In a world where Republicans control New York City Hall, Democrats rule Nassau County, and Yankee relief pitcher Mariano Rivera can't hold leads in the seventh game of the World Series, almost anything is possible.

Emboldened by these events, I want to challenge the conventional wisdom, which says that the New Jersey Nets cannot be lured back to their former home, the Nassau Coliseum. Perhaps the time has come for New York to steal a team back from New Jersey.

The planets may be coming into alignment. The New Jersey Legislature, which had the final meeting of its current session on Monday, Jan. 7, was scheduled to consider a bill earlier this week that would assist in the financing of a new basketball arena in Newark. The Nets would be the marquee attraction at the new site. This is being written prior to Jan. 7 and, as such, I don't have the benefit of knowing what happened on Monday.

My best guess: the deal didn't pass and the Nets are still looking for a new home. They currently play at the Continental Airlines arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and the Nets' owners have made it clear that they want to move elsewhere. In addition, there are escape clauses in the team's existing lease that could hasten their exit from the Garden State, according to a number of published reports.

Moreover, there is a market research study circulating within the sports industry that reiterates the conventional wisdom and does little for the self-esteem of anyone associated with the Nets.

Typical Nets fans, it says, generally fall into one of two categories: a) Knicks fans who can neither obtain nor afford tickets to see their favorite team at Madison Square Garden or b) NBA fans who don't want to travel into Manhattan. The report goes on to recommend Connecticut as an alternative site for the team.

I disagree with the first premise, but the second one has merit. There are plenty of pro basketball fans in the metropolitan area that have little use for the Knicks and would prefer to see Nets stars, such as Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin. A sizable number falling into that category would prefer to avoid a trip into New York City, too.

The Nassau Coliseum can accommodate them, there is an existing fan base of thirtysomethings on up here that fondly remember the then-New York Nets from their days in the American Basketball Association, and the arena sits in close proximity to almost all of Nassau's 1.3 million residents. The number rises to 2.7 million if you throw Suffolk County into the mix.

The Nets would boost civic pride while also breathing life into the business community nearest the Uniondale facility at little or no cost to the taxpayer. The arena is in place. The access highways have been built. There is ample parking. Why can't it happen?

Mike Barry is corporate communications manager for a financial services firm. He served in the Pataki Administration and was elected a Nassau County delegate pledged to Senator John McCain in the 2000 GOP presidential primary.