It Happened This Week: Striking BackHillary Clinton hit Barack Obama on Reverend Jeremiah Wright even as critics slammed her for fibbing about Bosnian sniper fire, Sean Combs smacked down rumors that he was involved with Tupac’s shooting, and other events of the week that was.
the sports section
Isiah Thomas: Nearly Half As Popular As George Bush!Isiah Thomas was already having a pretty bad week, what with the Knicks courting his replacement before they’ve even fired him. But today comes news that his approval rating in New York State is a meager 16 percent.
gossipmonger
For Cecilia Sarkozy, Revenge Is a Dish Best Served During the Venetian HourCecilia Sarkozy, the ex-wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, is set to get married to PR exec Richard Attias in New York on March 22. (Friends say it’s a “revenge” wedding.) Shelley Ross was so hated in her capacity as executive producer of CBS’ The Early Show that CBS News president Sean McManus didn’t even wait to find a replacement before firing her. Colin Farrell tried hitting on model Meghan Lowther at the Rose Bar, but found out the hard way that she has a boyfriend. The April issue of Elle features an interview given by Michelle Williams right after she broke up with Heath Ledger. New York real-estate giant Steven Fisher, best known for turning the aircraft carrier Intrepid into a museum, is trying to get his own TV show. Gossip Girl’s Conor Paolo wants, uh, Daniel Day-Lewis to join the cast.
the sports section
Stephon Marbury Is Back, and PrayingStephon Marbury was back in Madison Square Garden last night after a week of absence forced by Isiah Thomas. (Marbury is on the injured list because of ankle surgery, but last week we learned that Thomas had banned the Knicks point guard from home games, and even went so far as to leave his name off a list of backcourt players when talking about the 2008–2009 season.) Marbury said that some of Thomas’s comments this week “bothered” him a lot, but that he “prayed to God” he would return full-time next season. From the Daily News:
“Whatever [Thomas] is saying he is going to do I can’t change his mind. I can tell you how I feel about the organization and how I feel about Mr. Dolan. He didn’t have to sign the bill for me to come here. I respect him a lot despite all of what is going on.”
Things have gotten so bad in Knicksville that now announcers rush through reading off Thomas’s name so the crowd won’t have time to boo. Marbury himself calls it a “circus.” Since it’s become clear that the feuding duo probably won’t both be back next season, but maybe one or the other will, the game of sucking up to Jimmy Dolan has begun.
STEPH: I WANNA STAY [NYP]
Stephon Marbury back in ‘circus’ [NYDN]
it happened this week
Blown AwayAs the first arctic blast of January weather whipped through town last week, the city was chilled by news that Iowans had frozen out New York’s candidates for the White House. Hillary Clinton’s last-minute plea on the first post-hibernation Letterman show —starring Dave’s new reindeer-wrangler beard—failed to help her, and she finished behind Barack Obama and John Edwards. Rudy Giuliani finished sixth behind Mike Huckabee but had left Iowa five days before the caucus anyway. Dark horse Michael Bloomberg denied that there was any significance in his attendance at a caucus of potential third-party candidates, though he took pokes at the front-runners’ lack of ideas. Fourth-place finisher Fred Thompson, who’s probably wishing he’d never quit as New York’s fictional D.A., lost his old Law & Order job to Sam Waterston.
the sports section
Isiah Thomas Finds a New Team Member to Hate OnDuring last night’s game against the Mavericks, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas went from just letting down his fans, as per usual, to downright turning against them. As Madison Square Garden (including fellow NYC athletes Oliver Perez and John Maine, who both pitch for the Mets) booed away, Isiah turned to a section of season-ticket holders and began accusing them of causing the Knicks’ poor play. We love the coverage of this for two reasons. One, because it seems like it was just one embittered fan who sparked not just the News and Post stories, but also an AP article that was picked up all over the country. All of the pieces on Isiah turning against fans contain quotes from Mara Altschuler, who Google tells us is a television producer who has worked for CBS and Martha Stewart. Altschuler, one of those white season-ticket holders Isiah doesn’t care about, was apparently so mad that contacting three major news outlets was the only thing that would make her feel better. The other awesome thing about this coverage is that Isiah allegedly called the fans in the Garden “the sixth player,” claiming that they had just as big an effect on play as the men on the court. Which is something we completely understand. It’s like how Manhattan was the fifth lady on Sex and the City, people! Except if the fifth lady somehow cockblocked the other ladies. And the other ladies couldn’t get a goddamned rebound to save their lives.
