THE TIME THE FELONIOUS CRAZY MAN WITH
NO MONEY BOUGHT THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS
In the movie about the chubby and dour middle-aged social reject without money who became the owner of a major league sports team, the lead will be played by Paul Giamatti. HBO will produce and The Iceman Coneth will win a slew of Emmys.
Everyone around the Islanders has their story about the time they first thought something wasn’t kosher about John Spano, the “Dallas” “businessman” who was “friends with Mario Lemieux” and faked out enough people to take over the New York Islanders in 1996.
Notice the lack of quotation marks around taking over the team. The question comes up all the time about this fascinating lunatic: “How did he think he could get away with it”? The answer: he did get away with it.
In the few months he was around the franchise, Spano made real business decisions that affected real people. On the hockey side, his “ownership” was established enough that he could order Mike Milbury to step down as coach so he could focus on his role as general manager. Now, before you declare that was a reasonable decision by a savvy executive, understand Spano’s true motivation – he just wanted more time to hang around with Milbury.
While everyone had their “ah-HA!” moment when they realized Spano couldn’t be what he said he was, the genius of this psychopath was knowing people like me wouldn’t be reckless enough to risk our careers by saying something about it. Our image of con men is usually charismatic characters, like Newman and Redford in The Sting, or any number of politicians. Spano used his awkward and shy persona – or maybe it was an act, who the hell knows? – to his advantage. You’d run into him getting coffee in the office, say hi. He’d always look down at your shoes and mutter something. You’d come away from the encounter wondering what this mad genius must be thinking, and whether it’s time to start sending out that resume.
It worked like a charm, and on businesspeople with major reputations. Some lost their jobs over it.
Here’s my Spano story. It’s February 15, 1997 and the Islanders are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The team sucks that season, but this is a memorable night. The all-time Islanders team is announced, Boss and Trots and Denis and Smitty are in the barn, the new owner – our savior! – is walking around and to top it off Lappy Lapointe breaks a zip-zip tie with an overtime goal for the victory over John Vanbiesbrouck and the Florida Panthers.
After the game, the atmosphere in the locker room hallway is glorious mayhem. The Islanders legends are hugging it out in the hallway with Ziggy, Smoke, a Calder contender named Bryan Berard, Caber, Bert and the rest of the boys. It’s been a depressing season, but for one night everyone is reminded why the hockey life is beautiful. In the middle of the celebration stands a solitary man who doesn’t approach anyone, so no one approaches him.
He is focused, clearly on a vital mission. It’s John Spano, the “mega-millionaire” owner of the Islanders. He is standing in the hallway, completely oblivious, his back to the celebration. He is holding a puck, not from the game but the kind you can buy on the Coliseum concourse for 5 bucks. In his other hand is a Sharpie, as black as the suits he always wore.
“John, is there something we can do for you? I asked.
“Nah, I’m good. Just told a friend I’d get something signed for his kid by Vanbiesbrouck.”
Hmm. Picture this: owner of major professional sports team, after a big win, alone in the hallway because he wants to make sure the goaltender of the visiting team signs his puck. This is Fred Wilpon waiting outside the Dodgers locker room until Manny signs his bat. This is Jerry Jones hanging outside the Giants Stadium lot to meet Eli.
This is not how the owner of a sports team operates. They have people for that. People like I used to be.
Spano didn’t budge. With so much joy around him and his new toy, he instead chose to wait for The Beezer to do his interviews, shower, dress and make his way down the hall. VBK signed Johnny’s puck and the owner of the New York Islanders left the arena, all by himself.
This is what it took for me and my two best colleague-pals to give each other the look that’s something not quite right in the Country.
No, it wasn’t the night Spano invited the team for what we figured would be an elegant evening at the Garden City Hotel celebrating his takeover. Our wives got all dressed up and we nervously anticipated a classy night of wine and conversation with the new boss in a plush penthouse suite. When we arrived we were escorted to the meat market/dance club where nobody could hear themselves think over the pulsating “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C + C Music Factory. I recall paying for my own drinks and don’t recall ever seeing Spano. It was one crazy friggin’ evening.
