Until Nov. 24, 2007, I had never been inside Madison Square Garden. Amazing, right? I have been to a Super Bowl, a Final Four and an NBA Finals game, yet I did not step foot in the World’s Most Famous Arena until I was 20 years old.
Thank God BU hockey gave me the opportunity — rather, forced me to go to MSG. I feel like this is a special event in any hot dog’s life, one that should be heavily documented.
I’m taking this as an opportunity to describe not only what it feels like to follow a college hockey team to such a high-profile venue, but also to describe the gamely preparation Jesus and I undergo before each game. I was going to chronicle my day from the moment I woke up, but it’s kind of irrelevant that I had breakfast with my family, or that I took a bus from Philadelphia to New York with Jesus. Thus, I’ll start with where I became the hot dog — in a shady courtyard area a block away from the Garden.
Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007
6:36 – We hail a cab to MSG. Traffic is horrendous and we get out about two blocks shy of the Garden. When we change into our gear, people begin to take notice of us.
7:05 – We enter the concourse. There really isn’t a bad view anywhere in the arena. It’s completely different from what I’m used to. It’s so circular.
7:06 – Jesus and I find the BU band and nab seats right below it. We have this looming feeling that people won’t go with the whole ‘General Admission’ thing and we might be moved. Nonetheless, we remain in our unoccupied seats and take in the Garden as it begins to fill.
7:13 – An older gentleman in Cornell gear calls out Jesus as “historically accurate but unsophisticated.” Jesus busts out a “dubious,” to which the Cornell fan requests, “No big words.” Ironic.
7:21 – A young man, probably about my age, approaches the BU student and band section. He’s decked out in Boston College gear, so naturally he’s already an enemy. He looks at me and asks, “Is your band director’s name Jobe?” I thought to myself, why would he possibly want to know Chris Parks’s name? I respond, “No, it is not. You can leave now.” He is speechless. He tries saying something but I just interrupt, “Goodbye, goodbye.” He has no choice but to walk away in shame. People of his kind (BC) make my blood boil. Then, I realize this upcoming weekend is indeed BC weekend. I begin to get fired up.
7:25 – The teams take the ice. I notice a couple things — Piccolo (“little” in Italian) Joe Pereira is in for J-Lo (Jason Lawrence). He’s going to try to earn that spot for the next four to six weeks. Kevin Kielt is also back. And they’re using the BU pregame music playlist at the Garden. Things already look good.
7:34 – Jesus turns to me and says, “This truly is Red Hot.” Looking at the stadium, red is overly dominant. It’s everywhere.
7:36 – My good friend, Mike Anton, arrives. He high fives me and tells me he’s 10 Yuenglings deep. He also informs me Cornell doesn’t have an opening video montage to play because its arena has no video screen, so someone is cutting one together at the moment.
7:38 – The Cornell video montage begins. It is simply pictures that dissolve into one another, with the most pansy music I have ever heard. The BU faithful begin “This is boring,” “This is stupid” and “This is too long” chants until the BU video comes on.
8:00 – The teams come out and the National Anthem plays. Right after, Jesus and I are kicked out of our seats by a single Asian woman, who proceeds to SIT DOWN. We move to the row ahead of us, but again we’re quickly moved by two others who arrive as the puck drops. They too sit down. I’m furious. Jesus is pretty mad, too.
8:06 – Jesus and I find seats with some BU fans behind the net, far away from the band and student section. I’m kind of mad at first, but then Nick Bonino feeds Piccolo Joe for his first goal of the season. Then Lucky Luke scores seconds later. And finally, Brandon Yip nets a third. Within minutes, BU is up 3-0. Unbelievable.
8:47 – The first period ends with BU on top, 3-0, but despite fronting the home whites, I can tell the BU fans are heavily outnumbered in the Garden.
8:49 – Jesus and I decide to get refreshments. Sometimes it’s tough being in these costumes because drunk men really love us. On my way to the bathroom, I get into a conversation with someone clearly over the legal limit. He keeps asking me something that sounds like, “Where are you sitting?” Only after the seventh time do I realize he’s trying to find out what I’m studying. And my God, people had numerous questions for Jesus. The Cornell fans are really confused why we’re walking around dressed the way we are. BU fans, in contrast, have come to accept it. This is part of the reason we don’t go in costume to away games. Tired of being harassed, we head back to our seats.
9:25 – The second period has started, but it isn’t until about eight minutes in that Cornell scores. Finally, I see how many Cornell fans are in the Garden – probably about 70 to 80 percent. It’s insane.
9:35 – BU tallies another score to secure this three-goal padding and help that reassuring feeling flow back over me.
9:50 – The second ends with BU up three. During the intermission, there is a tribute to Mike Eruzione and other members of the 1980 Gold Medal-winning Olympic team and a video tribute to Jack Parker. Unfortunately, the tribute runs pretty much until the 10-second mark of intermission. The band plays over it, and it simply becomes a sloppy mess.
10:00 – Colin Wilson scores the fifth goal. It’s painful trying to keep up with all the sieve chants. Cornell fans look quite depressed. One woman turns around from the Cornell section and looks at Jesus and I. We were in the middle of a “your band sucks” chant. The only reason we were chanting that is because the Cornell fans have a ridiculous hand motion when their band plays Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part II.” It really looks like they are terrible stage magicians. I notice a woman who has turned around, and I call her out. I won’t share what I said, but know this — the Cornell section beneath us knew not to look at us again.
10:31 – Cornell has scored its third goal, but the Big Red fans still chant, “It’s all your fault” at Brett Bennett. Mind you, there are three minutes left in the game. Barring some miracle, that goal won’t matter. And what the hell, a “Big Red” can’t possibly be a mascot. It’s the name of a gum.
10:43 – Game over on the empty netter. Perfect Pete is so kind. He got the puck in open ice, but instead decided to get Boomer a point by dishing to him for the ENG. It feels so good as the final buzzer sounds: the first win Jesus and I have witnessed since Nov. 3. We march over to the band and the other students to sing “Hey Baby” while we hug and embrace lovingly.
10:47 – Pictures bombard us. We head out of the Garden only to be grabbed by drunk Cornell moms and their daughters for pictures. It’s easily the funniest part of my evening. More drunk people keep questioning Jesus on the way out. Jesus whispers into my ear, “Get me out of here.”
11:00 – We make to the mezzanine and Cornell fans continue look at us in complete befuddlement. BU fans high five us. We find a corner and strip off the costumes to become normal citizens again. What a trip. It was totally worth it.
Brian Fadem, a sophomore in the College of Communication, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].