The Garden of Hate [NYP]
Isiah Thomas’ Appeal Lost on Fans [NYDN]
office-party patrol
John Mayer Was the Second-Tallest Man at the Sunshine Sachs Holiday Party
What’s that sucking sound? Oh, right — that’s the Ghost of Christmas Present siphoning all feeling but holiday cheer out of the city. It’s December, people, and you know what that means. Company holiday parties! This is the week the season kicks into high gear, and so we’re reintroducing our Office-Party Patrol feature. Last year, we had dedicated partygoer Julia Allison crash company booze fests, but now she is too booby and famous, so we’re doing it ourselves. If we can’t get into a party, we’ll accost the drunkest person we see leaving it and find out everything you’re missing. In today’s premier installment, we take you to the ever-evolving Sunshine Sachs PR party and the ever-devolving CollegeHumor.com fête — and we rank each one for food, drink, venue, debauchery, and exclusivity. Who won? Don’t be silly people — at office holiday parties, nobody wins.
the sports section
The Knicks Have Us All in a TizzyThe Knicks are in such a puzzling downward spiral that Daily News reporters can’t even agree on what’s up with their favorite team. After coach Isiah Thomas kicked the whole team off the court during practice yesterday for lack of “hustle,” the paper’s main article claims that there is “increasing speculation that Thomas is on the verge of being fired.” “It is a three-ring circus” among the players and staff, said a source. “It’s getting worse.” But Mike Lupica, the paper’s legendary sports columnist, says “Isiah Thomas can’t get fired for anything Jimmy [Dolan, chairman of the Knicks] still believes in Isiah, and there is no reason to believe that he’s going to stop any time soon.” Lupica suggests Dolan and Thomas stand in the middle of the Garden have a town-hall-style meeting, listening to what their paying fans have to say about the way they are destroying New York’s team. They’d never do it, but we’re desperately hoping that when fans start speaking with their wallets and stop buying tickets to watch team’s debacles, the pair will start listening up. That or Jimmy’s dad, Charles, will finally pull off his belt and whup the team (and his son) back into shape.
Can we say “whup”? Does that make us sound too butch?
Thomas Kicks Knicks Out Of Practice [NYDN]
Jim Dolan Still Listening to Isiah Thomas [NYDN]
in other news
Stephon Has an Alibi, and It’s a Good OneOkay, remember yesterday when everyone made such a big deal out of Stephon Marbury’s fleeing the Knicks in Phoenix and returning to New York all of a sudden? Nobody knew quite what was going on, not even Isiah Thomas, who had gotten in a nasty fight with Marbury on the team plane when he told the point guard he wouldn’t be starting in the night’s game. This spurred a lot of anti-Marbury sentiment, with columnists and pundits and us grumpily speculating as to what he might have been up to. Today, the Times figured at least part of it out. If you haven’t read about his activities during his two-day break, pick the most likely-sounding scenario from the below list:
A) He was plotting revenge on Thomas and spending his time figuring out how, as he put it, to “fuck him first.”
B) He was having sex with an intern in a truck.
C) He was at a Coney Island housing project grieving with the family of a deceased basketball coach who had mentored hundreds of talented players in the tough neighborhood, including Marbury (who once gave the coach a white Cadillac with vanity plates).
Ding Ding Ding! The Times says it’s C. Who’s the jerk now?