No, it wasn’t the road trip when the Islanders had a game in Dallas and the team was invited to dinner the night before at the “Spano home” (really, to paraphrase Talking Heads – why should we believe it was his beautiful wife or it was his beautiful house?). I asked Ziggy Palffy how amazing the mansion was. “It’s okay,” said Ziggy, “but Kaspar’s house in Northport is better.”
From time to time a segment of Islanders fans will actually bemoan what could have been with Spano. They acknowledge that he was, you know, bonkers and felonious, but they also feel that he was a true fan who could have done some great things.
What a sad, sad notion. Consider this: besides the minor detail of him not having any money, John Spano lied about everything. Just because he could drop names like Trottier and Lemieux like the guy in Rain Man, how can we be certain he actually liked hockey?
Comments on this story here. Talk about the current Islanders, the draft and everything else in next thread. Guidelines.
77 Responses to “THE TIME THE FELONIOUS CRAZY MAN WITH
NO MONEY BOUGHT THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS”
Please Wait
wow, just..wow
I was 11 when he bought the team, but I had an encounter I’ll never forget.
My uncle used to take me to games when I was young since my parents weren’t into hockey and he was a season ticket holder. We were walking out of the arena one game that season when we saw Spano coming toward us. My uncle elbowed me and said “That’s John Spano, the guy who saved the team.” As Spano passed, my uncle yelled, “John Spano! We love you!” Spano looked at us like a guy who’s just been caught cheating on his wife and sped up.
Had I been older, or more precocious, I probably would have sensed the impending doom right there.
CB, by the way, can you clear something up? Who introduced Spano to John Pickett, and how did this sale come about?
And contrast this to Charles Wang. I ran into him in the hallway of the Coliseum, and when I thanked him for “saving the team” he stopped, had a short conversation with me, and promised to attempt something great. It may not have worked out the way we’d have liked so far, but things are moving that way.
The Spano thing is just unreal. Great story.
just shows that this crazy ride has been going on for years. it seems that everything that can go embarrassingly wrong for a franchise has come to fruition with this team. i mean, you name it and it’s happened.
after years of shame and lunacy, something insanely good is bound to happen to the isles.
I can’t wait for the story on Sanjay Kumar and his buddy Charles Wang who skated free.
if he bought the team in 96 then i was two so whats the story on this guy, for a guy that saved this team he doesnt sound like a true owner. i mean the vanbeasbrook ( sp ) story makes this guy sound like a little coocoo for cocoa puffs
Thanks so much for this. Since you started the old version of this blog, this was the history tale I eagerly awaited most.
It just left such a torturous scar. And I get the sense (especially from people too young to remember) that a lot of NHL fans don’t realize all that this franchise went through. Yet the club and its fans live!
#8 so true. It is a miracle this team still exists after something like that!
Spano … The man who pulled the wool over the NHL’s eyes … and the rug out from under Islander fans.
I still wonder how the hell the NHL let this happen. They share as much if not more of the blame as the Isles’ previous owner (Pickett).
Your story CB … WOW!! .. and Wow just doesn’t quite cover it… just weird.
the picture above shows two con artists. one screwed islander fans and the other screwed nassau county residents.
Chris, I was trying to FORGET this guy ! LOL !
You ask , “How can we be certain he actually liked hockey” ? Well you can ask that about the Gang of Four, Millstein and Wang too.
Re: Spano, I never understood why he wanted to buy the team.
I understand why Millstein and Wang want the team - Real Estate.
I have a hard time warming up to Wang, as I suspect he set up Sanjay Kumar at CA. I honestly don’t know - but I think a lot of people feel that way too.
What I do like about Charles - is that I honestly think he does want to win - and has a dedication to Long Island. I don’t doubt that.
You would have a much better insight into all three parties - since you worked there - but Millstein is the ownership group that really rubbed me the wrong way.
Where was the “due diligence” by the NHL to approve either group to own our team. And as usual - we get the whack job owners…..why can’t we get a squeaky clean owner that has a clue?
