After TW arrived at the airport in Baltimore, we immediately headed out of Baltimore to avoid any traffic backups. We got into the Newark, NJ area around 4 PM and checked into the hotel. We hung out in the hotel room for about an hour and watched People's Court. As is always the case, a couple of sisters were fighting over unpaid debts. The plaintiff was suing her sister for an unpaid debt. In return, the defendant was counter-suing for 'distress'. In the end, both sisters got sent on their way without either one getting a dime.
We headed down the turnpike and, of course, we took the wrong fork in the turnpike and ended up north of the stadium complex. Thankfully, I had a decent feel for where we were and we took a couple turns in the right direction and finished off the redirection by asking for help along the way. We finally got to the stadiums and headed over for the game.
Once we got inside, one thing became quite obvious. This wasn't that nice of an arena. In KC, we have an old arena called Kemper Arena that is now being replaced. I can tell you for a fact that Kemper Arena is nicer than the Meadowlands Arena. Not too impressed at all.
We had really good seats. Along the sideline about 10 rows up in the upper deck. It was a great view and we could see all the players quite easily.
The national anthem was sung by the actor that plays 'Uncle Junior' on 'The Sopranos'. He's a New Jersey native. His version of the national anthem was not the most musically sound versions you'll ever hear, but he sung the song with a lot of passion including occasional fist pumps to emphasize his words. The crowd just loved it and spend the last 3 lines of the national anthem going crazy. One thing I have noticed while traveling on the east coast is that they take the singing of the national anthem quite seriously since 9/11. It's nice to see.
Next were the starting lineups. The announcer went through the entire lineup of the Miami Heat very quickly, almost acting like he was in a hurry to announce the New Jersey Nets lineup. The entire announcement of the Miami starting lineup took about 25 seconds at the most. Then the lights dropped, they turned up the music and started showing Nets' highlights on the scoreboard. The place went nuts. They had handed out 'thunder sticks' (blow-up sticks that you smack together to make noise) and everyone was using them. The announcer was loud and holding out all the vowels in the name (i.e. Jason Kidd was "JAAAAAAAAASOOOOOOOOOONNN KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDD!")
The first half was well played. Lots of action and the game was relatively close at halftime. I hear from some NBA fans that Shaq has lost some of his game. While he may not be as good as he used to be, I saw a couple of thunderous dunks from Shaq that quickly reminded everyone that he was still a factor. The pace of the game was amazingly quick. You never realize just how fast those guys are moving until you see it in person. Halftime entertainment was Juelz Vasquez. He's the guy that sings "The Whistle Song". I honestly didn't have much of a clue who he was, but the place went crazy for him and everyone seemed to know the song.
The second half was a pretty sloppy half. There were a lot of turnovers and not a lot of scoring. New Jersey made some key turnovers down the stretch and Dwayne Wade made them pay for it by hitting some free throws to close the game. It was a disappointing end in that it didn't come down to the last shot, but overall, I'd probably go to another NBA game, especially a playoff game, if I had the chance.
