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Around Brooklyn, Brooklyn Nets, Downtown Brooklyn, Sports

“Popular sports league” to Knicklyn: Cease and desist

January 26, 2013

A couple of weeks ago we brought you Knicklyn, created by Brooklyn-dwelling Knicks fan Mike Sorisi to bring together fans he thought were being overlooked in the media coverage of the Nets’ invasion of our fair borough.

Response to Knicklyn on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and tumblr had been enthusiastic, so enthusiastic that Sorisi recently started selling a line of Knicklyn gear, an endeavor that is about to come to a screeching halt.

From Sorisi today:

“Knicklyn has been pressured by a popular sports league to temporarily restrict the online sale of all “Knicklyn” goods and apparel or face substantial legal action. Despite meeting with and receiving clearance from several trademark lawyers prior to the launch of the site, this large sports association still feels the “Knicklyn” logo infringes upon their trademarks and intellectual properties. We have attempted to reach an amicable agreement with said sports league but were left with only two options; either pay millions of dollars in licensing fees, or shut down all together.”

Reached by phone on Sunday, Sorisi sounded discouraged but undaunted.

“This isn’t a big deal,” he said. “It’s not going to slow me down.”

While unsurprised by the NBA’s action, he didn’t think it would come quite this quickly, and he pointed out that the objection is not with Knicklyn itself, but with the decision to sell goods that could represent copyright infringement.

He toyed with some design changes to his merchandise, but decided ultimately to suspend sales as he contemplates his next moves.

“This is only a temporary setback,” he said.

And given the response to his announcement about ceasing sales, which Sorisi characterized as “great” and “positive,” along with an article in the NY Post about this recent development, he might be right when he says, “This isn’t a bad bump. It’s a good bump.”

Read Sorisi’s full letter here, and let us know what you think. Corporate behemoth strangling creative expression and fandom? Or legitimate copyright infringement?

Originally posted on January 27, updated January 28 with additional information.

From the Web

Around Brooklyn, Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Nets, Features, Sports

Knicklyn, Bringing Brooklyn’s Knicks Fans Together Since 2012

January 17, 2013

So you’re a lifelong Knicks fan. You’ve spent all of your life in the New York area, much of it in the five boroughs; you’ve lived in Brooklyn for four years.

And you watch as a new team moves across two rivers to take up residence in what had long been Knicks territory, and you watch as they dominate the local press, and you watch as this heretofore suburban team attempts to re-invent itself by embracing urban cool.

You’re a lifelong Knicks fan. So what you do?

If you’re Mike from Gowanus—who’s got the perfect name for a sports-talk radio caller—you create…Knicklyn.

Knicklyn is a website…and a state of mind.

“I’m a resident of Brooklyn,” said Mike, who asked that his last name not to be used, preferring to keep his site separate from his professional life. “I’m a devout Knicks fan. And when the Nets moved, I just felt that a lot of people were supporting the Nets kind of blindly, which I get, because there’s a lot of pride in the neighborhood.

“But I felt that there had to be people out there that wanted to be able to relate to the team that they’re loyal to. It’s a pride thing.”

Knicklyn was born when Mike started “fooling around” with some graphic art, which eventually grew into a website. It grew virally, he said, as Knicks fans in Brooklyn found the site, so he expanded into a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, an Instagram account.

This week, Knicklyn started offering hats and stickers for sale, in response, said Mike, to user requests. Aware of his brand as the Knicklyn logo started to spread, he wanted to capitalize on the interest before someone else latched on to it.

“With so many social media streams,” he explained, “the art was starting to spread without any real credit, and before anyone could compromise the integrity of what I was trying to do, I started to produce some products.”

While admitting to some resentment about the people who have jumped from the Knicks to the Nets, Mike, a marketer by day, acknowledges the success of the Nets’ marketing scheme.

“I thought it was a little gimmicky—‘Hello, Brooklyn!’—but in Jay-Z, they chose the best person possible to be the face of the team; a lot of people from the neighborhood can relate to him,” he said. “They did everything how you should do it, but some people see through it and their loyalty remains with the team they grew up with.”

During Knicks games, the 26-year-old tweets commentary, engages in ardent debate with other fans, and after each victory, “tapes” the logo of the opposing team. Knicklyn’s Facebook page has more than 1,600 likes, and its Instagram account attracts regular commenters along with requests for Knicklyn gear.

In short, Knicklyn is doing exactly what Mike wants it to.

“Knicklyn is about bringing community together,” he said, “people who have the same passion and loyalty to both my neighborhood and my team.”

