A day after losing out in the bidding for the Jets to
Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood Johnson IV, Cablevision
Chair Charles Dolan discussed the bid process, his media
entities and the possibility of purchasing the Mets with the
N.Y. TIMES' Richard Sandomir. Dolan: "Here I am, rejected
three times. The exercise of buying an N.F.L. team is good
for one's humility. You find things wrong about you that
you never knew existed." Dolan said that an agreement he
signed that would have separated the Jets from his
Cablevision assets "provided adequate protection against his
corporate power in the N.F.L." Dolan: "[The league] needed
to be convinced that you would operate the Jets as if it was
the only interest you have, without reference to anything
else you have an interest in. At first it gave me pause.
If you operate the Jets and have the best sports
organization in New York with Cablevision, there would be
efficiencies by bringing them together. But the reality of
their concerns was obvious." Dolan also agreed with the NFL
that if he owned the Jets he would "not vote" on TV issues
pertaining to the league. Dolan: "We came to agreement a
number of times, and each time they had to be redrafted and
they became more restrictive. The N.F.L. was encountering
opinions from various owners, and the league wanted to
satisfy them. It was clear the N.F.L. was trying to
preserve some institutional ideas about how it should be
run." Dolan said that he was aware of the owners'
"concerns" about his entities but "was surprised by how long
the concerns lingered." Dolan did not elaborate on specific
plans for the future and "refused to say if Cablevision's
attention would now turn to trying to buy the Mets." Dolan:
"There are no discussions in progress. We have to wait to
see if there's a role for us" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/13).
TUNA'S STAKE: ESPN.com's Chris Mortensen wrote that
Bill Parcells "will have a difficult time turning down ...
Johnson on a return to the sidelines," as besides being made
the highest-paid coach in the league, Parcells could also
"walk away with a small percentage of ownership" (ESPN.com,
1/12). In N.Y., Mike Freeman writes that Johnson "is
prepared to give" Parcells a deal that would double his
salary, making him the "first" $5M-per-year coach in the
league. A more "unlikely" scenario involves Parcells
acquiring a "small piece" of ownership, which would require
the approval of 24 of the league's 31 owners (N.Y. TIMES,
1/13). On MSG's "SportsDesk," Marv Albert reported, "At the
Jets camp at Hofstra today, Bill Parcells and Jets President
Steve Gutman had their first meeting with the new owner,
Woody Johnson. They met for two and a half hours. It was
described as a good introductory meeting" (MSG, 1/12).
