Knicks security needs to learn who Patrick Ewing is
By John Buhler
No, we are not surprised the New York Knicks security staff at Madison Square Garden had no earthly idea who Georgetown basketball coach Patrick Ewing is.
Leave it up to New York Knicks security at Madison Square Garden to turn Georgetown basketball coach Patrick Ewing into Big East Tony Hawk…
The former Knicks superstar center is coming off the biggest win of his basketball coaching career at his alma mater. The Georgetown Hoyas just upset Big East juggernaut Villanova to advance in the conference tournament at MSG. Too bad the security staff was unable to recognize pretty much the only Knicks player worth a damn from the last 30 years. Oh, this is so embarrassing…
“I do want to say one thing, though. I thought this was my building,” said Ewing in the post-game press conference after beating Villanova. “And I feel terrible that I’m getting stopped, accosted, [people] asking for passes.
“Everybody in this building should know who the hell I am, and I’m getting stopped — I can’t move around this building. I was like, ‘What the hell? Is this Madison Square Garden?'”
New York Knicks fans and Patrick Ewing deserve so much better than this
If you are unable to recognize the greatest player in franchise history in your role as a security guard, you are in the wrong profession. Yes, it has been a few decades since Ewing starred on the hardwood at MSG for the Knicks, but this is so beyond embarrassing. This is right up there with the same security staff fighting fellow Knicks legend Charles Oakley in front of a packed house.
We all want to believe we are making progress in this world, but here we are. This is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the Knicks franchise. Incompetence trickles down from the top to allow cringeworthy moments like this to manifest. Georgetown treats its former star player with respect, class and dignity. Too bad the Knicks security staff think he is anonymous like Tony Hawk.
There is no other franchise in professional sports where this would have been allowed to happen.