It’s been awhile since I last wrote a blog post; wish there were
enough hours in the day to squeeze in all my grandiose plans and ambitions, but
alas there are not. I took the audit
part of the CPA exam today and before starting to prepare for my next part BEC,
I figured I’d write a quick blog for the one or two people who read this
thing. I decided I’d venture into a new
topic, sports and particularly the trials and tribulations being a Nets fan, as
we rapidly approach the playoffs.
This
season for me as a Nets fan has been a pretty awesome one. I’ve
found myself venturing down memory lane often throughout the season and it has
in so many ways been the culmination of my childhood dreams seeing the Nets on
Long Island (technically Brooklyn) and as a relevant franchise. The key to understanding how I became a Nets
fan is to understand how I was raised. My
parents never spent money on things that weren’t deemed necessary and were
always looking for a deal. We didn’t
have MSG network growing up as my dad was a Mets and Islanders fan and couldn’t
care for the Yankees, Knicks and Rangers, teams that were on MSG at the time. Therefore, he couldn’t substantiate paying $5
more a month for MSG. All my classmates
were Knicks fan growing up as they were the only New York team to root for, but
I didn’t have MSG and couldn’t watch them.
Therefore I gravitated to the one team I could watch, the New Jersey Nets,
which played on FSNY, the same channel as the Mets. As I started watching more and more and
became more attached I started itching to go to games. Before the days of camera phones and Stubhub,
McDonald’s offered a great deal to get people in the seats for Nets game where
they offered McDonald’s meal vouchers, 4 tickets to the game and a disposable
camera to take pictures at the game, all for less than it would cost for about
a single ticket to the Garden. There
were many times in my youth I can remember cramming into the car to catch a
Nets game in Jersey, usually a loss. These
were the days where I use to think a young Sam Cassell was the greatest player
alive, Kerry Kittles the best shooter, Keith Van Horn and his tube socks that
even Coach Pete would be envious of, was a world beater, and Jayson Williams, a
murderer, was a beast on the boards; couple these guys with the likes of
Lucious Harris and Kendall Gill and they were my heroes. I watched a few of the shows that kids my age
watched, but the Nets games were my favorite thing to watch. I can still vividly recall that year we snuck
into the playoffs, 1997-98, and drew Jordan’s Bulls. Naively, I thought we had a
chance to win the series, but after staying up for game 3 and experiencing the
sweep I ran upstairs and cried myself to sleep thinking life wasn’t fair, scar
was right. I shut off the Upper Deck
light next to my bed, with the spindle of six basketball cards, those six guys,
my heroes.
Four years later, after three straight missed
postseasons we became the talk of the league.
Rod Thorn our GM was active over the period drafting, making trades, and
shaping the team. One of my favorite
players Sam Cassell was moved for a young point guard Stephon Marbury and the
Nets selected with the number one pick in the 2000 draft a standout from the
University of Cincinnati, Kenyon Martin.
During the 2001-2002 offseason Rod Thorn made a number of great
moves. He drafted Eddie Griffin a prolific
scorer from Seton Hall with character issues with the 6th overall
pick and flipped him on draft night for 3 1st round picks used on
Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. Later that offseason he sent Marbury packing
in a trade that returned a true Godsend Jason Kidd. Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Kenyon
Martin formed over the next few years a trio that will always have a special
place in my heart. *Editor’s note it is weird seeing two of these
guys currently in Knicks uniforms.* Jason Kidd led this Nets in what should’ve
been an MVP season to the NBA finals that year.
I experienced what it finally felt like to win a playoff series and make
it there. We were no match for the
Lakers and got swept that year, but the journey to get to the finals was
something I’ll never forget. Here in New
York, especially with the Yankees, anything short of a championship is
considered a failure. However, that
season was such a huge success to finally see the bottom dweller Nets make it
all the way to the Finals. I still look
back on the run with such fond memories.
The following year the Nets were back at it and once again made it to
the Finals where the stole two games from the Spurs, but lost in 6. That would be the last time I’ve experienced
what is like to be in the NBA finals from a fans perspective.
There were some great moments over
the next few seasons including sweeping the Knicks the following season,
trading for Vince Carter a couple years later, although none greater than that
feeling of making it to the finals. Getting
Vince Carter in particular was awesome.
Any child of my generation can vividly recall Vince Carter’s slam dunk
contest from his Raptors days, the greatest dunk contest I can remember, back
when the dunk contest meant something.
For a week after that dunk contest my friend Eric and I would try to
replicate that in between the legs dunk on a little tike’s basketball hoop to
no avail. It felt incredible to trade
for him and be able to watch him on a nightly basis. Jason Kidd was traded halfway through the
2007-08 season and we got progressively worse as a team. I went to Marist during some of their dormant
years. I followed them less in college
as we didn’t get YES network, the channel that broadcasted the Nets, and they
failed to make the playoffs all four years.
My junior year saw their worst performance in team history as they won
just twelve games.
Fast-forward to this season as my
interest was renewed following the 2011-12 season and their move to their new
home, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The
Nets made a number of high profile moves in the offseason resigning All Star
Deron Williams, promising young center Brook Lopez, trading for an overpaid
multiple time All Star Joe Johnson, resigning a mid season acquisition Gerald
Wallace and resigning a guy better known for his short lived marriage to Kim
Kardashian, Kris Humphries. My childhood
passion for this team was restored this year and it feels so good. I think the numbers of games I’ve missed this
year I can count on one hand and in a way it has brought me closer to my
dad. Watching games with him, discussing
the team over breakfast in the morning has been great. After not having gone to a game in a number
years I finally made it to this year. I
splurged on seats 13 rows up from the baseline and had a phenomenal time with
some great friends; an experience that I will never forget. If the playoff seeds stay the same the Nets
will draw the Bulls in the opening round, coming full circle from the first
playoff series I recall when Jordan’s Bulls swept the Nets and I cried myself
to sleep. I’ve been monitoring ticket
sales on Stubhub and soon will spending the money to see the Nets enact some
revenge and win one back for the seven year old Tim Keegan. I’m proud to call myself a fan of this
franchise and cannot wait to cheer my heart for them in the playoffs. Lets go Nets!
Light next to my bed with all the guys I grew up watching.
