document_title: Merit system

question_text: who developed the first governmental system based on merit

text: Merit system

text: History[edit]

text: The earliest known example of a merit system dates to the Qin and Han dynasties. To maintain power over a large, sprawling empire, the government maintained a complex network of officials.[1] Prospective officials could come from a rural background and government positions were not restricted to the nobility. Rank was determined by merit, through the civil service examinations, and education became the key for social mobility.[1] After the fall of the Han Dynasty, the nine-rank system was established during the Three Kingdoms period. The concept of a merit system spread from China to British India during the 17th century, and then into continental Europe.[2]

text: United States[edit]

text: The United States civil service began to run on the spoils system in 1829 when Andrew Jackson became president. The assassination of United States President James A. Garfield by a disappointed office seeker in 1881 proved its dangers. President Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau who believed that the president owed him a civil service position and in not giving him the position, threatened the very being of the republican party. Two years later, the system of appointments to the United States federal bureaucracy was revamped by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which made the merit system common practice. The merit system determines the fitness of the candidate by the ability to pass a written competitive examination, given by a commission of examiners. The answers submitted by candidates must be unsigned, so as to obviate the possibility of favoritism on the part of the examiners. A list is made of the successful candidates, arranged in the order of their merit as shown by the results of the examination. Appointments must be made from this eligible list in the order of rank unless good cause can be shown why one of higher rank should be set aside for one standing lower on the list.[4]

text: Proponents of the system admit that the system does not always lead to the choice of most competent candidate but is effective in eliminating those most incompetent.[4] In addition the possible exclusion of most competent candidate is outweighed by the system's benefits such as limiting the ability of nepotism and political favoritism. The power of appointment being vested in the president of the United States by the United States Constitution, it is not within the power of the United States Congress to fetter the president's action by the enactment of laws restricting the exercise of the power of appointments. Thus, in the United States, the merit system has been extensively applied by the voluntary action of the president following self-imposed rules. It has been judicially determined that the civil-service rules promulgated by the president of the United States do not have the force of general law, and confer upon members of the civil service no right to invoke the aid of the courts to protect them against violation thereof. They are the president's laws, and the president alone can enforce them.[5] Working under the supervision of the president is the Merit Systems Protection Board. The MSPB follows nine core principles when governing the executive branch workforce.

text: Performance Assessment[edit]

text: Forced Ranking[edit]

text: Forced Ranking is a system in which performing employees are ranked into groups a company has established. The term 'Rank and Yank' was created by the former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch. The 'Rank and Yank' encouraged terminating the employment of poor performers and replacing them with new personnel. Many like Welch and Former Chief Executive of Microsoft believe in replacing poor performers while others, such as Tom Barry, former Managing Director at BlessingWhite, believe in 're-engaging underperforming employees.'[3]

text: Consequences of Performance Assessment[edit]

text: As the United States has become Anti-Bureaucratic, it has moved away from the outdated depiction of Merit System. Twenty-eight states have established an ‘At Will’ environment where civil service employees can be fired at any time without cause. In 2014 the Department of Veteran Affairs became overwhelmed with problems with scheduling appointments. Congress called for immediate action and ordered the Department of Veteran Affairs to lay off ‘miscreant’ employees. Donald F. Kettl, a Professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, explores in his work, The Merit Principle in Crisis, ‘At will’ practices and whether they’re beneficial to the bureaucratic practices of the government. Kettl states that due to an increase in government programs, firing ‘miscreant’ bureaucratic employees would only ‘weaken the governments ability to steer’. Such repercussions such as Kettl’s are not the only measures taken by employers.[4]

text: Susan J. Wells, a writer for HR Magazine, expresses her take on Merit Pay and its meaning in No Results, No Raise. [5] Wells believes that the concept of ‘Tough Love’ makes a more profound impact on the balance of protecting and rewarding those whose performance excels and those whose performance could be improved. Wells elaborates that not rewarding low performers with a merit increase at the end of the year is an ideal way of showing ‘Tough Love.' The idea gives low performing employees a year to improve their performance and receive constant feedback from managerial staff.

text: Pros[edit]

text: The importance of the merit system in a work place is to provide good quality work to the public. When merit is truly assessed in the process of hiring or promoting personnel, an honest, effective, and productive workplace is created.[6] Employees build organizations and the service they provide to customers allows the organization to be successful. Without its employees or customers, an organization would be doomed. Motivated and happy employees are the key principle of the merit system. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are likely to provide a higher level of productivity (more work in less time-costing organizations less money), less likely to quit (low or lower employee turnover rates), great communication for voicing workplace concerns (trust and comfort between supervisor and employees), little to no abuse of company benefits/incentives, i.e.: lunch breaks, sick leave, bonuses, etc. Bottom line, administration is responsible for providing and setting the atmosphere and standards of a workplace that result in success.[7]

text: Cons[edit]

text: The merit system is criticized that it leads to uncooperative behaviors between employees creating conflict that produces low work ethics. Merit system is based on performance compensation that encourages competition among employees, creating a competitive environment that puts employees at odds with one another. This can lead to unwanted behaviors of conduct that can affect the productivity of the work place. Disrupting team unity to look better on reviews and personal goals become more important than team goals.[8]


document_title: Powers of the United States Congress

question_text: what section of the constitution gives congress its power

root

text: Powers of the United States Congress

text: General powers[edit]

text: Article I of the Constitution sets forth most of the powers of Congress, which include numerous explicit powers enumerated in Section 8. Constitutional amendments have granted Congress additional powers. Congress also has implied powers derived from the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution.

tag: p

text:
Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters, through the enumerated power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.
The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, extended power of taxation to include income taxes.[1] The Constitution also grants Congress exclusively the power to appropriate funds.  This power of the purse is one of Congress' primary checks on the executive branch.[1]  Other powers granted to Congress include the authority to borrow money on the credit of the United States, regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, and coin money.[2] Generally both Senate and House have equal legislative authority although only the House may originate revenue bills and, by tradition, appropriation bills.[3]

text: The Constitution also gives Congress an important role in national defense, including the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces, and to make rules for the military.[4] Some critics charge that the executive branch has usurped Congress's Constitutionally-defined task of declaring war.[5] While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, they asked for and received formal war declarations from Congress for the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II,[6] although President Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903 did not get Congressional assent.[6] Presidents have initiated war without Congressional war declarations; Truman called the Korean War a "police action"[7] and the Vietnam War lasted over a decade without a declaration of war.[6] In 1970, Time magazine noted: "All told, it has been calculated, U.S. presidents have ordered troops into position or action without a formal congressional declaration a total of 149 times" before 1970.[6] In 1993, one writer noted "Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution," and that the "real erosion (of Congressional authority to declare war) began after World War II."[8] President George H. W. Bush claimed he could begin Operation Desert Storm and launch a "deliberate, unhurried, post–Cold War decision to start a war" without Congressional approval.[8] Critics charge that President George W. Bush largely initiated the Iraq War with little debate in Congress or consultation with Congress, despite a Congressional vote on military force authorization.[9][10] Disagreement about the extent of congressional versus presidential power regarding war has been present periodically throughout the nation's history.[11]

text: Congress also has the power to establish post offices and post roads, issue patents and copyrights, fix standards of weights and measures, establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court, and "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." Article Four gives Congress the power to admit new states into the Union.

