Newsday Falls Flat on Islanders "Slippery Surface"!

Once again, I have to stop writing about what I should be writing about (Yesterday's Team Store Meet & Greet) in order to vent about an article in this morning's paper. Please excuse the possible profanity laced rant as well as the grammatical errors.

I am not quite sure if James Bernstein (james.bernstein@newsday.com) wrote the article on the LI Business page, as his is the only by-line on the page, but there are three features on pg A44. All I know is that while it may be accurate in it's regurgitation of the recent Forbes "Business of Hockey" report, it failed dismally to explore the reasons for the financial downturn. It also ignored the recent on-ice GOOD fortune of the Islanders.

Hmmmm... Could that be because the "bottom dwellers in the NHL standings for years" as the article states at the very beginning, is currently tied for points with the Mighty Cablevision (who owns Newsday, who owns the Rangers, News12, MSG, MSGPlus, MSG Varsity and anything else they can) owned Rangers?

According to Forbes, the Islanders net value dropped 3 percent from last year. Really? Three percent? You mean in the year the American economy TANKED and the American public had to bail out the banks and the auto industry? A sports-entertainment company's value dropped a WHOPPING THREE PERCENT?

You know, I'm in accounting, three percent is a small percentage, however $5.6 million is not. But in the scheme of things, it could have been far worse.

The article goes on to mention the attendance rates. However, it failed to mention 10,000 patrons showing up on a night in June to witness the NHL Entry Draft. It also fails to mention the "buzz" around the team during their rebuild with the likes of John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo.

I'd also like to have a word with one Mr. John Meindl, president of Sporsbrandedmedia Inc. Who the hell are you to have a comment published in Newsday, the paper that the NY Islanders spend all their advertising budget in, stating "....if the Islanders left, there wouldn't be a lot of sleepless nights." Do you have data to back that statement up Mr. Meindl? Because I can certainly find you a good test group to prove you wrong.

He also goes on to say that he met with an NHL official after an Islanders game at the Marriott and there was "no one there." To that I would like to say, WELCOME TO THE NEW ECONOMY MR. MEINDL!!! Those who went to the Coliseum have already spent their entertainment dollars for the evening and can no longer afford to spend $9 a drink at the Marriott.

The days of $2 Buds are over. That sad fact has nothing to do with whether or not the Islanders have been able to make the playoffs or bring the Stanley Cup back to Long Island. It is simply a dismal state of our economic life in the year 2009.

The "Love affair with the Islanders" did NOT end "years ago" as you have stated. You obviously have not read the trades, been on the Internet or have listened to the NHL's Commissioner Gary Bettman talk about the team and their fan base.

The only thing wrong with the NY Islanders right now is their facility and their unstable situation within Nassau County. A County that can't even get an election right. Do we even KNOW who the County Executive is yet???? Great job guys!

Epic Fail reporting Newsday. Epic!