Anyone who has worked for a sizable corporation knows the drill. A new boss arrives with an agenda for change, and he or she assembles their team. Occassionally, they get it right. Sometimes, the wrong move turns out right for all the wrong reasons.
And sometimes, they screw up royally and irrevocably.
The resignation earlier this week of Chris Botta as Islanders vice-president of media relations is an example of what happens when a new boss comes in and tries to reinvent the wheel without understanding what makes the car go. The new boss in this case is Chris Dey, the son-in-law of owner Charles Wang and senior vice-president of sales, marketing and operations.
Forget Dey’s relationship to Wang. It’s irrelevant. Dey is an intelligent and capable executive. I know he has an extensive background in sports marketing because Chris Botta told me so.
This is a classic case of philosophical differences. I can’t tell you exactly what they were because I’m not privy to details of the Monday morning meeting between Dey and Botta, who chose to take the high road when he announced his resignation.
I only know the bottom line, which is that the Islanders just lost a gem of a public relations man. In 35 years as a sports writer, I’ve met a lot of them, and I honestly can say I’ve never met one who was better or more trustworthy than Botta.
What difference does a management change like this make to the average fan? You’d be surprised. Botta’s departure won’t hurt the actual product on the ice, but it certainly could have an impact on how the franchise is perceived.
In more than 20 years working for the Islanders, Botta learned how to roll with punches to the gut resulting from a precarious ownership situation, and he developed survival instincts that helped the franchise weather the toughest of times. Did he make too many excuses for the foibles of former general manager Mike Milbury? Yes. He was charmed by Milbury like a lot of others.
But Botta also had a penchant for telling it as it was without applying the usual coat of varnish. There have been plenty of times in my past two seasons on the beat when Botta’s assessment of a particular player or situation was far more harsh than my own. We had our disagreements, but when he offered opinions or insights that ran counter to what I might have considered, I never dismissed it because I knew Botta could be relied upon to furnish more than the usual p.r. pap.
Some might say Newsday’s reporters have been too cozy with the Islanders over the years. But I can tell you that, in my case, Botta was instrumental in intervening to facilitate communication on the beat whenever it threatened to break down. I’m sure reporters from other newspapers that have covered the Islanders would say the same. In fact, when I moved to the Islanders beat, Marc Berman of the New York Post told me Botta would be an invaluable resource, as he has been for anyone reporting on the Isles.
Berman covered the Islanders in the days when the four major New York newspapers, Newsday, Post, Daily News and Times, all traveled with them. But the newspaper market has changed dramatically in the past decade, and NHL coverage has suffered terribly. Now, Newsday is the only one of the four that travels to all Islanders games. The Times and Daily News no longer travel with either the Islanders or Devils, and the Post only travels with the Rangers and Devils.
Unless a p.r. man can influence newspaper stock prices, dwindling space or NHL TV ratings, that’s not going to change. But Botta understood those things don’t accurately measure the deep and abiding passion hockey fans have for their teams. He understood because he grew up as a lifelong Islanders fan. His concerns are the same as those voiced by fans who fell away from a team that struggled through seven straight losing seasons starting in 1994-95. There simply wasn’t enough lipstick to make that pig look good.
Now that Wang’s ownership has provided a measure of stability – though some might argue with his non-traditional approach – the marketplace has changed. Botta tried to adapt this past season by tapping into that fan passion by creating the Blog Box to allow rabid fans to fill the local coverage void. It’s a challenge to traditional media, but it definitely generated increased attention for the Islanders.
Dey won’t have any trouble filling Botta’s position, but how will he replace Botta’s reservoir of experience and insight with the Isles? How will he fill the credibility gap created by Botta’s absence? Good luck with that.
As for Botta’s future, maybe some other new boss will get it right by hiring a media relations executive who comes equipped with a wealth of professional respect among those he served. Judging by the e-mail I’ve received since Botta announced his resignation, I know I can speak for my colleagues at Newsday and for quite a number of fans he touched when I say, “Thanks for a job well done.”
