Rhoden Gives Isiah a Pass

I actually agree that Zeke and Mills should be fired because this entire incident is a huge embarrassment to what once was one of the hallmark franchises in all sports.

But because Rhoden isn't screaming "fire Zeke now," does not mean he's giving him a free pass.

 

He hasn't been fired yet. Do you really think Dolan is gonna fire him?

 

I don't think he's getting fired, but that was not the point of this thread.
To say Rhoden is giving Isiah a pass because he's not caling for his head on a silver platter is inaccurate.

 

I could be wrong, but using the Barbers in his column was to point out how little they know about NFL history, in particular to Joe Gilliam and Fritz Pollard being the first two African-American quarterbacks in the NFL. Rhoden attempted to use that as a comparison to what Mills, Zeke, and Brown were dealing with, sans all of the sordid mess: they were, in effect, running a professional team on a day-to-day basis. Mills, the MSG exec, Zeke the coach and GM, Brown a VP in the Knicks organization. Rhoden's assertion is that how many organizations in the NFL, NBA, or MLB would have three blacks in top positions? Not many. But for the Knicks and MSG, they are in the spotlight because it's NYC.

All three of them knew going in how much of the spotlight was going to be on them in their respective positions and the historical impact they had: three African-Americans in prominent roles with a high-profile sports team. History, as Rhoden suggested, was being made because of them. It backfired in spectacular fashion.

It's not a good analogy Rhoden made, but I can see where he was trying to go with it. The bad thing is, as we are seeing, is that Zeke and Brown couldn't get along. That's understanable, but the manner in which Zeke, allegedly, went as far as to make it unconfortable for her to continue working there. Mills only issued one warning to Zeke to stop, but that was the extent of him stepping in to end it. All three of them are making history: embarassing themselves and the Knicks/MSG as a whole with the culture that was running around inside MSG.

 

I think we all get the point Rhoden was trying to make, but it was a bad one. The Average Joe is not going to know about Gilliam, especially by name. No one is going to be able to connect with that.

 

I think I said that. Just sayin'. ???

 

This is just a poorly written column. (Although to say it gives Isiah a pass is inaccurate.) Rhoden never makes it clear how the Joe Gilliam material connects to the Isiah part of it. My problem with Rhoden isn't his point of view, or the fact that he writes so often about race. It's that his columns are very often poorly constructed. I usually read his stuff and think, "There's a column in here somewhere." This is just another example.

 

I agree with you that Boom's "giving a pass" characterization is definately inaccurate and unfair. But a question: Would Rhoden be "calling for a head on a silver platter" if it had been a non-African American GM who'd made the same comments and been the subject of the same lawsuit? I think we know the answer. Rhoden would've been leading the lynch mob.

 

This thread starter does NOT possess analytical skills.

 

If you don't want to look more of an ass that you usually do, I'd suggest never throwing out any stupidity like that ever again.

 

Not to mention that Rhoden failed to mention Eldridge Dickey and Marlon Briscoe - both who played QB in the NFL and both before Gilliam. I view them even more as pioneers than Gilliam.

 

Here's where Isiah gets a pass...you have to connect the dots, and then wonder about the picture it makes.

This is Isiah's quote (there are others in the transcript) from his deposition last week:

And here's a Rhoden column--written in the wake of Imus--about women in sports, and gender and race….for some reason this won’t post with the actual column, there must be some weird code in it:

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/sports/09rhoden.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1190664700-vwDGkSwOwWhRmxaYuU8QYQ

You tell me: If Rhoden is so sincerely concerned about the treatment of young women in sports--and particularly minority women in sports--how can he not feel the same way about Isiah as he does about Imus? Is it enough to just go with the 'stern rebuke,' as someone said here, or should he be calling for Isiah's firing? Given Rhoden's history on the subject, I would agree that anything less than the latter is giving him a pass.