by Paul Teetor
The novelist Thomas Wolfe proclaimed a sad truth 85 years ago in the title of his best-known book, You Can’t go Home Again.
Former New Yorker turned Florida man Donald Trump learned that painful lesson the hard way this week when he announced that he was going to attend game three of the NBA Finals at New York’s Madison Square Garden. President Trump said he was excited to be going back to his former home: the New York Knicks were ripping through the playoffs with a 9-game winning streak and he wanted to help cheer them on to their first NBA title in 53 years, which they won Saturday night.
Trump’s advance team was very specific when planning his appearance at Madison Square Garden. They told the MSG staff not to just randomly show him on the overhead Jumbotron. They should wait till the national anthem is being played and then show him saluting the flag.
Surely no one would boo during the national anthem.
Turns out Trump and his crew had underestimated just how in-your-face the New York crowd – from wealthy show biz celebs like Ben Stiller, Timothee Chalamet and Jerry Seinfeld, all the way to Bronx bums paying $3,000 to sit way up in the nose-bleed seats – can be when they really don’t like someone.
And it turned out that they really don’t like Trump.
When his presence in Knicks owner James Dolan’s luxury suite was finally shown during the national anthem, Trump was showered with booing and profane verbal abuse too foul to be repeated here. But you can use your imagination, and then rest assured it was even worse and more vociferous than what you imagined.
The extended wave of boos and F-bombs wasn’t just because Trump’s appearance caused ticket holders to have to arrive two hours before game time for security reasons. Or because fans and players alike had to pass through TSA-like security checkpoints. And it wasn’t just because the traditional watch party held outside the Garden had to be canceled – also for security reasons.
No, based on the hand-drawn signs held up by the fans and accusations they yelled at him, it was all those reasons and so much more. It was pent up frustration over the inflation that Trump promised to fix on day one of his second term. It was frustration over the Iran War that Trump started after promising that there would be no more endless wars.
And it was because of the president’s obvious fixation with his $500 million ballroom, and slapping his name on every building he could find, and with the fact that Trump has almost tripled his net worth since starting his second term, mainly through his cryptocurrency company, while regular Americans struggle to get by.
For Trump, who considers himself the nation’s premier sports fan and the guy in charge of everything sports related, it was a bad start to a very big sports week.
After being shown his picture during the national anthem, fans were treated to shots of Trump devouring several slices of pizza and then inhaling a huge plate of French fries. A little while later he was shown dozing off in his luxury seat, trying and failing to keep his eyes open.
And when it was all over, the Knicks 9-game playoff winning streak was history. The Spurs won 115-111. Trump was an easy scapegoat, as critics said Trump’s presence jinxed the Knicks.
Stephen A. Smith, the nation’s top sports talk host, called Trump “selfish” and “narcissistic” and said the extreme security measures he brought with him disrupted the team’s momentum and flow.
Naturally, when Trump heard what Smith said, he posted online that Smith is a “low IQ person” – his default insult for Black People who criticize him.
Cardi B, the rapper who performed at halftime, noted on Instagram Live that the arena felt a little “dark” and compared the energy Trump generated to a school principal walking into a classroom. Sunny Hostin, one of the panelists on the reliably anti-trump talk show The View, claimed Trump put a “bad juju” on Madison Square Garden.
That was early in the week. Then, by midweek, speculation grew that the World Champion Dodgers were not going to accept Trump’s invitation to visit the White House this season. Last February Manager Dave Roberts said they intended to take Trump up on the invitation, but for the last month the Dodgers have declined to specify a date when it will happen. After last year’s visit to the White House, the Dodgers fan base – approximately half of which is Latino or Hispanic – reacted negatively. The local anti-Trump feeling has only grown recently, after Trump claimed – without any evidence — that last week’s LA Mayoral and California gubernatorial elections were “rigged” in favor of the Democrats by using illegal immigrants to vote.
All Ball’s prediction: the Dodgers will not visit the White House this season. The cover story: both sides will explain that they were so busy they were unable to settle on a mutually convenient date.
By the way, to those who argue a sports column should not drag politics into sports coverage, All Ball would only say that Trump has continually dragged the sports world into politics, far more than any previous president.
George Bush junior and senior embraced baseball, Dwight Eisenhower played golf every chance he got, and John Kennedy played touch football games that were sometimes rougher than tackle football.
But no one ever did what Trump did Sunday night when he threw himself an 80th birthday bash on the South Lawn. There was a series of seven Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts fought in an octagon cage – known as The Claw – that towered above the White House.
For those who haven’t seen a UFC fight, it’s the equivalent of human cock-fighting: competitors use punches, kicks, elbows, knees, takedowns, and submissions to either knock out their opponent or force them to “tap out.” It’s bloody and brutal, and it’s very popular among the dwindling base of Trump supporters – approximately 38 to 42 percent of the voting population.
The 92-foot-tall “Claw” was taller than the executive mansion. Scaffolding under the mixed martial arts arena held up roughly 4,000 seats. The octagon itself was bedecked with ads from corporate sponsors, including Polymarket, nicotine pouches, crypto companies, and Bud Light.
Online, Trump was selling gold commemorative coins of the occasion with his picture engraved on them for $12,000. Actual value of the gold: approximately $4,500.
At night, beams of light from the structure shot across the Washington skyline, visible for miles around.
The Claw structure was only scheduled to host Sunday’s fight, but Trump noted that the Eiffel Tower was also supposed to be a temporary exhibition.
“You know, we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people,” Trump said. “And I’m looking at it, and maybe we’ll never, ever take it down.”
Critics railed about corruption, about using public lands for private profit — some tickets were priced at more than $1 million – and the fact that Trump bought a large chunk of UFC stock earlier this year.
Critics also targeted the corporate sponsorship packages and VIP tickets priced between $1 million and $1.5 million, warning that the event provides wealthy executives a direct route to purchase unprecedented access to the president.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio compared Trump’s UFC bash to the 1969 moon landing as a symbol of American leadership and innovation. “Little Marco,” as Trump used to call him, will apparently say anything to curry favor with his boss.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom summed up the whole crazy, corrupt spectacle when he posted on X: “Thank God they’re focused on the priorities of all Americans.”
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
