bleaker as 2009's ground breaking...as I reported back before Xmas, is finally admitted to by Charles Wang...to be a tough do. The Isles organization are poised in some sort of limbo, on all sides, as a recession sucks the life and creates fear to those who consider the future...for themselves, the sport, and their team.

Despite some steps forward, including a very strangely abruptly called meeting for the Lighthouse Project by the Town of Hempstead, their fearlessful leader decided to take a vacation.

Yes, Town of Hempstead head, the one the Lighthouse Project needs to work with, decided to blow them off. So as some give that some steps were positive, it was also clearly a negative landscape that those steps were taken. Many questions come to the surface.

Will Kate Murray and the Lighthouse Project continue to play political games with one another? Will the Islanders continue to make usual point of business into giant hodgepodges of embarrassment's.

Will they continue to turn off vet players, continuing to bury an already poor reputation?

These are tough days and will be tougher still. Some right courses of action by the Isles themselves would help ease some minds.

We still wait.

Meanwhile word that Weight and Guerin might be packaged hits the feeders. No word, however, on Witt just yet. Witt should be far more productive on value. But will teams bite?

NY Islanders' Sale Rumor Causes All Internet Hell to Break Loose

B.D. Gallof — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:21:47 -0500

I was asked by several people for my take on an online fiasco involving that the Isles might be for sale under $100 million dollars. For those who didn't catch this last week, Hockeybuzz's main guy Eklund heard some chatter that the NY Islanders MIGHT be for sale.

The straight dope I gave to all who asked was I didn't believe it. I questioned if someone was floating something in order to press on the Town of Hempstead because all this would do is enrage fans. Enrage it did, much to Eklund's chagrin.

Now despite my previous connections with Hockeybuzz, since I am his Islanders' blogger (on leave till next season), his post was rather innocuous. But, many took it and reacted to it like he dropped an atom bomb on their Hooter's wings and beer.

However, in knowing Isles' fans, he should have known better. Furthermore, this is really not the season—with the standings or the Lighthouse Project being stuck in molasses—to really piss off Isles fans.

But upon face value, moving away from all that drama, could this be another missile into a media scrum that has developed on LI? To be honest, this was my first reaction when hearing about it. I thought to myself: Good god, some people are now using the hockey rumor people to push on the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County!

Chris Botta, of the excellent www.IslandersPointBlank.com, the former 20-year PR honcho of the Islanders, immediately responded from his own vacation in a cantankerous mood as if he was Christian Bale on a movie set.

He insinuated that Eklund launched a rumor capitalizing from a large long island readership on Hockeybuzz and because "His Bottaness" was out of the country.

No, I don't lie. He actually said this. Ok, he did not use the term: "Bottaness" but it did have that kind of pomp and circumstance.

Botta then bubbled up a litany of issues that he must have written down in a little black book that he was allowed to keep from when he worked for the Isles. It was fascinating in vitriol, where he seemed to be coming from, swooping in as protector to the Isles' fans.

To be honest, Botta had good reason to bark. Eklund has been lambasted on his site many times over rumors that he had shot down. The former PR flack and anonymous blogger seem to have a pleasant enough relations in a official capacity, but privately, well you can get the gist in a blog. One doesn't quite like the other, even if they both depend on page views. Funny. Because both sites probably went through the roof today.

I don't try to get involved with rumors and innuendo. It was never my thing. But what I will do is debunk it to the nines, because providing some clarity and giving my own perceptions to fact or fiction IS my thing.

I've poo-poo'd on an Eklund rumor even when a blogger on his site. I lampooned him on HFboards back even before that. I will say it here when applicable. I don't buy internet chatter.

I think most, even ex-players and those connected, are...in most cases, idiots who haven't a clue of what they are talking about. They think that they are profound and the oracle because they can hold a stick or hold water for those who hold a stick, and think they have inside info on all that goes on—most, not all. There are a few gems out there.

So let's take on the rumor itself: $100 Million or Less for the Isles?

As Kevin Schultz of the excellent www.BarryMelroseRocks.com site already showed, there is an issue of numbers almost immediately. Under $100 million to a team priced in Forbes at $140 million?

Maybe, but the price I heard that is making the rounds in the mill is $75 million. That is almost less than half and seems very hard to believe—recession or not. So the numbers simply don't fly.

Now, one can wonder and several already asked this of me:

"Could Eklund have been trying to get the Isles' fans back that left when you left, BD?"

