Rant #1,980: I Can't Take It

Now, to show that I am personally back to the current reality, I am going to Rant and Rave about something that I have Ranted and Raved about many times over the years ...

And that is the price of tickets to New York Knicks games at Madison Square Garden.

This year, I have reached my saturation point.

After checking out the team's NBA schedule and the prices that they are charging for tickets. I have already sworn off this season, and I might just swear off going to a Knicks game, period, for many seasons to come.

The tickets are outrageously priced, in particular for a team that offers its fans so little.

Case in point: I thought going to a game later in the season, in April, might be a nice thing for myself and my son to do.

I found a game, Saturday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m., against the Milwaukee Bucks, not one of the elite teams in the league, but a team I think even this horrendous Knicks team could at least have a game with.

I then checked the ticket prices, and I know I should not be astonished at this point, but well, I was.

The cheapest seat in the house, in the nosebleed section all the way upstairs, was $78 a ticket, and these seats are bad, really bad, as are the "higher-priced" alternative, seats for $87 a pop.

For your pleasure, the seats--and most seats up on top--are partially blocked by the insane Chase Bridge, a contraption that demonstrated once and for all that the Knicks organization is as greedy as they come.

If you don't know what the Chase Bridge is, it was put up as a clear walkway, where you could walk from one side of the arena to another and actually be able to continue to see all the action while you walked.

The walkway was such a success that the Madison Square Garden brass added seats to it, and now, it overhangs in front of the upper seats, and depending on where you sit, you can't see the scoreboard, and you might be partially blocked from seeing the court.

My son and I went to one game a few years ago where we were in a corner, and you couldn't see much of anything. For our convenience, there was a TV screen in front of us, so you could see the action, and it was almost an acknowledgment by the MSG people that yes, you had wasted your money in going to a game, because even though you were at the game, you really weren't there.

Heck, I can sit at home in my underwear watching a game like this; I don't have to spend several hundred dollars to do it in person.

No way, never again.

So, with two tickets equalling out to $156--or $174 for the alternative--and with looming taxes and other charges, two seats to the game versus the Bucks would cost me about $200, and that is not including transportation fees, food fees, etc.

No, I am not going to spend upwards of $300 to see a Knicks game, and with such an inferior product, why bother?

We have been priced out of the market, and to me, a real fan, that is simply abominable.

The Knicks are in a category by themselves. They play in what is called "The World's Most Famous Arena," and they sell out each and every game, even though their product is horrid.

The place is marketed as a viable, cheaper alternative to seeing a Broadway show, and that is how the MSG brass treat their inner real estate--seats--when pricing them.

You can spend more than $100 for a seat to a Broadway show, but it IS cheaper to see a Knicks game, if you are willing to sit all the way up like this.

I should know. As you might remember, a few years back, I complained to both the Knicks and the NBA about prices, and they did get back to me, offering me market rate seats--yes, all the way up--minimally blocked by the Chase Bridge, and yes, I had to pay for them.

My son and I went to the game, the Knicks were nice about it, presenting both of us with a bag of goodies, but of course I go to a game which started at 12 noon, the Knicks players later admitted that many of them were out all night and were unprepared, and they lost by 40 points to the Boston Celtics.

My son and I are going to an NBA game this season. I have chosen to go to a Brooklyn Nets game, their first home game of the season in October.

Sure, their tickets are also overpriced, but they are about half what the Knicks tickets are.

The Barclay's Center is not MSG, but it will do as a viable NBA arena.

Yes, it is a pain to get there--we have to take two Long Island Railroad trains there--but they are really starting something nice in Brooklyn, and even though the team isn't very good, you get the sense that they know their market--often people like me--and they somewhat cater to that market.

Heck, all I want to do is go to an NBA game with my son. I do not want to waste a paycheck on doing so, so this will have to do.

"Never again" is a strong term, and who knows, somewhere down the line, perhaps my son and I will attend another Knicks game. Maybe we will win tickets to a game, and sit all the way down, and be able to see everything.

Maybe I will win the lottery too.

I mean, people do win such things ... .