The Cheapest Tickets in New Jersey

Took my son to another Nets game last evening, after an absolutely hellacious weekend, and a Monday that seemed almost to be the cherry to top it all off with. There was a point when I almost thought of not going.

But I do love to go to these events, and the Nets are not going to be in town for more than five or six weeks more, tops. No way that they are going to the playoffs, obviously. They are seven games out, with maybe fifteen or so games left. It is not mathematically impossible. But the way that they played last evening, it was clear that they are just not that good of a team.

They came out flat, allowing Cleveland to jump out and grab the early momentum, and they made good use of it, taking a double digit lead early and dictating the tempo of the game. New Jersey was clearly cold and looking completely lifeless.

It did not help, of course, that there were only a few thousand fans attending in a mostly empty arena. That has always been a perennial problem, of course, but this season, evidently, it has reached ridiculous proportions, as offended New Jerseyans, angry at the impending move to Brooklyn, have made a point of boycotting the games. Ticket prices have literally bottomed out. No joke, I paid a grand total of $2.10 for the pair of tickets yesterday. They were not the greatest seats, but really, how better to spend a couple of dollars, which amounts to basically spare change in most people's wallet? It's a joke.

Perhaps what is even more of a joke is that, given the prices, the games are still so empty and bereft of people, let alone enthusiastic support. It is a strange situation, of course.

I have never paid so little for tickets to a professional sporting event, and it was not a preseason game or anything! It was a regular season game, and late in this season, relatively speaking. I mean, tickets looked cheap, and I figured that it might be an opportune time to see a game. However, the cheapness of these tickets even took me by surprise! How do the people that actually bought these tickets make money, anyway? Is it really a protest against the move? When I mentioned it to a coworker, he almost screamed out that I overpaid! Overpaid!! At $1.05 a ticket, and he is claiming that I spent too much money. Apparently, on StubHub, tickets are on sale for – get this – 1 cent! I mean, what the hell? Granted, the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the New Jersey Nets in 2012 is hardly a marquee match up. Neither team is likely to qualify for the playoffs, let alone have a strong impact later in the season. But still, it is a professional basketball team at the truly elite level! When will I ever be able to get tickets to any such event for literally a couple of bucks and change again? It's 2012, after all, and that's less – significantly less – than what a gallon of gas presently sells for. So, yes, I loaded up on tickets, some good, some not so good (like last night), figuring it would not be a big deal if I paid a few bucks and then wound up not being able to attend the game or games. But no single game was as cheap as yesterday's, and just out of principal, I made a point of going to it. Even parking was cheap, at $5.00, which was more than double what I paid for the tickets, of course. Between that and gas, I paid probably far more on this stuff than the actual tickets!

Anyway, back to the game.

The Nets were being badly outplayed, and it became an uphill struggle for much of the rest of the game. They did claw their way back, and even had a lead at some points, after falling behind pretty badly in the first half, and largely staying there throughout that early part of the game. So, it seemed like they were going to pull it out when they had a lead with minutes to go.

However, perhaps they exerted so much energy on the comeback, that they had little left in the gas tank when the game was tight and the result on the line. Cleveland was able to regain control with a strong finish, and they showed the killer instinct that the Nets have not had in quite a few years now, ever since the days of at least Vince Carter, and perhaps more the days of Jason Kidd, and two consecutive Eastern Conference Championships and NBA Finals appearances.

Those days sometimes feel like ancient history, however, and perhaps never so much as last night. New Jersey has some talent, but they just cannot seem to put it all together. They have bad luck, true. Perhaps their biggest producer, Brook Lopez, is basically out for the entire season. This move, and the negative fan reaction, understandable in many ways as it might be, certainly could not help. A few days ago, the Nets seemed a shoe in to pick up Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, which would likely have made them instant contenders. Instead, seemingly out of nowhere, he decided to finally end all of the drama by remaining in Orlando, but this meant that the drama in New Jersey continues until the team relocates to Brooklyn.

Who knows? Perhaps when the move finally takes place, and the team is solidly entrenched in their new home, they will have better luck for Brooklyn. Until then, however, the Nets are still in New Jersey, although clearly, they have one foot out the door, as they have these last three or four seasons in particular.