Mick Goes to His First Nets Game

Mick, Candice and I were invited to last Saturday's Nets-Sixers game (thank you Schwartz family). As we drove there, it occurred to me that my dad took me to my first New Jersey Nets game at the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center) in 1978. I became a lifelong Nets fan that day, at age 8, for one important reason: I fell in love with their uniforms. Red, white and blue, with blue stripes down the sides and white stars in the stripes.

When we walked into the arena on Saturday, I was surprised by the pangs of emotion. It had been 30 years since my first game with my dad and now I was at a Nets game with my own son. The full gravity of the moment hit me when we walked in--I was holding the Mickster--and saw the players warming up, their sneakers squeaking and the echoing sound of leather balls bouncing off the hollow wood court. It was a rush and suddenly I was a kid. I was with my kid. The music blared. I carried Mick to courtside--just kept walking until it was me, Mick and the Nets a few arm lengths away. I pointed to the players. "Look Mick, Richard Jefferson. Look, there's Vince Carter."

Mick indulged me. He looked at the players for a second. But he was clearly more interested in the huge scoreboard hanging over the court and a clown making balloon animals. Before we left courtside, though , Mick said one of his favorite words: "Ball."

That's when I knew. Another Nets fan was born.