This weekend, John Calipari is seeking his finest hour, the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. It's his fourth trip to the Final Four, once with UMass, once with Memphis University and twice now with Kentucky. But no matter what happens, Calipari has long admitted his firing as Nets coach in 1999 was as crucial a moment in his career as any of his triumphs.

John Brennan, then Nets beat writer for The Record, uses the opportunity of Calipari's pursuit of the NCAA championship to recount what happened that March night he was fired as coach of the Nets. Although it's been told before, Brennan was there. The details are so New Jersey, so Nets that's a great metaphor for the team's 35 years in Jersey.

• Katz and Calipari: Both on the brink of something memorable - John Brennan - Meadowlands Matters