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December 4, 2009
THESE BOOS ARE FOR YOU BRUCE RATNER
NetsAreScorching
by Mark Ginocchio
Unlike The New York Times, some media outlets aren't avoiding assigning proper blame for the demise of the New Jersey Nets.
The boos that filled an otherwise empty Izod Center as the Nets set a record in futility against the Dallas Mavericks last night should be meant for one person, and one person only.
Bruce Ratner.
...At some point, he needs to own up to the fact that as the owner of this franchise, he’s been the ultimate failure where it matters most – on the basketball court, not in the courtroom pushing people out of their homes. The hypothetical day Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov takes the reins of this organization can’t come soon enough. One can only hope that afterwards, Ratner crawls back in a hole somewhere, never to torture a sports team, a fanbase and a community, like Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, ever again.
Thank you, sir. May we have another?
AP, Bottom-dwelling Nets take their cues from the top
Everyone insists the New Jersey Nets can't get much worse.
In that case, we'll take the under.
Team president Rod Thorn blames "a perfect storm" for his team's record-setting 0-18 start to the NBA season, but that's just the short-term forecast. Actually, it's the lack of interest and effort from owner Bruce Ratner that's swamping the franchise, steadily drip-drip-dripping down the organizational chart like a five-years-long-and-counting version of water torture.
...The team is losing an estimated $30 million to $40 million a year, and the Nets arena is barely half-filled most nights, largely owing to Ratner's half-baked plan to move the franchise to a new stadium he planned to build in Brooklyn. Why NBA commissioner David Stern went along with the scheme is anyone's guess, but it has already cost his league plenty in credibility.
Thank you, sir. May we have another?
NBA FanHouse, Nets Are Committing Consumer Fraud
The Nets aren't just bad, folks. They aren't even trying. I am not kidding when I suggest the NBA commissioner, David Stern, apologize to their diminishing fan base and either issue ticket refunds or offer free concessions and parking in the Meadowlands. If not, we're talking about a legitimate case of consumer fraud.
...What owner Bruce Ratner didn't calculate was the team sinking to such wretched depths that no superstar -- including LeBron James, even if he's Jay-Z's close pal -- wants any part of this operation. Worse, the Nets are plotting a move to a new arena in Brooklyn in June 2012, meaning the poor fans of Jersey are being asked to support a lame-duck franchise that is moving across the Holland Tunnel, the entire expanse of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. As it is, entire sections of the arena are empty, forcing the team to take desperate marketing measures and send players into the community, such as Harris' appearance at a South Orange grocery store. What happens the next two seasons when they're playing either in the Meadowlands or in downtown Newark? And, for that matter, what happens in Brooklyn if no major free agent signs?
Click through for some stand-up talk from the Nets' Chris Douglas-Roberts, a good guy who deserves much better than Bruce Ratner's special brand of misery.
Posted by eric at December 4, 2009 10:22 AM