Madison Square Garden

This is a little belated, but last Friday night I got to drink in Madison Square Garden for the first time. I was in town to see family, and was swinging into the city at the last minute for an interview with what turned out to be my future employer. When I told my good friend and college roommate Kevin of my impending arrival, he said, 'boy, too bad the prices for the Heat-Knicks game are so expensive, that would be fun to go to.' I agreed, and we moved on. Thirty minutes later, he emailed that he had found tickets. So much for them being too expensive - though he wouldn't tell me how much he paid. Like I cared - I was going to my first game at MSG! And it was against the Heat, so I didn't even have to root against the Knicks, which was a double bonus (like a double rainbow, but not as fruity).

I finished my interview just in time to change and hustle over to the Garden. The first impressive thing? Security. They managed to inspect everyone coming through without creating a traffic jam, an impressive feat for an outfit in New York City. Tickets - same thing. Everyone got right in. We were on the escalators for what seemed like forever, but then we realized we had actually gone up one level too far.

After getting to the right level, we decided to grab a beer and head for our seats. The beers were $9 a piece, which was steep, but I gladly picked them up seeing as how Kevin had sprung for the tickets. Our seats were in the very last row of the 300 level, but the view was still more than good. A couple of people around me were using binoculars, but I thought that was pointless. Even from the distance, and with my poor eyesight, I could read the names and numbers on the backs of the player's jerseys. That may have been the best part of MSG right there. Even in the bad seats, you were still pretty much right on top of the action. When the crowd got loud at the start of the game, it was absolutely electric.

The first quarter was filled with lead changes, exciting dunks and breathtaking threes. The Knicks got down a bit at the end of the quarter, and sensing that it might be time for the starters to take a breather, I grabbed the opportunity to get us food (and more beer of course). I ended up missing the first five minutes of the quarter, as I ordered hot dogs that still needed some time to cook, but the girl behind the register, Renee R., was incredibly polite about the situation. I dare say that I have rarely, if ever, received better customer service at a sports venue. At this point, I was basically ready to give MSG a solid A - good seating bowl, good atmosphere, good service, good times. I wish I could say the same for the Knicks.

After mounting a furious comeback to tie the game at halftime, the Knicks came out ice cold in the second half. Amar'e Stoudemire wouldn't drive the lane, which is a major issue for the Knicks. He is their only inside prescience, and when he is settling for 15-foot jumpers, it clogs up the perimeter and makes it harder for the Knicks' wing players to score. And that's exactly what happened. The Knicks were outscored 33-17 in the third quarter, and the Heat cruised from there. Looking at the box score afterward on Kevin's phone, we were amazed that LeBron James was credited with nine misses, because it didn't seem like he had missed all game. Without Stoudemire unwilling to kick it up a notch, the Knicks were forced to turn to Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, and they were no match for LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But while on the hardwood, the Knicks didn't fulfill their expectations, everywhere else, MSG certainly lived up to its billing as the "most famous arena in the world."