Earlier this week, I mentioned here the prices being sought for Game 3 of the Knicks/Spurs series in Madison Square Garden. That got me an email from the “reader in Houston” who happened to grow up in NYC. And yes, he has been a sports fan even longer than I have if you can believe that. Here is his email:
“I had tickets for the 1970 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Lakers where Willis limped onto the court to “lead” the Knicks in Game 7.
“My seat was in Section 221 and cost me $40 (a strip of four tix at $10 per game).
“I looked up a comparable seat for tonight’s game and saw a ticket in the same section going for $7,608 ($6,340 plus $1,268 fee).
“Back in the day, if I tried to scalp my ticket outside the Garden for say $30-$50, I risked arrest/fine.
“The funny thing is that I never can find out what the face value of today’s pro sports tix are. That’s why the only sporting events I go to now are high school football or basketball games because I can pay cash at the door.”
According to Microsoft CoPilot, something that cost $10 in 1970, would be something that cost approximately $86-96 today depending on which inflation methodology is employed. If you compare that sort of inflationary rise in the price of a Knicks’ playoff ticket with the asking process for seats in the Garden this week, you will see that there is a cost increase far beyond anything explained by “cost of living” changes.
Moving on … The FIFA World Cup kicks off – so to speak – today in Mexico City. Starting at 3:00 PM ET, Mexico/South Africa will begin the festivities in Estadio Azteca which seats 83,264 folks. You can be sure there will not be any empty seats for that game. Meanwhile the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) starts its quest for the knockout round of the tournament tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM ET in SoFi stadium in Los Angeles against Paraguay.
As of this morning, the USMNT is more highly regarded than the side from Paraguay. Compare these odds:
- USMNT to win the whole tournament = +5,000
- Paraguay to win the whole tournament = +25,000
- USMNT to win the Group = +135
- Paraguay to win the Group = +400
Let the games begin …
There was an epic collapse in the baseball world last night courtesy of the Washington Nationals. Here is the deal:
- Nats led the Giants 9-1 going into the bottom of the 8th inning.
- The Giants scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th so the score entering the 9th inning was 9-6 in favor of the Nats.
- Nats added a run in the top of the 9th.
- The Giants scored a run and then loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th .
- Then Bryce Eldridge hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game for the Giants 11-10.
Eldridge is the youngest player in MLB history to hit a walk-off grand slam; until last night that honor belonged to Roberto Clemente. Moreover, according to CBSSports.com this morning:
“… teams up by eight or more runs going into the eighth inning had won 2,698 consecutive games until this one. The last to suffer such a loss was the Rays, who on May 25, 2009, lost by the same score, 11-10, to Cleveland.”
Finally, here is a thought from Cicero:
“There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………