A night to remember: Nets open Barclays with big win as Brooklyn continues recovery from Sandy
Decades from now, when the Nets are as much a part of Brooklyn’s landscape as the bridges that link us with that other borough across the East River, there will be much more than 17,732 people who will recall being at the Barclays Center for the return of major pro sports to the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
So for those who were fortunate and brave enough to fight through the traffic, transit delays, felled electricity cables and mind-numbing lines for gasoline, hang on to your ticket stub. It’s proof positive that you were there the night Brookyn changed forever.
“I think one of the greatest things that this borough has gotten is the Nets,” said lifelong Brooklyn resident Gil Hodges Jr., the son of the beloved former Dodgers first baseman and Mets manager, who was joined by former Brooklyn Bum greats Ralph Branca and Joe Pignatano at a press conference just prior to the opening tip of the Nets’ eventual 107-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors.