What a blessing, the NBA Finals in New Jersey. Not particularly because we're huge Nets fans, but because it eliminated what could have been thousands of miles of driving and allowed us to see every home game for the Nets and Devils. Fantastic.
We left the RV at around 6 with full intention of catching some sort of public transport to Continental Airlines arena for the 8:30 game time. Unfortunately, we found out that public transport from Hoboken is nonexistent. We hopped in a taxi. On the drive over, Phil says, "Hey Rafe, here's something for you to do. I've been working on this puzzle on my cell phone and can't quite figure it out." Rafe, thinking Phil is a complete idiot, takes up the task.
We arrive at the arena and immediately notice a difference. There is very little tailgating going on. The NBA Fan Van is on premise with a few basketball courts set up where random people are shooting for stupid prizes and checking out the latest and greatest from Adidas. Compared to the Devils scenes, the parking lot seemed morgue-like.
Rafe, running into people because his head is down and he's concentrating on the cell phone puzzle, wanders around the parking lot. We're searching for something interesting, anything really, but can't really come up with it. So, we head inside.
After the first two games in San Antonio, the Nets managed a split, effectively wrestling home court advantage from the Spurs. Still, the Spurs looked tough, and it would be a miracle if the Nets could somehow win the series. We were rooting for them because first, they're the home team and its easier to root for the home team, and second, because we didn't want to get killed by the Mafioso thick-necked guys named Tony that were sitting all around us. They even had admonishments on the jumbotron from Tony Soprano to yell louder! Talk about embracing your identity, New Jersey knows good marketing when it sees it.
The first half was the ugliest half of ball either of us have ever witnessed. Both teams played without passion, without conviction, and certainly without the skill that we've come to expect from the Laker championship teams. It was turnover after turnover after missed shot.
The fans were quiet, for the most part. There were attempts to get them excited, most noticeably by the "SuperFan." This guy is a regular who runs around the arena in a light blue floppy hat and tries to stir things up by cupping his hand to his ear and then leading the crowd into a "N - E - T- S... Nets... Nets... Nets" cheer. Ooooh Boy.
At halftime, star singer Jewel came on and entertained the crowd with her ever-so-fine ass and lackluster vocals. Jewel's Ass is officially being nominated for membership into the Ultimate Sports Adventure Hall of Fame. Voting and permanent en"hine"ment near the end of the tour or when she strips naked for the USA webcam, whichever comes first. Her Hineness was even enough to get Rafe to give up on the cell phone game for a few minutes.
More horrible basketball in the third and fourth quarter, eventually leading to a convincing Spurs win. The crowd, sensing this was the beginning of the end of a long season, gave the team a half-hearted applause at the end of the game. This was not the "6th man" that drives overachieving teams past a clearly dominant force.
After the game, we caught an illegal taxi back to the hood and RV Park.
Our last day and night in New Jersey what a good time for sports it's been. The Belmont, four Stanley Cup Finals games, two NBA Finals games, a trip to the Jersey shore for some sport-flirting, many nights on the town in Hoboken and NYC... a fantastic time. [Note: the last sentence read "absolutely a fantastic time..." before the editor (Rafe) got hold of it. Having been banned from using the word 'absolutely' for the rest of the tour, I just wanted to let you all know that I still try to sneak it by at least once a report. -Phil]
We're about two miles from the park on the way to visit our friends, Kim and JK, for the afternoon when Phil says to Rafe, "You got the tickets, right?" Five minutes later, we're back at the RV park. Only there are no tickets to be found. They were in a FedEx envelope in the cabinet we put all loose paper items. Phil saw them yesterday. They were there. They were there before "the organizer" Rafe decided to clean out that compartment.
One of the great things about living in a confined small space is that its easy to know when you have really lost something. There are very few places two tickets can go in the RV, and after an exhaustive search, we determined that Rafe had thrown them away. What to do now... well, Rafe called ShowMeTickets.com to see if we could somehow managed replacements.
