Only a James Dolan can take what should have been a special night for Mark
Messier and ruin it. Why of all nights did he decide to announce to the Ranger
fans that Glen Sather would be returning for a 5th year?
In my book it is simple given how little the reaction from the media on the
announcement it was intentional to keep the negative reaction down to a low
roar. Good move on his part but the price he might pay for it just might cost
him a lot more than the 10% ticket price cut for the next hockey season.
For one thing I got an announcement of my own to make regarding the Rangers.
On July 1st I am going to become a fan free agent and see if there is another
team worth supporting. After 45 years of being a Ranger fan I can no longer find
it in my heart to support a team that abuses their fans the way the Rangers do.
I mean why should I continue to give my loyalty to a franchise that clearly
is owned by not only the most hated man in NYC sports but also perhaps the
stupidest one as well in James Dolan? Why should I keep supporting a team that
doesn't give a damn what their fans think or feel?
In seven years of ownership, the Dolans have totally turned the Rangers into
a laughing stock and I am tired of being embarrassed at being a Ranger fan. In
the last 4 years alone I have watched the Rangers get worse without any signs of
improvement so why should I bother anymore.
When I see James Dolan say that he has no idea what went wrong then I realize
it that is time to consider other possibilities. In spite of all that has been
said in the media about the job Glen Sather has done, that in spite of the
demands of Ranger fans for his termination there goes James Dolan giving Sather
another season to screw up the Rangers.
I also know that I am not alone in feeling the way that I do as several long
time Ranger fans have told me that they are finished with the Rangers as well.
Their feeling that as long as Sather and Dolan are running the show then little
will change so there is no reason to bother supporting them any more.
For me it means I would be ending a relationship that has lasted 45 years and
goes back to my own father and grandfather. My grandfather was one of the first
season ticket holders back in the 1950's when season tickets were first
introduced. It is embarrassing for me to say that I seriously considering ending
a family tradition of Ranger support and for that I will curse the Dolan family.
A year ago I was telling people that we had to hold on, that the Rangers
might be owned on paper by the Dolans but in truth they belong to us fans. Never
once in my wildest dreams did I even imagine that I too would be thinking about
saying, "I have had enough of this crap goodbye."
I have been told in my life that if you can't trust someone that you are in a
relationship with then it is always best to end such a relationship. I don't
trust the Dolans; I don't trust Glen Sather so that is factoring a lot in my
decision to look for another team.
After all honesty and the Rangers has disappeared from the hollow and empty
threats of accountability from Sather to the treatment of Brian Leetch
surrounding his trade. Once upon a time Ranger class and pride were more than
just words they were a reason why one was proud of being a Ranger fan.
When I think back to seeing an Adam Graves exiled from the Rangers while
seeing a convicted rapist named Billy Tibbetts wearing the Ranger uniform, I
realize how much things have changed for the worse.
When you see the President/GM say flat out not once but on several occasions
that Ranger fans were to blame for the team's failures and he is allowed to keep
his job then you know things are bad. In any other city or in any other sport
attacking the fans for your failures would have resulted in a swift termination.
Not in the world according to James Dolan who not only is the most hated man
in NYC sports but clearly he wants also to be known as the stupidest one as
well. Only someone who clearly doesn't give a rat about his fan base would
ignore every single bit of evidence that shows just how bad a job Sather has
done and keep him in his job.
When the owner of the team has no idea what went wrong with the season and
that it isn't the fault of the person he hired to fix things then the owner is a
bigger idiot than anyone has given him credit for. One has to question where in
the world does he see that things are better today than they were 4 years ago
when Sather was hired.
Over the past 4 years the team has become less and less competitive as the
season wore on. In this what was supposed to be the latest in desperate attempts
to earn just the 8th seed the Rangers were basically out of the playoff hunt
faster than in any of the previous 7 seasons.
So how does James Dolan expect any of us to continue to support the team
then? Easy he is expecting our loyalty to keep us coming back for more but I
fear that he has made perhaps the biggest mistake in his life here.
Had James Dolan fired Glen Sather and then replaced him with someone who
would rebuild the franchise he would have gotten the support from the fans. He
didn't and now there is a price to pay for it.
Ranger fans are tired of being taken advantage of, they are tired of being
blamed for things they didn't do and worse of all they are tired of seeing their
loyalty taken for granted. That James Dolan can't see that either is another of
the things he doesn't understand.
I am so sick and tired of the losing, I am so sick and tired of the lies and
distortions that come from the MSG spin machine. I am tired of supporting a team
that leaves me feeling like I am being taken for granted.
So that means for me that perhaps it is time to say good bye to the Rangers.
I write for this site and Ranger Fan Central and I am tired of writing about all
the bad things that the Rangers continue to do. I want to have fun doing what is
supposed to be a hobby and as long as Sather and Dolan are running the show it
is doubtful it will happen.
I want to enjoy a sport that I love more than anything else once again. I
don't want any special privileges for being a fan of a team. I just want my team
to be a hard working competitive team that makes the games exciting to watch.
All I want really when it comes right down to it is that I want to enjoy the
games I am watching most of the time. I don't believe I can do that with the
Rangers anymore thanks to James Dolan and Glen Sather. They have been
responsible for the franchise alienating their fans and they don't care whom
they chase off.
That is fine with me because I now know that I can a team elsewhere if the
Rangers can't figure out how to fix what is wrong. The problem is that I do know
how to fix what is wrong but since I can't fire James Dolan I will start to look
elsewhere.
I will watch the entry draft and the July 1st opening of free agency with a
very cautious view. If I see what I expect to see which is another sham played
on Ranger fans then I am gone.
And I got James Dolan and Glen Sather to thank for it.
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