So far this spring we’ve had two different sets of four: four straight nights when the Knicks and the Rangers alternated games over the course of four straight nights at Madison Square Garden.
It will not surprise you to learn that the teams went 4-0 the first time (the Knicks taking care of the 76ers while the Rangers did likewise to the Capitals) and 4-0 the second time (the Rangers grinding past the Hurricanes and the Knicks grimacing past the Pacers).
I’m often asked by reporters and talk-show hosts and out-of-town friends: Where’s the best place to watch a big game in Greater New York. And the fact is, there aren’t too many terrible options (well … maybe one terrible one. We’ll get to that one soon enough).
But this is how I always rank them:
1A. MSG, Knicks
1B. MSG, Rangers
Honestly, the one that gets the edge is probably due to your own personal favorite, because even 56 years after the fourth version of the Garden was built, it’s a place that gets louder than any other in New York (now that the acoustical wonders of Old Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium are gone, anyway).
Each experience is unique. The extended chant, and accompanying towel waving, after the Rangers score a goal never fails to astound in its length and gravity. And when the Knicks hit a big shot at the end of a playoff game, there is no singular sound quite like it anywhere else in New York. The fact it’s the been the last sporting playpen on Manhattan Island since the Mets abandoned the Polo Grounds in 1963 helps, too.
2. Citi Field
The sad truth of the Mets is that they’ve hosted a total of just 11 home playoff games in the 15 years since the place opened for business in 2009, and the results haven’t exactly been satisfying: five wins, six losses. But every one of those games at least hinted at the way Shea used to feel, without the requisite lower-stands rocking that always made you feel Shea was about to collapse in big moments.
3. Yankee Stadium
The acoustics in the new place simply aren’t what they were across the street — when a crowd of 20,000 could still sound like 55,000 and a crowd of 55,000 might leave you asking friends to repeat themselves for three weeks, it’d maul your eardrums so much. Though the thunder isn’t as loud, it’s still the most end-to-end engagement of any fan experience in town, from roll call at the start to throwing home run balls back to “New York, New York” at the end.
4. UBS Arena
It’s a beautiful building, and when the Islanders are playing a big game there, it’s hard not to get chills when the fans all rise to sing along to the national anthem. It follows that this should eventually become a tough place for a playoff foe to play, just not yet (2-3).
5. Red Bull Arena
The hidden gem of area arenas and stadiums. Even if you are only a moderate soccer fan, it’s worth the trip to Harrison, N.J.
6. Barclays Center
There were a few moments during the 2021 playoffs when it was hard to hear yourself think as the Nets came ever so close to the Eastern Conference finals. But its primary tenant is the Nets, and its secondary tenant, the Islanders, couldn’t run away fast enough.
7. Prudential Center
There’s nothing at all wrong with The Pru, especially when the Devils and Rangers electrified the place for four games last spring — though it suffers from not having an NBA team. If Seton Hall ever rose to tough-ticket status, that could change things.
8Y. MetLife Stadium, Giants
8Z. MetLife Stadium, Jets
There are few things Jets and Giants fans can agree on. One is how fundamentally underwhelming MetLife is, which has been a virtual consensus since the day its doors opened in 2009. Part of this is the architecture: It looks like a stack of venetian blinds. Part is stadium envy: It’s impossible to believe the Cowboys could have built the palace they play in at the exact same time this was. And it hasn’t helped that in 15 years of life, the building has hosted exactly one playoff game — Giants 24, Falcons 2 on Jan. 8, 2011 — and all that did was remind all 79,909 that they weren’t in Giants Stadium any longer.
Vac whacks
I can tell you from experience: One of the great challenges during the pandemic was generating sports content with no sports being played. My pal Joel Sherman rose to this with his brilliant series revisiting the epically brutal 1990 Yankees, out of whose dust a dynasty was born, and May 16 you can see the adaptation of that stunning work on Peacock, titled “Bronx Zoo ’90.”
Our guy Jay Horwitz took a temporary leave from baseball on his latest “Amazin’ Stories” podcast and asked Earl Monroe to talk about Jalen Brunson. “Jalen has great moves, his footwork is tremendous,” Monroe says, which coming from Pearl is like Billy Joel telling a kid on a keyboard he can tickle the ivories a little bit.
I’m a Long Island kid, where most babies get their first lax stick in the cradle, so this is big news: New York State is guaranteed a championship. Starting next Friday, the Albany Firewolves and Buffalo Bandits begin their best-of-three National Lacrosse League championship series at Albany’s MVP Arena.
I wish William Goldman could’ve seen these Knicks. He endured a lot of years of Arron Afflalo and Langston Galloway and Jerome James. This would’ve been a fair payoff.
Whack back at Vac
Joel Tanenbaum: When OG Anunoby is out, Josh Hart vows to play 96 minutes.
Vac: As my old man used to say: If he couldst, he wouldst.
Phil MacDonald: Kevin Durant the coach killer does it again.
Vac: This does beg the question: Whatever would happen if Jason Kidd — the original coach-killer extraordinaire — actually, you know, COACHED Durant, who has actually shattered all of Kidd’s coach-killing records?
@MitchVisiob84: Cleveland gets the first pick when generational local comes around. New Orleans gets it after its generational talent demands out. San Antonio gets gifted multiple No. 1s to stay relevant. But yeah, the Knicks finally got some calls in their favor. World on fire.
@MikeVacc: Preach, Brother Mitch. Preach.
Alan Hirschberg: Rick Pitino said of Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond: “He’s a jump shot away from playing for the Knicks.” If he really wanted to play for the Knicks, he’d be transferring to Villanova.
Vac: It was sitting there for all of us, but it was Alan who pounced. Well done.