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Sports

Nets Beat Knicks in First Battle in Brooklyn 96 – 89

November 27, 2012

The Brooklyn Nets defeated their cross river rivals the NY Knicks Monday night in overtime 96-89 at the Barclays Center.

Brooklyn watched and tweeted. Oh and the NBA treated us to a bizarro world Spike Lee joint as well.
(Photo: JShaltz)

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Downtown Brooklyn, Features, Profiles, Sports

Nets’ Announcer Ian Eagle Comes Home (sort of) To Brooklyn

November 8, 2012

Last Saturday night, the Nets finally got to call Brooklyn their own when they played the Sandy-delayed opener in their new Barclays Center home, beating the Toronto Raptors 107-100.

Their announcer of 18 years, Ian Eagle, had to wait a little longer to make his Brooklyn debut, calling his first game on Monday when the Nets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Eagle became part of the Nets broadcast team in 1994 and joined the YES network, the Nets’ television home, 10 years ago. And though he grew up in Queens, coming to the Barclays Center is a sort of homecoming.

“My dad was from Brooklyn,” Eagle said last week, preparing to head out of town to cover the NFL. “He went to Erasmus Hall for high school, and that was his life, growing up in Brooklyn.”

“After my father got divorced, his first wife lived in Brooklyn, and I spent weekends in Brooklyn with her for the first five years of my life. I remember going to Prospect Park, getting off at the Church Avenue station; she had an apartment on Caton Avenue, and Brooklyn made up a lot of my childhood memories. It definitely made an impression on me.”

Eagle also spent time in Mill Basin, as a teenager frequently visiting a sister who lived there. “I used to go out there about a once a month,” he said. “Growing up in Queens, the only frame of reference I had for an indoor mall was Kings Plaza.”

Eagle’s first impressions of his return to Brooklyn are equally favorable.

“I’m really impressed,” he said. “It’s very tastefully done, not over the top like a lot of the newer buildings. It feels intimate, and the lower bowl feels very close to the action. I went upstairs, too, and for a basketball game, I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house.”

Of the move across two rivers, from New Jersey to Brooklyn, Eagle said that the first task was persuading the players that it was a good idea. “The biggest challenge initially was convincing players that Brooklyn is a legitimate destination,” he said. “That happened pretty quickly.”

“There’s automatically a fan base in Brooklyn,” he went on. “Knicks’ ans aren’t going to give up their allegiance, but Brooklyn is a proud area, and a number of fans have already accepted this team.

“That’s a byproduct of the pride within the borough. There’s a different vibe with this team.”

While Eagle is enthusiastic about the move, he has no plans to move from his New Jersey home to the Brooklyn.

“I have a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old, and the timing just doesn’t work. But I’ve already done the drive a couple of times and it really hasn’t been that bad at all,” he said.

“I’m Mr. Traffic,” he continued. “I listen to all the traffic reports.”

The Nets’ next home game is Sunday at 3 pm against the Orlando Magic.

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights

Open Thread Wednesday, October 24, 2012

October 24, 2012

Mum’s the word! Or maybe not. It is, after all, Open Thread Wednesday for October 24, 2012… which also happens to be the same day in 1861 that the first Transcontinental Telegraph line was completed across the U.S., spelling the end of the Pony Express. And look at us now… using the Internets to blog with the ease of a hunt & peck and a couple clicks. So what’s on your mind today? Do tell… and comment away. (Photo: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/49699

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Sports

From the Brooklyn Bugle: Nets Open Barclays Center

October 16, 2012

The Brooklyn Nets opened the pre-season last night at the Barclays Center. Check out Karl Junkersfeld’s report and fan reaction at the Brooklyn Bugle now. (Photo: Jason Shaltz via Instagram)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/49330

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Sports

It’s ON! Brooklyn Nets Open Pre-Season at Barclays Center

October 16, 2012

The Brooklyn Nets are a reality so stop you’re whinin’ and start rooting! The Twitterverse is exploding with excitement for our team. Are you rooting for the Nets this season? Check out fan reaction to last night’s game and a video report from the Brooklyn Bugle’s official Nets correspondent Karl Junkersfeld after the jump. Continue Reading…

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Events, Features, Music, Sports

Players Be Playin’, Haters Still Be Hatin’ — Tale of the Tweets: @BarclaysCenter Opens with Jay-Z

September 30, 2012

Brooklyn’s controversial Barclays Center opened this weekend with a series of concerts by Jay-Z who is a (teeny tiny) part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, the arena’s home team.

