This story has been circulating the Interwebs for a few days now, so I guess it’s time for me to throw my opinion/snarky reaction into the mix.
Thanks to some digging around by Net Income, he/she/it discovered that a few lawyers are seeking to trademark the name “Brooklyn New Yorkers,” and there are also multiple images/logos of a player playing basketball over the Brooklyn Bridge. Could this be the Nets new team name when they move to Brooklyn?:
There’s no indication in the US Patent and Trademark Office files that the Nets are associated with the lawyers. A spokesperson for the team declined comment Monday when asked by NetsDaily about the trademark applications. A spokesperson for Mikhail Prohorov’s Onexim Group told NetsDaily recently that the applications are “not ours”. The attorney of record on three of the five applications has not responded to a request for information.
Well, as the story says, we don’t know if this is, in fact the Nets doing. As both a Brooklyn resident and a Nets fan, my opinions are twofold here. First, I totally get/understand/agree with the Nets looking to change their identity in two years. For me, as long as Drazen Petrovic’s jersey remains hanging at the Barclays Arena, I’m not going to get upset by the idea of the organization starting fresh, totally fresh.
With that said, Brooklyn is a unique place. Though it’s a part of New York City, Brooklyn truly is its own brand – or at least its residents think so. It’s a city within a city, and many people here think it’s even better than “The City.” It’s hard to argue with that, thought that’s a discussion for another day. Where I’m going with this is for whoever is trademarking this phrase, calling something the Brooklyn “New Yorkers” seems to fly in the face of the vibe of this borough. We’re technically New Yorkers, we’re geographically New Yorkers, but we live in “Brooklyn” not New York or New York City. So please… you got to do better than this, whoever you are.