Here’s hoping that Charles has gotten that clue and that the rebuild program works. Garth Snow can sure be the guy who turns things around here - along with a new Lighthouse. Then I may be persuaded to change my tune on Charles…..but I do acknowledge some good things have happened on his watch……..but its nearly 10 years on his watch - and we have won ZERO playoff series……….and that is a fact.
Pat
Excellent story. I, too, never understood how this guy conned the NHL and the Islanders, but then I was only 15 when it happened.
I wouldn’t question Wang’s hockey enjoyment. It may or may not be his favorite sport in the world, but he has done a lot that indicates that he really cares for it. An example is pushing hockey in China. And of course he wants the real estate. Can you blame him? He wants to build a fantastic complex to keep the team on Long Island, and doesn’t cry in the media to threaten moving. I don’t care how much he wants to make on the real estate as long as he keeps the Islanders put.
We will see just how much Wang “cares” about the Islanders and its fans.
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Definitely one of the memories I would have zapped.
to lose all the money hes lost and still keeps them here is pretty much like walking around with a sign on wangs back that says i care!
Do any of you guys remember the Spano Bucks that were floating around the coliseum? This was only maybe 5-7 years ago.
Has a mental exam done on this guy ever gone public?
Yeah, but you should have seen his wife…Morgan Fairchild…yeah, that’s the ticket. Perhaps the only better choice than Paul Giamatti to play Spano in the HBO presentation would be John Lovitz.
I was ended up sitting between the Isles bench and player entrance for that game on 2/15/97. Bought a ticket for a cheap seat and worked my way down by the end of the game. What a great nite that was. The Coliseum was electric. After Lapointe skated around for being the #1 star, I’ll never forget how he gave his stick to a kid in the stands right near me and the absolute joy on that kid’s face. It’s too bad what happened to Lapointe later on in his career. He always gave it 100%.
If memory serves, an auditor (forget which one but pretty sure it was one of the big firms) signed off that Spano was clean. The NHL relied on that auditors opinion and unfortunately the franchise suffered because Spano was a fraud. The sad part is that I remember reading that all someone had to do was actually check his bank accounts and they would’ve seen there was no money in there.
I just looked up Spano’s federal prison status and he is expected to be released from the Federal Pen in Cincinnati on April 5, 2009.
i’m still amazed that the nhl let him take control of the isles. i think it says a lot about how the nhl operates, or at least how it used to.
Haha great story CB, I especially like the quote about how Kasparitis’s house in Northport was better than Spano’s
I think one of the reasons that Bettman has appeared to be a staunch supporter of the Islanders remaining on Long Island is because the Spano debacle happened on his watch … IMHO
Ya well the minute I figured out the guy wanted to spend more time with Mike Milbury that would have been the tip off for me. Who the hell would want to spend more time with Milbury unless it was in the middle of a ring!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, if only he would have hired Potvin to be President. We would have been spared the illogical and idiotic reign of error by Milbury. That would have been one positive thing to come out of the Spano debacle. But, instead, it cemented that moron’s role in the organization for another decade. And when he “left”, he left the team with a rotted foundation and little tangible assets. A shame.
‘Mike from Oceanside’ — Spano was actually released in 2004 for this Islanders fiasco. Soon after however, he was caught defrauding companies again (promised to secure loans for them, didn’t, pocketed the cash). How the guy was able to do business again is beyond me, but who knows. Regardless, he was caught and sentenced to 2-5. I believe you’re correct in that he’s being released this year, it’s just for a different con job.
Chris….Remember the “Save us, Spano” chants at the Coliseum?……SW
The NHL is a joke of a minor league sports league. How the cannot manage to do their due dilligence properly is beyond me. From Roy Boe who negotiated the worst stadium deal in the history of sports and then raped the Islanders to keep the Nets afloat to the Milsteins, to Spano and on and on. A sports entity that cannot get a network deal and can only showcase the all star game on a network 3/4 the country cannot get. A sports entity that is run over by a league organised by the Russian Maffia.
Thats your National Hockey League an embarrasment and a bad joke.