text: One of the foremost non-legislative functions of the Congress is the power to investigate and to oversee the executive branch.[12] Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress' subpoena power.[13] Some critics have charged that Congress has in some instances failed to do an adequate job of overseeing the other branches of government. In the Valerie Plame Wilson episode sometimes known as the Plame affair, some critics, including Representative Henry A. Waxman, charged that Congress was not doing an adequate job of oversight in this case.[14] Other critics charge Congress was lax in its oversight duties regarding presidential actions such as warrantless wiretapping, although others respond that Congress did investigate the legality of decisions by President George W. Bush involving such matters.[15]

text: Congress also has the exclusive impeachment power, allowing impeachment, trial, and removal of the President, federal judges and other federal officers.[16]

text: Enumerated powers[edit]

text: Among the powers specifically given to Congress in Article I Section 8, are the following:

text: 1.To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

text: 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

text: 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Native American tribes;

text: 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

text: 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

text: 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

text: 7. To establish post offices and post roads;

text: 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

text: 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

text: 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

text: 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

text: 12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

text: 13. To provide and maintain a navy;

text: 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

text: 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

text: 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

text: 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles (16 km) square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

text: Other congressional powers have been granted, or confirmed, by constitutional amendments. The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth Amendments (1870) gave Congress authority to enact legislation to enforce rights of all citizens regardless of race, including voting rights, due process, and equal protection under the law.[17] Generally militia forces are controlled by state governments, not Congress.[18]

text: Implied powers and the commerce clause[edit]

text: Congress also has implied powers, which derive from the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution and permit Congress "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."[19]  Broad interpretations of this clause and of the Commerce Clause, the enumerated power to regulate commerce, in rulings such as McCulloch v Maryland, have effectively widened the scope of Congress' legislative authority far beyond that prescribed in Section 8.[20][21]


document_title: NFL win–loss records

question_text: who has the worst nfl record of all time

text: NFL win–loss records

text: Regular season[edit]

text: The following is a listing of all 32 current National Football League (NFL) teams ranked by their regular season win–loss record percentage, accurate as of the end of the 2016 NFL regular season.[1] For teams that previously played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), their AAFC win-loss records are not included as the NFL does not officially count AAFC statistics despite the 1950 NFL–AAFC merger.[2][a] However, for teams that played in the American Football League (AFL), their AFL win-loss records are included and officially counted by the NFL. Ties are registered as a half win and a half loss when calculating the win-loss record.

text: Best win–loss record in division

tag: table

text:
Rank
Team
Won
Lost
Tied
Pct.
First NFL Season
Total Games
Division

1.
Dallas Cowboys
511
367
1
.582
1960
860
NFC East

2.
Green Bay Packers
730
553
37
.567
1921
1,320
NFC North

3.
Chicago Bears
744
568
42
.565
1920
1,354
NFC North

4.
Miami Dolphins
439
341
4
.563
1966
784
AFC East

5
New England Patriots[b]
476
383
9
.554
1960
868
AFC East

6
New York Giants
684
572
33
.543
1925
1,289
NFC East

7
Denver Broncos
465
393
10
.541
1960
868
AFC West

8
Minnesota Vikings
457
387
10
.541
1961
854
NFC North

9
Baltimore Ravens
181
154
1
.540
1996
336
AFC North

10
San Francisco 49ers
522
450
14
.537
1950
986
NFC West

11
Indianapolis Colts[c]
502
441
7
.532
1953
950
AFC South

12
Oakland Raiders
456
401
11
.532
1960
868
AFC West

13
Pittsburgh Steelers
601
535
20
.529
1933
1,156
AFC North

14
Kansas City Chiefs
447
409
12
.522
1960
868
AFC West

15
Washington Redskins
586
572
28
.506
1932
1,186
NFC East

16
Seattle Seahawks
325
318
1
.505
1976
644
NFC West

17
Cleveland Browns
462
466
10
.498
1950
938
AFC North

18
Los Angeles Chargers
426
431
11
.497
1960
868
AFC West

19
Los Angeles Rams
544
554
21
.496
1937
1,119
NFC West

20
Carolina Panthers
172
179
1
.490
1995
352
NFC South

21
Philadelphia Eagles
555
591
26
.485
1933
1,172
NFC East

22
Tennessee Titans
413
449
6
.479
1960
868
AFC South

23
Buffalo Bills
400
460
8
.465
1960
868
AFC East

24
Detroit Lions
544
641
32
.460
1930
1,217
NFC North

25
Cincinnati Bengals
344
408
4
.458
1968
756
AFC North

26
New York Jets
392
468
8
.456
1960
868
AFC East

27
New Orleans Saints
338
427
5
.442
1967
770
NFC South

28
Houston Texans
106
134
0
.442
2002
240
AFC South

29
Jacksonville Jaguars
155
197
0
.440
1995
352
AFC South

30
Atlanta Falcons
341
437
6
.439
1966
784
NFC South

31
Arizona Cardinals
542
732
40
.428
1920
1,314
NFC West

32
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
250
393
1
.389
1976
644
NFC South

text: Playoffs[edit]

text: The following is a listing of all 32 current National Football League (NFL) teams ranked by their playoff win-loss record percentage, accurate as of the end of Super Bowl LI.

text:
Best win–loss record in division

Team active in playoffs

text:
Rank
Team
Games
Won
Lost
Pct.
Last playoff
appearance
Division

1
New England Patriots
51
32
19
.652
2016
AFC East

2
Baltimore Ravens
23
15
8
.627
2014
AFC North

3
Green Bay Packers
56
34
22
.607
2016
NFC North

4 (tie)
Pittsburgh Steelers
60
36
24
.600
2016
AFC North

4 (tie)
San Francisco 49ers
50
30
20
.600
2013
NFC West

6
Oakland Raiders
44
25
19
.568
2016
AFC West

7
Carolina Panthers
16
9
7
.563
2015
NFC South

8
Dallas Cowboys
61
34
27
.557
2016
NFC East

9 (tie)
Washington Redskins
42
23
19
.548
2015
NFC East

9 (tie)
Denver Broncos
42
23
19
.548
2015
AFC West

11
Seattle Seahawks
31
16
15
.516
2016
NFC West

12
New York Giants
49
24
25
.490
2016
NFC East

13
Indianapolis Colts
45
22
23
.489
2014
AFC South

14
Miami Dolphins
41
20
21
.488
2016
AFC East

15
Chicago Bears
35
17
18
.486
2010
NFC North

16
Buffalo Bills
29
14
15
.483
1999
AFC East

17
New York Jets
25
12
13
.480
2010
AFC East

18
Philadelphia Eagles
40
19
21
.475
2013
NFC East

19
Jacksonville Jaguars
11
5
6
.455
2007
AFC South

20
Los Angeles Rams
43
19
24
.442
2004
NFC West

21 (tie)
Arizona Cardinals
16
7
9
.438
2015
NFC West

21 (tie)
New Orleans Saints
16
7
9
.438
2013
NFC South

23
Houston Texans
7
3
4
.429
2016
AFC South

24
Tennessee Titans
33
14
19
.424
2008
AFC South

25
Atlanta Falcons
22
9
13
.409
2016
NFC South

26
Minnesota Vikings
47
19
28
.404
2015
NFC North

27
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
15
6
9
.400
2007
NFC South

