Joe's Reaction of the Week: It's Not the Same

The New York Knicks won a championship as I was asleep.

It was calculated, to be clear.

The one Knicks Finals game I watched was Game 3, live from Madison Square Garden. They lost that game. I left for a work trip the next morning, and 24 hours later, exhausted and in a hotel room I decided to go to sleep with the Knicks down 29. I woke up to see the OG tip in and the score. Noted.

I am a superstitious man. I can't turn it off. Little things, stupid things, that 60% of the time work every time are ingrained in me. Normally they are reserved for the New York Rangers. This moment felt worthy. I checked through the boxes of the way my visibility into the series had played out.

The math was clean.

I would sleep. The city would burn.

I woke up to the delirious, exhausted dregs of the overnight celebration. I watched as the fans took the city over. I soaked in the commentary, the calls, the reactions in the moment. I re-watched the major moments from the series knowing that it was over. I soaked it in. Enjoyed it for what it was.

And I myself burned with envy.

I was at Game 3, live and in person. I don't remember much about 2014, but I do remember walking into the Garden for Game 3 and feeling like I missed a potential moment. The Knicks walked onto their home floor up 2-0 in the series, the Rangers took to the ice down 2-0. It was not the same.

It was loud though. And hungry. Oh so hungry. I remember that part from 2014 pretty distinctly.

I also remember what it felt like to walk out the Garden with a loss that puts a lump in your throat and realizing how warm it was outside. When you climb a mountain in real life the air gets cold and the oxygen grows thin. In hockey it's the reverse. The closer to the top you get, the longer you're playing, the hotter it becomes. It's more humid. The air is heavier.

It literally weighs on you.

Back to the Knicks: The comparisons to 1994 are there.