Frogs in the Garden

It was about 3pm in the afternoon.  I was looking for the scores of the NIT basketball tournament to see how TCU had fared the night before.  TCU had won and was in the finals of the National Invitational.  The home town boys were playing right down the street at Madison Square Garden. The Horny Toads were going up against Georgia Tech, and tip-off was at 8 and I thought they needed some home team support. I needed to act fast.

I jumped on line and was able to get 2 tickets from a group of tickets that had just been released that morning.  We got into row 1.  This was right behind the GaTech bench.  We were close enough to hear the coaches talking to each other and hear the team planning strategies and adjustments during the time outs.  I had never been that close to a basketball game before.

TCU started hot and didn’t let up.  Georgia Tech never had a chance.   The Froggies smashed the Techies into the court and took the trophy home with them.

Madison Square Gardens

Madison Square Gardens

And then there was the Garden…..Madison Square Garden.  We were told 3 or 4 times that MSG was the greatest arena in the world.  It was big and impressive, but it was much like other arenas I’ve seen.  It is in the middle of NYC, on top of Penn Station, a huge subway and train station hub.  It is a block away from the Empire State Building and there has been a lot of sports, entertainment, and political convention history made here.  But, then again, this is the 5^th building and the 3^rd location for the Garden.

I didn’t think it had a whole lot on Mark Cuban’s American Airline Center, but it is Madison Square Garden in New York City!