I was just reading up on the Spano case … The NHL spent less than $1000 to vet Spano .. he also had failed bids to purchase the Panthers and Stars before … he also had something to do with defrauding Lemieux … so it’s not like he wasn’t on the NHL’s radar.
CB … as bad as it was for us fans … I can’t imagine the anxiety going on behind the scenes in the front office … You guys must of been on pins and needles … Promising Denis Potvin the position of president and the telling him he was running out of money made Denis run away … what was going on there?
Ziggy, McCabe, Bertuzzi, Berard, Kaspar etc… too bad.
Good foundation.. sucked. Kind of like what we have now.. let’s hope it sticks together this time.
Shouldn’t you save these stories for your future best selling book?
god knows i would buy it. kinda like joe torres new book but it would be better. and you wont be shunned by us as long as this blog is still up:P. you may lose your insiders but hopefully they would still feed you. in fact the only thing you would have to worry about is mad mike hitting you with a shoe
Remember, it was not just the NHL that he conned, he also conned Fleet bank into providing financing of about $80 Million or so for him to buy the team. People at Fleet Bank indeed did lose their jobs over that. The truth is that if someone is truly out to con you and is good at it, it is difficult to detect (see, Madoff, etc.). Not entirely fair to kill the NHL for it, although I am sure they do better diligence on buyers now than they did before.
Yeah Quagmire …. He conned Fleet … who at the time was using less than stringent verification standards … basically they felt that if it was good enough for the Isles’ Pickett and the NHL … it was good enough for them .. they were relying on the Islanders’ assets to make the loan … not Spano himself … as they claimed …
That deal was soooo dirty … and lots of folks were conned along the way … it’s just that Pickett and Bettman were kinda desperate to see this deal through that they didn’t do their best job at due dilegence.
The NHL spent no more than $750 on vetting Spano in one of the articles I read about Spano … and ALL the owners of the other teams approved the sale … this went deep.
Sadly, I think all players involved wanted Spano to be that white knight so badly that they willingly suspended their disbelief and ignored the large body of evidence that he wasn’t. More than anything else, I hope this sorry incident led to a far greater vetting of future owners, but recent breaking news leads me to believe otherwise.
Did anybody else catch the story that “Boots” del Biaggio, the guy who fronted the money for the local ownership group that “saved” Nashville, got busted running a Ponzi scheme and pled guilty to securities fraud on Wednesday? There were whispers of this when he joined the group that bought the Predators…I hope the NHL didn’t do it again there.
I know which firm failed to vet Spano properly–Fleet Bank. My dad worked for, and knew who the creditor who dropped the ball was. Safe to say, that guy lost his job.
Nick … we all wanted Spano to be that White Knight to save the franchise … I guess it was one of those “Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth” …. but nobody happened to mention it was a Trojan Horse.
Potvin would of been a great President of the Isles. His competitive, fierce nature and being an Islander by blood would of been worth more than the $165million itself.
CB, first let me say I don;t think I am in the minority in saying its these types of stories/posts that brings many of us back. It’s a shame the isles aren’t a premier sports franchise because you would have one hell of a book to sell
I think we were all duped, I remember one particularly sad night, maybe 7,000 in the hosue..where the whole crowd chanted HELP US SPANO soon after he bought the team
The million dollar question I never could figure out, the guy was lving a decent lifestyle, why did he go to jail to pretend to be an owner of the Islanders?
He must have been nuts
why would someone want to put sumo wrestler’s in goal? or sign a promising but unproven goalie to a 15 year contract or give himself a $1 billion dollar stock bonus when it turned out the company had committed fraud or…..lotsa crazy people out there..
Peter Puck…John Pickett is responsible for the current, onerous Coliseum lease. Not Roy Boe.
I was one of the idiots chanting Save Us Spano up in the 300 sections back in 1996.
