Jnster: the story of an outdoors enthusiast in NYC and wherever he wanders...

Saturday, April 30, 2005

LET'S GO NETS!

Last thursday, a whole French gang led by Vincent made an evening trip to New Jersey to watch an NBA playoff basketball game: New Jersey Nets vs Miami Heat!

I didn't really know what to expect as my knowledge of American basketball is limited to the old days when I used to play NBA Jam on my Sega Megadrive.

Actually it was quite a show!
The Continental arena where the game is hosted is huge, but I think everyone gets a good view.
When the game begins, half of the spectators are still outside, because the show is not very interesting yet.

Actually you have to be there to understand it's more than a game: people come to watch a show!
  • There's the mascot "Sly", which runs on the field every time it can, showing signs that say "Make some noise", "Louder", "Let's go nets" etc... It's also a good dunker: at half time, people installed a trampoline so tha Sly could show off at a slam dunk contest! I couldn't believe it! Imagine this human size dog/wolf, running all along the field with a ball, jumping, making a front flip and then dunking the ball in the baslet!!
  • There are the video screens, playing only the local team replays
  • There's the music, encouraging and fast when the Nets have the ball, discouraging when Miami have the ball. You also have to scream "De-fense" in this case!
  • There are the cheerleaders, also coming at every time out...
  • There are acrobatics and break dancers...
  • There's this local music star self called the hip hop violonist
  • And yeah of course, there's the players: stars like Jason Kidd, and the 365lb Shaquille O'Neal!

Actually all of these make the show very enjoyable!

We also got Nets t-shirts and balloons that you hit together to make noise ;-)

Sometimes you're so much taken inside the show that you don't really realize the game has started again!

The game was very tight, with the Nets pushing the Heat in two overtime periods.
So the result of the game: the nets finally lost. But it's not very important. What is essential is that everyone had fun and enjoyed the evening. Crazy concept??

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