Knicks Reporters, Meet Donnie Walsh, The Man Who Will Protect You From Jim Dolan

Today, Donnie Walsh was named the new president of the New York Knicks, which means for the MSG beat reporters who cover the team, the place might feel a little less like hell.

The Times' Howard Beck--who told the Observer in November that covering the Knicks was a "miserable" assignment--just published a story on Mr. Walsh's hiring, and tells us what it means for his cohort:

In a major concession, Dolan also granted Walsh the authority to rewrite the Garden’s highly restrictive policies on speaking with the news media. Walsh who long styled himself as an accessible, media-friendly executive, insisted on retaining that freedom before accepting the job, the person said. The Garden has generally disallowed any employee — from team executives to coaches, players and staff members — from speaking to reporters without permission or, often, without a public-relations person present.

No doubt, Mr. Beck must be somewhat more than pleased about the power play away from Dolan. Back in November, Beck told us:

“Everyone is so worried about upsetting Jim Dolan, or getting fired, and as a result people aren’t themselves,” said Mr. Beck. “If you transplanted the same individuals and put them in another city, then they’d be far more interesting. They’d be themselves.”