Welcome back everyone, hopefully everyone is safe from this past weeks storm. As many know, the East coast was decimated by Hurricane Sandy, last week.
There have been questions swirling around the sports world wondering if any sporting events would be played because of Hurricane Sandy. There were some games canceled, but not everything. The home opener for the Brooklyn Nets was postponed because there was no way fans could go to the arena. The game was important because it would have been the christening of the arena. You see, the Nets used to play in New Jersey and they recently moved to Brooklyn. The game was to be played against the Nets' rivals, the New York Knicks.
The game was postponed until November 26, which upset many fans, myself included. I bought tickets for that game because I wanted to go to the first game ever played in the arena. I guess that it would be difficult to reschedule the game so quickly since both teams did not have a mutual day off before their next game. The Knicks played the following night at Madison Square Garden against the Miami Heat and the Nets played against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday in Brooklyn.
There was a lot of scrutiny as to whether the Knicks should have played Friday night against the Heat, but the game did happen as planned. I was at the game and there was not one single empty seat in the house. The love of the game was felt every second of the game, people chanting, smiling and forgetting of recent events. Everyone had a story, but the game helped everyone have peace even if it was only for three hours one night. Knicks guard, Carmelo Anthony said a brief message to the crowd saying that we are strong and will overcome any challenges we face. He noted that "The Garden" will donate $500,000 to aid families affected by the storm. Heat star, Dwayne Wade pledged that he will donate money as well. Below is a picture of Anthony with the rest of the Knicks team addressing the fans in the arena and at home.
The New York City marathon was also canceled because of the hurricane. At first, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made sure that the marathon would take place. When he saw that many people were angry about his decision, he changed his mind and said that he would postpone the marathon. It was the right thing to do, people have no power to this day, and the city would use generators, when they could be used in households. Radio talk show host, Mike Francesa made a desperate plea to the mayor to postpone the marathon.
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers showed a lot of passion and love to their fans this weekend. They had two games and they offered free tickets on a first come first served basis. It showed that teams do care about their fans and just want them to be happy. I went to the game on Saturday and just like the Knicks game, there was an uncontrollable amount of love in the Webster Bank Arena. Many had a heavy heart, but their hearts were filled with joy at the end of the night.
Even though a hurricane took peoples' lives and destroyed numerous homes, it did not kill the world of sports. What we need to realize is that sports help people heal from tragedy, it gives us a few hours in the day to think positively, clear our heads. It's even better when the home team wins, as did the Knicks and Nets in their home debuts. Time heals everything, we can forgive mother nature for the horrible hurricane, but we will never forget what the result was. Athletes go out and play for their fans no matter what the circumstance is, why, its because they want us to be entertained and be happy.
Lets take this time to be thankful for what we have, because some have no power and no homes. To go see a game is a pleasure especially when something terrible happens in your life. Don't take things for granted because anything can be taken from you in a single second.
Until next time!
Sporty Nikki
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