I couldn't tell you. But if there is chatter on the Isles being for sale, their top know-it guy for the Isles just screamed no they ain't!"—internationally. So, chances are, it ain't happening.

Now, we can all be fooled and have it blow up in our faces, as was the reaction to Tampa rumors until suddenly...oops, Tampa was sold. People bashed away on that too. But rumors about team sales is serious business, and Ek knew or should have known what he was getting into.

But to most around the Isles, the rumor seems off. The NY Islanders are the set linchpin to the Lighthouse Project. They make it sound like, without it, there is no project. Therefore it is an impossibility. They might be right.

HOWEVER an argument can be made with the former Continental Arena, who post-Devils, is making more money than ever. Why? No professional team scheduling conflicts or issues. In fact, Newark, the new home of the Devils, is now upset because the Meadowlands is still able to clean house. They assumed the place would be dead in the water.

They assumed wrong.

So, could the Lighthouse Project survive without the Isles? Yes. Despite a "no comment" by them on my question to them, there is no doubt it would. But it would be anathema for Charles Wang who was behind that project, but then would not have a home for the Isles.

As for the Brooklyn supposition, forget it. Brooklyn is not a hockey town and will never be one. I was born there and went to college there. It is a hockey burial ground. Is anyone stupid enough to put a team there?

To be honest, as I said here, even KC does not have a very good chance of being a place that the Isles would move to. In other words, let me say it plainer. The Isles have zero chance of going to Kansas City.

The lease and the fact there are far cheaper and more attractive teams in worse shape make this a load of crap. It was always a load of crap, even when it was all over your newspaper.

The Crux Of The Matter

YET, this KC rumor really set the table for all of this. A rumor which was not denied or addressed by those aforementioned because it was a rumor that the Isles themselves let fester...

This allows others in hockey invariably to make their own conjecture—projecting or promoting what they hear.

Ahhh, the chickens coming home to roost perhaps? I mean, didn't they all open this Pandora's Box before Eklund dropped his blog today?

The KC rumors and after-effects got a jovial Chris Botta actually typing LOL as if he was a giddy schoolgirl on his T-Mobile Fave Five. Except instead of blowing it down, he was helping it stand-up.

As a fan and former PR honcho for 20 years, I'm obviously hot on the subject. What fan wouldn't be? Look at today's hodge-podge of emotion.

But, it seems to me that a game is played by those who vilify on one thing (the latest fiasco), but then don't bash another. After all, did anyone bash Newsday for all that KC talk? Not a chance. They PROMOTED IT, added to it, and fanned those flames.

Why? Because the Isles made that one up themselves by their preseason pick and training camp choice.

All in all, strange things are afoot in Isles' Country. Some rumors they like. Some they don't. They are a fickle bunch to be sure. Don't buy all the dramatic music. There are sure hands on the strings to the violin.

That's my take.

- BD

NY Islanders Might Not Be Moving Anywhere Due To Coliseum Lease Till 2015

B.D. Gallof — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:11:18 -0500

It looks like I will have to be doing a series on the press and blog hype over the Mexican standoff between the Town of Hempstead and the NY Islanders/Lighthouse Project this season.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, it is mostly a load of bunk that the Isles are going anywhere. Instead of sides hashing things out in meetings, it has now found itself leaking information to reporters, editors, and various bloggers as some sort of press battle that capitulates the long suffering Islander fan in the middle of a scrum.

Today in Newsday, a report in the main section cites the SMG lease, which stipulates that the Islanders are stuck on Long Island until 2015.

This is a tremendous elephant sitting on any moving van that was conveniently ignored by the sports reporters in the last blast of rumor and innuendo over the Kansas City move hype. How Newsday ignored this a week or two ago still baffles me, but at least it is cited now.

This serves as another torpedo in the battle that is being shaped by the press and that will not end anytime soon until someone relents. This latest event will quickly be denigrated by another blog or article very quickly because it is a HUGE factor and issue in the scheme of things.

Never mind that the Lighthouse Project really needs a major sports team, which is a central linchpin to its plan. Any sale of the Islanders comes with the lease, a suffocating factor for that prospective owner.

Even if it came to Wang selling the team.

Breaking a lease might work if you have an apartment, but for a NHL team during a recession—it is restrictive, unattractive, and might be just another reason the Islanders' ownership is huffing and puffing, but really can't blow a house, or a lease, down.

