THAT'S THE ANTHEM, GET YOUR DAMN NETS UP: The NYSX reported last week that a mysterious fourth bidder had emerged in the fight over who will be the next owner of the New Jersey Nets. Now we know his identity: it's rapper Jay-Z. Yes, the Jigga-Man, who plans to soon retire from rap, has joined the fray, along with groups headed by Senator Jon Corzine, real estate developer Bruce Ratner, and New York Islanders owner Charles Wang.
The real issue in the bidding is where the team will go: Corzine wants to keep them in the Garden State (he wouldn't be much of a New Jersey senator if he didn't), and most likely wishes to continue to pursue the shelved arena-in-Newark plan. Wang wants to move the team to Long Island, while Ratner wants to build a new arena on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and put the Nets there. It's unclear where J-HOVA (real name: Shawn Carter) would put the team should he win the bidding, though it's interesting to note that the proposed Brooklyn arena isn't that far from where Jay-Z grew up, and would even be assessable by the J-Z subway line.
I'm all for the Ratner/Brooklyn plan: with their woeful arena and oblivious fan base, I've long considered New Jersey unworthy of an NBA team, and how fun would it be to have two NBA teams in the five boroughs? Besides, Brooklyn hasn’t had a major-league sports franchise of its own since the Dodgers left more than 40 years ago.
But could Jay cut it as an NBA owner? I don’t see why not, although who knows if he has the money to buy a team. Also, with his rap sheet and thuggish reputation Jay's been known to occasionally get rejected by co-op boards; the other NBA owners may not be so keen on granting approval to such a sale.
Now P. Diddy's idea to buy the Knicks? That I'm all for- he can't possibly do a worse job than the Dolans have the last few years.