The Nets unveil the final ‘New Jersey Nets’ logo
The New Jersey Nets won't have new jerseys for their final season in New Jersey, but they will have a new logo to go on their old jerseys, one that celebrates the 35 years the team spent in New Jersey following time in New York, before they develop new jerseys for their move next year to New York.
Whew.
With more accuracy and fewer annoying plays on words, the New York Times (via Pro Basketball Talk) sums up the addition:
The Nets will unveil a special logo as early as Wednesday to coincide with the announcement of the 2011-2012 season schedule. The logo is actually pretty snappy. In the center is a tri-color basketball with the Nets name written in 1970's era script, an homage to the team's A.B.A. past. The number 35 in the middle. Below are the years 1977 and 2012, bookends to the team's often-withered years in the Garden State. A tiny outline of the state is at the bottom in white.
It's an open question is whether true blue Nets fans in New Jersey will want to shell out $20, $30 or more for merchandise produced by a team that is leaving town in the spring. The Nets, however, feel that it is the right thing to do.
"It will be our farewell moniker," said Fred Mangione, the team's chief marketing officer. "As we go out, we want to go out the right way."
"Jersey strong, Brooklyn ready," though? That would be tough to take, even if New Jersey fans haven't exactly made the Nets part of their stately pride, so to speak, as the team has moved from East Rutherford to Newark.
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Any move to recognize New Jersey, though, is a good one. The Nets upset some a few years ago when it moved to take the words "New Jersey" off of their uniform before prepping for the move to Brooklyn, and it's the least they can do in another quasi-rebuilding season (a shortened one, at that) to throw Newark a wave.
And anything that involves something remotely hinting at an ABA existence (the Nets won the 1974 and 1976 ABA championships as the New York Nets) is a major plus, in our eyes. Sound addition, Netsies.
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