The Lighthouse Project has implored itself for support to the NY Islanders' fan over the years. How will fans eventually react as more and more talk about leaving and selling comes over the wire? Or if they actually sold the team? Support would disappear. The Lighthouse Project would be doomed.

But to blame Isles' ownership is hard when the real problem to the process lately has been none other than the Town of Hempstead.

There is no doubt that the Town of Hempstead is sitting on their hands in a process that seems stuck in mud. There has been mention of opposition to the Project, but from those actually at the meetings, there has been very little.

The ToH has been trying to float many things to act like they have reason to not make a decision. Especially when Kate Murray, where the buck stops, is thinking more about her political future than as a Long Islander.

Most people in the ToH are firmly behind the project and believe in it off-the-record. The problem is that it has been politicized by an administration that doesn't want to be the one to decide on it. Especially when there are higher positions to obtain. It just might be a shining example of the worst of Long Island politics.

However, the Environmental Impact process that the ToH is overseeing is not something they made up. It is a NY State law that must be done. The issue is the Lighthouse Project/NY Islanders' ownership wants it to move faster to make Charles Wang's self-imposed breaking ground date of this summer.

Once that seemed to be a lost cause, all hell has since broken loose.

But, to move and put pressure on the ToH has been an orchestrated series of events that is starting to unravel. The NY Islanders have very little to bargain with. The Project depends on the NY Islanders and their fans. The SMG lease is constricting.

Newsday: "legal experts say the lease can't be broken by paying off the remaining years because the prohibition, written as part of the 1985 lease and upheld by a Nassau State Supreme Court justice in 1998, says the team's presence on Long Island is what's important."

Now, whoever is quoting that seems to be pushing the ToH hardline. But facts are facts, and breaking a lease of NY Isles's proportions will be hard to do. Anyone saying it will be easy is likely to push the other side in this press war.

Maybe this battle needs to happen. It just seems another foot is pressed upon the backs of already hard-pressed NY Islander fans, who have been dealing with years and years of disappointment and the kind of antics no sports fan should face.

What is clear is that this war of words will continue unabated. Look to here from this blogger to try and unspin the rhetoric.

Possible Things Sean Avery Is Up to Now!

B.D. Gallof — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:52:12 -0500

I am sure you all have been wondering on what Sean Avery has been up after the Dallas Star's declared he was anathema after his "sloppy seconds" debacle earlier this season. Luckily, I am here to provide some key snapshots on what possible things the bad boy of fashion and anger management has been up to. Example: A white russian swilling bowling burnout called "The Dude".

Begin Slideshow

Are the NY Islanders' Woes Due to Bad Luck or Overspeed?

B.D. Gallof — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:11:50 -0500

There are 35 games left to what has been an excruciating season for Islander fans. If we look back at the last 35, it would take us all the way back to Nov. 4th, when the Isles won a slew of games and were actually making some think about .500.

Backup goalie, Joey MacDonald, was the toast of Long Island. "Overspeed" was working and the birds were singing. The Lighthouse Project wasn't yet in the middle of a political tug-of-war and just merely "slow." I didn't have the NHL steamed at me. Ahhh, those were the days!

Well, then it all changed. Since Nov. 4th, the Isles only won 10 of 35 games. After Dec., the Isles have only won three games. Talk about staring into an abyss.

One of the things I wrote back at the start of the this season was a concern that Coach Scott Gordon's "Overspeed" system might lead to many injuries at this part of the year.

It is what led me to believe that we'd drop to at least 12th place in the standings. Instead, as of Jan. 18th, out of 45 games, the Isles have a 276 mans games lost, which is unbelievably huge.

Now, is this all "bad luck"? Hardly. Most of this years injuries has been a very generally termed "groin strain." This is an improvement over the "lower body injury" and other generic stupidity that teams were touting. My guess is that even "groin strain" has been liberally used.

What I believe this all indicates is that the "Overspeed" system can lead to injuries. Unless you are young with a groin of steel, you are susceptible. Gordon's system might be good for the kids of the AHL, and better ice at Bridgeport.

On the pocked-up mush of the Coliseum ice surface with veteran and with others that do not exactly fit the coach's system template, it has led to a cavalcade of hobbled players.

Look, this was not a team with a whole lot of depth or skill in the first place, but the injury issue along with the system which has been publicly criticized by future trading fodder Brendan Witt, seems like the two ton gorilla in the lockeroom.

