The Devils have ratcheted up the Garden State feud taking a big dig at the "Nowhere
Nets" who they'd like to see out of Izod and in The Rock in Newark. For those
not paying close attention, the Bruce Ratner-owned Nets will no longer wear "New
Jersey" on their away jerseys while simultaneously asking for NJ taxpayer-funded
improvements at the Meadowlands arena.
The Star Ledger has noticed:
The
Nowhere Nets
The Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Quicker than a slapshot, the Devils' full-color advertisement went up on a
digital billboard towering over Interstate 78: "We proudly wear our state
on our jerseys," the caption pronounced, the bold words running beneath a
photo of the hockey team's NJ logo.
It's the latest gotcha in an intramural feud with the Nets, who continue to
commit silly personal fouls against the state while playing in a decaying
-- and competing -- arena the Devils want closed. But motives aside, the Nets
deserved the dig.
It's not enough that the Nets keep insisting they're moving to Brooklyn (call
us when a shovel actually scratches the dirt over there), but now the Nets
are removing "New Jersey" from their road uniforms for the upcoming basketball
season.
Basically, they're saying: "When we're in New Jersey, we'd rather be in Brooklyn,
and when we're on the road, we don't want anyone to know we're still from
New Jersey."
So, while New Jersey pours millions of tax dollars into Izod Center to prop
it up for the Nets, the NBA team repays the state with disrespect.
The Nets say they're just, uh, regionalizing their brand. Hogwash. The team
that draws fewer people than a planning board meeting (the Nets ranked 24th
out of 30 NBA teams in total attendance last season) suddenly wants to market
from horizon to horizon?
Oh, sure, now we get it: "New Jersey Nets" was too limiting. So, heck, let's
make them "America's Nets."
And then they could send a bill to the other 49 states, insisting they kick
in for the new air conditioning system at Izod Center.