28
Los Angeles Chargers
28
11
17
.393
2013
AFC West

29
Cleveland Browns
31
11
20
.355
2002
AFC North

30
Detroit Lions
20
7
13
.350
2016
NFC North

31
Kansas City Chiefs
26
9
17
.346
2016
AFC West

32
Cincinnati Bengals
19
5
14
.263
2015
AFC North

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ For example, the Browns' regular season win–loss record does not include a 47–4–3 record compiled in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949, nor does their playoff record include the 5–0 record compiled during the same period. Likewise, the 49ers' AAFC regular season win–loss record of 38–14–2, nor their 1-1 AAFC playoff record are officially counted
Jump up ^ The Patriots played as the "Boston Patriots" from 1960–1970, before adopting the "New England Patriots" name, which they have played under since the 1971 season.[3] The team was also briefly known as the "Bay State Patriots" prior to the 1971 season.[4]
Jump up ^ The Colts played under the "Baltimore Colts" name from 1953–1983, before relocating to Indianapolis and adpoting their current "Indianapolis Colts" name, which they have played under since the 1984 season.[5]

tag: ol


document_title: Interurban

question_text: the major source of profits for promoters of interurban electric railroads was

text: Interurban

text: Definition of "interurban"[edit]

text: The term "interurban" was coined by Charles L. Henry, a state senator in Indiana. The Latin, inter urbes, means "between cities".[3] The interurban fit on a continuum between urban street railways and full-fledged railroads. George W. Hilton and John F. Due identified four characteristics of an interurban:[4]

text:
Electric power for propulsion.
Passenger service as the primary business.
Equipment heavier and faster than urban streetcars.
Operation on tracks in city streets, and in rural areas on roadside tracks or private right-of-way.

tag: ul

text: The definition of "interurban" is necessarily blurry. Some town streetcar lines evolved into interurban systems by extending streetcar track from town into the countryside to link adjacent towns together, and sometimes by the acquisition of a nearby interurban system. There was a large amount of consolidation of lines following initial construction. Other interurban lines became, effectively, light rail systems with no street running whatsoever, or they became primarily freight-hauling railroads due to a progressive loss of their initial passenger service over the years.[5]

text: In 1905 the United States Census Bureau defined an interurban as "a street railway having more than half its trackage outside municipal limits." It drew a distinction between "interurban" and "suburban" railroads. A suburban system was oriented toward a city center in a single urban area and served commuter traffic. A regular railroad moved riders from one city center to another city center and also moved a substantial amount of freight. The typical interurban similarly served more than one city, but it served a smaller region and made more frequent stops, and it was oriented to passenger rather than freight service.[6]

text: History[edit]

text: Emergence[edit]

text: The development of interurbans in the late nineteenth century resulted from the convergence of two trends: improvements in electric traction, and an untapped demand for transportation in rural areas, particularly in the Midwestern United States. The 1880s saw the first successful deployments of electric traction in streetcar systems. Most of these built on the pioneering work of Frank J. Sprague, who developed an improved method for mounting an electric traction motor and using a trolley pole for pickup. Sprague's work led to widespread acceptance of electric traction for streetcar operations and end of horse-drawn trams.[7]

text: The late nineteenth century United States witnessed a boom in agriculture which lasted through the First World War, but transportation in rural areas was inadequate. Conventional steam railroads made limited stops, mostly in towns. These were supplemented by horse and buggies and steamboats, both of which were slow and the latter of which was restricted to navigable rivers.[8] The increased capacity and profitability of the city street railroads offered the possibility of extending them into the countryside to reach new markets, even linking to other towns. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. It was not a major success, but others followed.[9] The development of the automobile was then in its infancy, and to many investors interurbans appeared to be future of local transportation.[10]

text: Growth[edit]

text: From 1900 to 1916, a large network of interurban lines was constructed in the United States, particularly in the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and California.[11] In 1900, 2,107 miles (3,391 km) of interurban track existed, but by 1916, this had increased to 15,580 miles (25,070 km), a seven-fold expansion.[12] During this expansion, in the regions where they operated, particularly in Ohio and Indiana, "...they almost destroyed the local passenger service of the steam railroad."[13] To show how exceptionally busy the interurbans radiating from Indianapolis were in 1926, the immense Indianapolis Traction Terminal (nine roof covered tracks and loading platforms) scheduled 500 trains in and out daily and moved 7 million passengers that year.[14] At their peak the interurbans were the fifth-largest industry in the United States.[15]

text: Decline[edit]

text: The fortunes of the industry declined during World War I and particularly into the early 1920s. Many interurbans had been hastily constructed without realistic projections of income and expenses. They were initially financed by issuing stock and selling bonds. The sale of these financial instruments was often local with salesmen going door to door aggressively pushing this new and exciting "it can't fail" form of transportation. But many of those interurbans did fail, and often quickly. They had poor cash flow from the outset, higher expenses than expected, and struggled to raise essential further capital from a wary financial community. Interurbans were very vulnerable to acts of nature damaging track and bridges, particularly in the Midwestern United States where flooding was common. Receivership was a common fate when the interurban company couldn't pay its payroll and other debts, so state courts took over and allowed continued but temporary operation while suspending the company's obligation to pay its bond interest. With the interest payments suspended, the company had enough cash flow to meet its other cash obligations, but it was expected by the court that Receivership would eventually end and the company would resume its interest payments. Otherwise the company would be forced to quit, and many did. In addition, the interurban honeymoon period with the municipalities of 1895–1910 was over. The large and heavy interurbans, some weighing as much as 60 tons riding on track designed for lighter street cars, caused damage to city streets which led to disputes and lawsuits over who should bear repair costs. The rise of automobile traffic in the middle 1920s aggravated those trends. As the interurban companies struggled financially, they faced increasing competition from cars and trucks on newly paved streets and highways, and many municipalities sought to remove interurbans from city streets. [16] Some companies exited the passenger business altogether to focus on freight, while others sought to buttress their finances by selling surplus electricity to local communities. Several which attempted to exit the rail business altogether ran afoul of state commissions which required that interurban trains remain running "for the public good," even at a loss, such as the Indiana Railroad's forced passenger operation from Indianapolis to Seymour in 1939.[17]

text: Many financially weak interurbans did not survive the 1920s; others went bankrupt during the Great Depression. A few struggling lines tried combining to form much larger systems in an attempt to gain operating efficiency and a broader customer base. This occurred in Ohio in year 1930 with the long Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railroad (C&LE), and in Indiana with the very widespread Indiana Railroad. Both had limited success up to 1937–1938 primarily from growing revenues earned from freight.[18] The 130-mile (210 km) long Sacramento Northern Railway stopped carrying passengers in 1940 but continued hauling freight using heavy electric locomotives into the 1960s.[19]

text: Survivors[edit]

text: Interurban business increased for the survivors during World War II due to fuel oil rationing cutting car use and large wartime employment. When the war ended in 1945, riders quickly went back to their automobiles, so most of these lines finally abandoned.[20] Several systems managed to struggle into the 1950s, including the Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad (passenger service ended 1950), Lehigh Valley Transit Company (1951), West Penn Railways (1952), and the Illinois Terminal Railroad (1958). The West Penn was the largest interurban to operate in the east at 339 miles and had provided the very hilly Pittsburgh area coal country towns with hourly transportation since 1888.[21]

text: Four lines serving commuters in three major cities lasted into the 1960s: the North Shore Line and the South Shore Line in Chicago, the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, and the Long Beach Line in Long Beach and Los Angeles (the last remaining part of the Pacific Electric system). The Long Beach Line was cut in 1961, the North Shore Line in 1963, and the Philadelphia Suburban's West Chesterroute 103 line in 1966.[22]

text: The South Shore Line is now owned by the state of Indiana and uses mainline-sized electric multiple units, although one section of street running in Michigan City, Indiana, remains. The Skokie Valley portion of the North Shore Line from Dempster Street to Howard Street was acquired by the Chicago Transit Authority and is now the Yellow Line. The Yellow Line initially operated with third rail from Howard Street to the Skokie Shops and switched to overhead wire for the remainder of the journey to Dempster Street, until 2004 when the overhead wire was replaced with third rail.

