Well, I am an avid Arsenal fan and have always been a supporter of football throughout the years but a trip to New York and the opportunity to go and see New York Knicks, one of the basketball teams playing there was an alluring prospect.
So, a short subway ride to Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks (basketball) but also the Rangers (hockey), the venue from the outside seemed majestic, if not a bit quite. Being an Arsenal fans, I have never really had the opportunity to be among raucous fans and noisy hooligans, but even this atmosphere seemed a bit dour!
The Knicks were playing the Toronto Raptors who were not supposed to be very good and there was an air of superiority from the fans and players alike, superiority which lasted a very short time. Having won their last game again Sacramento, New York seemed to be in flying form and my excitement rose after I heard bribes that one of their star players Carmelo Anthony, was on top of his game.
I sat down about half an hour before the game and watched the stands fill up with fans equipped with hats, shirts and large foam hands with one finger pointing up, not as rude as you think! On the side of the court there was a row of men in suits all sitting in front of computers. Speaking to one of the ushers I found that they were official NBA representatives who recorded all the statistics. Above us, and all round were huge computer screens displaying advertisements, statistics and which throughout the game would exhibit motivational videos trying to rally the crowd into supporting their team.
The game is pretty fun, its end to end and some of the plays are fast and furious but it doesn't really stimulate you as football does. For the first two quarters, 24 minutes that is, the crowd doesn't get involved unless something sensational happens and even the players look at time disinterested, knowing that the most important period of the game is yet to arrive. Unlike football where a two to three-nil lead will probably win you the game, basketball is unpredictable in that sense. Comebacks are always possible.
Only at the third quarter, when New York were down by a significant amount did the crowd really pay attention to the game. Previously, the surround system had made most of the noise and there had been few rallying chants to get their team to play. The cries of "defense, defense" were a pain to hear and seemed fruitless as every time they were uttered the adventurous Canadians usually scored.
Basketball players have one real requirement to get into sport, to be exceedingly tall. No one on the court was under 6"3 with the tallest being 7"1. They were immense, all of them. It was impressive at times, to see the players soar into the air and produce a "slam dunk" but the occasion was so rare that their size and impact on the game became unimportant. The game was mostly reduced to penalties or free-throws but my calls of "Send him off" were thoroughly ignored. But Arsenal FC had decided to follow me to New York; one of the players looked uncannily like Emmanuel Adebayor, a much hated person at the Emirates, especially since his arrival at Tottenham. Several times in the game I was tempted to yell the favourite " Fuck Adebayor" but didn't as I would probably been arrested.
Basketball was impressive to a certain degree. The players, massive and sometimes majestic could really motivate you and get you into the game but a distinct lack of noise from the fans and perhaps the general mediocrity of the game made it that overall, the last five to ten minutes were the ones that made it really important.
It was an experience, and in many ways a good one. It opened me up to a different kind of sport and to a different culture of sport. But really, who need basketball when on a freezing Saturday afternoon we can walk to our favourite football ground and spend 90 minutes chanting abuse to the opposing fans and players without fear of being arrested, and assured that the whole game can be exciting, as opposed to the last five minutes only.
No comments:
Post a Comment