A Mentor of Street Ball Dies, and a Missing Knick Appears [NYT]
Earlier: Marbury Stephs on All Our Dreams
the sports section
Marbury Stephs on All Our DreamsA day after Stephon Marbury fled Phoenix after a major blowout with Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, and two days after the Daily News came out with a report that the point guard’s future with the team is in doubt, everybody is still clutching for information. ESPN.com has started a “Marbury Watch,” which is of course what any Website should do on such an occasion, and the Times called the whole thing “a startling sign of how badly his once-promising career has eroded.” The News asked, “When does Thomas officially get put on notice? Why should Thomas, after all he’s done to build nothing more than a mediocre team for years to come, be allowed to make what would be another radical, franchise-changing move?” And the Post, of course, put Marbury’s face on a milk carton and called him a “Basket Case.” But nearly everybody, including us, is obsessed with what Marbury shrieked to his team after hearing he wouldn’t start anymore: “Isiah has to start me,” he reportedly ranted. “I’ve got so much [stuff] on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can [get] me. But I’ll [get] him first. You have no idea what I know.” First of all, it’s awesome how they translate Marbury’s swears for us, as though we wouldn’t understand what he meant if they said “s—, f—, f—.” And second, OH YES.
Stephon Marbury threatens to dish info about Isiah Thomas [NYDN]
Traveling Marbury [NYP]
Unhappy Marbury Leaves Knicks Trip [ESPN]
Marbury Leaves Knicks In Dispute [NYT]
it just happened
Stephon Marbury Pouts, Whines, Goes MissingAfter a difficult summer and amid rumors he’s leaving the team permanently, Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury stomped out of the team’s shootaround in Phoenix this morning, reportedly because Knicks coach Isiah Thomas declined to put him in tonight’s starting lineup after his lackluster defense in Miami this past weekend. According to the Post, Marbury has told friends “he feels he’s best playing 40 minutes a night and would struggle in a non-starting role.” Thomas, sounding like any parent with a runaway teenager, appealed for the return of the 30-year-old player through the press. “We hope he’s at the game,” he told the Post. “If not, make no mistake about it, we do want him as a member of this basketball team.”
Marbury Bolts From Knicks [NYP]
Related:
Stephon Marbury’s Days With the Knicks May Be Numbered [NYDN]
it happened this week
Who Do You Like?As Indian summer continued its extended run last week, some of the most popular kids in town found themselves getting the cold shoulder. A federal lawsuit charged Bloomberg LP discriminates against pregnant women, and BMOC Mike Bloomberg promptly reminded us that he no longer runs his namesake company. (Later in the week, a little red in the face, he admitted he regularly talks to senior executives there.) Onetime Most Likely to Succeed Barack Obama fell 33 points behind Hillary Clinton in the latest presidential poll.
it just happened
Isiah Thomas, MSG, Found Guilty of Sexual HarassmentSurprising nobody but Madison Square Garden officials themselves, a jury just found Isiah Thomas and the Knicks organization (part of MSG) guilty of the sexual harassment of Anucha Brown Sanders. After weeks of embarrassing revelations and accusations, the jury decided that Thomas should not have to pay punitive damages, but that MSG and its head honcho, Jimmy Dolan, should. No numbers have been announced just yet, but after just about everyone from Dolan down revealed stunningly archaic attitudes about race and gender in the workplace, we’re guessing Browne Sanders’s compensation will be pricey enough to shock them into the new century. Or, at the very least, it’ll prevent them from wasting any more money on expensive players who don’t win titles. It’s a victory for everyone!
Sexual Harassment at the Garden [NYT]
Earlier: Our Knicks Coverage
the sports section
Isiah Thomas Needs to Take a Page From the Book of Jane So it appears the jury in the Isiah Thomas sexual-harassment suit plans to side with Anucha Browne Sanders. A note from the panel to the judge yesterday said they were deadlocked over whether to make the Knicks coach pony up for punitive damages, as apparently there is a lone holdout who thinks he needs to save his money for more fancy ties. (We bet we know who that is.) Having deliberated overnight, they’re expected to come out with a verdict today (or the Knicks will finally settle). In the meantime, the Daily News’ Jane Ridley is in a reflective mood, and today, she offers up more of her particular brand of Confucian wisdom: “Justice is not like a basketball court,” she cautions. “Tides are rarely turned by a single flashy play or a lucky catch.” That’s so Jane!
it happened this week
Thinking Big
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s request to lay a wreath at ground zero was the unlikeliest wish in a week of ambitious schemes. Hillary Clinton took a second swing at universal health care, laying out a $110 billion program. Rudy Giuliani crossed the pond to London to rub shoulders with Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown, then suggested that Israel join nato. Dan Rather sued CBS for $70 million.
