Double duty

Arena will be transformed quickly from hoops to hockey

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- If Tom Ferreri Jr. had his way, there would be a running clock at Game 3 of the NBA Finals at the Continental Airlines Arena on Sunday night.

The faster the better, since Ferreri and his crew must tear down the basketball court and make a myriad of other changes to prepare the arena for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the New Jersey Devils and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Monday night.

"By 7 a.m., the Zamboni has to be out there," said Ferreri, the assistant vice president of operations for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs the arena. "We're hoping for 6."

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The Devils and the Mighty Ducks are scheduled to hold their pregame skates at 10 a.m. EDT, so every second counts as soon as the Nets and the Spurs leave the court. The NBA finalists typically hold all of their off-day workouts at the arena, but both teams will practice at the Nets' training complex on Monday.

Such quick changes are nothing new to the people who run arenas with hockey and basketball co-tenants -- in Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas and East Rutherford, among other places.

The Nets and the Devils actually have played afternoon-evening doubleheaders at the arena, requiring a three-hour changeover accomplished by 50 workers. This changeover might not require as many workers, but their job is much more complicated because of changes in the media seating.

About 1,600 to 1,800 arena seats were used for media work spaces at the NBA Finals. Those seats, hundreds of basketball courtside seats and a large work area must be removed for hockey, but most of it can't occur until the ice is ready.

At least the crews will get two days to transform the arena from a hockey rink back into a basketball venue for Game 4 on Wednesday night.

June has been a nirvana for New Jersey sports fans, who were greeted at the gates in East Rutherford with souvenir car flags with the Nets' logo on one side and the Devils' logo on the other.

Dozens of fans in Devils jerseys crowded into the arena for Sunday night's game, and hundreds more tailgated in the massive parking lot under gray, threatening skies.

"This doesn't happen very often for a city or a state," said Derek Smith, a fan from Hoboken who wore a Martin Brodeur jersey to Sunday night's game. "It's a big weekend for Jersey pride."

 

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