Nets to give away T-shirts at first game against 'Manhattan' Knicks

The Brooklyn Nets may be changing the NBA landscape in the New York City area, but now the team may be altering the geography as well.

Monday night's long awaited first regular season meeting between the old New Jersey Nets — now taking residence in the borough of Brooklyn —  against the New York Knicks is the hottest ticket to see long legs and shorts in town outside of The Rockettes.  It is already being touted as the start of a long and bitter rivalry.

A skirmish that the Nets organization is even calling "The Battle of the Boroughs." 

Clever marketing, but the last time I checked my subway map, New York was a city (and a county) not one of the five boroughs. 

Either way, fans attending the game inside the Barclays Center will get a free T-shirt commemorating the game which was postponed from its originally scheduled date Nov.1 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The souvenir T-shirt even has the original Nov.1 date crossed off with the new date Nov. 26 written underneath.

The navy blue shirts feature a white outline of a basketball with "Clash of the Boroughs" written inside.  Below the basketball the shirt reads "Nets versus Knicks."

While the crossed-out date and the washed-out lettering are nice touches, I have to wonder if the Knicks are on board with this whole limited to one borough idea.

Either way, the shirts — and Spike Lee sighting — are both free for fans at the game.