Basketballs: October 2004 Archives
Okay, we have the NBA, and we love it. Then we heard about International Basketball League which seems to be still going strong (13 of 18 teams are "live"). And now Portland is getting our own ABA team, the Portland Reign (get it!? get it!!???!). (warning: terrible website complete with midi music)
They are planning on calling the Oregon Convention Center their home court and landed Pepsi as their primary sponsor (which means games will be played in "Pepsi Palace"). The first game is on November 18th against the Fresno Heat Waves. Courtside seats are only $31.50 and you can see the 19 year old Portland Trailblazer, Ha Seung-Jin (popup pic), play with them for a few games. The ABA keeps a spot open for a "celebrity" player on each team. (I think Master P played on one of the other teams)
But what the heck is the ABA (American Basketball Association)? You might think it's a league that was operated from 1967 to 1976 before merging with the NBA, but you'd be wrong. That was the ABA. This ABA was started in 2000 with eight teams by Joe Newman (CEO). The Portland Reign CEO is Mary Liss, a local sports agent representing players playing in foreign countries and in developmental leagues at Pro Sports Group LLC, who was profiled in the Tribune where they mentioned that she has filed for bankruptcy three times since 1991.
A Short Historical Tangent
The ABA was originally the ABA-2000, and in 2001 they competed with Don "Moose" Lewis' American Basketball Association. Moose was a sports entrepreneur with flair, who went so far as to style his uniforms in the 70's style and "... also told the players that we'll pay the white guys extra for [wearing] crew cuts, and the black guys extra for [wearing] afros." In November 2001 Moose changed his league to the GBA, Global Basketball Alliance. Then in April of '02, after having only played a single game, the Global Basketball Alliance announced a change in format. The GBA claimed they now would not be simply a professional basketball game, but rather fans will witness a "professional basketball event". This goes back to Don "Moose" Lewis' roots as the owner of a pro-wrestling league. In a press release the GBA announced, "Mix in the best of the Harlem Globetrotters, the XFL and its cheerleaders, and professional wrestling - and you have the red, hot, GBA! You will see players "high-fiving" each other, teams with their respective music, disc jockeys spinning club music, players at the end of the game tossing their jerseys into the stands, players screaming after a successful shot or key play, players in the stands at halftime, music artists at intermission, and ticket stubs redeemable for discounts on merchandise and admission to entertainment establishments. The GBA's founder, Don "Moose" Lewis will be drawing from his years of professional wrestling, professional boxing, and television production to bring this to the people. The GBA offers beautiful and shapely cheerleaders for dad, handsome basketball players for mom, tee shirts and giveaways for the children, the hippest music for the young adults, and exciting memories for all who attend." Their website is not encouraging.
Never been a huge basketball fan. I watched Jordan play in his last season in '99 and I've enjoyed having a home team (even though it is the Blazers), but I haven't ever really connected to the game. Things started to change when I noticed a lot of foreign people in the game. In April of '03 Josh told me about the hot new foreign born players, and for some reason this sparked my interest.
This Sunday I am entering a Fantasy Basketball League with a bold and probably disastrous plan. I will only draft foreign born players. Yeah, I know I will probably lose, but watching the US Olympic Team lose to both Argentina and Italy got me pumped on all the NBA players that played for other countries. It's a long list. "As of March 15, 2004, NBA team rosters featured 67 international players from 33 countries and territories."
Fans named Pau Gasol the "Baller of the Year". Tim Duncan is a two-time MVP and there is a slew of foreign born All-Stars. The problem with my foreign born team is not the talent, but the availability. Who isn't going to try and get Tim Duncun, Dirk Nowitzki, Predrag Stojakovic, or Yao Ming? These are great players and anyone in the UHX Fantastic Basket Challenge League is going to want them. Even my second tier choices are good with Steve Nash, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tony Parker, or Pau Gasol. The real fear is further down the list, where limiting my draft choices forces me to pick the 220th ranked Raja Bell or 144th ranked Hidayet Turkoglu. And once I have my team, even my trades will be limited to a shorter list of players as I try to finagle Samuel Dalembert or Carlos Arroyo away from another team.
Keeping this plan a secret would no doubt help my chances immensely, but where is the fun, nay, the sport in that? My strong conceptual team, the Cameroon Robustos have a schtick, they have sex appeal, they have pizzaz. And while they may not top the league charts they will have fans who love them and I have no doubt they will be the most popular team in the UHX Fantastic Basket Challenge League.