text: SEPTA operates three former Philadelphia interurbans: the former Philadelphia and Western third rail Norristown High Speed Line heavy rail line, and the former Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Red Arrow Route 101 and 102 as light rail trolley lines.

text: Some former interurban lines retained freight service for up to several decades after the discontinuance of passenger service. Most were converted to diesel operation, although the Sacramento Northern Railway retained electric freight until 1965.[23] Several museums and heritage railways, including the Western Railway Museum and Seashore Trolley Museum, operate restored equipment on former interurban lines. Several former interurban rights of way have been reused for modern light rail lines, including the Los Angeles MTA's former Pacific Electric Railways Long Beach Blue Line and Santa Monica Expo Line, and one section of the Baltimore Light Rail on former Baltimore and Annapolis right-of-way.

text: Infrastructure[edit]

text: Right of way[edit]

text: Interurbans typically ran alongside or on a public right-of-way. In towns, interurbans ran in the street using a town's existing street car tracks.[24] While track sharing limited an interurban's operating costs, it required sharp street car turns for sixty foot long, 35 ton interurban cars and made operations susceptible to later year auto traffic congestion with unhappy town councils.[25] Unlike conventional railroads, it was rare for an interurban to construct long unencumbered stretches of private right-of-way. The lines often meandered alonside what at that time were dirt roads, even switching from one side of the road to the other. [26] The torque characteristics of electric traction motors operation allowed interurbans to operate on steeper grades than conventional steam locomotives.[27]

text: Trackage[edit]

text: Compared to conventional steam railroad trackage, interurban rail was light and ballasted lightly, if it all.[28] Most interurbans were built to standard gauge (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in or 1,435 mm), but there were exceptions. Interurbans often used the tracks of existing street railways through city and town streets, and if these street railways were not built to standard, the interurbans had to use the non-standard gauges as well or face the expense of building their own separate trackage through urban areas. Some municipalities deliberately mandated non-standard gauges to prevent freight operations on public streets. In Pennsylvania, many interurbans were constructed using the wide "Pennsylvania trolley gauge" of 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm). In Los Angeles, the Pacific Electric Railway, using standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge track, and the Los Angeles Railway, the city's streetcar system, using 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge, shared dual-gauge track in downtown Los Angeles with one rail common to each.[29]

text: Electrification[edit]

text: Most interurban railways in North America were constructed using the same low-voltage 500 to 600 V DC trolley power in use by the street railways to which they connected.[30] This enabled interurban cars to use the same overhead trolley power on town street car tracks with no electrical change on the cars to accommodate a different voltage. However, higher voltage became necessary to reduce power loss on long-distance routes, though substations were established to boost voltage.[31] In 1904, a high voltage single-phase alternating current (AC) system where AC was delivered directly to the interurban car became available and was promoted and distributed by Westinghouse and competitor General Electric. Both 3300 and 6600 V AC were used.[32][not in citation given] However, AC systems proved expensive to maintain and were not widely adopted.[citation needed]

text: More common were high-voltage DC systems – usually 1200 V DC, introduced in 1908 by Indianapolis & Louisville Traction Company for their Dixie Flyer and Hosie Flyer services.[33][not in citation given] In the streets, where high-speed service was not feasible, the cars ran at half speed at 600 V or got a changeover device.[citation needed] A 2400 V DC third-rail system was installed on the Michigan United Railways's Western Division between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids in 1915, but was abandoned because of the safety hazard.[34] Even 5000 V DC was tested.[35]

text: Most interurban cars and freight locomotives collected current from an overhead trolley wire. The cars contacted this wire through the use of a trolley pole or a pantograph. Others designs collected current from a third rail. Some interurbans used both: in open country, the third rail was used and in town, a trolley pole was raised. An example of this was the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin Railroad where a trolley pole was used in both Aurora and Elgin, Illinois. Third rail was cheaper to maintain and more conductive, but it was more expensive to construct initially and it did not eliminate the need for AC transformers, AC transmission lines, and AC/DC conversion systems. In addition, third rail posed a serious danger to trespassers and animals and was difficult to keep clear of ice.[citation needed]

text: Trains[edit]

text: Rolling stock[edit]

text: From 1890 to 1910, roughly, interurban cars were made of wood and often were very large, weighing up to 40 short tons (35.7 long tons; 36.3 t) and measuring as long as 60 feet (18.29 m). These featured the classic arch-window look with truss-rods and cow-catchers. Three of the best known early companies were Jewett, Niles, and Kuhlman, all of Ohio.[citation needed] By 1910, most new interurban cars were constructed of steel, weighing up to 60 short tons (53.6 long tons; 54.4 t).[36][verification needed] As competition increased in the 1920s interurban companies and manufacturers were attempted to reduce car weight and wind resistance in order to reduce power consumption. The trucks were improved[how?] to provide a better ride, acceleration, and speed but with reduced power consumption. In the 1930s, better quality steel and aluminum reduced weight, and cars were redesigned to ride lower in order to lower wind resistance.[citation needed] Car design peaked in the early 1930s with the Red Devil cars of the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad.[37]

text: In addition to passenger cars, interurban companies acquired freight locomotives and line maintenance equipment. A "box motor" was a powered car exclusive for freight that looked like a passenger interurban without windows and had wide side doors for loading freight. A freight motor was geared for power rather than speed and could pull up to six freight cars depending upon the load and grades. Freight cars for interurbans tended to be smaller than those for steam railroads, and they had to have special extended couplers to prevent car corner contact at the very tight grinding turns at city street corners. Maintenance equipment included "line cars" with roof platforms for the trolley wire repair crew, snow plows and snow sweepers with rotating brushes, a car for weed control and to maintain track and ballast. In order to save money, many companies constructed these in their shops using retired or semi-wrecked passenger cars for the frame and the traction motor mounted trucks.[citation needed]

text: Passenger trains[edit]

text: Passenger interurban service grew out of horse-drawn rail cars operating on city streets. As these routes electrified and extended outside of towns interurbans began to compete with steam railroads for intercity traffic.[citation needed] Interurbans offered more frequent service than steam railroads, with headways of up to one hour or even half an hour.[38] Interurbans also made more stops, usually 1 mile (1.6 km) apart. As interurban routes tended to be single-track this led to extensive use of passing sidings. Single interurban cars would operate with a motorman and conductor, although in later years one-man operation was common. In open country, the typical interurban proceeded at 40–45 miles per hour (64–72 km/h). In towns with the middle of the street operation, speeds were slow and dictated by local ordinance. The result was that the average speed of a scheduled trip was low, as much as under 20 miles per hour (32 km/h).[citation needed]

text: Freight trains[edit]

text: Many interurbans did substantial freight business. An interurban could move freight and packages regionally more quickly and less expensively than competitive steam railroads.[39] In 1926, the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway moved 57,000 short tons (50,893 long tons; 51,710 t) of freight per month. By 1929, this had risen to 83,000 short tons (74,107 long tons; 75,296 t) per month.[40] During the 1920s freight revenue helped offset the loss of passenger business to automobiles.[41] A typical interurban freight train consisted of a powered box motor pulling one to four freight cars. These often operated at night as local ordinances forbade daytime freight operation on city streets.[42] Interurban freight in the Midwest was so extensive that Indianapolis constructed a very large freight handling warehouse which all of Indianapolis' seven interurbans companies used.[43][page needed]

text: Preservation[edit]

text: Numerous museums and societies have preserved equipment:

text:
California State Railroad Museum
Connecticut Trolley Museum
East Troy Electric Railroad Museum
Electric City Trolley Museum
Halton County Radial Railway
Illinois Railway Museum
Museum of Transportation
Orange Empire Railway Museum
Oregon Electric Railway Museum
Rockhill Trolley Museum
Seashore Trolley Museum
Shore Line Trolley Museum
Western Railway Museum


document_title: Madison Square Garden

question_text: who has performed the most at madison square garden

text: Madison Square Garden

text: History[edit]

text: Previous Gardens[edit]

text: Madison Square is formed by the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in Manhattan. It was named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States.[8]

text: Two venues called Madison Square Garden were located just northeast of the square, the first from 1879 to 1890, and the second from 1890 to 1925. The first Garden, leased to P. T. Barnum,[9] had no roof and was inconvenient to use during inclement weather, so it was demolished after 11 years. Madison Square Garden II was designed by noted architect Stanford White. The new building was built by a syndicate which included J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, P. T. Barnum,[10] Darius Mills, James Stillman and W. W. Astor. White gave them a Beaux-Arts structure with a Moorish feel, including a minaret-like tower modeled after Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville[10] – soaring 32 stories – the city's second tallest building at the time – dominating Madison Square Park. It was 200 feet (61 m) by 485 feet (148 m), and the main hall, which was the largest in the world, measured 200 feet (61 m) by 350 feet (110 m), with permanent seating for 8,000 people and floor space for thousands more. It had a 1,200-seat theatre, a concert hall with a capacity of 1,500, the largest restaurant in the city and a roof garden cabaret.[9] The building cost $3 million.[9] Madison Square Garden II was unsuccessful like the first Garden,[11] and the New York Life Insurance Company, which held the mortgage on it, decided to tear it down in 1925 to make way for a new headquarters building, which would become the landmark Cass Gilbert-designed New York Life Building.

text: A third Madison Square Garden opened in a new location, on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, from 1925 to 1968. Groundbreaking on the third Madison Square Garden took place on January 9, 1925.[12] Designed by the noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, it was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 249 days by boxing promoter Tex Rickard;[9] the arena was dubbed "The House That Tex Built."[13] The arena was 200 feet (61 m) by 375 feet (114 m), with seating on three levels, and a maximum capacity of 18,496 spectators for boxing.[9] Demolition commenced in 1968 after the opening of the current Garden.[14] It finished up in early 1969, and the site is now where One Worldwide Plaza is located.

text: Current Garden[edit]

text: The fourth and current Madison Square Garden opened on February 11, 1968, after Irving Mitchell Felt, who purchased the air rights from the Pennsylvania Railroad, tore down the above-ground portions of the original Pennsylvania Station.[15][16] The new structure was one of the first of its kind to be built above the platforms of an active railroad station. It was an engineering feat constructed by Robert E. McKee of El Paso, Texas. Public outcry over the demolition of the Pennsylvania Station structure—an outstanding example of Beaux-Arts architecture—led to the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The Garden is located in the office and entertainment complex formally addressed as Pennsylvania Plaza and commonly known as Penn Plaza, named for the railroad station.

text: In 1972, Felt proposed moving the Knicks and Rangers to a then incomplete venue in the New Jersey Meadowlands, the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Garden was also the home arena for the NY Raiders/NY Golden Blades of the World Hockey Association. The Meadowlands would eventually host its own NBA and NHL teams, the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils, respectively. The New York Giants and Jets of the National Football League (NFL) also relocated there. Felt's efforts fueled controversy between the Garden and New York City over real estate taxes. The disagreement again flared in 1980 when the Garden again challenged its tax bill. The arena, since the 1980s, has since enjoyed tax-free status, under the condition that all Knicks and Rangers home games must be hosted at MSG, lest it lose this exemption.[17]

text: Garden owners spent $200 million in 1991 to renovate facilities and add 89 suites in place of hundreds of upper-tier seats. The project was designed by Ellerbe Becket. In 2004–2005, Cablevision battled with the City of New York over the proposed West Side Stadium, which was cancelled. Cablevision then announced plans to raze the Garden, replace it with high-rise commercial buildings, and build a new Garden one block away at the site of the James Farley Post Office. Meanwhile, a new project to renovate and modernize the Garden completed phase one in time for the Rangers and Knicks' 2011–12 seasons,[18] though the vice president of the Garden says he remains committed to the installation of an extension of Penn Station at the Farley Post Office site. While the Knicks and Rangers were not displaced, the New York Liberty played at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey during the renovation.

text: Madison Square Garden is the last of the NBA and NHL arenas to not be named after a corporate sponsor.[19]

text: Joe Louis Plaza[edit]

text: In 1984, the four streets immediately surrounding the Garden were designated as Joe Louis Plaza, in honor of boxer Joe Louis, who made eight successful title defenses in the previous Madison Square Garden.[20][21]

text: 2011–2013 renovation[edit]

text: Madison Square Garden's $1 billion second renovation took place mainly over three offseasons. It was set to begin after the 2009–10 hockey/basketball seasons, but was delayed until after the 2010–11 seasons. Renovation was done in phases with the majority of the work done in the summer months to minimize disruptions to the NHL and NBA seasons. While the Rangers and Knicks were not displaced,[22][23] the Liberty played their home games through the 2013 season at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey during the renovation.[24][25]

text: New features include a larger entrance with interactive kiosks, retail, climate-controlled space, and broadcast studio; larger concourses; new lighting and LED video systems with HDTV; new seating; two new pedestrian walkways suspended from the ceiling to allow fans to look directly down onto the games being played below; more dining options; and improved dressing rooms, locker rooms, green rooms, upgraded roof, and production offices. The lower bowl concourse, called the Madison Concourse, remains on the 6th floor. The upper bowl concourse was relocated to the 8th floor and it is known as the Garden Concourse. The 7th floor houses the new Madison Suites and the Madison Club. The upper bowl was built on top of these suites. The rebuilt concourses are wider than their predecessors, and include large windows that offer views of the city streets around the Garden.[26]

text: Construction of the lower bowl (Phase 1) was completed for the 2011–2012 NHL season and the 2011–12 NBA lockout shortened season. An extended off-season for the Garden permitted some advanced work to begin on the new upper bowl, which was completed in time for the 2012–2013 NBA season and the 2012–13 NHL lockout-shortened NHL season. This advance work included the West Balcony on the 10th floor, taking the place of sky-boxes, and new end-ice 300 level seating. The construction of the upper bowl along with the Madison Suites and the Madison Club (Phase 2) were completed for the 2012–2013 NHL and NBA seasons. The construction of the new lobby known as Chase Square, along with the Chase Bridges and the new scoreboard (Phase 3) were completed for the 2013–2014 NHL and NBA seasons.

text: Penn Station renovation controversy[edit]

text: Madison Square Garden is seen as an obstacle in the renovation and future expansion of Penn Station, which is already expanding through the James Farley Post Office, and some have proposed moving MSG to other sites in western Manhattan. On February 15, 2013, Manhattan Community Board 5 voted 36–0 against granting a renewal to MSG's operating permit in perpetuity and proposed a 10-year limit instead in order to build a new Penn Station where the arena is currently standing. Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer said, "Moving the arena is an important first step to improving Penn Station." The Madison Square Garden Company responded by saying that "[i]t is incongruous to think that M.S.G. would be considering moving."[27]

text: In May 2013, four architecture firms – SHoP Architects, SOM, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro – submitted proposals for a new Penn Station. SHoP Architects recommended moving Madison Square Garden to the Morgan Postal Facility a few blocks southwest, as well as removing 2 Penn Plaza and redeveloping other towers, and an extension of the High Line to Penn Station.[28] Meanwhile, SOM proposed moving Madison Square Garden to the area just south of the James Farley Post Office, and redeveloping the area above Penn Station as a mixed-use development with commercial, residential, and recreational space.[28] H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture wanted to move the arena to a new pier west of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, four blocks west of the current station/arena. Then, according to H3's plan, four skyscrapers at each of the four corners of the new Penn Station superblock, with a roof garden on top of the station; the Farley Post Office would become an education center.[28] Finally, Diller Scofidio + Renfro proposed a mixed-use development on the site, with spas, theaters, a cascading park, a pool, and restaurants; Madison Square Garden would be moved two blocks west, next to the post office. DS+F also proposed high-tech features in the station, such as train arrival and departure boards on the floor, and apps that would inform waiting passengers of ways to occupy their time until they board their trains.[28] Madison Square Garden rejected the notion that it would be relocated, and called the plans "pie-in-the-sky".[28]

text: In June 2013, the New York City Council Committee on Land Use voted unanimously to give the Garden a ten-year permit, at the end of which period the owners will either have to relocate, or go back through the permission process.[29] On July 24, the City Council voted to give the Garden a 10-year operating permit by a vote of 47 to 1. "This is the first step in finding a new home for Madison Square Garden and building a new Penn Station that is as great as New York and suitable for the 21st century", said City Council speaker Christine Quinn. "This is an opportunity to reimagine and redevelop Penn Station as a world-class transportation destination."[30]

text: In October 2014, the Morgan facility was selected as the most ideal area for Madison Square Garden to be moved, following the 2014 MAS Summit in New York City. More plans for the station were discussed.[31][32] Then, in January 2016, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a redevelopment plan for Penn Station that would involve the removal of The Theater at Madison Square Garden, but would otherwise leave the arena intact.[33][34]

text: Events[edit]

text: Regular events[edit]

text: Sports[edit]

text: Madison Square Garden hosts approximately 320 events a year. It is the home to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, and the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. The New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and the Madison Square Garden arena itself are all owned by the Madison Square Garden Company. The arena is also host to the Big East Men's Basketball Conference Tournament and the finals of the National Invitation Tournament. It also hosts selected home games for the St. John's men's Red Storm (college basketball), the annual pre- and postseason NIT tournaments, the Millrose Games track and field meet, and almost any other kind of indoor activity that draws large audiences, such as the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and the 2004 Republican National Convention. The Garden is the former home of the NBA Draft and the former New York City home of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and Disney on Ice; all three events are now held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It served the New York Cosmos for half of their home games during the 1983–84 NASL Indoor season.[35]

text: Many of boxing's biggest fights were held at Madison Square Garden, including the Roberto Durán–Ken Buchanan affair, and the first Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier bout. Before promoters such as Don King and Bob Arum moved boxing to Las Vegas, Nevada Madison Square Garden was considered the mecca of boxing. The original 18½' × 18½' (5.6 m × 5.6 m) ring, which was brought from the second and third generation of the Garden, was officially retired on September 19, 2007, and donated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame after 82 years of service. A 20' × 20' (6 m × 6 m) ring replaced it beginning on October 6 of that same year.

text: Concerts[edit]

text: Madison Square Garden hosts more high-profile concert events than any other venue in New York City. It has been the venue for George Harrison's The Concert for Bangladesh, The Concert for New York City following the September 11 attacks, John Lennon's final concert appearance (during an Elton John concert on Thanksgiving Night, 1974) before his murder in 1980, and Elvis Presley, who gave four sold out performances in 1972, his first and last ever in New York City. Parliament-Funkadelic headlined numerous sold out shows in 1977 and 1978. Led Zeppelin's 3 night stand in July 1973 was recorded and released as both a film and album titled The Song Remains The Same. The Police played their final show of their reunion tour at the Garden in 2008.

text: At one point, Elton John held the all-time record for greatest number of appearances at the Garden with 64 shows. In a 2009 press release, John was quoted as saying "Madison Square Garden is my favorite venue in the whole world. I chose to have my 60th birthday concert there, because of all the incredible memories I've had playing the venue."[36] Billy Joel, who broke the record, stated "Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe as far as I'm concerned. It has the best acoustics, the best audiences, the best reputation, and the best history of great artists who have played there. It is the iconic, holy temple of rock and roll for most touring acts and, being a New Yorker, it holds a special significance to me."[36]

text: Madonna performed at this venue a total of 31 concerts, the first two being during her 1985 Virgin Tour, on June 10 and 11, and the most recent being the two-nights stay during her Rebel Heart Tour on September 16 and 17, 2015.

text: U2 performed at the arena 25 times: the first one was on April 1, 1985 during their Unforgettable Fire Tour, in front of a crowd of 19,000 people. The second and the third were on September 28 and 29, 1987 during their Joshua Tree Tour, in front of 39,510 people. The fourth was on March 20, 1992 during their Zoo TV Tour, in front of a crowd of 18,179 people. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth was on June 17 and 19 and October 24, 25 and 27, 2001 during their Elevation Tour, in front of 91,787 people. The 10th, the 11th, the 12th, the 13th, the 14th, the 15th, the 16th and the 17th were on May 21, October 7, 8, 10, 11 and 14 and November 21 and 22, 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 149,004 people. The band performed their following eight performances at the arena on July 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30 and 31, 2015 as part of their Innocence + Experience Tour.

text: In the summer of 2017, Phish performed 13 consecutive concerts at the venue, which the Garden commemorated by adding a Phish themed banner to the rafters.[37]

text: The Garden usually hosts a concert each New Year's Eve, while the Knicks and Rangers play on the road.[citation needed]

text: Other events[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: It has previously hosted the 1976 Democratic National Convention, 1980 Democratic National Convention, 1992 Democratic National Convention, and the 2004 Republican National Convention, and hosted the NFL Draft for many years (now held at Garden-leased Radio City Music Hall). In 1982 the Church of God in Christ in New York under the leadership of Bishop F.D. Washington used Madison Square Garden for its Annual Holy Convocation.

text: The New York Police Academy, Baruch College/CUNY and Yeshiva University also hold their annual graduation ceremonies at Madison Square Garden. It hosted the Grammy Awards in 1972, 1997 and 2003 (which are normally held in Los Angeles) as well as the Latin Grammy Awards of 2006.

text: The group and Best in Show competitions of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show are held every February for two days at MSG.

text: Notable firsts and significant events[edit]

text: The Garden hosted the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals simultaneously on two occasions: in 1972 and 1994.

text: MSG has hosted the following All-Star Games:

text:
NHL All-Star Game: 1973, 1994
NBA All-Star Game: 1998, 2015
WNBA All-Star Game: 1999, 2003, 2006

text: In 1985, the Garden hosted the inaugural WrestleMania presented by the World Wrestling Federation. In 1988 it hosted the WWF's inaugural SummerSlam PPV.

text: Seating[edit]

text: Seating in Madison Square Garden was initially arranged in six ascending levels, each with its own color. The first level, which was available only for basketball games, boxing and concerts, and not for hockey games and ice shows, was known as the "Rotunda" ("ringside" for boxing and "courtside" for basketball), had beige seats, and bore section numbers of 29 and lower (the lowest number varying with the different venues, in some cases with the very lowest sections denoted by letters rather than numbers). Next above this was the "Orchestra" (red) seating, sections 31 through 97, followed by the 100-level "First Promenade" (orange) and 200-level "Second Promenade"(yellow), the 300-level (green) "First Balcony", and the 400-level (blue) "Second Balcony." The rainbow-colored seats were replaced with fuchsia and teal seats[38] during the 1990s renovation (in part because the blue seats had acquired an unsavory reputation, especially during games in which the New York Rangers hosted their cross-town rivals, the New York Islanders) which installed the 10th floor sky-boxes around the entire arena and the 9th floor sky-boxes on the 7th avenue end of the arena, taking out 400-level seating on the 7th Avenue end in the process.

text: Because all of the seats, except the 400 level, were in one monolithic grandstand, horizontal distance from the arena floor was significant from the ends of the arena. Also, the rows rose much more gradually than other North American arenas, which caused impaired sight lines, especially when sitting behind tall spectators or one of the concourses. This arrangement, however, created an advantage over newer arenas in that seats had a significantly lower vertical distance from the arena floor.

text: As part of the 2011–2013 renovation, the club sections, 100-level and 200-level have been combined to make a new 100-level lower bowl. The 300-level and 400-level were combined and raised 17 feet closer, forming a new 200-level upper bowl. All skyboxes but those on the 7th Avenue end were removed and replaced with balcony seating (8th Avenue) and Chase Bridge Seating (31st Street and 33rd Street). The sky-boxes on the 9th floor were remodeled and are now called the Signature Suites. The sky-boxes on the 7th Avenue end of the 10th Floor are now known as the Lounges. One small section of the 400-level remains near the west end of the arena, and features blue seats. The media booths have been relocated to the 31st Street Chase Bridge.

text: Capacity[edit]

text:
Basketball[39]

Years
Capacity

1968–1971

19,500

1971–1972

19,588

1972–1978

19,693

1978–1989

19,591

1989–1990

18,212

1990–1991

19,081

1991–2012

19,763

2012–2013

19,033

2013–present
19,812[1]

Hockey[40]

Years
Capacity

1968–1972

17,250

1972–1990

17,500

1990–1991

16,792

1991–2012

18,200

2012–2013

17,200

2013–present
18,006[1]

text: The Theater at Madison Square Garden[edit]

text: The Theater at Madison Square Garden seats between 2,000 and 5,600 for concerts and can also be used for meetings, stage shows, and graduation ceremonies. It was the home of the NFL Draft until 2005, when it moved to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center after MSG management opposed a new stadium for the New York Jets. It also hosted the NBA Draft from 2001 to 2010. The theater also occasionally hosts boxing matches on nights when the main arena is unavailable. The fall 1999 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament as well as a Celebrity Jeopardy! competition were held at the theater. Wheel of Fortune did tapings at the theater twice in 1999 and 2013. In 2004, it was the venue of the Survivor: All-Stars finale. No seat is more than 177 feet (54 m) from the 30' × 64' stage. The theatre has a relatively low 20-foot (6.1 m) ceiling at stage level[41] and all of its seating except for boxes on the two side walls is on one level slanted back from the stage. There is an 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) lobby at the theater.

text: Accessibility and transportation[edit]

text: Madison Square Garden sits directly atop a major transportation hub in Pennsylvania Station, featuring access to commuter rail service from the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, as well as Amtrak. The Garden is also accessible via the New York City Subway. The A C E trains stop at 8th Avenue and the 1 2 3 trains at 7th Avenue in Penn Station. The Garden can also be reached from nearby Herald Square with the B D F M N Q R W trains at the 34th Street – Herald Square station as well as PATH train service from the 33rd Street station.


document_title: How Lily Stole Christmas

question_text: what was the word ted say instead of grinch

text: How Lily Stole Christmas

text: Plot[edit]

text: This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Ted has decided to spend Christmas in his home this year with "his other family". He doesn't want to spend it with his mom and her new boyfriend, Clint; or his dad and his new 'girlfriend', microbrewing; or his super-religious cousin, Stacy, in Staten Island. While Lily decorates his apartment, Marshall says he must go to the law library to finish one last paper that is due that day. He refuses to look at any of the decorations as he leaves because the "winter wonderland" will be his reward for finishing the paper. After he leaves, Lily finds the old answering machine that was unplugged after Lily and Marshall broke up. Lily plays messages that are still on it, and hears a message from Ted to Marshall telling him to get over Lily. In this message, Ted calls Lily "a bad word...a very, very bad word" (implied to be either "bitch" or "cunt" - based on the fact that Ted usually replaces the word "bitch" with the word "beach," it is more likely the latter)[1] which is substituted in future Ted's re-telling of the story with the word "grinch."

text: Lily asks why Ted would call her that word, and Ted reveals that he was trying to get Marshall to stop idolizing Lily even after they had split during the summer, and told Marshall at the time if he did not stop putting her up on a pedestal, he would never get over her. Ted asks Marshall to tell him one thing wrong with Lily. Finally Marshall gives in and he does and follows with making jokes about Lily along with Ted and Barney at the bar. Ted tells Lily that he was just trying to help Marshall and he refuses to apologize to Lily because she was "kind of a grinch".

text: At the bar, Ted is telling Robin and a progressively ill Barney about what happened, and realizes that he has to apologize to Lily. Ted brings a beer back up to the apartment to offer as an apology. When he opens the door, he finds that Lily has taken all the Christmas decorations away from their apartment. Ted wants to make sure the winter wonderland will be there when Marshall gets back from the library. Ted tries to call Lily but with no result. As Robin and a very sick Barney stack at the apartment Ted decides to go to Lily's apartment to apologize. He tricks her into thinking he's the pizza delivery guy so he's able to get her to open the door to her tiny, crappy, cramped NY apartment. He says he's sorry that he called her "a grinch", but Lily works out that he is faking an apology, and is clearly still angry with her. She asks Ted why he won't forgive her when she has already apologised to Marshall. He replies that she never apologised to him, and that her abrupt departure and lack of contact had hurt him as well. He and Lily get into another argument, when her power suddenly goes off, with Lily saying that Ted pissed off the "big man up stairs," her super, that lives above her. He then tells Lily that she can take the decorations back to his and Marshall's apartment because he's going to visit his cousin's family in Staten Island. Marshall comes back home to the apartment, claiming he blew off his paper, but he had been spending hours tracking down his gift for Lily. He finds the winter wonderland intact and no knowledge of what happened earlier in the day.

text: In the meantime, Robin insists upon taking care of Barney, who has caught a terrible cold. He whines about wearing sweatpants, not getting ice cream for dinner, and everything else he can until Robin spikes his tea with codeine.

text: Marshall has brought a package with him, a present for Lily. He tells the story of how he went to the post office to find out why it hadn't come in when it was supposed to. The lady tells him that the package is already on the truck headed to Poughkeepsie. Marshall runs the truck down and asks if he can have the package back. The driver says yes but that he's running behind on his route so Marshall has to ride along. Marshall gets his package, but when the driver tells him that he won't be able to deliver all of the packages in time for Christmas he decides to help out. Lily opens the package to find an Easy-Bake Oven, something she wanted since childhood, but never got because her feminist mom didn't want her to conform to traditional gender roles, and gave her a Lego set instead. Since she has no idea how Marshall knew about her preferred item, he admits learning about it from Ted, whom Lily told her story to back in college. Marshall asks where Ted is and Lily tells him Staten Island.

text: At Ted's cousin's house, Ted is having a miserable time. Lily, Robin, Marshall and Barney arrive with an apology beer for Ted. Ted tells his cousin that it's carolers to keep her from coming to the door. While the other three sing, Lily says she's sick of apologizing and the two agree to skip straight to the forgiveness. Ted takes off after his cousin's children overhear Lily say she "was kind of a grinch", and they all begin to cheer "grinch!" over and over.

text: Critical response[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2015)

text: Joel Keller of TV Squad said it was a good episode, and an improvement over the previous year's New Year's Eve episode.[1]


document_title: Wild Thing (The Troggs song)

question_text: who sang wild thing in the movie major league

text: Wild Thing (The Troggs song)

text: Background[edit]

text: The Wild Ones were the house band at the New York City nightclub Arthur, set up by socialite Sybil Christopher, who had married the band's former lead singer Jordan Christopher. Although they had issued an album, it was not as successful as the band had hoped, and their producer Gerry Granahan contacted Chip Taylor to ask him to write a song for them to release as a single. Taylor later explained:

text: I started just chuggin' away on a couple of chords and within a couple of minutes of getting off the phone I had the chorus and I was kind of likin' it. I didn’t really know what I was going to say in between but I was thinking there was something cool and sweaty about this. So I went to the studio ... Because it was a sexual-kind-of-feeling song, I didn't want to be embarrassed, I wanted to let myself sing it, so I asked [producer] Ron [Johnson] to turn the lights out when I got there and have my stool ready and have my microphone ready and when I got there, I said, "Put the tape in record and just let it go and let me just keep playin' ... And then I stomped on a board, just to give a cool little edge to it and I banged on a tambourine and then Ron was foolin' around. As the track was playing back, he was doing this little thing with his hands, like when you put a blade of grass in there and you get a whistling sound? Only he was able to it without the blade of grass in it. It sounded cool ... I listened back and I thought it sounded great. I was a little afraid to play it for people because it was so different than anything I'd done before; it wasn't one of those pretty little country songs. And it was very sexy.[7]

text: Granahan approved the song and produced the Wild Ones' recording, with vocals by Chuck Alden. However, on its release in November 1965, the record failed to sell, and Alden later said that he regretted not performing the song in the same way as Taylor's demo.[8]

text: The Troggs' version[edit]

text: Due to a distribution dispute, the Troggs' single was available on two competing labels: Atco Records and Fontana Records.[9] Because both pressings were taken from the identical master recording, Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single to simultaneously reach number one for two companies.[10]

text: On the Atco label, the author credits of both sides are reversed as "Wild Thing" is credited to Reg Presley (Troggs' lead vocalist) and its B-side, "With a Girl Like You", to Chip Taylor. On the Fontana label, "Wild Thing" is correctly credited to Chip Taylor and the flip contains a different song, "From Home", by Reg Presley. The Fontana label credits production to Page One Productions, England, while the Atco label credits production as "A Larry Page Production, Recorded in England". One further difference between the two singles is that there is a noticeable "click" on the Atco single after Presley says "You move me" and just before the music starts again; this click is edited out of the Fontana version.

text: The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart on issue date June 25, 1966. Two weeks later (July 9), it leaped from number 47 to number six. The song then rose to number two where it remained for the next two weeks (July 16 and July 23), while "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James and the Shondells occupied the top spot. On issue date July 30, 1966, "Wild Thing" hit number one where it remained for two weeks. The song ultimately logged eleven weeks on the chart, with eight of those weeks in the Top 10. In Canada, the single (Fontana 1548) reached number two on the RPM magazine charts on August 8, 1966.

text: The Troggs recorded a new version of the song in 1993, which peaked at number 87 in the UK Singles Chart.

text: Charts[edit]

text:
Chart (1966)
Peak
position

Austria[11]
5

Belgium[12]
15

Germany[13]
7

Netherlands[14]
5

UK Singles Chart[15]
2

US Billboard Hot 100[16]
1

text: Other versions[edit]

text: "Wild Thing" has remained popular ever since the Troggs' hit single and has been recorded many times:

text:
The Jimi Hendrix Experience gave a dramatic performance of the song, at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.[17] The performance was captured in the 1967 documentary Monterey Pop. Hendrix recorded the song live, as heard on the compilation album The Ultimate Experience. Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the song's conclusion.[18]
In 1967, the novelty team of Senator Bobby released a version of "Wild Thing". Sung by comedian Bill Minkin in the verbal style of Democratic Senator Bobby Kennedy while a recording engineer is heard giving instructions, the stammering single charted at number 20 in the United States. The flip side featured "Senator Everett McKinley" (an impression of Republican Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen) doing the same song; the initial voiceover by the recording engineer encourages Senator Bobby to respond to his "hit single" (the Senator Everett McKinley version also had some radio airplay at the time). The songs were credited to The Hardly-Worthit Players, and the Senator Bobby version was included as a bonus track on reissues of their 1966 Parkway LP called The Hardly-Worthit Report (the rest of the album is a comedic takeoff on the NBC national news broadcast The Huntley-Brinkley Report).
The British group Fancy recorded a version of the song in 1974, which reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Los Angeles-based punk band X released their cover of the song in 1984. It was later used in the 1989 film Major League and its 1994 sequel, Major League II.
French singer Amanda Lear recorded "Wild Thing" for her 1986 album Secret Passion and released as a single in 1987.[19]
Comedian Sam Kinison recorded a novelty version in 1988 which reached number 18 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The music video featured cameos from many well-known rock musicians including Rodney Dangerfield, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith, Slash and Steven Adler of Guns N' Roses, Billy Idol, C.C. DeVille of Poison, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby from Ratt, and Tommy Lee. The video also featured a raunchy "roll on the mat" dance with Jessica Hahn. Kinison's version changed the song to a blistering condemnation of the title subject, with lines such as "Why didn't you tell me you were a demon from Hell" and "The only thing that gets you off is to see me in pain."
A version by Cheap Trick appeared in the 1992 film Encino Man and its soundtrack album.
Australian rock duo Divinyls covered the song in 1993 for the soundtrack to the film Reckless Kelly. It peaked at number 39 on the Australian Singles Chart.[20]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: This section indiscriminately collects miscellaneous information. Please compress this material to remove any irrelevant or unimportant information. (December 2017)

text:
From 1992 to 2000 this was used as Wolf's Walk-on Theme on Gladiators,
In 1994, the Troggs' version was used in the film D2: The Mighty Ducks and appears on the soundtrack album.
The 1989 baseball film Major League used "Wild Thing" recorded by L.A. punk band X as the theme song for Rick Vaughn, the team's erratic starting/relief pitcher. Life soon imitated art, when the Philadelphia Phillies closer Mitch Williams adopted the song for his entrances from the bullpen, including in the 1993 World Series. During the late 2000s, the song was played at Fenway Park when Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon would come in from the bullpen.
The Troggs' version appears in a 2018 TV commercial for Applebee's.[21]

text:
Preceded by
"Hanky Panky" by Tommy James And The Shondells
Billboard Hot 100 number one single
"Wild Thing" by The Troggs
July 30, 1966
(two weeks)
Succeeded by
"Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful