Jumping at a last-minute offer from a co-worker with an extra ticket, I attended Thursday’s night’s game between the New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat at the Meadowlands. Always good to go to an NBA game, especially when a future Hall of Famer like Shaquille O’Neal is involved.
But I’ve always thought there’s something weird about Continental Airlines Arena generally, and Nets games particularly. Namely, the fact that nobody wants to go to them, and those who do go just don’t seem to have a good time, or show any enthusiasm at all.
Now in case you haven’t noticed, even going beyond the normal East Coast Bias, the East Coast has begun to dominate pro sports in recent years like at no time since the ‘50s. Teams from east of the Mississippi have won the last two World Series, the last five Super Bowls, and last year’s NBA title, while Boston has improbably transformed itself into Titletown USA. East Coast sports fans have cultivated a reputation for being passionate to the point of obsession, to the point where players such as Curt Schilling have demanded to be traded to the region in order to enter the pressure cooker.
But somehow, this boom of success and passion has passed the Meadowlands by, even though the Nets have been decent for the past few years, and currently have both a recent MVP (Jason Kidd) and an internationally known superstar (Vince Carter). The Nets are still unable drum up much interest, rarely selling out the arena (even in the playoffs), and not particularly drawing a lot of media interest either. And when the team was sold last year and announced plans to move to Brooklyn, there was no organized movement to speak of aimed at keeping them in town.
Perhaps it’s because the Nets have to share the New York market with the Knicks, who are clearly more popular. And maybe it’s because the arena- which is a clearly obsolete building- is so far out of the way and not very transit-accessible. But even though the Nets have kept tickets relatively cheap and thus not priced out most working class fans as many other teams have, fan enthusiasm for the Nets remains all but nil.
Last night was no exception, as Miami came from behind to beat the Nets 106-90. Despite the presence of Shaq- both the NBA’s best player and a native of nearby Newark, and despite the return to town of former Net Alonzo Mourning, who ripped Nets management for not buying out his contract and subsequently signed with the Heat- there were empty seats all over the place, and even the fans who were there made little noise and showed little enthusiasm. By the time ‘Zo got in the game with two minutes left, most of the crowd was long gone.
A few notes on the evening:
- I didn’t hear about it until after the fact, but I understand Jay-Z and Beyonce were in the house, as the Jigga-man is now a part-owner of the team. I can’t believe I was in the same building as Beyonce and didn’t realize it- normally the big shots stick to Knicks games, and the biggest celebrity at most Nets contests is Joe Piscopo.
- Now maybe this is true of every NBA team these days, but it appeared as though aside from superstars, the two rosters consisted entirely of journeymen who are on their 9th or 10th NBA team. No matter what team you’re a fan of, I guarantee that at some point they’ve had at least one of Christian Laettner, Ron Mercer, Cliff Robinson, Travis Best, Michael Doleac, or Shandon Anderson. The Heat even dragged out Steve Smith, who was their best player a decade ago, though I'd assumed he'd been retired for quite some time.
- The Heat, now that they’ve signed Mourning, have all of the top three picks from the 1992 NBA Draft- Shaq, Zo, and Laettner. They do not, however, still have their own first-round pick from that draft, Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner.
- Another stadium drawback: the concession line, while not particularly long, was the slowest I’ve ever experienced in 20 years of attending sporting events. Now perhaps it's some sort of union thing, but the Nets really ought to consider bringing in a concession worker or two who’s under the age of 70.
- Simmons was right- Dwyane Wade is an even more amazing player in person than on TV. I just wish I could say the same about the Nets’ dance team- they looked not so bad from our seats, but more typically New Jersey-like when I saw them up close after the game.
- Vince Carter seemed to be the only guy on either team who could make a shot in the first quarter, but then he all but disappeared in the second half, going 1-for-11. Still, I could see the Nets doing something next year, if they have him, Kidd, and Reggie Jefferson all healthy, and are able to pick up a big man in free agency or the draft.
- Seriously- I still can’t believe they couldn’t sell 19,000 tickets in the greater New York area for Shaquille freakin’ O’Neal. I used to go to Wolves games in the pre-Garnett era, back when the only sellouts each season were for Jordan’s Bulls, Shaq’s Magic, Ewing’s Knicks, and whichever team Barkley was on that year. But even then the crowd wasn’t as dead as it was last night. Hell, I’m going to an Arena Football League game in Philly on Sunday, and I fully expect a larger and livelier crowd than the one at Continental last night.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 4, 2005 05:57 PM