There is not a doubt that the "Overspeed" system has worked for Gordon in the AHL. Providence's success is well recorded. The Isles AHL team now uses this same system and has done quite well. So, here is a proven AHL system.

But the NHL? Not so proven.

Next season will be make or break for Gordon's scheme (the scheme, not the coach). Which means, as I alluded in my last blog, the Isles will be working this trade deadline to make sure those players who do not fit it are gone.

So chances of actually tearing it up in the next 35 games and being injury free are about as likely as me and Gary Bettman sharing tea and crumpets laughing about what a delightful comedic scamp I am.

The biggest question however is, if the Isles actually start winning some games, will the fans really come on board when they and everyone else know that the top two draft picks are franchise players who can aid the long-term turnaround?

My guess is any savvy fan will prefer the Isles remaining in 30th place, where it won't matter who wins the first lottery pick, and are assured a N.2 key draft pick.

The Isles can draft deep and wide, like they did last year. It might reap rewards, eventually, but for the Isles to rise from the muck anytime soon, they will need highly skilled franchise players that are potential stars.

Well, in my humble opinion, anyway.

(Source: James Mirtle (or as I like to call him my pet name: Judas), fromtherink.com)

New York Islanders: Changes Are Coming

B.D. Gallof — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:10:09 -0500

New York Islanders GM Garth Snow's decision late last season to rebuild right before the trade deadline was when this internal discussion got really hot. A new framework was installed on reality versus expectations in Islanders Country.

The Islanders administration got on-board, including owner Charles Wang.

Wang had built a relationship of trust with his new GM. As the season wore on, the pair got closer and could usually be seen walking around together at functions. Eventually, he got on-board with Snow's vision as well.

As we know, coach Ted Nolan was not as supportive. In fact, he began to disassociate himself to that year's free agents and the previous summer process between him and Snow.

Between the two, there is still a bone of contention where Nolan says he was out of the loop for the summer's free agent reshuffle of Josef Vasicek, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Mike Comrie. The Isles argue that Nolan was an integral part of planning and free agency in the offseason.

My belief is also the latter.

It was only Nolan pushing hard that seemed to get center Alexei Yashin and his contract out of town. The convincing mantra that might have swayed Snow and Wang could have been the assurance that without Yashin, they would be a more aggressive and competitive team.

For a while, they did. When the wheels fell off, they found that facade shattered and what was left was a battle between the coach, a goalie, and some players.

Since then, undercurrents of bad vibes remain from the now former coach. Nolan, who abhorred center Mike Comrie, was outraged when he remained on the team last year at the trade deadline, and was signed for the next season.

He felt right wing Bill Guerin was a "washed up bum," and still feels goalie Rick DiPietro was the pivot that jettisoned him.

Despite all the talk about injuries, which are true, we fast forward to this year's mess of a season.

I can say plainly that after making this commitment to rebuild, the Islanders' front office was not expecting a playoff run—or even anything remotely close. Dead last? OK, I think they did not quite expect that either.

But most felt, even if everyone was healthy, they would be 10th or below.

I mean, why else choose a coach who plays a developmental system unless you are more interested in player development?

A coach who has some veterans stubbornly wanting him to change his methods. And the youth need to commit to that system, which has been the case at Bridgeport of the AHL, where the results have been evident.

Those results will assure that this coming trade deadline sees the type of changes that move those unwilling or struggling veterans and return draft picks or prospects that can work in that template.

It means players like defenseman Brendan Witt are really assured to be gone, and maybe Comrie as well.

Chris Campoli, who has struggled, might possibly be available. He certainly would bring back more value than a struggling Gervais, who seems to "get it" and then "not get it" so often. It's as if his hockey-playing brain is an Etch-a-Sketch.

With word of Guerin and center Doug Weight being available, despite their success in that system (especially Weight's), the Isles must concentrate on the long haul and start to acquire draft picks.

Sure, Boston is a possibility for Guerin, but don't look past either the Flyers or perhaps the Devils. There is very little chance that the Isles will trade with the Rangers.

Someone who will not be dealt is center Mike Sillinger, who will have to have surgery on his hip, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

Since he is at the end of his contract with the Isles, it is not guaranteed that he will try to make a return next season at the age of 38.

