As a season-ticket holder of the Nets (shared with my dad, as equally die-hard Nets fan as myself), my dad and I were able to participate in the 1st public tour of the Barclays Center on Monday. The arena’s much-hyped ribbon-cutting event was on Friday, and not being able to attend that day, we figured that a tour would suffice. During my tour, which was awesome, I took a lot of pictures, ate a lot of food, and awed at the wondrous arena that was in the making for nine years before coming to fruition.
When I walked into the Barclays Center and saw the Nets new logo plastered everywhere, I knew that it had finally come true. This team was in Brooklyn and was to be relevant yet again. Below is my diary of sorts as to how my first visit to the Nets’ state-of-the-art home went:
I took the train from Long Island with my dad to Brooklyn and it was a relatively pleasant ride, round-trip of about one hour and 20 minutes give or take a few. One of the first references I saw to the Barclays Center that I saw in the Atlantic Terminal after my train ride was this sign, and even though plain and in stock NYC mass transit font, it hit home for me that I wasn’t going to the Meadowlands or Newark to see the Nets, I was going to Brooklyn and the Barclays Center.
After climbing out of the Atlantic Terminal mall, a necessary stop from the Terminal to Barclays, I saw the bright blue neon signage for the first time, and oh how pretty it was to see. It felt like home already.
That prevailing message, “Hello Brooklyn”, was everywhere in the Barclays Center and graced the street-level scoreboard in that black-and-white minimalist look that served as the main design for the entire arena, obviously other than the blue Barclays logo.
The view from my seat in Section 17, Row 13, Seat 1. The herringbone pattern on the court looks awesome from here and seems, at least in this fan’s unproven hypothesis, to have the ability to play well on TV, important since the Nets will be on national TV this year, as opposed to in other years. Progress!
A closer view of the court. I wasn’t in love with the plain font for “Brooklyn Nets” when the logo and team identity was unveiled but it looks really good on the court, especially with the intimidating black background. And only one security guard for that whole side of the court. I guess Prokie was more willing to spend his mining fortune on the food than he was for security. Personally, I have no complaints about that. In New York City, food is king.
Not sure which section this is, but the pic shows the all-black look of the seats and even more “Hello Brooklyns”. It’s official, black seats should be the norm, not the exception, in all NBA arenas. They look sick.
Ugh, some guy in my section was wearing a Travis Outlaw autographed jersey. So much bad on so many levels. Also, that can’t be worth much more than 20 bucks right? I mean, Outlaw is more known for the awful contract he signed with the Nets than he is for his playing exploits. Brooklyn Balling readers, please never come near a jersey like this again. I heard it’s contagious and spreads awful shooting habits/skills.
And one final pic from my awesome, informative, and exciting inaugural trip to the Barclays Center. One of the many advertisements for the Nets in the Atlantic Terminal, with this one featuring D-Will. Yet another way that the team is getting its name out there for its first year in the big city. Brooklyn, we do in fact go hard. 1st preseason game at Barclays is October 15th; Mark your calendars people, I will be too.
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