It's the City within the Big City. Many famous actors and athletes call it home. It's the home turf of everyone's favorite 70s gang, The Warriors, for crying out loud. So, excuse me for getting excited when I hear that there is a great chance that Brooklyn will be the new home of the Nets.
This move has been 47 years in the making—47 years ago marking the year the Dodgers left Brooklyn. I have heard so many stories about the Dodgers and what a great tragedy it was when they left. I have read so many old newspapers, magazines, and even memoirs that give vivid descriptions of the kind of atmosphere the Dodgers brought to Brooklyn.
Admitted, I really hate baseball. Any sport where most of the fans fall asleep in the stands at a game really sends a strong message to me. However, if the Dodgers were still playing at their place of origin, I would root for them in a heartbeat.
That paragraph filled with hypocrisy leads me to yet an another one: My hatred of New Jersey sports. NJ Devils? Hate you, get some fans and then we will talk. NJ Jets? Hate you, get your own stadium and teams MIGHT respect you a tiny bit more. NJ Giants? I don't really hate you that much. NJ Nets? Hate you, but move to Brooklyn and I will love you. Oh, what's that? You ARE moving to Brooklyn? Good deal. The smartest thing a Jersey franchise has done in years.
You see, I only hate the New Jersey Nets because of the two words in front of their name. Take away those two and add one that begins with "Bro" and ends in "oklyn" and I will shower them with nothing but love.
The proposed site of their 19,000-seat arena at Flatbush and Atlantic Ave would be just a hop, skip, and jump away from Manhattan. Just think about that for a moment. Where NYC has the subway series for the Mets and Yankees, the "city" of Philadelphia has just one baseball team. Now, we can have a subway series between the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets! Moreover, the "city" of Philadelphia has just one basketball team. The addition of the Nets to B-Town would be great for not just the borough, but the city of New York itself. It would be somewhat of another show of dominance over that third-rate "city" that begins with a "P."
It's not as if Brooklyn doesn't already have any professional-level sports. Sure, the Brooklyn Cyclones are a great team. With a bar built into the waterfront stadium, it is one of the best places to hang out with a few friends and drink a few beers during the summer. However, a major league level team they are not. It's about time that a high level sports franchise found its way back into the greatest borough on the planet, and it's all the more appropriate that it be a basketball franchise.
Rest assured that when the Nets finally make their move to their new home, I will be the first one in line for season tickets.