Last Friday, 11/6, my friends and I went to New York City to watch the Brooklyn Nets play the Los Angeles Lakers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. We all decided that we wanted to do something fun that we don't usually do, which is attending professional sporting events. We first had to consider our options as alternative plans would have been to attend the New York Knicks game as they were playing at home in MSG the same day against the Milwaukee Bucks, attend a New York Islanders game, attend a New York Rangers game. The Islanders had a home game that Sunday 11/8 against the Bruins which we could have gone to, and the Rangers did not have a home game that weekend so we would have had to go to that game another time. A major factor in our decision in which game to attend was the cost to attend each event, with tickets to a game at MSG being more expensive solely based on the fact that the venue is Madison Square Garden, one of the best sporting venues in the world. Additionally, we had to take into consideration which teams we all liked, as one of my friends is a big Islanders fan, while I and another one of my friends are big Rangers fans so attending an Islanders game would not have been as fun for us and attending a Rangers game would not have been fun for my other friend who is an Islanders fan and another one of my friends who is a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. By going to a sporting event of our team's rival would not have been as enjoyable as a result of the fierce division rivalry the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have competing for the Metropolitan Division title. As a couple of my friends are Brooklyn Nets fans, they suggested going to the Brooklyn Nets game since the tickets were cheap and their teams was playing at home. My friends and I took the Metro North train down to Grand Central Station then took the subway to Brooklyn, which conveniently stops right in front of the Barclays Center.

Even though I am a New York Knicks fan and not a Nets fan, I went to the game just for the experience, as I had never been to a professional basketball game before. I have attended several college basketball games but had no idea what to expect attending an NBA game. It turned out to be just like any other game, and was slightly disappointing as I don't think the home fans are as passionate about their team as the home fans of a college basketball team. For example, Duke students and fans are so passionate about the Blue Devils that the students even begin to camp outside Cameron Indoor Stadium, in order to make sure they get the best seats to the biggest game of the year, when crosstown rival University of North Carolina (UNC) comes to play Duke. Additionally, a lot of students even paint themselves blue just for a couple hour game. The Duke fans are very passionate and are rightly called the Cameron Crazies, as they literally do crazy things like camping out to support the Blue Devils. I truly believe that the Crameron Crazies at Duke are the best sports fans in the world, as I have never heard of fans camping out for a game months in advance in order to support their team against its arch rival. Additionally, the Brooklyn Nets fans did not do a lot to bring the energy level up that college students often do by creating chants for their home team and coming up with creative ones for the visiting team as well.

Other than being disappointed with the fan atmosphere, the game was very exciting as it came down to the wire and a bad in bounds play that turned the ball back over to Los Angeles that won the Lakers the game in the final seconds. I was very surprised that there were actually more Lakers fans at the game than Brooklyn Nets Fans and the game was played on their home floor in Brooklyn! If I didn't know any better by the big Brooklyn Nets logo on the center of the floor I would have thought the game was being played in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. When Kobe Bryant and the Lakers scored there was thunderous applause and when the Nets scored the applause seemed to be a lot less quiet. Even though my team was not playing in this game it was still cool to be able to say I was finally able to go to a professional basketball game, and if given the opportunity I would attend more.