JUNE 1994 PART 2

                                                       MAY 31-JUNE 4

    The Rangers would bounce back to win Game 2 on Tuesday night, and again I was working. I had
waited all these years to see the Rangers in the Finals and now I missed both Games 1 & 2 because of
work. I vowed to fix that problem.
    They won Game 2 by a 3-1 score and at that point I realized that the series was going to be another
dogfight. The Canucks had a hot goalie named Kirl MacLean and a dynamite goal scorer named Pavel
Bure. Sometimes that all you needed.
    Meanwhile, on the basketball court, the Knicks were battling the Indiana Pacers. Now, if you had told
me that the Knicks were just a game or two away from the NBA Finals and that I practically wouldn't care
I would say you were nuts. But with the Rangers playing for the Cup, and all sorts of other things going
on, I couldn't really get into the Knicks. But there they were, two wins away from the Finals. They had
beaten the Nets in four games, then knocked off the Michael Jordan-less Bulls in seven. They should
have beaten them in 5 or 6, but the Knicks being the Knicks had to make it difficult.
    Saturday night June 4 my sister Kristin graduated from High School  We had a big party at the house.
Now, these were back in those dark days when the Gallagher house was without cable or sateilte, so like
they used to in the old days, we gathered around the radio and listened to Game 3 in Vancouver. It was
by far the easiest game of the series. Pavel Bure was ejected early and Glenn Anderson scored twice, as
the Rangers won 5-1. I didn't go out that night because Ray and I would be coaching our baseball team
at 8 AM the next day.
     Karl, Ray and I coached St. Mary's 8 and 9 year olds in baseball. Our team gave up an average of
about 22 runs a game. We were awful, and besdies one or two good kids, the team was a bunch of
assholes. It didn't help that we stayed out all night on Saturday night when the games were 8 AM Sunday
morning.
    But Karl had taken ill, so Ray and I were in charge. It wouldn't have mattered if Tony LaRussa was in
charge, this team was hideous. We got our asses kicked again.
   For whatever reason, I wasn't working that Sunday night, so I got to watch Knicks-Pacers game 7. The
game was close till Patrick Ewing skied over Rik Smits with a dunk, which if not the game winning
basket, was definitely the symbolic game winner. Like a dagger through the heart, the Pacers were done.
The Knicks were going to face the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals.
Madison Square Garden had two teams playing for titles. It didn't get any better than that.
TOMMOROW- PART 3 June 6-13