I WILL BUY ISLANDERS NEXT. WE PROBABLY WOULD FINALLY WIN A PLAYOFF SERIES IF I DID BUY THE TEAM
At that time it was just an absolute nightmare and embarrassment to the NHL and the ISLES. It was one disaster after the other, Kirk Mueller, fishsticks uniform,Milbury gets complete control of the team. That is why in 3 years this team will finally get it’s identity back with the kids. All those painful years will finally be behind us for good!
I remember Spano well. It was sometime in the 96-97 season and he was trying to meet season ticket holders. Someone from the front office took him to my section and we met by the doors as you enter. I dont remember much of what we spoke about but do remember he looked at the floor the whole time. I thought that was really strange. i later realized he couldnt look anyone in the eyes for obvoius reasons. I remember when the story broke. It was right around the time that the season tix holders did a met game at shea with all the newly drafted players. I called and spoke to Andy Smith who was a ticket rep that I got to know quite well. I will never forget Andy’s response…..We are all hoping it is one of those glitches that rich people run into getting money wired but honestly we are all very worried here. No one knows what is going to happen and if Spano is even who he says he is. Most of us here know what you know it’s just F’d up…..The Islanders were never the same. To this day things are still a mess and the misery goes on. We had 1 yes 1 good season 01-02. That was the reserection of the franchise that turned out to be very short lived. How ironic we had all those young guys CB mentioned in 97 and 12 years later we are in the exact same place with nothing to show for it.
The Islanders demise can be traced back to, in simplistic terms, the fact that John Pickett moved to florida and really lost interest in the day to day Operations of the team
Let’s not forget around this time the NHL had the Alan Eagleson scandal-Players Association boss skimming off money from the pension fund.
This is irrelevant but that Panthers game was one if the best games I’ve ever been to. I do remember the ‘help us Spano’ chants. What a painful thought.
I really dont understand most of the bad words spoken about Charles Wang. I dont believe that he is only in this for the real estate. Realistically the only way for the team to make money is with the redevelopment. He saved us from years and years of shoddy ownership and people who didnt care about the team. For all the dumb decisions he has made, Yashin, Ricky, letting Milbury stay on for so long, those are hockey decisions.
After our owner moving to Florida, A con man buying the team, a real estate group buying the team solely for the land and then dumping all of our salary. We have had stable ownership over the last 8 or so years and we can just complain about the hockey. At the very least, i take solace in that.
I for one, are thrilled that Charles Wang is the owner of the team and not some corporate jerk who would have moved the team elsewhere years ago.
LAW (POST # 27) - Yes, I know. I was under the assumption that everyone knew he was locked up for the additional fraud charges. I guess I should have made myself clear. My bad.
I, too, remember the “Help us Spano!” chants. Specifically during one game when the Isles were getting hammered by Toronto. I also remember that aforementioned Mets game, as well as tailgating with the players. I got JP Dumont’s and Roberto Luongo’s autographs, and remember half of Shea turning to look at 6′9″ Zdeno Chara walk up the stairs in the upper deck. Wow, what talent MMM traded.
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I was only in middle school and high school during this entire mess so I hardly remember it and can only read about it. What I find interesting and never knew was the promise made to Denis Potvin (as mentioned in above posts). Can anyone elaborate on that a little more because I am curious to know what his involvement was with the franchise and why now we hardly see or hear from him. Thank you.
Potvin was approached by Spano to run the team as president. Milbury stated he would never work for him. Before any of this could take place the money issue came to a head. Potvin stated a few years back that he has basiclly washed his hands of the Islanders as he like the rest of us are tired of the long running joke the NYI have become. I found it nice that he has come back for the events it is a nice touch of class. I saw Denis in Florida last March and when we spoke he only said that it is a shame what is going on up there!
CB this should SO be a movie! This would be fantastic. I wish he could have gotten Milbury to step down and drive himself back to Boston. Imagine what could have been if we kept some of those players from that era!
Pritchett54 - Post 49 - Awesome Post. My sentiments exactly.
Thanks AIM. I never knew any of that and it is sad that such a figure as Denis is so distant from this organization because of that.
