New Jersey Mourns Loss Of Nets and Pines For Replacement

Lost in all of the hubub about Atlantic Yards is the question of who or what will fill the sporting void left in New Jersey by the Nets’ migration to Brooklyn. Well, the Bergen Record has a few suggestions. The Record claims not to really care that the Nets are going, but the slightly hurt tone in their editorial would seem to suggest otherwise. The paper begins by getting its claws out for its neighbor to the…southeast. (We checked Google Maps for that direction.) Noting that Frank Gehry’s stamp would no longer grace the project, the Record sniffs that “it matters little to us in New Jersey if Brooklyn is committed to mediocre architecture.” Snap! What is important, the paper says, is “whether a new NBA team may come to New Jersey.” Their idea? Look to Sacramento, home of the Kings, and Memphis, home of the Grizzlies, for a replacement. Fair enough. And how have people in those places reacted to the idea? No word from Sacramento yet, but a blogger for the Memphis Commercial Appeal has this to say: “Good luck with that one, New Jersey.” Wow, the NBA really raises passions on all sides, doesn’t it? Though, given the eternal misery that set in for some Brooklynites after the Dodgers left town, maybe it’s not such a surprise.