James Dolan Talks Rangers, Knicks With "Mike & The Mad Dog"

MSG Chair James Dolan appeared on WFAN’s “Mike & the Mad Dog” yesterday, where he said, “let’s just make this (interview) about the Rangers,” who lead the Thrashers 3-0 in their first-round NHL playoff series. Dolan: “I’m happy for the team. Is that vindication? I’m not sure I ever felt really indicted. I felt that when we were losing -– and you guys were right at the front of the line -– we got what we deserved, and now, we’re playing better and I think we’re getting what we deserve now.” WFAN’s Chris Russo asked Dolan whether the organization “raised the Rangers ticket prices after they made the playoffs last year and will you raise the ticket prices again to good levels based on making the playoffs two years in a row?” Dolan said jokingly, “If you think they’d be good levels, yes, we’ll raise them to that.” He said “chances are” prices will increase.

CHANGING COURTS: WFAN’s Mike Francesa then said, “Let’s get to the Knicks,” to which Dolan replied, “Let’s stay on the Rangers.” But Francesa pressed on, “Do you regret your earlier statement about ‘Isiah’s back’ considering what’s happened to the team?” Dolan: “No ... (because) I’m very confident in the decision that I made. I feel it was the right decision.”

Here are some excepts from the interview:

Francesa: “What are your thoughts about being 3-15 since [extending Thomas’ contract]?”
Dolan: “I think I have a lot of guys that are out [injured]. I talked to the team the night before, and basically I told them I was unhappy that we didn’t make the playoffs, as I knew they were unhappy, but I also thanked them for the effort that they put in.”

Francesa: “You’re willing to basically hitch your wagon to Isiah right now for the foreseeable future?”
Dolan: “Yes, because I think you have to do that. As an owner, I think you have to settle down on a management team and on a strategy, and then you commit to it, and that’s how you’re successful with it.” Dolan said he would consider bringing in Jerry West “only if Isiah asked for it.”

Francesa: “In your gut, do you think the Knicks are on the right track?”
Dolan: “In my gut, I believe that this team is on the right track.”

Francesa: “The fans were very good to you this year, far more patient than I would be. I’m shocked how patient the fans were.”
Dolan: “You can’t criticize the fans of the Knicks, I’m sorry.”
Francesa: “We can.”
Dolan: “Those are my customers, guys, and I love them.”

Addressing reports that Blues Owner Dave Checketts, a former MSG exec, was denied entry into a Blues-Rangers game at the arena in March or the opportunity to buy tickets to a party for Blues President John Davidson, Dolan said, “It’s barely worth talking about. ... He’s not a friend of ours. ... His problem was we didn’t give him free tickets. He wanted more tickets, he wanted more access. Dave Checketts still thinks that he runs the Garden.”

Dolan, on a recent profile in SI: “That was a hatchet job. ... There were a lot of things in there that just weren’t true ... (and) we were taken by surprise by the tenor of the article” (“Mike & the Mad Dog,” YES, 4/17).