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Straight from the man’s Facebook page itself (hell, yes, BiE “likes”), Pau Gasol brings us this candid shot of Lamar Odom, himself and possibly Mike Penberthy shooting a promo ad. The Lakers took a bit of time off from their quest for an NBA championship threepeat to push some 3-D, specifically ESPN’s new 3-D TV offering.
All right, Euroleague fantasy basketball fans: The BallinEurope Invitational League is now accepting teams. Simply send an email to ballineurope@yahoo.com or reply in the comments section of this post. I’ll send out invites right through to Sunday, with the first deadline for roster changes coming on Monday.
The rules are as follows:
– No multiple teams. Okay, if you must have two teams, i’ll allow it but please do not fill the table with 16 of your own teams.
That’s it. We will be awarding the top finisher with … something. Probably Euroleague Final Four paraphernalia, but BiE’ll let you know when something is officially arranged.
The bad news is that Javier Gancedo’s ever-popular fantasy column will not be running here this season, as his employers at Euroleague.net requested that they publish it instead – what nerve, eh? (Just kidding, league folks; you know BiE loves ya…)
You can follow Javier’s tips ‘n’ tricks at Euroleague.net; here’s a link to his page on the website and you’ll also find a permalink under the “What We’re Reading” column. Javi has promised he’ll be joining the BiE league, so look out, everyone!
Good luck to all contenders and, um, show a little mercy to the worst fantasy sports player ever, namely me, okay? Ah, didn’t think so…
Gortat will school you -- in a good way
As an ESL teacher in his other identity, yours truly was happy to find out about a website called “English, Baby!” and was even more intrigued to find that the faculty includes Rodrigue Beaubois, Marc Gasol, Marcin Gortat, Sergio Rodriguez and Sasha Vujacic.
English, Baby! is something of a full-service website for those interested in learning or refining their skills in English as a second-language, with information about TOEFL exams, in-house teachers to assist with questions, forums, and lesson materials.
Essentially each “lesson” on the website – and there appear to be thousands of them – is a webpage which includes a short video done in actual interview style plus seven to twelve vocabulary words, a primer reading to prepare for what you’ll see/hear in the video, a transcript, grammar points (don’t worry; they’re mostly painless), quick quizzes and discussion topics. You can even download the whole thing as an MP3 file once you register with the site.
It does make one nostalgic for simpler times … you know, times before the multinational business machines swarmed into Central and Eastern Europe … times when Sarunas Marciulionis was selling tie dyes to folks who thought “pick and roll” was something you did on your buddy’s hemp farm in Humboldt.
(Cue Grumpy Old Man: Yeah, and we didn’t have any “em pee threes” or “downloading.” We had to listen to crappy third-generation recordings of bootleg Grateful Dead shows on cassette with all the pop and hiss and snagging-up tape reels – *and we liked it!*)
Pascal would have approved
Sports, capitalism, sex and philosophy: This is why we love the French. In what is surely the most brilliant ad campaign ever devised in European sports, Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket has launched a new campaign promoting – ostensibly – it’s supercheap tickets for upcoming Pro A games (starting at just €5 and kids under 14 get in free!) and the new offical team rubber ducky. (Hyeres-Toulon’s mascot is a dolphin, but go figure.
Kicking off with the slightly-tweaked Blaise Pascal (a huge basketball guy, so BiE hears) line “L’homme [et la femme] est né pour le plaisir: il le sent, il n’en faut point d’autre preuve” (“Man [and woman] is born for pleasure: He feels it; no other proof is needed”), the “Ducky Toy: Pure Pleasure” campaign then slips right out of the philosophical frying pan and into the shower with Vincent Masingue and Nobel Boungou Colo.
And since Pascal would surely have agreed that a picture’s worth a thousand words, here’s the ad:
If you’re a player that needs to be seen to hook up with a European club for the 2010-11, BallinEurope.com can recommend a unique program that is guaranteed to get you noticed by scouts and coaches from all over The Continent.
New York-based talent agency Performance Sports Management is holding its innovative “2010 Ireland Showcase” event from September 2-7 in Belfast, and there’s still plenty of time for you to get yourself one of 20 roster spots in the four-team tournament.
In lieu of preparing for the 2010 FIBA World Championship with Team USA (sigh), Kobe Bryant has been visiting China this week as part of a promotional tour the locals are calling “Kobe 24 Live.” (Read: Kobe’s in Asia hocking basketball shoes.)
Putting in an appearance yesterday afternoon at 4.20pm in Changchun, Kobe signed a few autographs and dutifully commented on all things basketball for an adoring public – nothing unusual there.
However, what was unusual – and o so gratifying for fans of European basketball – was Bryant’s shout-out to The Continental method of developing players. From an English-language story running this morning from China’s national press agency Xinhua, Kobe was a bit fancifully quoted through a translator and back again, but the message on several topics was quite clear.
On what other countries need to learn from NBA and American basketball system, Kobe gave a surprising answer, and he said: “I believe that the system works best right now is not the US system, I believe it is the European system. Because they develop basketball players, and they teach them the skills. I think the European system has jumped over US system.”
If there’s one online sneaker shop in Europe that knows about providing a quality product at a cheap price, it’s Kickz.com, partnering online shop of hiphop and basketball gear brand K1X. The best bargains were at the heart of the entrepreneurial spirit of K1X, a company which began from the humblest of all origins: Namely, selling basketball shoes from the backup of a pickup truck in Munich in 1993!
By 2002, K1X had added manufacture and design to their huge distribution network and created the “Chief Glider,” a sneaker worn by Ron Artest while playing with the Indiana Pacers. K1X has become a major player in Europe and in the world in the hiphop gear market, with the accent always on basketball shoes.
In 2010, it’s no new news when yet another network-style community pops up on the internet. When the just-founded website goes online with a bent toward basketball statistics, however, it’ll tend to get a serious fan’s attention. And when said online community gets an endorsement from Team Germany head coach Dirk Bauermann, then it might be time to stop the proverbial presses.
Please do so today, then, for a website called BallSide.com. Developed at the German Sport University Cologne in 2009, BallSide.com went live in February 2010 with the aim of connecting youth and amateur teams via the magic of internet networking. (And statistics!)
BallinEurope recently received a pair of emails promoting events begging for a little attention, so call this your weekend BiE Public Service Announcements. (For the record, none of the following events or organizers are sponsors of BallinEurope.com. Just so you know.)
First up, in conjunction with its annual youth basketball competition in Groningen and FIBA, the Holland Nordic Basketball Tournament (HNBT) is offering coaches’ and players’ clinics April 2-4.
On April 2, it’ll be the “Post Clinic,” hosted by ex-NBAer Swen Nater; presumably, ol’ Swen’ll be talking about post play. Twelve slots are open for players to sign up. Trainers and coaches will be allowed to observe the training.
