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| The World's Most Famous Arena: Madison Square Garden circa 2004 |
First off, it rained for a good portion of the drive. And not like a little drizzle that makes golfers pull out their umbrellas, but a hard, steady rain like the one the Bishop Pickering played through in 'Caddyshack.' Needless to say, I found myself yelling rat farts more than once, while shaking my fists at the heavens. We then found ourselves tangled up in New York's rush hour traffic. The roads are packed in every conceivable direction, making progress nearly impossible. The last 100km of our trip took almost as long as the first 700km. Throw a missed exit into the mix and you find yourself in a Clifton, NJ grocery store asking customers how to get to Newark. As an aside, it seems the people of New Jersey aren't very familiar with their state's largest city, as most times I asked for any directions, I was given a blank stare like they had never heard of it.
But despite our trouble, we did eventually arrive at our hotel in Newark, NJ, which if you are visiting New York, is a great place to stay. Hotels in Newark are about a quarter the price of hotels in New York, and are only a 20 minute subway ride into Penn Station (which is underneath Madison Square Garden). After checking in, we quickly changed into our jerseys and ran for the train, finally arriving at MSG with five minutes left in the 2nd period. My previous record for arriving at a Flames game was 12 minutes left in the 2nd, which was because of a snow storm in Calgary two years ago.
Madison Square Garden is now the league's oldest arena, since Pittsburgh opened their new facility this year. Built in 1968, it sits atop one of the world's busiest train stations (Penn Station), in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. The most unique feature of MSG has to be the ice surface being four storeys above the street. Unlike most arenas, where the lower bowl is usually below ground, at MSG, everything is above ground, and quite a bit above ground. There is a separate venue on the ground floor, which has been housing Cirque du Soleil shows for several years. It seats around 5,000 and is directly above Penn Station. MSG, home of the Knicks and Rangers, is above that theatre. It is very strange entering an arena and immediately taking four escalators up, only to find yourself at about the 15th row of the lower section when you enter the seating bowl.
My favorite part of MSG though, is the beer with complimentary pretzel in the mug's handle. This is one of the world's great combos, so why not make them both available to hockey fans? I'd like to recommend this to the Flames, but I fear they might also like the idea of charging $9.50, so I think I'll keep my mouth shut for the time being. A close second is probably the seats, which are cushy vinyl, much like movie theatre seats, instead of the hard plastic most arenas seem to feature. It makes for a comfortable seat, but makes it difficult to stand up when your team scores, as your ass has settled so deep into the seat.
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| This pretzel is making me thirsty! |
In our first game to MSG, the Flames defeated the Rangers 3-0, making this the only arena we haven't heard the goal horn in. Going into this game, I was naturally hoping for another Flames shutout, not only for the win, but also so I wouldn't hear that horn. Well, the Fates took care of one of my wishes, as the Rangers never scored after we arrived, so we are yet to hear the horn at MSG. I only wish it had been for different reasons.
After the game, we washed our sorrows away at White Castle, with a 10 slider sack. Yes, you do order a sack and yes, it is weird going up to a fast food counter and asking for a sack of meat.
Madison Square Garden Fast Facts
Seats: Section 328, $44, Stubhub
Score: Flames 1, Rangers 2
Arena Rating: 7.4
Unique Concession: Pretzels in beer
Souvenir Stick: Rangers 85th Anniversary Commemorative
Public Transit: Multiple options within steps of the arena.
Unique Arena Trait: Ice level four storeys above street level, theatre underneath ice
Swag: none
Today will be spent in New York, taking in the sights, smells and tastes, before tomorrow's game against the Devils. Another benefit of staying in Newark, at least on this trip, is our hotel is only two blocks from the Prudential Center (that should help us get there on time).
-TheRev
You can find my previous trip to MSG here.
twitter.com/TheRevBW
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