Coach Scott Gordon seemed to depend on Sillinger's faceoff prowess very quickly. If Weight and Guerin are dealt, there might be an opportunity for Silly to return because they will still need some sort of veteran presence.

Meanwhile, the Isles sit with a host of first-round picks regardless of who wins the Tavares/Hedman sweepstakes. And they already have three second-round picks.

Despite a replenished farm system, they would certainly like some blue-chip pieces that maximize a brighter future.

All the talk about the Lighthouse Project and the rumors of KC has conveniently made the awful losing season and pressure on the Isles dissipate quickly.

I alluded yesterday to the idea that this was more talk and an attempt to leverage a slow process they want kicked into gear. It has given them some breathing room to not have every whine or struggle splashed on a back page.

Instead, the heat is on Kate Murray, the Town of Hempstead head, who might be trying to wait till November's County Executive election when she can move on, which would allow her to dodge political onus for the project.

Yes, the local politicians on Long Island seem to be a bunch of backpedaling cowards. This comes as no surprise.

But, in the meantime, as the Isles careen through the end of January as badly as they swept their own feet out from underneath them in December, the March 4 NHL trade deadline is not that far away.

February is the month when final decisions will be made and the proof that the only eyes that matter for the Isles are aimed solely on the future.

Expect significant change soon.

New York Islanders' Kansas City Situation Is Decadent and Depraved

B.D. Gallof — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:46:06 -0500

I sit in my blog semi-retirement wearing a hawaiian shirt, bermuda shorts, and smoke a large cigar.

I sip Don Julio tequila as I relax, and let the sun wash over me.

I have been blogging since March of 2007, and blogging about the Islanders since September of 2008 in an official capacity.

Sometimes, even in semi-retirement, the hands look for things to do. So I will leave them here on this site for your persusal, ire, agreement or dismissal.

I might do one in a few days, a few weeks, or hell, a few months. Who knows?

But, the good thing about a semi-retirement, is that I now have to please nobody. If I'd written the truth I knew for the two years, about 60 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Suffolk to Nassau County.

Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of hockey blogging.

So let's dig a deeper for some truth on the Long Island atomic bomb of a possible Kansas City move by the NY Islanders...

Much has been made of the Isles' planned pre-season game in Kansas City. So much, it is as if that the groundwork for the slew of articles that followed from all the local papers seems to have been laid long before the KC announcement came over the wire.

In fact, as I was reporting that the Islanders were internally talking about 2010, it is very likely a final gambit was being hatched from far higher up to press hard to make sure if 2009's groundbreaking wasn't going to happen, they were going to make the Town of Hempstead's life very uncomfortable. Or at least ensure that 2010 was iron clad.

Since then, it has been a deluge of articles, rumors, innuendo, and a whole lot of hot air. One has to wonder if those writers who filled Newsday with all sorts of angles were clued in a few days or weeks before it all dropped. A paper who was giving less space for Isles games and information suddenly blew up into several pages at the drop of a hat.

It has been a very poorly-kept secret that the Town of Hempstead's (ToH) Kate Murray is eyeing Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's position. The Republican Murray has been sending quite a few indications, including commercials on local cable on what a swell job she is doing for taxpayers.

Another might be that when Chris Botta of IslandersPointBlank.com interviewed Nassau Exec, Tom Suozzi, about the Lighthouse Project, he piled it at the feet of Murray despite the fact that it is State Law that the Town of Hempstead do a environmental impact study. Suozzi clearly knew this, but laid it on her and the ToH feet anyway.

When I spoke to a source in the Town of Hempstead late last year, they cited that some main issues was the lack of plans for sewage, water, and other things that were slowing or at least causing some problems. When I contacted the Lighthouse Project people, they told me the water issue was handled and fine, and it is very often that things like sewage are done at this stage.

Well, then, why is there a pile of sewage bubbling up to add more murk to the entire situation? If things are so hunky dory, why has it escalated to NHL head Gary Bettman to make statements pushing the Lighthouse Project and ripping the County? And now, far more.

The most interesting thing about the Lighthouse Project itself is that despite Charles Wang's constant push for 2009, most political flacks around the area have always been thinking that is far too soon, and it would be at least a year or two later. So this has clearly been said to Wang and promptly ignored.

Meanwhile, Kate Murray has repeatedly parroted the term "generous offer" to Charles Wang and Scott Rechler in which they can renovate Nassau Coliseum and then work on the Lighthouse Project thereafter. But that ignores that the the whole enchilada is the real issue and a far more important to be solved.

The truth is, the Coliseum renovation is a small blip in the scheme of things and all that is at stake. The rest is where the money is, and therefore, paramount.

Yet, that said, despite a small thing, Charles Wang seems entrenched with a 2009 date that is coming and then going to renovate the Coliseum. Well, something has had to give.

It did. The Isles changed locations for a training further west and agreed to a preseason exhibition against the LA Kings in KC, and then all hell broke loose.

The truth is that there is very little chance that the Islanders go to KC. This is merely the escalation of a game of chicken by a slow process, a politically upward-seeking Republican ham, and a real estate deal that is about far more than a local hockey team.

Wang cannot afford the blowback if he sells the team, puts together the land package without a local sports draw, and expects people to run there. There is simply too much at stake for both sides.

In a political climate that has had most Democrats trounce Republicans, Kate Murray also cannot afford blowback by the Isles fan constituents when she might try to run against Suozzi later this year.

It might even be more clear to that the process might suddenly move forward far quicker when she is visibly running, as to maximize what might be a long hard if not impossible uphill battle. In fact, might this be the very reason that the Project sits in limbo?

If so, it is no wonder there is a power struggle going on between her and Wang.

The politicization of the Lighthouse Project would be a bad sign. For it is due to local politics that Nassau Coliseum has gotten dilapidated and with no good plans for the area in the first place. For years, politics reaped what it has sown, and the area has suffered. The Coliseum itself is a running joke in hockey circles.

Fact is, the Lighthouse Project has—at least now—become politically charged and now a lightning rod for all. Many ride on its momentum, but ground to a halt it will then cause a tug of war as both sides entrench themselves.

The losers are the Isles fans who are being manipulated over this scheme while fear and public relations are being piled in heaps to leverage movement. The Isles fans have been on a 15 year roller-coaster, and the further this all goes, the further some might walk away from the whole situation.

The battle of attrition that is going on through the press needs to stop. Common sense and the extraction from political machine must be made for any movement by both sides. The Lighthouse Project means much more than just a local hockey team, it means a revitalization for the entire area into something that can benefit the local government, businesses, consumers and families.

If the KC talk continues, they might as well do what they threaten, because those few Isles fans left will tune out and drop out simply because they cannot afford to be emotionally vested anymore. It simply hurts too much.

Fans know when they are being used.

Who Is The Most Powerful In Sports These Days? YOU!

B.D. Gallof — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:53:02 -0400

It used to be a clear case of who was high on the totem pole of the sports in the United States. Sure it might change time to time with a new fresh face of some new star behemoth or some money-spending owner. Maybe some phenomenon would erupt, his or her face splashed over the sports landscape.

However, what seems to be gaining steam, in between this flavors-of-the-moment, is a new kid on the block.

You.

You are quickly changing much of the sports hierarchy. Businesses are scrambling, adjusting, and flexing to deal with this new interloper who they thought they had down pat.

For years, sports teams, corporate marketers, and network executives knew that the fan sat in either a stiff narrow seat, their armchair at home in their den, or maybe slapping back a few at the local pub.

This simple relationship was a comfort. It was an established pecking order that did not change for years and years.

Thanks to the internet, you are far more than some didactic relationship entity. Joe and Jane Fan have become far more proactive, moving away from the usual two-prong sports watcher...live or on TV only.

Instead, you have moved over to the digital landscape where you are empowered to comment, vent, read, vote, and watch in a completely new area. This has made sports teams, networks and marketing gurus break out in sweats. Because that new area is out of their carefully crafted control.

These days you or I can waltz along the digital ether and find our own information. We do not have to wait for some talking head to hand us their homer opinions. We find our own. We make our own. We post, blog, look up stats, search for articles, watch video and listen to podcasts.

How powerful are we? It depends on the sport. But show me one that doesn't have some network, mainstream media, or sport parent trying to create their own digital footprint as they finally have spied fans skirting around them.

My own experience in hockey can be an exclamation point to the new school of fan and our empowerment. I started blogging last year. I was quickly snatched up by what is now one of the biggest U.S. hockey websites to ply my opinion, knowledge and chutzpah.

Soon after, the NY Islanders themselves were looking to create an official press box just for bloggers. In nearly six months, I was credentialed, selected as one of the founding members of the NY Islander Blog Box, given access to all home games, locker room and coach interviews. I, along with my compatriots, found ourselves in SportsBusiness Journal and Sports Illustrated.

Me. A fan. I was in the house where established media had to shuffle aside to fit my brutish keyboard-clacking figure. I will be continuing to do the same next hockey season. Other NHL teams are considering doing the same thing as the Islanders did; recognizing the new sort of fan in their midst.

We have taken over. Many in the mainstream actually resent our crossing of the lines. They preferred that previous divide and static relationship. Things were so much easier that way.

Buzz Bissinger, lauded author of Friday Night Lights and other legendary books, basically lost his mind while sputtering and jabbering, saliva spackling Deadspin's L'enfant terrible, Will Leitch on Bob Costas's ham-handed attempt to understand blogging and the new sports frontier. I am quite sure at least half of you have read about it on your frequently checked newsfeeds and favorite sites.

But tell me this, fellow sport powerhouse . . .

Have you commented on some article online? Have you voted on some poll? Are you reading some other sport website? How many are bookmarked on your browser?

You are what make the new sports hierarchy. You. Me. We.

As some will throw Tiger Woods, Sidney Crosby, or other tower figures of sport skill to be glorified by the light they shine, they are missing the boat. The fan is who is in control these days. And woe to those who haven't gotten the message yet because those are the ones wondering where all their demographics went.

Barry Melrose to Light It Up in Tampa Bay?

B.D. Gallof — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:11:40 -0400

Perhaps you are still scratching your head, wondering how the cream puff who covered hockey on ESPN suddenly found his way to another coaching gig. One has to imagine The Mullet gloriously flying down between Grandma Ethel and Grandpa Irving, ready to be presented to the Tampa Bay hockey community the other day. If only we could have spied their stare.

Barry returns to coaching after 12 years on the outside. He says it's because he wants to be "on the inside again." However, Barry has wanted to be on the inside for quite a while. Only now, since the new Tampa ownership suddenly said to themselves, "Hey how bout that mullet guy on TV?" have things suddenly changed.

"They approached me. I couldn't wait to say yes," said Barry with a gleaming smile, surrounded by the oily quaff that sits on his cranium like a lifeless poodle.

Yesterday's official announcement surprised nobody, mainly because Melrose has openly discussed the possibility of his taking the Tampa job, acting like the big cheese in various hockey events towards the end of the season.

Melrose's move was the worst kept secret in hockey (besides Brian Burke leaving for Toronto once his tenure with the Ducks is over). We can call Melrose eager. Or maybe he's just full of himself. But is he the right guy? Well, maybe.

Personally, I think he's the wrong guy...but he just might find himself in the right situation.

Tampa Bay's team is in shambles only four years removed from a Stanley Cup, perhaps languishing under the tight yoke of John Tortorella for at least two years too many. The players seemed to tune him out before the 2007-08 season even began.

Then again, Torts had no control on the mess at the goalie position, which has unraveled ever since the Lightning dealt Nikolai Khabibulin. Nobody has been able to fill his goalie pads since. And that includes Khabibulin, who didn't exactly blow the world away in Chicago.

GM Jay Feaster, however, still remains GM, despite his role being, to use the term pitched by new ownership, "evaluated." Ohhh, spooky!

But at least the Chicago Blackhawks finally turned the corner. Tampa has not, despite the presence of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Dan Boyle, and many other stars.

Betting-maven Rick Tocchet and recently retired Minnesota fan favorite Wes Walz quickly followed Melrose to Florida. They will serve as assistant coaches as they try to fix the Lightning. Also along for the ride will be 2008 No. 1 overall pick Steven Stamkos. Not a bad band-aid, to say the least. Stamkos stands poised with a good offense to make a difference.

But, here is one concern...

I have never been convinced of Melrose's coaching acumen. It seemed to me that Wayne Gretzky was the reason the the L.A. Kings got to the Stanley Cup Finals. Melrose coached Los Angeles from 1992 to 1995. But their biggest success was only in that first year. Thereafter, he became an ESPN personality, and was left out of coaching conversations.

Oren Koules (a Hollywood horror film producer) and Len Barrie (former NHLer and real estate guy) have quickly begun their work as owners after gaining league approval.

Perhaps they knew Tampa needed a "nice guy" to juxtapose the sometimes cantankerous and passionate former coach. Player's coaches are not overrated—nor are they always an answer.

Willie Randolph didn't work out in New York. But then again, a player's coach can be the right tonic on the right team. And Tampa Bay might reap that reward this year or next.

What is concerning, however, is that the team plans on being "shockingly aggressive" in free agency. Sounds like next season might be shockingly disappointing with that impatient attitude and mindset.

But Tampa has a lot of talent. If they add a key player or two and play their game right, they might just be able to put something cohesive and effective together.

That's right, a mulleted man might be behind that bench for longer than you can imagine if the chemistry is right. Keep the kids from the barber, because there might be a new sensation in the Sunshine State...

Besides, of course, pants hiked up past the belly and socks past the knees.

Don Imus: Issues Lost in a Snake Dance of Political Correctness

B.D. Gallof — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:02:25 -0400

There was a change on Sept. 11. Perhaps you noticed. That event changed the climate of political correctness in our country. As a nation, we got scared, anxious, and frustrated. We seemed to stifle our own words.

Radio was once a bastion of free speech. They pushed envelopes and expressions. But today, radio has turned into a DMZ between two different factions: people who look for things to complain about, and people who are being complained about.

When Don Imus restarted his radio career six months back with the pledge to "mend wounds" caused by his racist and sexist comments about Rutgers women's basketball team, perhaps he opened himself up as a giant target for a peanut gallery of those who were just waiting to prey upon his first misstep.

Yesterday, they got their chance, in what must have been an Ewok celebration for those armchair parents of America.

On Monday, during an on-air conversation about suspended Dallas Cowboy football player "Pacman" Jones, Imus asks, "What color is he?"

Warner Wolf responds, "African-American".

Imus retorts, "There you go. Now we know."

There is no doubt that what drops from Imus' lips this time is not smart, savvy, nor tactful. Especially in lieu of the vilification he went through that had him fired and off-the-air from CBS and MSNBC.

Dumb and dumber might not quite encompass the ramifications here. But here is the rub: how can we judge when the outcry and catcalls are made so quickly, that most normal citizens and listeners do not even have a chance to judge it themselves? It is judged like a lightning strike from many with political and social interests before it even gets to us.

WABC and Imus quickly circled the wagons.

"I meant that he was being picked on because he's black," Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman as soon as it hit the news circuits. Imus and company have been quick to cite the new and improved ethnic diversity of his producing team and co-hosts.

But he has not put this new staff between his synapses nor between his brain and his tongue as his gravel acerbic words drop like WMDs from his lips. His statement was that he was trying to "make a sarcastic point".

The problem is that his career has become a sarcastic point to what radio has been shorn into, as many acts have gone over to SIRIUS and XM, like Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony. And even there, they have been subjected to pressure and sensitivity from a new public-at-large who wants, not just to comment or have an opinion, but to control and remove.

So, is this the fault of Imus? Or the fault of the cavalcade of politico correctophobes who sit waiting for the latest outrage, seeking to hit it like a pitch from Billy Wagner in the top of the ninth inning?

A bit of both, I'm afraid.

For the two sides are entwined like a snake eating it's own head. They feed one another in some mottled twist that is seeping any substance from the medium. We have barely a moment to perceive, weigh, and contemplate where the world-at-large already wants to respond for us. One pitches, the other bats, and the game is played without much of a regular Joe and Joan's participation.

"I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes," says Al Sharpton. "We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part."

Ominous words from a man who has at times launched himself like a viper into the fray of anything that is racial for over 20 years.

Meanwhile, WABC and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Vice President Phil Boyce, has already made statements of being satisfied by Imus' explanation. But the whole fiasco smacks to me of many things.

Do some people not have a racially-sensitive bone in their body? Perhaps. Only Don will really know what he meant. But we will never have an honest dialogue to address anything tangible, because reaction causes one to take a defensive posture.

The world at large has become a measuring stick to every word that comes out of a mouth or in print. The reaction is so palpable that it drowns all else. When it causes people to duck and weave, we will never know intent or the point in the first place.

The problem is that neither side is having a real conversation with one another to bridge the divide. That large divide between race, intentions, perceptions, and subjections. Talking points and subjects are lost between outrage, opinion, and action before we ever get to wrestle with tough, nuanced, and textured issues that have no easy answer.

In to that, the fault is both, whether they like it or not. Nobody wants a real conversation. Yet judgments and excuses are raining down just the same.

Tread lightly, they are listening.