Kevin Brown bent the knee after Orioles' attempt to obscure truth

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to the night of Jan. 16, 1991. 

President Bush I appeared on national TV to reveal that the Persian Gulf War had begun and the United States was in it. But this show-stopping news was ordered hidden from Madison Square Garden patrons as it was deemed a distraction to customers who should invest their full attention to watching the Knicks lose to the Timberwolves. 

Garden President Richard Evans demanded that all in-house TVs — above concession stands, in bars, restaurants — return to the Knicks coverage, in lieu of breaking news regarding the call to arms. That the United States had declared war was none of Garden customers’ business. 

And if this had been the attack on Pearl Harbor, 14,345 Knicks fans would always recall Dec. 8, 1941, as Pearl Harbor Day. 

Not that it pays the mortgage, but such bad decisions can be financially comforting: 

Men and women worth many hundreds of million dollars — so much that they own big league teams — often act more overtly and publicly stupid than the average sweat-rent Joe on a bad day. The same goes for their top executives, those hired and enriched to serve as nodding, grinning subservients. 

In other words, Lovey and Thurston Howell III (the “millionaire and his wife”) couldn’t have afforded a more seaworthy craft than the Minnow? And why did Mrs. Howell pack such ritzy, formal night-wear for a three-hour tour? I’ve always suspected sabotage. 

From the day in 1982 when I began this column as one that exclusively covered sports TV and radio, I’ve been flabbergasted by the inability of team owners and executives to realize that there is no better reflection on them than to allow their teams’ broadcasters the freedom to say what’s on their minds, to speak what they see in an honest, credible, listener-respecting way. 

Team owners should insist on candor as an extension of their confidence, self-esteem and righteous duty to their teams’ supporters.

The last person I’d want to spend a season with is a homer, a shill who regularly proves that his or her takes are worthless when designed to represent ownership’s misapplied wishes as opposed to the truth. 

But wealthy team owners, even in sophisticated sports towns such as New York — from George Steinbrenner to Jimmy Dolan to Woody Johnson — much prefer selective (read: dishonest) team voices to those who choose to be frank, especially when their audiences are smart enough to realize they’re being spoken to like imbeciles. 

It’s petty, transparent and insulting. But so what? 

Bootlicking becomes a hiring requisite to no one’s benefit, but especially self-defeating and self-defining for team owners and management. 

On the college front, what’s taught for tuition in broadcast journalism classes — objectivity, good faith with audiences — is totally betrayed by schools’ football and basketball broadcasters. Why? Because that’s how it’s done. No better reason. No rah-rah, no moo-lah. 

There is a term that has been attributed to the Cold War communist bloc for such obedient and easily intimidated operatives: Useful Idiots. 

So now the latest self-inflicted, stupidity-based tempest: the disappearance or demotion of MASN Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown for the alleged transgression of complimenting the team’s newfound ability to defeat the Rays. 

Brown, 33, was “disappeared” — suspended? — for two weeks, his future with the O’s undetermined but, upon his return as per the team’s assurance, almost certainly altered to better serve yahoos rather than genuine, intelligent baseball fans. 

That seems to have already occurred. 

Late last week, Brown publicly swore allegiance to the Orioles, specifically team owner John Angelos, adding that those who came to his defense — among them the biggest names in sports broadcasting — were dead wrong, ill-informed and should butt out. Seems like a hostage situation. 

Really? So he allowed that “Poor Kevin” angle to proliferate during the two weeks of his sudden absence before making his dubious claim of having experienced no trouble from above. Makes no sense. 

The bottom-line bad guy in this caper is very likely Angelos, who inherited the team from his father, 94-year-old Peter Angelos. Both have leaned toward heavy-handed despotism as their we-know-what’s-best rule. 

The Angelos have shown what seems to be a natural inclination to go out of their way to infuriate fans and customers, not to mention pump servitude into Orioles broadcasts. And if John Angelos is not the primary perp, he had the push-button ability to quickly undo what had been done on his watch. But he didn’t. 

Team Angelos has shown the no-longer-welcome mat to popular voices Jon Miller, Gary Thorne and Jim Hunter. 

Miller, with a style that made friends and family with Baltimore fans for 15 years, was sacked by Peter Angelos because he wanted his top voice “to bleed more orange and black.” Perhaps he’d have had Miller sob while giving the score. 

In Hunter’s case, it took 24 years for the Orioles to decide he wasn’t worth keeping. Solid, reliable and likable, he was let go at 61. Cruel. 

But very wealthy folks, especially those who inherited their fortunes and power, think the best way to win fans’ hearts and minds is to treat them as fools, to treat them with contempt. 

Nothing new. In 1966, the Yankees fired Red Barber, coincidently, not long after he noted “an empty Yankee Stadium.” The Yankees didn’t cite that as the reason — why would they? — instead, they gave no reason at all. 

So remember team announcers of all standings: Telling the truth — even self-evident, can’t-ignore truths — is dangerous. Dishonesty is the best policy. To violate it is done at your own and immediate peril.

Kay on gambling promos? You bet!

I’ve maintained that Michael “Exit Velo” Kay would read his own obituary on the air if it were handed to him. Now he has broken fresh ground with the in-game reading of promos for sports gambling bookmakers during Yankees YES telecasts. 

After all these years, he doesn’t have the muscle to reject attaching his name, voice, live presence and position to bad-odds baseball gambling? Or does he think those are invites to gamble from those in business to lose money to Kay’s audiences? 

He couldn’t have said, “I prefer not to make financial fools out of my audience. I’m not Giuseppe Franco or Promo Code Evan”? 

So now that he’s at least a little bit pregnant, how, on his TV and radio simulcast, does Kay address the escalation of sports gambling scandals among college and pro athletes? Does his opinion count?

Community rec major arrested

Bashaud Breeland, a free agent who last season played cornerback for the Chiefs, last week was arrested for driving a stolen Mercedes, altering title and possession of a stolen firearm, as well as several drug charges. He matriculated through his junior year at Clemson, where he majored in — no fooling — Community Recreation.

Reader Malcolm MacKinnon on the reported theft of the NBA Cavaliers’ Caris LeVert’s $93,000 watch: “Why would anyone need … Oh, never mind.” Hey, perhaps the watch was waterproof. … 

SNY has become home to the Spring Training Games in August Mets.

I tried to warn Phil Mickelson against using Mike Francesa as his tout.