Nets fan upset about team's move but will still be a loyal fan

When the Nets announced that they were moving to Brooklyn, I was a little more than just sad. Basketball has always been the one and only sport I enjoy, and being born and raised in New Jersey with a dad who has been a Nets fan since the '80s, it was the only logical fit.

As a fan since I was little, I have seen both the good and the bad. The good has been very good, including two consecutive trips to the NBA finals. However, the bad over these past couple of years has been worse than bad. Even still, I did not find a new team or become a Knicks fan dur­ing the Carmello Anthony deal.

What really made me mad about this move is that once again New Jersey is lumped into New York. I thought to myself that they took away our team so that New York could have another. New York already has the Knicks, two baseball teams and two foot­ball teams, all of which most New Jerseyians support. So why does New York need an­other team?

It is like New Jersey is the younger, uglier stepsibling of New York. Basketball fans around the country will tune in to watch the Brooklyn Nets, but that would never happen for the New Jersey Nets. Also, the bandwagon support that has already occurred makes me sad. The New Jersey Nets were rarely ever a bandwagon team. For the most part, people who were fans the last few seasons, such as when their record was 12-70 in 2009, were genuine fans. Why else would a sane person set them­selves up for disappointment one season after another?

Now, when I go to the city, I see dozens of people wearing Brooklyn Nets gear. No one was wearing New Jersey Nets hats in public last year unless they wanted to be mocked. But now suddenly, it is cool to be a Nets fan.

However, that is also a positive thing about the move to Brooklyn. I no longer have to answer the condescending question "Why are you a Nets fan?" The newfound fan support has created new pos­sibilities for the team.

We have always had good players, like Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, but the team lacked the cohesion to win. This rebuild has set the Nets up to be a real contender this season. They have already won a bunch of their pre­season games, even beating the Celtics. Now, I may not be able to get to the games in person, but I will still be rooting for my team at home wearing my N.J. Nets jer­sey. So after 35 years, New Jersey bids adieu to the Nets.

And hey, if I could get over those horrible red jerseys in New­ark, I can definitely get used to the black ones in Brooklyn.

Kristyn Lyncheski is a senior journalism major from Gladstone, NJ. She can be reached at kristyn.lyncheski@student.shu.edu.