Protesters, still clinging onto the notion that politicians tell the truth and keep their promises, gathered outside as fans filed into the show. The road to Brooklyn having it’s first major sports team in two generations was indeed a bumpy, slimy and sordid road. For a full account of how Brooklyn got this arena and what was learned about how things get done in the borough, read Atlantic Yards Report’s definitive primer.

Now here’s what the folks who were there this weekend had to say:

Photo: The Shaltzes

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Food

Shake Shack Must Love Downtown Brooklyn; Opening Second Shop At Barclays Center

September 28, 2012

Shack Shack must be cooking up a fortune at its Downtown Brooklyn Fulton Mall location, which opened in December. The New York Post reports today that the burger joint is sniffing a second neighborhood shop on Flatbush Avenue, just across from the new 18,200-seat Barclays Center.

The venue hosts its grand opening tonight with rap mogul/Nets co-owner Jay-Z beginning an eight-night concert run. Meanwhile, The Post says that the Center “is opening the floodgates to a slew of new high-end eateries, sports bars, apartment towers and retail shops.”

Among them: Trendy Delicatessen & Macbar in Manhattan is opening an offshoot eatery called Elbow Room a block away on Flatbush Avenue that also specializes in gourmet mac-and-cheese dishes. Next door, a Texas-style barbecue joint “featuring a top pitmaster from Austin” is on the way. A seafood sports lounge on Vanderbilt Street, Fish Fish, Mo Fish is in the works. And a high-end Scottish whisky bar, Duke of Montrose, is coming to Fifth Avenue and Bergen Street. Continue Reading…

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/48444

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Kids

One Mom’s Battle Against the Wack Jobs of Brooklyn Heights

August 27, 2012

We received a fiery dispatch from a BHB reader/Mom over the weekend. Given the fact that Mrs. Fink and I have had similar brushes with the “eccentric” side of Brooklyn Heights since Baby Fink was born in 2010, we wonder if any of you have had similar experiences. Check out our reader’s tale of Brooklyn Heights Crazy after the jump.

In my 20′s and 30′s I lived on the Upper East Side. I lived with my boyfriend, we were artists had no kids and were not ashamed to eat Ramen Noodles. So, I would bristle every time a perfectly manicured and accessorized UES mom suddenly stopped their $700 stroller in the middle of the crowded sidewalk to give their darling, adorably dressed charges a cookie. I would grit my teeth and think, “JUST PULL OVER.” So, now that I’m a mom respectfully do my best not to block the narrow jagged sidewalks of my beloved Brooklyn Heights. I say I succeed about 90% of the time.
Now, I’m not proud of this but I have from time to time, been know to shoot my mouth off. Combine that with a mom’s fierce, primal instinct to defend their child and it’s a volatile combination.
But I have NO idea what happened this past week. Maybe Mercury was in retrograde or the planets aligned in some horrible way, but the wack job haters were out in force. And they found ME. Let’s just say I now know how a person could lift a car off their kid.
1) Starbucks arty woman in black says to my friend twice, “2 kids? You should keep your legs shut!” I said “Eccentric is one thing, rude is another. How bout you keep your mouth shut!”
2) Sidewalk on Pierrepont (Mom and daughter push in between stroller and my son and actually moved my son out of the way. The words excuse me never crossed their lips. I am, for once, speechless but when one of them turns around to give me a dirty look from across the street I scream “Don’t touch my kid, how bout “Excuse Me?!”
3) Eastern Athletic (With PLENTY of room on the sidewalk a man pushes between my friend, my stroller and I, steps on my friend’s foot and yells at me “You must have a very strong sense of entitlement! You’re taking up the whole sidewalk” Honestly, we weren’t. He even dared to take a step toward us with my son in the stroller. I turned the stroller away and said “you are going to get in my face when I have my child in the stroller? What is WRONG WITH YOU?!” He kept screaming and entered the club. I almost called the cops to have him arrested…my call to the club manager was pointless. They won’t intervene if an incident happens on the sidewalk, only inside the club.
I’ve given up hope that people will hold doors for us. And it’s only when I have an expression of total panic on my face that someone will assist us down the Subway stairs. But, these incidents this week put me over the edge. So to answer the psycho from Eastern Athetic’s question: YES I do have a sense of entitlement! I am entitled to defend my child! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? How is it ok to TOUCH another person’s child? What happened to “excuse me?” Why is there so much hostility toward women taking care of children? Knowing that any clever retort (real or imagined) I make can’t change bad behavior, why can’t I keep my cool? Has anything like this happened to you? Mama needs a glass of wine.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/46388

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