intel
Dolan’s Faith in Thomas as Delusional in Court as on CourtJust when you thought their sexual-harassment trial couldn’t get any more damaging for the Knicks, they shoot themselves in the foot. In a taped deposition by Madison Square Garden head honcho Jimmy Dolan, shown yesterday in court, the burly boss explained that plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders was fired because she made sexual-harassment charges. And incidentally, at the Garden, it’s not harassment to use the N-word to describe a black person (this was revealed by aging exec Rusty McCormack. Andrea Peyser, back on her game since yesterday, describes McCormack as having “the complexion the approximate shade of ripe cheese.”) Of course, the question blaring from every news outlet is “Why are they still in this trial? Settle already!” The answer is simpler than you think.
in other news
In Knicks Drama, Peyser and Ridley Enter the Tabloid RingHas anyone noticed that the Daily News is turning senior features writer Jane Ridley into a more reasoned version of Andrea Peyser? Today, the pair take on Isiah Thomas’s weird double standard of debasement (it’s not okay for a white man to call a black woman a “bitch,” but if it’s a black man, it’s not so bad, goes the logic). “He should have shut up,” Ridley writes of Isiah’s videotaped deposition. “But his mouth, which matches his outsize ego – if not his brain – just kept on moving.” Zing! “A gazillion dollar salary might get you designer suits and the best table in the restaurant, but it can’t buy class and judgment,” she adds. Pow! “What we saw for ourselves of Thomas yesterday was not only ugly, but pathetic.” Splat! We eagerly flipped to Andrea to see her splenetic spin but were vastly disappointed. “Hang in there, Anucha,” is all Peyser musters. “They fired the wrong person.” Well, well, well. We’re sure it was an off day, as Peyser is by far the best in the bile business. But Ridley appears to be gaining – and if she’d just replace her cute, smiley columnist photo with something more ghoulish, we might have a real battle here!
Isiah Shows His True Colors – in Black and White [NYDN]
The Twisted Racial Logic of a Knicko Sicko [NYP]
it happened this week
Moving Along
The sixth anniversary of 9/11 came and went, with what has come to pass for normality on the city’s darkest date: a walk-through at ground zero for victims’ families, and Rudy Giuliani observing a rare moment of silence. Just like old times, a suspicious powder turned up in the mail room at the Standard & Poor’s offices. Census data found that blacks appear to be leaving the city — an exodus that may increase after 704 code violations were found at a single Harlem apartment building. The toxic oil spill under Greenpoint was discovered to be bigger than anyone had imagined. HIV infections were once again on the rise.
in other news
Anucha Browne Sanders Continues Knicks Full Court Press
In a bizarre twist (as though there have been any twists that weren’t bizarre) in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment trial, the Post reports that a Knicks intern who succumbed to Stephon Marbury in the back of a car has agreed to testify for the defense. In other words, she’s going to clear Marbury of any wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior (except, you know, cheating on his wife). This is an effort to clear up the impression that lawyers for plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders are trying to create, which is that the Knicks enterprise is macho and sexist. But just as they try to staunch that wound, another one has sprung open. The Daily News reveals that Browne Sanders unearthed a Burn Book written by Madison Square Garden officials describing what they’d like to do to the comely Rangers ice dancers. And we’re not talking about assisting with a double-hand lift. It boggles the mind why the Knicks haven’t settled yet. This circus of sleaze is only going to get worse, and knowing this city’s tabloids, it’s only a matter of time before the team gets rechristened “The New York Dickerbockers.”
Stephon’s Hoop Skirt to Testify [NYP]
Ice-Skate Shocker Has ‘Em Shivering [NYDN]
in other news
Isiah Thomas Accused of Harassment, HeartacheAfter the first day of Isiah Thomas’s sexual-harassment trial, we’ve learned that the Knicks coach is accused of calling a female vice-president a “bitch” and a “ho” in private conversations. Also, the VP, Anucha Browne Sanders, says he professed his love to her after a friendly game of horse. Sound confusing? How about this: When discussing season ticket sales with Thomas, she says he told her, “I don’t give a fuck about these white people!” (Apparently, having Woody Allen in your audience makes everybody white.) Already, sports fans are murmuring that Thomas and the Knicks should settle the suit. Stephon Marbury and a slew of other high-profile witnesses are set to testify, which is bound to make the team’s infrastructure look bad no matter the result of the trial. As for us, we’re just glad we found a reason to care about the Knicks again.
