Royalty goes to Opening Night at MSG to see the Knicks host the World Champion Miami Heat!

MSG Transformation Phase 2

After their game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn was postponed Thursday night due to Hurricane Sandy, the Knicks got to officially open their new season at home at Madison Square Garden on Friday night instead.

They were hosting the World Champion Miami Heat at the newly transformed Madison Square Garden phase two of three.

As for the latest phase in the transformation process, the Garden has taken on a different look especially in the seating bowl. In 1991, they added luxury suites around the very top of the arena. In phase two of the transformation, they've taken many of them out. In their place, they've added seats that extend all the way to the top of the building on the sides and the corners. The luxury suites have been moved to the middle level which is between the 100 level and the 200 level as it's now comprised. It should be noted that not all the luxury boxes are finished yet. Half of them are not. This is a work in progress as they continue to transform the Garden. Next year will be phase three. Once they finish that, the Garden will have a totally different look than it did in years past. It's taking shape as they've also moved the seats closer to the action so the sightlines are improved to see an event there. Furthermore, they've added nice cushioned seats throughout the seating bowl which makes the experience more comfortable for its patrons. The seats are all black except for the ones on the 400 level just below the West Balcony. Those are colored blue in honor of the iconic blue seats that the Garden was known for. That's where the working class people were notorious for sitting. Hopefully you'll get a chance to go to see the latest phase as progress continues to be made at the World's Most Famous Arena.

As for the game I saw, the Knicks came ready to play. With all the distractions from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Knicks put on a clinic to help ease people's minds for a few hours in the wake of the disaster we had. It's going to be a long healing process but for one night was a nice relief.

The Knicks played inspired basketball from start to finish as they made the champs look like chumps on this night. The Knicks lead 33-17 after the first quarter which set the tone for the rest of the evening. They were a team on a mission and it showed. The last time they played the Miami Heat, they got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. This was a little bit of a payback for them. Carmelo Anthony lead the way as he scored 30 points and he grabbed 10 rebounds. His teammates contributed as five other players pitched in. They scored in double figures to give the new look Knicks a balanced attack. The Knicks lead 55-44 at halftime. In the third quarter, they held their biggest lead of the game at 75-52 with 3:11 left. When it was all said and done, they came away with an easy 104-84 victory. With that being said, basketball was back at the mecca.

Stay tuned as I recap the wild weekend I had thanks to Sandy's destruction to the Northeast.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 1/9 in review

View from the West Balcony

I basically spent my week at Madison Square Garden after work Monday-Thursday.

I took turns watching the Knicks on Monday and Wednesday nights and the Rangers on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Here's how the games I saw went:

Monday night the Knicks hosted the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played them the week before and they lost to them. I didn't go to that one. This time it was payback as the Knicks returned the favor as they beat the Bobcats, 91-87.

I did get to see Kemba Walker play as a pro for the first time. He played college ball at UCONN and he's from the Bronx. He came off the bench and he scored 10 points.

Tuesday night I saw the Rangers play the Phoenix Coyotes. I sat in the newly added West Balcony which is located upstairs behind the goal. It's a great aerial view of the action.

As for the game, it was scoreless after two periods. In the third period, both teams scored a goal which forced overtime. Neither team was able to score in the extra session so the game had to be decided in a shootout. This one took six rounds until the Rangers finally emerged victorious as Derek Stepan lit the lamp to give the Rangers the 2-1 victory in the skills competition.

Wednesday night I saw the Knicks take on the red hot Philadelphia 76ers who had won six in a row. The Knicks came to play as they held off the tired Sixers who played the two nights in a row prior to coming to the Garden. The Knicks won the game, 85-79.

Thursday night I saw the Rangers entertain the Ottawa Senators. Once again I sat up in the West Balcony. This time I wound up meeting a guy named Evans Longacre who was at the game with his co-workers. We spoke to each other during the game which enhanced my game experience on this night. I hope to see Evans down the road again.

As for the game, the Rangers had an off night as they failed to score a goal as they fell to the Senators, 3-0. Jason Spezza of the Senators scored two goals to lead the way. I'm a big fan of his since I remember seeing him play back in 1999 in Junior hockey. He has had himself a nice career with the Senators.

Friday night after work I came home and rested since there were no games of interest in the local area for me to attend.

More importantly, I had to do my wash and get ready for my busy weekend getaway for some playoff football and then some.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that will recap all the festivities of this classic weekend. It was very royal to say the least.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman