Link'd Up: How Tennis Made MSG Famous

Really interesting piece from ESPN's Peter Bodo about tennis' contribution to the rise of Madison Square Garden as a venue in the 40s and 50s. Why was tennis such a boon? The exhibition matches, of all things:

Not even the best official ATP or WTA matches can hold a candle to some of the tennis exhibitions that took place in the Garden. That owes partly to the fact that, before 1968, exhibitions were often the only kinds of matches the world's best players -- the pros -- could play. And nobody questioned the quality or validity of those mighty clashes the way they look askance at exos now.

Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras at the Garden, anyone?