While he was on the phone, Phil took out the "Ticket Stubs" box and rooted through it. This box contains all of the ticket stubs from every event on tour thus far. We're planning a very cool frame with all the stubs. [If you know an expert framer that would like to do this special job in exchange for some pimping, let us know...] Sure enough, 2 "New Jersey, Home Game 2" tickets are found. We grab the tickets and head out again for Kim & JK's house.
They think we drove down to see them and their gorgeous kids, Sam and Max, but actually we only really visited because they have the best washer and dryer in all of New Jersey, and JK "insists" on doing the laundry so we don't screw up his priceless German machine up. We brought three or four loads.
After the visit, laundry complete and folded (love you JK), we headed up to Continental Arena for Game 4. As if we owned the place, we pulled the Porsche into the media lot. "We're here with the Ultimate Sports Adventure," we tell the guard. He takes a look at the car and the USA decals, and waves us right through. Having saved $20 on parking we were very pleased.
Scalpers lined the road trying to dump tickets. "You guys need tickets?" Hmmmph, no, we're the guys from the Ultimate Sports Adventure, and ShowMeTickets.com gets us all our championship tickets. Of course we don't need tickets! We battle through security and Phil hands Rafe his ticket.
As we approach the "scanner lady" Rafe looks and sees something very disturbing. "New Jersey, Home Game 2, Devils vs. Anaheim" is printed on his ticket. Oops. We quickly exit, entertain the idea of trying to use the Devils ticket, but eventually decide to buy a scalped ticket.
Our expert scalping negotiator, Rafe, picks his victim and soon we're back in line with a $100 face value ticket for $60.
After last game, Phil thought that the bookies would over-adjust the over/under line. Clearly, the teams couldn't play that bad again. He vowed to take NJ and the Over no matter what. His conviction slightly wavered when he looked up the line: 183.5 and Nets by two. Yuck. Still, a parlay was in order.
Five minutes into the game, the over was in serious doubt. Spurs were about 1 of their first 10 shots. Nets were not much better. And by the end of the first quarter, the under was a lock and Phil was locked out. Unless, somehow, there could be double overtime.
We sat next to two guys wearing foam rubber cowboy hats, false beards, and white Tshirts with Spurs player names scribbled on the back in black marker. They had a great sign: "Tickets to Game 3-5: $600. Gas: $53. Fake beards: $3. Hitchhiking from San Antonio to see the Spurs rout the Nets... Priceless"
When the Spurs took an early lead and looked completely dominant, the Mafioso started slinging the insults at the guys. They took it pretty well, which is a good thing, really, because we might very well have been caught in a crossfire if something horrible had broken out.
The Nets made a great comeback, and by halftime had seized control. Robinson and Duncan were in foul trouble and the entire Spurs team was shooting like they were blindfolded and dizzy.
Halftime show was "KC and the Sunshine Band" and a retro style dance show. We preferred Jewel. Neither KC's, nor any members of the dance troupe, are likely to have their ass nominated for the USA Hall of Fame.
There were plenty of empty seats in the second half, the fans sensing and fearing the inevitable, a huge San Antonio run to take the lead. "SuperFan" was beside himself and couldn't get the crowd going. That's when they handed the microphone over to actor Bruce Willis. Now, don't ask why, but Bruce was nominated to get the crowd going. In about ten seconds, he had the place jumping up and down and rooting for the Nets to tie the game.
They did, then they took the lead after some great defense by Mutombo, and then with time running out, the Spurs missed a three point shot to tie the game. Nets win, leaving the series score 2 for the Spurs, 1 for the Nets, and 1 for Bruce Willis.
We head back to the RV park right after the game. We're heading west now after a great time in Jersey. The US Open looms. Tiger. Weir. Els. We're excited to get to Chicago for what is sure to be an epic weekend at Olympia Fields.
Show-Me Tickets has tickets for all major events. Buy MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, and concert tickets online and Show-Me Tickets will make a donation to cancer prevention!
Home
Pics
