FanPost

Why I'm A Fan Of The Brooklyn Nets

Sometime in August of 2012 I got the idea to purchase some tickets for the, now, Brooklyn Nets inaugural season at Barclays Center. After browsing the interactive seat map on Brooklynnets.com the idea grew into purchasing two full season tickets in the upper bowl. I grew up a Knicks fan but had long stopped being invested in that franchise for a solid decade at this point in time. My reasoning for the purchase was that I can go see NBA basketball 15 minutes from my house for a relatively cheap price of $35 a game. Who cared if the home team had never been a blip on my sports fan radar, good or bad. Lebron, Kobe, KD, and the like would be coming to my town. All I had to do was tear off that night's ticket from my book and travel about 15 minutes from my front door. Who could be better than me?

While this decision was being finalized my life was also spiraling down towards an absolute bottom. On October 5th, 2012 I flew to Nashville, Tennessee to willingly begin a 30 day stay at an inpatient rehab for substance abuse. At some point during my stay there my head began to clear and I began to regret committing $3500+ to Nets season tickets. Sporting events and concerts were always just conduits for me to drink like a madman and become belligerent. These 44 NBA games I paid for were not exactly concurrent with the new, sober, lifestyle I wished to have.

The scheduled home tip-off to the season was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. I missed the 2nd game, against Toronto because I wasn't yet home from Tennessee. My 1st game was a matinee against Orlando on November 11th. I had absolutely zero feelings about either team involved and wasn't inspired by a single player on either squad. The Nets won a ho-hum game and it was a nice afternoon out. Then there was the makeup game versus the Knicks on November 26th. It was a Monday night and the crowd was hot. I found myself getting to know the guys on our team and rooting feverishly for the Nets in a great OT game. A few weeks later I found myself there again, going crazy, for Joe's double OT buzzer beater against the Pistons.I started to really fill with pride that we had not just another New York team, but a team bearing the name of the city I'm from and love.

Only a few months into this season I found myself looking forward to the next game I could attend. I stocked up on some great Net gear items of the game (so much better in the 1st year or two then the offerings now). I would DVR the Nets when I couldn't catch the road games when they were on. I'd pay attention to what their rival teams were up to in the standings. By the turn of 2013 I really considered myself to be a full blown fan of the Brooklyn Nets. I didn't have a lot of introspection about it then, it just felt good.

When I think back to those 1st few months of sobriety I realize that the season tickets I purchased, and the team I became a huge fan of, were a bridge back to life. In these months my life consisted almost entirely of work and work on myself. Doing my job, attending various meetings, working with a sponsor occupied such a massive amount of my waking hours. That was what I wanted and what I needed. The thought of returning to various social settings or doing anything for recreation seemingly had its potential pitfalls and created much trepidation. Perhaps what got me to those games was really motivated by frugality at 1st. Then they truly became my refuge from a life I was just trying to live minute by minute. Section 207, row 13, seats 23-24 was a place where I could go for a few hours during the short, cold days of the Brooklyn winter and truly just be in the moment. I felt safe and happy there.

I've continued to stay sober since then and have had my Nets season tickets for all 5 years in Brooklyn. I met my wife in August of 2014. Somehow she has gone from someone who could name 3 NBA players to a rabid Nets fan and a tremendous fan of the association in general. I can't even post a game for sale on Stubhub without an eye roll or a disappointed sigh from her. We even followed the team around this past season in an RV for most of the circus road trip. My wife always says she bought her Nets stock at the absolute lowest point.

This team has become part of the fabric of our lives and will always stay there.