BuzzerBeater Forums

For most the US it's true that hockey goes by mostly unnoticed, but I'm telling you there are parts of the US where hockey is in fact THE sport. Many, if not most, are near Canada, so I guess there is that Canadian influence. I blame the cold weather more than Canada, personally. It's really hard to get a pick-up game of hockey in Alabama. (And the Canadian soccer team doesn't really strike fear in most national teams, I suppose maybe since Canadians don't have a heck of a lot of good soccer weather most places to practice in).

My point wasn't that the poll was credible or not, it was that just because you find something on the internet doesn't mean it is true.

You are wrong about not being able to watch basketball on TV here in Thailand. There are several NBA games on every week, there are several college games on every week, there is the SE Asian basketball league on every week, there is world basket roundup every week, and you can even watch incredibly lame local high school girls games on local cable. So... that's your first misstatment of "fact." I live in a village of about 250 people and I know of two hoops here, not including the one that's gonna go up in my driveway when my duaghters get a little older.... In town about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles for the km-m conversion challenged) away there is a pickup game every day at 6am and another one at 6pm, unless it's raining.

I played pickup hoop in Buenos Aires twice, and I was only there for two weeks. The players were really into it. It's also pretty easy to find a pickup game in Tokyo as well. It's been popular in Japan for years. You might find this book enjoyable-(http://openlibrary.org/b/OL4199886M/Enlightenment_through...)

I would venture to say that I know at least as much about basketball as anybody on this site, having played, coached, refereed, watched, read about, written about, and dreamed about it since long before the Kings moved to Sacramento, where I grew up.

Personally, I would say that baseball is more popular than basketball. But, really it is a moot point. The point I was trying to make originally is that in the USA, people have soooooooo many options with which to fill their free time that the competition is fierce.

Oh, and one last thing. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/nets-attendance-...) Popular? Ouch.

Last edited by somdetsfinest at 3/1/2010 12:34:29 PM

I would venture to say that I know at least as much about basketball as anybody on this site, having played, coached, refereed, watched, read about, written about, and dreamed about it since long before the Kings moved to Sacramento, where I grew up.

If you can read an off-the-ball screen, you can be on my team.

I hate setting one up and then looking like an idiot when my teammate (who typically has and earring or three and several tattoos) just looks at me like, hey old man, what are you doing, and why are you wiggling your one hand and protecting your jewels with the other and staring at me like that? I know my best days were behind me when, one time, this kid who was guarding me turned to me (earrings juggling) after I made a nice jumper right over his outstretched hands and said "nice shot, sir". I was speechless at being called "sir" in a pick-up game. Then there was the time some kid thought it would be cool to put a one-man full-court press on me, like I'd be an easy target as 30-something senior citizen, and if I'd pulled his pants down he wouldn't have been as embarrassed when I did a simple Mullenesqe cross-over, nothing so fancy, and left him in my dust with his friends all laughing at him. These kids, if you don't go around the back and though the legs and break dance with the ball, they're not impressed, so some of these basic skills fall by the wayside... Anyway, I gotta stop with the "the older I get, the better I was" nonsense. Getting off topic.

Preaching to the choir.
ps- I worked in Manhattan for a couple months years ago and used to play on Bleeker and 6th or somewhere near there.

Last edited by somdetsfinest at 3/1/2010 12:56:46 PM

Sacramento and Cleveland are the same size, more or less.

The link to the Nets game was just a bit of levity.

What i can tell you about Greece after 8 years that i live in Thessaloniki (2nd biggest city in Greece around 1.5M), you can find almost everywhere a court to play. Ive seen guys to play at 2 at the morning.

Even in Cyprus that basketball is not popular at all, almost every school (elementary or high school) has a court that you can go and play after the lessons. Also i think that Italy loves basketball too...