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Published: April 10th 2006
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The Victorious Serbs
Vlade Divac achieved legend status leading his team to glory in his final international basketball tournament. Wow. Goddamn. That was the single best sporting event I have ever seen. Everything pales in comparison. Way too much to tell, not enough words to describe just how unbelievable that was. So I'll just give some quick notes.
1. During yesterday’s game I actually sat in the first row right under the basket.
2. Players like Pau Gasol and Baron Davis kept looking over at me. Me and a couple of guys I met were cheering really loud for the Kiwis and for the guy playing against Vlade Divac. And after one big play for Yugoslavia, Vlade came down the court and stared me down. The Yugoslavian fans did not like it when I was shouting about how inconsequential Divac was.
3. It was so cool because there were so many really knowledge b-ball fans and I was able to discuss the game with people from Turkey, Argentina, Yugoslavia and Lithuania.
4. After their semifinal win the Yugoslavian fans poured into the streets chanting and tied up traffic. They were waving their flags in a joyous celebration.
5. I was in the balcony for the first half of the final; I snuck down to courtside for the 2nd half.
My Favorite Shirt
I bought this shirt at the game. I still wear it today. 6. It was so loud in the balcony that it drowned out the usually deafening rock music pumping out of the PA during timeouts. It was like Cameron Indoor Arena at Duke if you allowed in drums and whistles.
7. I was right in between of the Argentine section and the much larger Serbian section. During the 2nd half of the Bronze medal game. Everyone just spontaneously rose up out of their assigned seats and gravitated to their fellow countrymen.
8. The Yugoslavian/Argentine fans were chanting all during the second half of NZ/Germany. It was so intense that one more Indiana family with little kids realized that they had gotten more than they bargained for and got up and moved to another section.
8b. It was so packed in the balcony that security couldn't get control. There were banners and flags everywhere. People were smoking ciggies. It was like a European cafe. There were people sitting shoulder to shoulder in the aisle.
8c. I had an aisle seat and the hottest Serbian girls in the tightest jeans sat down right next to me for a good portion of the 1st half.
9. Did you see the game? Suffice to say it was an awesome OT thriller.
10. Of all the teams I saw, Team USA was one of the worst. They just looked confused and out of their element.
11. I came to the conclusion that the Worlds are the premier basketball tournament, not the Olympics.
12. My hotel was a 3 minute walk from Conseco Fieldhouse, where the game was played.
13. It was unreal. I'm already planning for Japan 2006.
14. Even now hours later the deafening chant of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia is still ringing in my ears.
Way more to tell, but that's all for now.
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Well, it's later. The above half entry is actually an e-mail I sent to my friend the night I got back from the 2002 World Basketball Championship final in Indianapolis. It is now four years later and I can still hear the chants of both the Argentinean and Serbian fans. The way the kept chanting and throwing up Serb war signs from the Balkan conflict it felt like a Serbian military rally. This would be the last time that Yugoslavia would play under that name, after this tournament they changed it to to Serbia-Montenegro. One Serbian who was hanging a banner asked me if I spoke Serbian. When I replied that I could only speak English he looked at me with such disdain that his eyes seemed to say that is was I who ordered the bombing of Belgrade. It was then that I realized I was on foreign ground right in the middle of the heartland of America.
Since it was my first travel experience alone since I got back from Australia in the summer of 2001, I had been to Montreal with a friend in May 2002, I felt I should get out a bit a see some of the local color. So before the game I walked around downtown Indianapolis. It was interesting to see some of the fountains and curious mix of people, local churchgoers going out for Sunday brunch after Sunday services and Yugoslavian fans draped in red, blue, and white flags. I found a typical all-American diner and grabbed a seat at the counter. I ordered a typical midwestern lunch of a cheeseburger and vanilla milkshake. Now here was some local food I could really appreciate! The friendly old waitress asked me if I wanted another milkshake. No thank you I said I had a game to watch.
As you can probably tell I was captivated by that game. It was simply awesome. I still remember how those fans streamed out of Conseco Fieldhouse hooping and a hollering. I was also amazed to see how many Yugoslavian fans who had not been able to get tickets had congregated outside the arena. It was hot Sunday afternoon and it buzzed with Serbian celebrators and the boisterous honking of car horns. I quickly raced back to my hotel, grabbed my bag, jumped into a taxi and was on my way with the memories and sounds of the game in my head forever.
added march 3, 2006
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newfie
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Life is strange.
I was reading your Vanuatu journal as we are going there in September. I clicked on next journal and found your account of the World Basketball Tournament. I realized that my husband and I were also at these games. It was an amazing tournament and I, too, was struck by the enthusisasm of the supporters. I would get as much fun out of watching them as the game. But, the Olympics are also great to see! Not only Basketball but the Volleyball fans were great. It is a small world when we can connect like this.