Browne-Sanders Slams Isiah Thomas in Sex-Harass Lawsuit [NYDN]
gossipmonger
The Return of Peter Gatien?Deported former Limelight owner Peter Gatien might be coming back to the States because he is part Native American. CBS Evening News executive producer Rick Kaplan orchestrated an office dance-off to boost morale. Jewish boxer Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita, from Brooklyn, had his fight at Cipriani Downtown rescheduled because it fell on the Sabbath. Paris Hilton’s crisis PR guy, Mike Sitrick, is the reason she’s been out of the tabs lately, but friends say she can’t keep up the act. Robin Williams went to an AA meeting in Greenwich. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Isiah Thomas hung out at Socialista.
gossipmonger
Guv Love?The “tall and attractive” 25-year-old aide whom Jon Corzine may have been sitting next to at the time of his car crash was reassigned last month because she and the governor were allegedly getting too close. Larry and Laurie David may have split because Laurie had an affair with a married man on Martha’s Vineyard. Some Columbia Records staffers are worried that producer Rick Rubin has been named co-head of the label, given that he has no executive experience. Richie Sambora dumped Denise Richards during a Hawaii vacation a few months ago; she’d been expecting him to propose. Michael Jackson placed a number of odd, ill-timed room-service orders at an inn in Maryland, but he did bless the manager. Oliver Platt is an ardent supporter of the business tactics of George Steinbrenner, whom he plays in The Bronx Is Burning. Lindsay Lohan is dropping booze for bottled water.
the sports section
The Knicks Have Made Progress, EvidentlyCablevision honcho and Madison Square Garden chief Jim Dolan announced today that he’s giving Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas a multiyear contract extension based on the team’s “evident progress” — a term that seems destined to join “mission accomplished” in the Optimist’s Hall of Fame. Let’s review what’s evident, shall we? On the positive side, the Knicks have won 46 percent of their games this season (compared to just 28 percent last year) and are fighting for a playoff spot. On the negative, they’re still the highest-paid team in the NBA (for which Isiah is largely to blame), winning even 46 percent of their games still means the Knicks are losing more than half, and they’re playing mediocre ball against historically weak competition. In other words, the team’s progress seems roughly on pace with that of the Second Avenue subway or the Freedom Tower. So while it’s true they haven’t measurably regressed, Dolan’s use of the prefix “pro” strikes us as a bit much. If we were him, we might have played it safe and gone with “evident gress.” There are definitely clear signs of gress. —Sam Anderson
the morning line
It’s Shelly’s Turn
• The fate of Atlantic Yards now rests with State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, who controls one of three votes on the Public Authorities Control Board, which requires unanimity to pass a project — and he boasts an impressive megaproject kill ratio, having already done in the West Side stadium and put the brakes on Moynihan Station. If we were Ratner, we’d find some Lower East Side charities to fund right about now. [NYT]
• Rudy Giuliani is out being presidential — or presidential candidate–ish, really. He’s hitting the fund-raisers for “friends and family money,” whatever that means; the first round starts tomorrow in midtown. He also booked a major appearance in California — the keynote address at the state GOP convention. [NYP]
• The News’ New Yorker of the Year: Bloomberg. Hizzoner is picked, among other things, for “restoring civility,” the gun-control crusade, encouraging major construction, and defusing the Sean Bell situation. [NYDN]
• Except we’re not sure that last one’s such a done deal: There’s a growing push for police commissioner Ray Kelly to resign and for a special prosecutor to replace the Queens D.A. on the case. [amNY]
• And, hardly anyone’s New Yorker of the Year: Isiah Thomas, the underperforming Dolan hire who can’t fire up the Knicks to win a game — but evidently has no trouble goading opponents into brawls. [NYDN]