New Jersey Residents Show Surprising Common Sense



As training camps open, there are number of news items to mull over. Lke the Grizzlies' signing of C Pau Gasol to a 6 year extension, the likelihood that Karl Malone will soon retire, further exposure of Kobe Bryant as a jerk, Rick Fox calling it quits and the Cavs' signing of Lucious Harris. But none of 'em caught my eye quite like the Star-Ledger's Steve Politi's report that Nets fans are in no rush to line the pockets of new owner, Bruce Ratner.

When the gates opened at 9 a.m., there were precisely 13 people standing outside the blue doors. Robert Timberlake arrived at 7:30 and got the first spot, but his haste was in waste. The guy behind him didn't arrive for another 30 minutes.

"The line this year is nothing like the last two years, that's for sure," said Greg Teter, a Clifton resident. "Two years ago, I got here at 8 a.m., and I was probably 100th in line. This year, I got here at the same time, and I'm fourth."

"The ticket people keep calling me, 'Mr. Vecchione, you haven't renewed your tickets yet! What happened?'" said Jeff Vecchione, a police officer in Hackensack. "Well, I asked the two guys who I shared them with, and they're younger guys with a lot more disposable income than me. They said, 'What are you kidding me?'"

Vecchione was standing in line behind Mike Millman, an East Rutherford resident, who had a short list of teams he wanted to see -- including the Nuggets, when Martin returns to the Meadowlands, and New Orleans, when former coach Byron Scott comes back with his new team, and Cleveland, when Harris makes his first appearance with the Cavaliers.

"That's what I'm doing," Millman said, "the Nets' reunion tour."

The initial 13 customers were through the line within 20 minutes, and about a half dozen more came through after that. At 9:27 a.m., there was no line. At 9:34, the Nets took down their season-ticket sales table. At 9:38, the door finally opened again ... but it was the Federal Express delivery guy, making his rounds.

Team spokesman Gary Sussman said it is against team policy to discuss business matters, including ticket sales, so he would not reveal any first-day totals. More fans purchase tickets online or on the telephone through Ticketmaster than show up at the box office, he said.

But two years ago, after the team's first trip to the NBA Finals, about 200 fans lined up when individual tickets went on sale. Last year, the number was about 80.

Posted: Sat - October 2, 2004 at 10:31 PM      

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