During Saturday's Penguins-Islanders game, about 250
Isles fans "demonstrated their fury during an organized
protest rally" because they are "incensed that the Isles'
potential sale is being detained" by SMG, according to Barry
Baum of the N.Y. POST. The protestors are "outraged that
SMG refuses" to allow the team's Nassau Coliseum lease to be
bought out by prospective buyers of the franchise. Holding
signs, "at least the ones that weren't confiscated by SMG
security," and voicing chants, the self-proclaimed group
called "The World's Most Abused Fans" aimed their "anger at
several targets," including SMG, SMG lead negotiator and
former U.S. Senator Al D'Amato and Nassau County Exec Tom
Gulotta. Isles management supported the protest by "not
playing music during the first" TV timeout when the
protestors began chanting, "SMG, set us free!" Protest
organizer Bob Ceprano: "We are getting the word out. We are
making a difference." Ceprano said that the same group will
"demonstrate in front of Gulotta's house," in Merrick, NY,
"possibly next week" (N.Y. POST, 2/13). In N.Y., Alan Hahn
wrote that the Isles cooperated with the protest, "maybe a
bit too obviously," by showing the protest group on the
scoreboard's JumboTron "a few times during the game" and
playing the songs "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and
"We're Not Gonna Take It" (NEWSDAY, 2/13). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir wrote on the situation surrounding the franchise
and quoted team President John Sanders saying that some of
the fans' frustration has "shifted" from the Isles' owners
to SMG for "stalling talks" with a group of potential buyers
led by former MSG President Bob Gutkowski and Charles
Koppelman (N.Y. TIMES, 2/12).
LOOK IN THE MIRROR? Also in N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes
that while team "management was eager to go along with the
anti-SMG protest," the ownership "has never shown a
commitment to the team beyond having it serve as the
centerpiece for a new, soup-to-nuts real estate complex."
While FSN covered the protest, "somewhere high within the
network's Cablevision ownership, some executives had to
swallow hard" because potential Isles buyer Gutkowski "was
forced to walk the plank" at MSG after the Garden was
purchased by Cablevision (N.Y. POST, 2/14).
