My roots are in Brooklyn. My dad was born there. I'm a Dodger fan because my dad was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. And I've spent just about no time there. I've driven through it a few times when I was going to or from school in my Georgetown days. And I think I was in Brooklyn on a field trip during seventh or eighth grade, but there's a good chance that I'm just thinking of being on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The only part of New York City that I've possibly spent less time in is Staten Island. But I spent the last two nights there for basketball.
First, it's nice to have an alternative to Madison Square Garden for basketball. Especially with the Knicks being good (for now at least), tickets for the Nets are going to be a lot cheaper. Also, it's almost as easy to get to as Madison Square Garden with the Long Island Railroad going to the Atlantic Terminal (although getting home can be trickier). I would love it if the ACC tournament came to the Barclays Center. The worst thing about Notre Dame joining the ACC is not being in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden (still, definitely the right move).
The Barclays Center was built where Walter O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium for the Dodgers. As much as I would have loved having the Dodgers in New York, everything really worked out for the Dodgers. O'Malley wanted a dome. That stadium would have been like Shea Stadium, but worse. Dodger Stadium is a million times better than the stadium O'Malley wanted to build in Brooklyn. But Brooklyn is a good home for the Nets.
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| Outside the Barclays Center |
The Nets really screwed up with their name/uniforms. Either change the name and change everything, or keep the name and come up with good uniforms. The Nets had red, white, and blue (you know, the greatest color combination in world history) and they couldn't come up with good uniforms. These new black and white uniforms are incredibly bland for no reason. You could say that the Celtics have bland uniforms (still not as bland as the Nets, green isn't as bland as black), but there's good reason for it: their incredible history and tradition.
Anyway, my dad and I were sitting almost exactly at mid-court way up high. The Barclays Center is built very differently from Madison Square Garden. The slopes in the area are much steeper than Madison Square Garden. I felt very high up, but also closer to the court than I would be in comparable seats in the Garden. As for the atmosphere, it's no Madison Square Garden. I would say it's like everything Notre Dame fans fear about putting a jumbotron in the stadium. Very loud and the PA guy was pretty annoying. I guess most NBA arenas are going to be like that. The one thing that really stood out to me was how the fans chanted the word Brooklyn in the same tone that Red Sox fans derisively changed "Roger" when Roger Clemens would pitch in Fenway Park as a Yankee. I didn't get that.
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| Our view for Celtics-Nets. |
I've seen the Celtics play the Nets one other time in person. It was February 2010 in Boston with my friend John. I was supposed to take a bus on a Friday night for a Saturday afternoon game. Unfortunately, a snow storm cancelled all the buses that Friday. So I had to get there on Saturday and I had to get there early since the game was at 1:00 or something like that. So I took a 6:30 bus on Saturday morning. The only train that got me to the city on time got in around 5:00 in the morning. Let me tell you, there are few places as depressing as Penn Station at 5:00 on a Saturday morning. Anyway, the Nets were really bad that year and the Celtics played like crap and lost to them. I thought the Celtics were going nowhere that year, but they ended up making it to the Finals. So I assume seeing them lose to the Nets on Thursday night is a sign that they're going to the Finals this year. Rondo didn't play, which was disappointing since he's definitely their most exciting player, but it also made me less upset about the loss.
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| I love the American flag, but this bothered me. Isn't this flag way too long? |
Last night I went for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. We sat in the same section as the night before, but this time we were in row two of that section (row 19 the night before). The first game was Florida State and BYU. I will always root for Mormons over Florida State, but more than anything else, I was rooting for a quick game. I was disappointed. There were a ton of fouls called in the first half and Florida State won. They pulled away in the second half and I was starting to nod off due to the lack of sleep the night before (it was after 1 when I got home and I got up for work at 5:25). But I got a second wind when the second game started. It was Notre Dame and St. Joe's. I was really surprised by the lack of Notre Dame fans at the game. There are always a lot of Notre Dame fans when we play at Madison Square Garden, but there weren't a lot of any fans at these games. Tons of empty seats. But St. Joe's fans probably outnumbered us 10 to 1 (they had a lot of students make the trip). I guess we're still worried about football and aren't concerned about basket ball yet. Anyway, we shot the ball pretty well, but our problem was giving up easy second chance points to St. Joe's. I had to leave early to catch a train (not enough train options after a late game, which was why I wanted a quick first game). I left with about five minutes left and we were leading by about 6 points. St. Joe's came back and won in overtime, but I'm going on the theory that it doesn't count if I didn't see it.
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| Lots of fans came dressed as empty seats last night. |
Disappointing result, but I think our basketball team will be fine. I can't get upset about it when it's November and our football team is undefeated. Go Irish!
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