Hoping you can help me out here.  I'm coming to NYC in early December and will be picking up tickets to see the Ottawa game along with my sister and brother-in-law.  I need advice on where I should look to sit in MSG.  I grew up in Jersey City in the 70's and 80's and became a Rangers fan right when all my friends were becoming Islanders fans with their winning all their Stanley Cups (I guess I was a glutton for punishment...I also became a Mets fan at the same time).  I went to a few Rangers games as a kid but was too young to have any say in where we sat, I just felt lucky to have tickets.  I moved away from the City area in the mid-80's and now live on the West Coast.  So it's been over 25 yrs since I have been to MSG and need advice on where to sit.  Are the blue seats still the best place to go to be a real part of the action?  if so, what side would you recommend?  If not, where you do you suggest.

Any and all advice appreciated.  thanks much!

At the Rose Garden on Saturday, I saw someone with a red t-shirt with a black Batman logo with the word "BATUM" in the middle of the logo written in white.  I couldn't get over to the guy to find out where he got the shirt.  Does anyone know where these are available?  I tried doing a little searching on this site and the internet in general, but no luck.

thanks in advance...

27.15 seconds:

that's how long the saxophonist who played the national anthem last night before Game 3 held the "o'er the land of the freeeeeeeee......" note.  I know this because he did the national anthem at a game I attended a few months ago and did the same thing, so when i saw it was him again last night, I busted out the stopwatch function on my blackberry and timed him.  good stuff.   

2:

that was the number of goals that Ryan Pore of the Portland Timbers had last night by 7:49 PM.  Lamarcus didn't have 2 points until 7:57 PM. 

I think most of us are somewhat frustrated with the low number of playing minutes that GO has seen so far thru 13 games.  Right now he's averaging 24.2 minutes, with more games coming in under 20 minutes -- 2 -- (11/3 v ATL and 11/14 @ CHA) than games where he cracked 30 minute mark -- just the 1 -- (11/16 @ ATL game - which went to OT). 

How does this compare with other centers from the past 25 years?  Before I looked into these numbers, I assumed that he would compare fairly similiarly with other centers who are young and raw, since you have to figure that accummulating fouls is a common issue with young centers, as they are still learning footwork, aren't getting the benefit of the doubt since they haven't yet built up a big reputation yet, and are probably being targeted by opposing teams drawing up plays to try to draw fouls against them.   I was wrong.  Way wrong.

I gave GO the extreme benefit of the doubt when analyzing these numbers, comparing them to the ROOKIE years of other centers of the past 25 years.  If you looked at GO's true rookie year, these numbers would look even worse since he only averaged 21.5 mins last year.  Also, if you looked at sophmore seasons of the following centers, it would look worse for GO, since most of them increased as they got more experience.  But again, let's look at how GO's second season numbers compare with these centers' rookie seasons:

1. Duncan (97-98) - 39.1 minutes
2. Mutombo (91-92) - 38.3 minutes
3. Shaq (92-93) - 37.9 minutes
4. Robinson (89-90) - 36.6 minutes
5. Hakeem (84-85) - 35.5 minutes
6. Ewing (85-86) - 35.4 minutes
7. Mourning (92-93) - 33.9 minutes
8. Daugherty (86-87) - 33.7 minutes
9. Bosh (03-04) - 33.5 minutes
10. Howard (04-05) - 32.6 minutes
11. Yao (02-03) - 29.0 minutes
12. Ilgauskas (97-98) - 29.0 minutes
13. G.O. (09-10) - 24.2 minutes

Finding players with numbers comparable to GO's minutes requires you to look well below consistent All-Star performer territory. 

So what gives?  At what point do we look at the coaching staff, either coddling him and not allowing him to get into a rhythm, or not teaching him to be less foul prone?  Is a conditioning issue?  Whatever it is, it certainly looks aberrant when comparing GO to those that we believe he should be compared to...

...imagine if the USC Bush/Mayo/Floyd scandal deepens as many expect, and eventually USC AD Mike Garrett has to step down or is forced out.  If USC is looking for a new AD, could they come a-calling for the good DOCTOR??  It's probably a long shot, and again, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but stranger things have happened.  Even if the Trojans' Athletic Dept. is left in shambles, I'm guessing he'd go jumping at the chance.