Knicks vs. Nets Season Opener Officially Cancelled

The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, previously known as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel,
is still flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

      On November 1, the Barclays Center will be empty. Last year, the Nets were accustomed to seeing small crowds at home at the Prudential Center in Newark during their last season in New Jersey. However, bad play is not the reason why people won't be in attendance on Thursday. The NBA has decided to postpone the Brooklyn Nets' scheduled home-opener against the New York Knicks at the request of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a phone interview on Sportscenter earlier today, Nets guard Deron Williams expressed his disappointment that his team would be unable to play against the inner-city rival Knicks, but also addressed the situation at hand. He noted that his house is still without power and that teammate Tyshawn Taylor, a rookie guard raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, is still trapped in his house with family because of high flood levels. This will strike as a disappointment for most New York City basketball fans, but Williams is right, there are other huge dilemmas that need to be taken care of primarily.

      As a resident of New Jersey, I was able to experience the storm that maybe some of the readers didn't. The damage is truly unlike any other storm I've ever been a witness to. My favorite boardwalk in Seaside Heights, notoriously known as the place where MTV's "Jersey Shore" is filmed, is severely damaged. Most boardwalks that stretch from Long Island, New York to Cape May, New Jersey have suffered incredible damage. Atlantic City, New Jersey, known for its casinos and energetic nightlife, is practically underwater. Over two million people in New Jersey lost power at some point during the past 48 hours. I was one of the few lucky ones who didn't lose power. Most of my friends and family who live in different areas of New Jersey have lost power for days and for some, weeks. Transformers have exploded, trees have fallen, power lines have snapped and even been the causes of fires. The water is yet to recede in many locations and people are lining up at gas stations for hours because of the damage Hurricane Sandy instilled and left during Monday and Tuesday. It has been a tough past week for much of the East Coast and I wanted to explain the severity of the storm so people would have an idea of how bad it has really shaken up things in this portion of the country. There have also been several reported casualties in New Jersey, so this storm has proven to be fatal. Sandy is now weakened and classified as a tropical depression, but it has wreaked havoc and most of the damage is probably done. Here's to hoping that the families who suffered losses of lives and possessions and the places that have endured through Sandy will come back stronger than ever in the near future.