December 12, 2012: The 12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief

Billy Joel

December 12, 2012: When terrorists struck New York City on September 11, 2001, people from all over the world chipped in to help, and a tribute concert to the victims and the rescue workers was held at Madison Square Garden. When Hurricane Katrina wrecked New Orleans on August 29, 2005, a fundraising concert was held at The Garden. When Hurricane Sandy pounded New York and New Jersey on October 29, 2012, a fundraising concert at MSG was inevitable.

As with the Concert for New York City in 2001, there were non-singing celebrities on hand. Returning from that show were host Billy Crystal, Susan Sarandon, Adam Sandler, Paul Shaffer and Jimmy Fallon. Among the musical performers who had also been at the CFNYC were Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (who brought the rest of the current Rolling Stones lineup with them), The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Jon Bon Jovi, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

"Sprung from cages on Highway 9":

Sayreville's Jon and Freehold's Bruce

Among those new to this show were Bruce Springsteen -- one of the few bills he's ever shared with Joel -- Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and Kanye West in a rare moment of sane behavior; and nonmusical personalities Whoopi Goldberg, Kristen Stewart, Jon Stewart (no relation), Chelsea Clinton (but not Bill or Hillary, as in 2001), Stephen Colbert, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Olivia Wilde, James Gandolfini, Chris Rock, Seth Meyers, Blake Lively, Katie Holmes, Jason Sudeikis, and Quentin Tarantino and his Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz.

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December 12, 2012 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There was only 1 game played in the NHL that night: The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. The Devils blew a 2-0 lead, and then nearly blew a 5-2 lead, but hung on for the win.

In contrast, there were 13 NBA games, with all but 4 teams in the league playing. Given that Madison Square Garden was occupied, it isn't surprising that the New York Knicks were one of them, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Detroit Pistons and the Portland Trail Blazers. The teams that did play:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors, 94-88 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks, 117-115 in double overtime at the TD Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 96-89 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 100-94 at the Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center) in Charlotte. The following year, with the New Orleans Hornets, who used to be the Charlotte Hornets, gave up the name to become the New Orleans Pelicans, the Bobcats took on the Charlotte Hornets name.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic, 86-80 at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.)

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat, 97-95 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards, 99-93 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Hornets, 92-88 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant led all scorers on the night with 35 points.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-81 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Sacramento Kings, 98-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets, 108-105 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs, 99-96 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 82-80 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.