The NBA Finals game 3

So I made it to Los Angeles. After a long! cab ride to the Staples Center, I picked up my media credentials and went into the arena at about 2:30 .. and never left it until about 10.30 local time. Yes, I spent seven hours in a basketball gym. And it was worth it! Read more

Mayors make America-sized bet

It’s true, it’s true: Everything is bigger in America.

Want an example? Check out the huge USA-sized wager taking place between the mayors of Los Angeles and Boston over the NBA Finals.

(Incidentally, this bet accidentally makes for the best argument for an eight-team America/Europe tournament: Just imagine the Cleveland and Moscow heads wagering the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame against 1,000,000 square miles of Siberia on the Cleveland Cavaliers-CSKA Moscow finals in 2015…)

The bet is as follows.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa:

“If the Celtics win, we’ll send you the best professional [American] football team L.A. has to offer: the Arena League’s Los Angeles Avengers.

“If the Lakers win, we get the [New England] Patriots.

“I know what you might be thinking: ‘Villaraigosa must be nuts! Bostonians would make out like bandits in that deal! With an indoor arena team, the fans would not have to risk frostbite to see a mid-September game. And with the smaller field, our coaches wouldn’t even need cameras to steal opponents’ signals.’

“I’m sure my constituents might not be happy with this deal, but I am so confident in the Lakers’ victory that I am willing to put it all on the line.”

“Oh, and to sweeten the pot, in the event of a Lakers victory you can keep the Patriots’ coach.

“We have a pretty good guy down the street who might be interested in the job — and who probably still has the gear.”

(Note to Europeans: Villaraigosa was not referring to famous Californian and the most well-known American football player abroad, O.J. Simpson.)

From Thomas Menino, mayor of Boston:

“Tonight is indeed an historic evening – the great competition begins once more between two of the NBA’s fiercest rivals. I remember well the last time we BEAT L.A. – there certainly have been a lot of changes in those 20-plus years. …

“But you’ve come up with an interesting bet. I know you don’t have much to offer so I appreciate your creativity. I would love to accept the arena (minus the team), but only because we could use the extra space for all of our banners – the rafters at the Garden are getting a little too crowded and we’re having trouble finding room for the 17th. …

“While I understand you won’t have the chance to come out and see a game in Boston, I hope you will have the opportunity to attend a game in Los Angeles. This series is bound to be a memorable one, so I suggest you consider breaking the L.A. custom of missing most of the first quarter and leaving early to beat the traffic.

“Your city is renowned for its great storytellers including yourself, Mr. Mayor, but I am sorry to say that this time there won’t be a fairytale ending. Best of luck, and Go Celtics!”

Now, anybody wanna bet on the Olympics? Germany…? Spain, maybe?

BallinEurope goes to Hollywood

BIEGTH - RELAX don’t do it! Everybody knows this hit from the 80s. We’re not from the UK and the UK is not part of the European Union but well - BallinEurope goes to Hollywood, too!

Thanks to FIBA (yes, you Nic!) and the NBA (Rachel Walsh) I will fly to Los Angeles and watch the Euro-Lakers battling the Boston Celtcs in this year’s NBA Finals.

I just booked my flight (and a hotel) from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on June 10th to watch game three and game four on the 12th. learned a few lessons already, as I was at the NBA Finals last year in Cleveland, and even from the Euroleague Final Four. I will not book a flight that arrives three hours before the game starts: You might not get your bags. Second thing: I booked a room in a hotel RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the Staples Center.

Of course we will try to cover the Euro-Lakers and the NBA Finals 2008 as much as we did the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid this May - from our very own European prospective.

You might think, “What does a European basketball blog do in the US, especially at the NBA finals? Take a look at our BallinEurope Guy - doesn’t he look a little bit like Pau Gasol? We never tried to make him look like that but people told us so. I will try to get a hold of Pau and see what he thinks of our guy.

Another reason: To follow the Euro-Lakers! Starting with Italian superstar Kobe Bryant (please get the joke) to Spanish superstar Pau Gasol to all these other European sharp shooters.

Last but not least - We have to follow the enemy: Big, bad American basketball that is all about show and nothing else! (Once again, I am just kidding - I like entertainment :)).

The best thing about this US trip? I get to meet many cool people such as Lang Whitaker from SLAM and Henry Abbott from ESPN. I even planned to visit Henry Abbott at his office in New Jersey later this summer.

10 days to go! Yaaaay!

By the way is anyone else who reads this blog going? I would LOVE to meet up with anyody who reads, likes or hates BallinEurope. Please post a comment if you are!