Like all of us, I thought this guy too, was the messiah of the Isles. He was Bettman’s golden boy, Gary himself vouched for this guy’s credibility. How is Bettman’s track record with recommending owners to the league?? LOL
I remember meeting him outside the arena while waiting for the players to come out and sign autographs like they used to outside gate 2 in the good ol’ days. Spano was mobbed by a bunch of fans as he walked out of the building. I actually still have the media guide he autographed for me. He had a bunch of neat looking hats in his hand and I jokingly asked for one, which he gave me, all the while looking at the ground like he just wanted to get the hell outta there. When the scam blew up, I was jokingly asking myself if the Nassau County police would be coming to hunt me down for possession of stolen property.
Great Story. absolute no connection to it but Jason Blake is 19-21-40 this season..kinda wish we had him and payed him what he wanted plus some considering all this cap roooom these days
Difficult to tell who was worst, Spano or Milstein, et al. Both owners almost killed this franchise. Fans who give Wang a hard time are too young (age-wise or mentally) to remember what a really bad Islanders owner looks like.
Milstein and his Gang bought the Team for its real estate, didn’t do enough due diligence and found out development wasn’t feasible, got tired of losing 5-10+ million per season and cut the Team salary to the floor ($18 million, I think) forcing the trades of it’s stars and vets.
Wang buys the Team in part for its real estate, loses 10+ million per season, keeps the salary near the mean of all NHL teams (until this season) paying for free agents that actually want to come to Long Island, and pays more money to upgrade the locker rooms, scoreboard, etc. Big, big difference between the two.
Tavares hurt and out. Injured his acromioclavicular (shoulder) joint.
When is this HBO thing gonna be on?
Lappy gave his stick to my friend after scoring that goal in OT. One of the most underrated Isles ever and my favorite by far.
ahhh memories.. spano was definitely one of the islanders’ better owners in the last 15 years! a top 2 contender.. i mean that is if u forget about the whole money thing!
CB - Did Spano have something to do with extending the deal with Cablevison? I thought I read that somewhere.
Absolutely frightening. This is exactly the type of stigma that this team must shed.
Great story CB.
This is why some of us older fans can at least handle a youth movement for a short time, because we know what to expect. But I would like to point out that we may be near the bottom of the salary floor, when Wang fist started out in 2000-2001, he always wanted to be in the middle of the cap which, ironically, is now our cap floor. So he’s been consistent in the 40+ million cap range every year. All the former owners would have gutted this team 7 years ago.
Jonsson3 (post 61), I think CB was just being creative.
Have Wang and Snow ever said if there is an organization/GM that they wish to pattern this team after? When he did that interview a year ago with Mike and the Mad Dog (the infamous Jim the Engineer show) Wang said you should try to win it every year. Which struck me as a wrong goal and I hope Snow has convinced him to build with youth to make a run 2-3 years from now.
Jim M: Two years from now, when the cap contracts by a lot of money — not definite, but likely — Jason Blake’s contract will bring new meaning to the word “albatross.”
So he sucked last year, he’s got his game together recently, and because of that, we should have committed to him for five years? That’s crazy.
The changes this organization has been through over the years is just amazing. The funny thing is with everything that is going on now with the Lighthouse question mark and the rebuild and whether they will fold or move, it still seems “calmer” these days, somehow. Calmer drama….?? lol
It’s not what we say, but is what you do defines us. CB’s “Spano” story is a perfect example of it. But I’m not here to judge.
There are people in our world who have no problem to jeopardize their (and all others aroud them) reputation in order to make ugly but quick money out of it. It’s upsetting but not surprising.
I have to say CB that Point Blank has been very entertaining to say the least!
I have been posting alot less because of the circus like atmosphere that has been created, however the Controversy i read is Great Stuff in the whole skeem of things, and the internal stories from the past like this one is what keeps me coming back weather you like it or not! Ha!
Great story CBotts.
Willis #70, Teams dont fold in sports so I do not know what you get out of or the point of even mentioning that is.
Eric - You’re KIDDING me right?
no
I went to college and was a fraternity brother of JS, he was a great guy back then, but now I have to doubt everything he ever told me. Boy I could tell you some good ones!