November 3, 2012: The Nets Make Their Brooklyn Debut

November 3, 2012: The Nets make their Brooklyn debut, a little delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. The opponents are the Toronto Raptors, who played their 1st game at home to the Nets, 17 years to the day before.

This time, the Nets announce their freakin' presence with authority. Despite 28 points from the Raps' Kyle Lowry, the Nets win 107-100, led by 27 points from Brook Lopez. Attendance: 17,732.

The Nets have tried, hard, to win an NBA Championship since moving to Brooklyn, through 2 different ownership groups. They reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2014 and 2021, but that's it. Injuries, draft busts, and players who exaggerate their own importance to the team, each of which was all too common when the Nets played on Long Island (1968-77), at Rutgers University (1977-81), at the Meadowlands (1981-2010) and in Newark (2010-12), have reared their heads again. The Nets remain a joke.

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November 3, 2012 was a Saturday. There were 9 other games played in the NBA that day:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards, 89-86 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Miami Heat beat the Denver Nuggets, 119-116 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Chris Bosh scored 40 for the Heat.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 126-99 at the American Airlines Center.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-85 in overtime at the Toyota Center.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 106-98 in double overtime at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls, 89-82 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-102 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz, 110-100 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 114-110 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

The World Series had ended 6 days earlier, with the San Francisco Giants sweeping the Detroit Tigers in 4 straight games. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so the season was delayed.

There were college football games played that day, including the following:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Number 5 Louisiana State, 21-17 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The following week, Alabama lost to Texas A&M, but this was not a Southeastern Conference game, so Alabama still advanced to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 2 Oregon beat Number 18 Southern California, 62-51 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Yes, that's in football, not basketball. A loss to Stanford 2 weeks later cost Oregon a chance at league and national honors.

* Number 3 Kansas State beat Oklahoma State, 44-30 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. Kansas State won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 4 Notre Dame beat the University of Pittsburgh, 29-26 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame went undefeated, and were Number 2 at the end of the regular season. But Alabama beat them in the BCS National Championship Game. It got worse: Notre Dame eventually had to forfeit all of their 2012 and '13 wins due to NCAA rule violations.

* Number 6 Ohio State beat Illinois, 52-22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State went undefeated, but, due to earlier NCAA rule violations, were ineligible for the Big Ten Conference and National Championships, or even for a bowl game invitation.

* Number 7 Georgia beat Mississippi, 37-10 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Georgia won the SEC East Division title, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama. They did go to the Citrus Bowl, and beat Orlando.

* Number 8 Florida beat Missouri, 14-7 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Losing to Georgia earlier had cost Florida a shot at the SEC title game, but with SEC Champion Alabama ranked Number 1, that opened up the SEC's Sugar Bowl slot. Florida received it, and beat the University of Louisville.

* Number 9 Florida State were idle. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, and beat Mid-American Conference Champions Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 10 Clemson beat Duke, 56-20 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Number 13 Oregon state beat Arizona State, 36-26 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 35-20 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. Oklahoma blew their shot at the Big 12 title by losing to Kansas State, but were invited to the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 15 Stanford beat Colorado, 48-0 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve Conference title, and beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 16 Texas A&M beat Number 17 Mississippi State, 38-13 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. Despite finishing 3rd in the SEC West Division, Texas A&M achieved what had been their dream in their Southwest Conference years, and went to the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 19 Boise State were upset by San Diego State, 21-19 at Bronco Stadium (now Albertsons Stadium), home of the blue artificial "Smurf Turf," in Boise, Idaho.

* Number 20 Texas Tech were upset by Texas, 31-22 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock. Though that was not as shocking as the fact that Texas Tech were favorites over Texas.

* Number 21 Nebraska beat Michigan State, 28-24 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Nebraska advanced to the Big 10 Championship Game.

* Number 22 Rutgers were idle, coming off an embarrassing loss at home to Kent State after winning their 1st 7 games. They ended up winning a share of the Big East Conference title, which remains their only league title in over 150 years of football. They ended up losing the Citrus Bowl to Virginia Tech.

* Number 23 West Virginia were upset by Texas Christian, 39-38 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

* Number 24 Arizona lost to Number 25 UCLA, 66-10 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. UCLA won the Pac-12 South Division, but lost the Pac-12 Championship Game to Stanford.

* Michigan beat Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug, 35-13 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Penn State beat Purdue, 34-9 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Penn State were ineligible for the Big 10 title and any bowl game, due to the sanctions over the previous year's Jerry Sandusky scandal.

* Wisconsin were idle. Due to Ohio State and Penn State both being ineligible for the Big 10 title, Wisconsin won the North Division despite a 4-4 Division record, and beat Nebraska in the Big 10 Championships Game. But they lost the Rose Bowl to Stanford.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Air Force, 41-21 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy beat Florida Atlantic, 24-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

And in English soccer, to my dismay, Manchester United beat Arsenal, 2-1 at Old Trafford in Salford.