Tangled Up In Blog

Night with the Knicks

Yesterday got off to a really crappy start. When I got to work I realized that I had left my keys AND my cell phone at home. To make things worse Andy wasn't going to be home until after 11 because he was taking a group of kids from school to the Knicks game last night. I eventually solved the key problem by getting a spare set from Karin but better news arrived even later when Andy informed me that there was an extra ticket for the Knicks v. Magic game that I could have.

So, I became a chaperone on the field trip to the Knicks game last night. The tickets were courtesy of Spike Lee who pays for school kids from Brooklyn to see Knicks games for free. We got into the Garden really early, at like 5:45 for a 7:30 game. Then we got to sit in the courtside seats while the players did their warm-ups. I didn't recognize many of the players but they are so much taller in person than they seem on TV. Also, their feet look about 10 times bigger. I felt like they were all walking around in clown shoes. From time to time one of the players would walk over and shake hands with the kids for a minute or two. The only player that I recognized from the Magic just by sight was J.J. Reddick. I wanted to harass him about his crying tendency but Andy informed me that that was not proper chaperone behavior.

While we were watching the team we spotted Walt Frazier who Andy described to me as "the guy from the Just For Men commercials" I guess because he thought I wouldn't know who Walt Frazier is. He was wearing a ridonkulous suit...cornflower blue corduroy suit with a pink tie, pink pocket square and gray crocodile skin loafers. Nice!

The celebrity highlight though was when Spike Lee came over. He is even shorter in person than he looks on TV, if that's possible. He signed autographs for the kids and shook hands. Andy and I were at the end of the row and a very irate security guard cut Andy off for some reason and wouldn't let him get near Spike Lee. Andy didn't care so just called his name and then thanked him for all the work he was doing in New Orleans and then Spike Lee shook his hand...all very exciting! We are in middle of watching his documentary on Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke. It is a must see in my opinion...very powerful and very sad.

Our tickets for the game were in the highest level but close to mid-court so they still afforded a pretty good view. Plus, it was just cool being in Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks for the first time...and for free!! We also got a free hot dog, chips, and Coke and a mini Knicks backpack and t-shirt. Quite a good haul. The game was really fun to watch even though I'm not a big NBA fan. The Knicks should have won but Stephon Marbury is a huge ball hog. I've boiled all of the Knicks problems down to that. Overall, we had a great time.

Pictures from Lousiana are finally up...or will be in about 15 minutes if you have RSS and you read this immediately after I post. Enjoy!

Labels: NYC sights

posted by carolyn @ 1:36 PM