Cramer: A Day at the Game

I was lucky enough to attend the Cavs vs. Nets game today in the lovely East Rutherford, NJ thanks to Santa Claus, and I want to vent. So here goes:

For one, why even bother having an NBA franchise in a city where at least 50% of the people who attend the games are there purely to see the other team's superstar? Don't get me wrong, I've been going to Nets games since the days of Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn, and they've certainly had their high points, but do they have any true "fans". Obviously the Knicks are the dominant team in the tri-state area, but that shouldn't mean there are literally NO Nets fans.

A quick glance around the stands packed with 17,000+ (and yeah, that's packed for the "IZOD CENTER") shows a lot of LeBron jerseys, sprinkled with some Jason Kidd unis. Unless I'm wrong, (which I'm not) Jason Kidd is no longer in town. I may have seen one Brook Lopez jersey, but besides that... really Nets "fans"?

I've never been to a game in Memphis, Indiana, or another city that has a crappy team, but there's no way their fan support is worse than the Nets. The move to Brooklyn can't take place fast enough. The IZOD Center--which I know as Continental Airlines Arena--is a joke. If I didn't know any better I'd suspect it was an arena for either a college team, or a D-League team.

Jay-Z made a big mistake when he became friends with LeBron as a partial owner of the Nets. There's no way in hell (and you can quote me on this) that LeBron goes to NJ. If they were in Brooklyn now, and got the #1 pick in John Wall this summer, then MAYBE. But they won't be there for a year or so (that's a guess from what I've heard), and supposedly they're going to be playing games in Newark next year. Cleveland vs. Newark? I don't know, but the Cavs trump the Nets in talent and willingness to pay for players so that's a no-brainer for 'Bron 'Bron.

New York... I won't rule out because there's no hard evidence against it, nor is the franchise nearly as dejected as the Nets. It's time for the self-proclaimed "Jigga Man" to invest in another franchise, because his frienship with LeBron will go no further than a post-game high-five and laugh as long as he's sitting on the Nets sidelines.

On a lighter note, the Cavs won 94-86. I learned something about the Cavs, and maybe the NBA today. When you're watching a game on TV, you don't come even close to seeing how effective Anderson Varejao and Anthony Parker are. Andy was the 2nd best player on the court, and I'm only giving LeBron the edge because of his track record. When coaches say "what he does doesn't show up in the stat sheet", it truly does apply to the Wild Thing. I'm not a true believer in the +/-, but it would be a damn shame if anyone other than Andy lead it (which he did entering the game in which he posted a +14). He is a true 6th man (and a GREAT one), and well worth the money he got this summer. So to Varejao, I must say "Sorry". I may have dumped on you in the past, but in hindsight you probably looked much better in person. I have now officially voted for him for the All-Star Game (you should do the same), and expect him to get some accolades at the end of the season.

Another thing I noticed: you can't really see how much a team dominates a game on TV. The Cavs trailed for a good portion of the first half, and were only up by 4-10 points the whole second half, but it wasn't even close. You truly have to be at the game and see the other team's fans to realize how easily the Cavs win these games. Not one of the 10 Nets fans in the buildings believed their team had a shot... Neither did I. The announcers on TV make games seem a lot closer than they are, or maybe I get nervous because the HD amps me up. I don't know, but I'm sure I'd feel a lot more secure about victories if I had season tickets (Mom?).

A quote from the woman behind me after the first bucket of the game to put the Nets up: "Wow, the Nets are playing really good. Imagine if they beat Cleveland!?"

A text from the man sitting in front of me (in a Nets shirt) to his friend "Raj" (yeah, I creeped so what?): "Yo I'm at the Cavs game"


Finally, and I swear this is my last point: the Cavs don't try until it gets close to the end. All the players lolly gagged around all game, until it came to closing time. This probably explains their losses to crappy teams, and dominant performances against the good teams. They play hard when it matters, and when they play hard, they're hard to beat. So I'm saying it here first: Cavs are going to win it all if they stay healthy.

Cue the Cleveland Curse.