Majestic. Prestigious. The Mecca.

All of the above have been used to describe Madison Square Garden and none of them are wrong. Even New Yorkers that will never touch the Garden floor call MSG home, but the players and posse that make up the NRF understand it more intimately-and they call it their playground. The All-Star game was for bragging rights but it was more for fun than anything else. However, the NRF’s second stop at Madison Square this season was for everything. While Huarache and Air Force 1 took very different paths to the ‘chip, they’d both put in the work to rep their conferences and last night, they lived up to the billing as the two best teams the league had to offer.

What’s good NRF gang? Since the season comes to a close tonight, and we’re crowning a new champion, I wanted to thank y’all for letting me into the secret society that is NRF. This time last year, like most people, I had no clue what NRF was. The big homie Bobbito Garcia mentioned it to me once and I met up with him after a game.

When I walked into the gym I saw the familiarly bearded face of AP but that only raised one question: What’s Bobbito doing in a league with AP? (Haha)

The date is set for the 2011 NRF Finals.  AF1 and Haurache will face off Monday, Aprill 11th at MSG.  Players and fans must meet at the main box office entrance at 7pm.

Air Force 1 Captain Ben Detrick gives insightful answers on the upcoming NRF Finals.

The 2011 NRF season is almost a wrap with only the championship game left to be decided. We’ve had an interesting season with loads of drama, upsets and exciting game play the whole year. Now we’re down to just two teams. Air Force 1 and Huarache.

These two squads have taken very different paths to get there but are now set to fight for the NRF championship title at Madison Square Garden this Monday. On one side you have Huarache. They were supposed to be here the whole time. Since week one it was apparent that even though they got to the Garden last year, this was a whole new team. Playing with passion, intelligence and a seemingly endless supply of energy, Huarache convincingly handled every opponent they faced all year long. For their final game Huarache will be matched up against Air Force 1. AF1’s road ...

The Conference finals for both the Uptown and Downtown divisions were well worth the wait.

After Jason Burke led AF1 through the semifinals, he assured me that he’d finally get over the hump that was Uptempo and make it to the garden. With 17 points and seven boards-right on his average’s for the season-he was able to pull off a Naimithian performance and come through on his promise of dominance. On a pick and roll play with Ryan Fisher in the second half, Burke split two defenders with a  twinkle toed ala Fred Flintstone spin and scored a layup that made the crowd make the somebody farted face while screaming ooooh!

Jason Burke speaks...

Come through if you want...Please RSVP to the address on the invite.

The action started right away with Chad Easterling driving the lane and making an errant scoop layup and a much needed and one in the coming minutes, giving the Shox some momentum as they were down early. The first half was business as usual for Huarache, led by MVP candidate Terance Takyi who nailed a triple and made a hot knife through butter pass through the Shox defense to Roscoe (12 points, six rebounds) for a layup and a 17-4 lead.

Most of the players arrived well before the 7 p.m. start and, for the most part, they all seemed jovial. The mood was light as ‘what’s up’s?’ and daps were exchanged. The NRF crew finally arrives-Bernard, Little B, Sai and The Commish, and things get set up.

Mood: Still jovial.

Nothing truly changes until Lil’ Wayne booms through the speakers. That when the smiles turn to scowls, the laughter turns to lyrics and it seems to set in with the players that in 40 minutes, someone’s season is coming to a close.