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Knicks vs. Oakley Part II plus Marlins and other MLB tidbits

Once again the biggest sports story is coming out of New York.  In a sequel to Charles Oakley being kicked out of Madison Square Garden and subsequently arrested, he has now been banned from the Garden. Obviously there are conflicting stories about the events of Wednesday night, but one of the more curious questions regarding the incident is why the head of security of Madison Square Garden was fired.

Knicks owner, James Dolan has indicated that Oakley was belligerent and may have a drinking problem.  Oakley says he wasn’t out of line.  Regardless, if Oakley was out of line, as Dolan says, why did the head of security get canned right after Oakley was led out of the Garden?  It looks like Dolan was looking for a scapegoat.

Obviously I don’t know what happened, but Oakley himself said he had a couple of drinks before the incident, and video indicates that, for whatever reason, Oakley became agitated, so why are so many NBA stars backing Oakley?  By most accounts, Dolan is a crummy owner, but still, former players shouldn’t get card Blanche to berate on him in public. 

And the award for the most dysfunctional team in the NBA goes to...

But for anybody inclined to defend Dolan, he makes it hard by going on talk shows and Twitter to try and bury Oakley.  It looks like a bad sequel to Dumb and Dumber, or just another day with the Knicks.  The Bulls briefly gave the Knicks a run for their money as the biggest joke in the NBA, but kudos to the Knicks for responding to the challenge.  It’s like they told the Bulls, “I’ll see your stupid and raise you an idiotic.”

Possibly Marlins marketing ploy?

It was recently reported that Marlins owner, Jeffrey Loria had a handshake agreement in place to sell the Marlins.  The other side of that transaction involves Joshua Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s brother-in- law.  If the deal goes through, look for Kellyanne Conway to tell people to go to Marlins game.  The team store could also provide and outlet for Ivanka’s line of clothing.

Cubs still looking good

In other baseball news, a Reno sports book has come out with line on projected wins by MLB teams for 2017. The Cubs lead the pack with a total of 95.5 projected wins.  The Cleveland Indians are second with 92.5.  The White Sox come in at 73.5.  I’m not a betting man, but I like the Cubs for a little over 95 wins, but the Indians to go a bit under 92.  Hitting seems like a sounder strength going into the season than pitching. Last year the Indians had to deal with the loss of Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Young pitching is a pretty fragile commodity.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how things shake pout this season.

More next time.