Just some quick notes on the week…actually 10 days…that was as we work through MLK Weekend.
My buddy Dave Siroty and I squeezed a heck of a lot of learnings into what was essentially a three mile radius of Upper Manhattan on Saturday, but before that, I should mention that our idea for our Saturday stops came from a Friday night watching and learning more about the PBR at Madison Square Garden a week ago Friday. Dave and his wife Jill wanted to experience “the rodeo,” but more than settled for the interactive extravaganza that was the sold out PBR weekend that we talked about here. However, what we didn’t talk about going in was the crowd…a much younger than before group that was there as much more the “Yellowstone effect,” getting dressed up with girlfriends and boyfriends, drinking and having a great time, than for the bulls. Also worth noting, while I still think you can’t name teams after cities where they have zero connection other than one stop a year and an owner, the team competition as part of the “new” for PBR at MSG was the best part of the night. Maybe there was more incentive since the riders are already compensated to be on teams, but the energy level seemed to go up as team competition took over the second half of the night. There was also plenty of swag to be had to fill the gaps between rides, and Progressive’s AI booth was a fun edition which will undoubtedly continue to grow and improve over time.
Bernie needs Little Practice. Tuesday night was another hallmark stop, going into Carnegie Hall for the first time to see an ensemble led by Yankees legend and guitarist Bernie Williams teaming up with former Yankee farmhand now tenor Jonathan Tetelman for a sold-out concert. It was fun two hours for so many, with a bet being most, like myself, had never been in the legendary venue before. Two highlights were Tetelman’s rendition of “My Way” in French…and the closing number of “Take Me out To The ballgame,” an acoustic version led by Williams with everyone singing along. A great mix of sport and music we would love to see more of.
PWHL Keeps Upping Its Game: On Friday I was watching the Sirens of the PWHL taking on Minnesota on MSG Network from Prudential Center. Following the quality of play it reminded me of when I was watching the former PHF at American Dream. Two little boys were watching next to me and after the first period ended the women took off their helmets. The boys shouted, “look they are girls, that’s so cool.” They were watching hockey. Not men’s hockey or women’s hockey just quality pro hockey. The way it should be.
Then There Was Saturday: As mentioned at the top, while we were at PBR it somehow came up that we should do more small road trips, and a quick look at the calendar revealed that the legendary D3 Yeshiva Maccabees were home at 830 the following Saturday night. Not just wanting to make it a one off, we looked at the schedule and realized the Columbia women were hosting Yale in a game at 2 , which gave us the chance to not just watch the amazing work Lions’ coach Megan Griffith continues to do with her squad but to see our long time friend Tim Captraw’s daughter Kiley Capstraw play for Yale. Then to fill the gap, we noticed that one of the most undervalued venues in New York, the Armory and the Track and Field Hall of Fame, was hosting an HBCU Show Case meet. A perfect segway to seeing the Mighty Macs at home later that night.
So off we went to see a solid and lively young crowd roar the Lions to an Ivy win, followed by a quick ride less than two miles to The Armory, where we watched some of the best young runners representing their schools, cheered on with the Howard Marching Band, while learning even more about the storied history of track in NY and beyond.
So, did we go there to Furst Gym for the later start? Not yet as a quick google search revealed that the site of the Yankees original home, Hilltop Park, was just a few blocks from where the venerable Armory now stood. A detour got us to the garden on the grounds of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where the wood stadium stood (we couldn’t get into the garden because of construction, but we got close enough) to check another stop off the list. It got too dark and cold to venture to the steps where the Polo Grounds once were a little less than a half mile away, so we can do that another time, LOL.
With old stadia and arenas now check off we did head north for the walk back uptown (kudos to Dave for not one, but TWO stellar parallel parking jobs) to see the Macs and their Coach Elliot Steinmetz (whose son is a rising prospect with the Arizona Diamondbacks) in a Skyline Conference matchup with St. Joseph’s of Brooklyn (one of three St. Joe’s on the Maccabees sked, none of which are the D1 Hawks from Philly btw). Our host, Yeshiva AD Greg Fox, gave us a trove of details about the school, the program, NIL, the striving for excellence in the face of great challenges. With students still on break (they fill the gym to capacity for most late night Saturday home games) we didn’t get shortchanged on anything, and we got to see history, as Yeshiva’s Zevi Samet, “The Monsey Mamba” broke the school scoring record Saturday (he is studying to be a rabbi) in an easy win that got the team back to .500 on the year despite playing the toughest nonconference schedule in D3. Any preconceived notions people have about quality of play, excitement and game experience, even live streams can be checked at the door of the gym, as the Macs put on a fun show in just 90 minutes (no TV timeouts) worthy of any hoops fans time.
Two home wins, amazing track athletes, a fun historical stop, a great Kosher meal, 18,000 steps, all in less than a three square miles on Saturday, hard to think of a more unique eight hours on a dreary Saturday to cap a stretch of unique events in Manhattan that include the National Anthems of America and Isreal, a pre-event prayer in the dirt of MSG, another prayer for peace leading into a D3 hoops game between a school based on Jewish faith and a small Catholic school, endless encounters with friends old and new, music from The Great American songbook and the fields of MLB and on and on.
Not a bad stretch to start 2026, all on the Island of Manhattan.
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