Letter from the Sports Editor: The Garden is still Eden

ANDREW PETERS Sports Editor

One of my earliest basketball memories was the day Carmelo Anthony got traded to the Knicks.

I was home sick from school one February day in fifth grade. Watching ESPN and seeing the report of the trade, I remember thinking to myself how big of a deal it was. I wasn’t a Denver Nuggets (Anthony’s former team) or a New York Knicks fan, but I could just tell how monumental the trade was. It was the first blockbuster trade that had happened since I started watching the NBA a few years prior.

For the next few years, I watched Anthony put on some great performances at Madison Square Garden. His 62 points against the Bobcats in 2014 still stands as arguably the best performance ever inside the Garden.

Basketball fans from all generations are taught from a young age how special Madison Square Garden is and each generation has its own player that keeps the tradition alive. In the 60s and 70s, it was Walt Fraizer and Willis Reed. In the 80s and 90s it was Bernard King and Patrick Ewing. For my generation, it was Melo.

Early on in my basketball-watching years, I couldn’t wait for the day I finally got to see the Garden in person. At the time, I probably was still dreaming of playing there, but a few years later I realized I probably had a better chance of writing about the people who were actually good enough to play in the Garden.

My first time seeing MSG was in 2021 when I visited New York for the first time. Flying into the Newark, New Jersey, airport and taking a train into the city, one of the first things you see when you emerge from Penn Station is the goliath of a building that is Madison Square Garden.

While it sits below all the skyscrapers around it, the Garden’s presence on Eighth Avenue is undeniable. I was in awe seeing the building that claimed so much history for the first time.

Fast forward to February 2023. As the college basketball regular season was winding down, more and more bracket projections had Tennessee in the East Region with a chance to play in Madison Square Garden if it could make the Sweet 16. I was admittedly eager for the Vols to make the Sweet 16 so I could have a chance to finally make my way to the Garden.

After a shaky performance against Louisiana and a convincing win over Duke, Tennessee was on its way to Madison Square Garden and so was I.

The days leading up to my departure for New York, all I could really think about was finally getting to cover a game at the Garden — apologies to my professors. I got to New York Thursday morning and was counting down the hours until I could go into the arena.

A quick stop for pizza at Prince Street and a cup of coffee, and I was on my way to the legendary venue. Approaching the arena, I was greeted by the aroma of urine and marijuana — two of the staple smells of New York City. I was there about four hours before the game, but I was too eager to not get there early.

The game before Tennessee vs. Florida At- lantic was Kansas State vs. Michigan State and it turned out to be arguably the game of the tournament. Kansas State won in overtime behind 20 points and a tournament-record 19 assists from Harlem native Markquis Nowell. The hometown kid with the performance of a lifetime at MSG? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Unfortunately for basketball fans inside the Garden, the game after was one of the uglier ones of the tournament. Florida Atlantic won the slug match over the Vols to end Tennessee’s season. While I was hoping to cover another game at Madison Square Garden, it was still such a special experience doing interviews in the locker room and grinding out a few stories until about 3 a.m.

So thank you to the Beacon for giving me the opportunity to live out my dream and cover basketball — and thank you to Tennessee for making it to Madison Square Garden, giving me an opportunity to cover a game in one of the most legendary sports venues in the world.

Now let’s get ready for an awesome Final Four with no blue bloods and a couple of gritty and determined teams. It’s going to be one for the ages even if the basketball purists swear that TV ratings will be at an all-time low.

My prediction? I think Florida Atlantic is going to beat San Diego State to become the lowest seed to ever reach the national championship. Unfortunately for the Owls, they are going to meet a tough UConn team, which will defeat Miami in the Final Four. The Huskies make the most sense on paper, but as the season has taught us, anything can happen.