A former classmate of mine from UW is also living in Berlin and invited me and some other friends to attend an ALBA Berlin basketball game. Apparently, ALBA Berlin (which really stands for Albatrosses—hilarious) is a pretty good team with a pretty good history. They play at the rather new O2 World Arena.
I was pumped for the game, and I was actually quite impressed with the very modern arena. The great thing is the attendance was only slightly over 8,100 people, so lines were short, and you could actually walk through the concourse without getting bulled over.
The game had barely started when we arrived, but our seats were fantastic. There were really only two sections for seats, split by a ring of box seats. In terms of size, it reminded me of the Spokane Arena, Gonzaga's McCarthy Athletic Center, or Key Arena in Seattle. Price-wise though, I can only make a comparison with the Rose Garden in Portland because I've only ever bought tickets for games there. The seats I sat in would have cost around $125 per ticket. Thankfully, I paid 0€ for this ticket. :)
Update: I should clarify that I mean tickets for that section at the Rose Garden would have cost $125. At the O2 World Arena, I have no clue how much those tickets would cost, but I'm pretty sure less than $125.
It was kind of funny to see so many American names on the two rosters. Pretty awesome. ALBA was ahead early on through a good inside-out game. It helped that their jumpers were falling. With their athletic line-up, they could threaten to shoot from outside and then drive down the lane with the defense collapsing, leaving one guy open under the basket.
At some point, I looked toward the stands and saw their mascot, the Albatross. A large bird prancing up and down the sideline with his tail nearly falling off is quite hilarious.
So much so, I had to get a picture with him. It's somewhat blurry, but still priceless.
Midway through the first half, I heard the public address announcer mention a player's name that I immediately recognized—Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (picture below: second name from bottom, right column, number 44). He used to play for the Blazers (2001-2004), but he was only a back-up with solid interior defense and little offense to speak of. After 2005, he never played in the NBA again, but his awesome name (pronounced "Boom-Shay Boom-Shay") was always fun to chant at Blazers' games.
Apparently, he played for ALBA Berlin in 2006-2007, but today he is the back-up power forward for the Artland Dragons (what a name, huh?). He was the only Dragon I cheered for, even when he was shooting free throws.
Although there are many parts of the European game that I'm not particularly fond of—namely, whistling instead of booing, clapping with hand-out fans (I kid you not), and having fan sections with drums and scarves as if they were at a soccer game, I do enjoy the beer guy. He's selling beer, but he barely looks legal himself. Then again, I don't particularly look legal either...
I had thought the first team to 70 would win, and sadly, Artland hit a jumper with 1 minute and a half left to pull ahead 71-69. ALBA never recovered and lost 78-74.
Overall, despite the awful dance team, the 10 minute quarters, and the strange game-calling by the officials, the game was fantastic, and I am very glad I went. I look forward to more games in the future. I wish I got free tickets from my school...
Anyway, this weekend should be a nice one. I intend to sleep in, relax, and do some work. The travels start again next Wednesday, and I won't have longer than a 3-day break from traveling between now and Jan. 12th. Excellent. Gosh, I need to figure out when I'm going to do all my laundry...
Sam
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