BallinEurope’s weekly podcast with hard-working sports journalist David Hein on all matters European and international basketball is now up and running at heinnews.com.
Episode 1 of “Taking the Charge” – we’re calling last week’s inaugural effort “Episode 0” – focuses on (and includes) a one-on-one interview Hein undertook with Beko BBL CEO Jan Pommer. While masterminding the admirable rise of Germany’s Bundesliga, Pommer is most known in European basketball circles for overseeing the big league’s “Financial Fair Play” program.
BiE plays a bit of the bad cop on the podcast; while positively gushy about the recent stream of success German basketball has enjoyed, BiE remains a bit skeptical regarding actual implementation of Fair Play principles. After all, one goal is to seek the “end of billionaire owners with deep pockets” titling the Euroleague tables – yet here’s the 2012-13 edition of CSKA Moscow, rumored to have jumped its already substantial bankroll by around 30% for this season. And guess what: They’re favorites to take it all.
Was BiE too rough on Pommer and the Euroleague brain trust? You decide; the entire podcast may be heard here.
