Dwyane Wade doesn’t want tonight’s Heat-Knicks game to be played at all, but says he will donate his game check to Hurricane Sandy victims.
“It’s my favorite place to play,” Wade told USA TODAY Sports of the Garden. “But just knowing a lot of people here and knowing what they’ve been going through with no power, no water, no food … to me, it just seems like there’s bigger things to be concerned about than a basketball game.
“Even though I know life goes on and you still have to do certain things, I just felt that they canceled the game in Brooklyn, then this one would be canceled as well. … The game tonight shouldn’t be played.”
Wade told USA Today he plans to donate his game pay — reported at about $210,000 before taxes and $130,000 after — to charity and that he and his teammates are looking for the right one.
“The money I make tonight can be left for a good cause,” he said. “I know a lot of people here. Knowing the things they have been through, it’s just mind-boggling. Miami is a place that is affected by hurricanes all the time so I know how the community can be impacted by it. It’s tough.”
Meantime, a huge controversy is stirring in the city over whether or not the New York City Marathon should be run Sunday.
New York radio host Mike Francesa went on a tirade over the airwaves Friday afternoon criticizing the city for holding the event, which begins in Sandy-ravaged Staten Island.
Two young boys, 2 and 4, died in Staten Island after they were swept out of their mother’s arms and into raging floodwaters. The New York Post reported their bodies were found in nearby marshlands.
“They’re still going door to door in Staten Island trying to find out if there are dead bodies in the houses, and you’re holding a marathon?” Francesa said.
He added:
“Now you want the streets to be littered with half-full water bottles from guys who are running in a marathon who are pouring it on their heads and throwing half-used bottles in the street and in Jersey they don’t have any water! The governor’s saying they don’t have any clean water. Well come over here, they’re throwing bottles in the street during the marathon you can pick it up. How much worse can it get?”
Here’s the clip:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc8rs2F-Aok&w=480&h=315]
