NYaT's farewell to the Izod Center

I recently joined my girlfriend, Elissa, for one last trip to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ.  I grew up in nearby Wayne and traveled to the Meadowlands for literally countless games.  I obviously went to a lot of Yankees games as a kid, but I attended far more Devils and Nets games at the Meadowlands.  And who could blame me?  It was twice as close to home, and easily half as expensive!  Perfect for weeknight excursions...plus some weekend games sprinkled in for good measure.

The Izod Center was also known, at various times, as Brendan Byrne Arena and Continental Airlines Arena.  The building, which opened in 1981, was ironically one of the oldest arenas in the NBA/NHL, but until the completion of Newark's Prudential Center in 2007, it was the youngest arena in the NY metro area.  Nobody would call it a beautiful arena -- the USA Today once ranked it as the worst NBA arena -- but many would call it cavernous since it seated over 20,000 for basketball and concerts, plus 19,040 for hockey.

I guess you could say the Izod Center was a mixed bag.  On one hand, it was extremely accessible from Route 3 and the NJ Turnpike, and it had a ton of cheap parking (until the recent construction of the new Meadowlands Stadium and the Xanadu shopping complex, anyway).  On the other hand, it had only one main concourse for all 20,000 spectators to use.  You can imagine the postgame people traffic, not to mention the bathroom and food lines during intermissions.

But overall, despite its lack of charm (as compared to, say, MSG or Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills) it served its purpose extremely well.  It had great sightlines and acoustics, so it was a very popular tour stop.  Everybody and everything from Bruce Springsteen to the Dave Matthews Band to the American Idol tour to the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who actually recorded their "Snow [Hey Oh]" music video there) played at the Izod Center.  And what about sports, you ask?  Here's a rundown.

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