Leopards win the League

Back in 2004 I was one of a group of basketball fans who had a dream, that we could run a fans owned basketball club that would be able to survive at least in the English Basketball League. In truth there was not enough of us who cared whether the Leopards lived or died, and ultimately the broad based fan ownership model was viable. There's no doubt that this rather tempered my enthusiasm, both for the Leopards and in some part for the game itself.

My interest in the game itself also took a knock when I gave up coaching. I began to realise that I could no longer work full time and commit to the level of voluntary activity it took to coach a success programme. I knew the level of commitment needed, and frankly I was no longer prepared to commit to that level.

The Leopards at best limped along, they won the National Cup in 2005-06 but on what should have been a day of great joy, I found myself recovering after being hospitalised with concussion. In subsequent seasons I began to doubt whether we had a future. At what level does a sport have to sink to prove to be no longer viable as spectator sport ? At times I felt Leopards were perilously close to that level.

Last season things began to change in no small part to to the arrival of Ousman Krubally, an American forward who had played college hoops at Georgia State University. Hiring Americans is a risky business, will they deliver the goods both on and off the court. In the past the Club had been stung by players ill prepared to go into schools to coach basic basketball.

This season Ousman has been joined by American guard Vernon Teel and between them they have been tearing up the League. As well as winning the National Cup, the Leopards had put together a seventeen game winning streek, meaning that a victory at Reading on Saturday night (31st March) would secure the League Championship.

So Saturday it was a trip to the west of London (and beyond) to see Leopards take on the Reading Rockets. The management of the Rockets were very helpful to us years before when we were setting up. In truth the result was never in doubt, although on the night the stand out performer was David Buchberger who nailed 3 point shot after 3 point short. At the end of the game, party poppers exploded, and although there was no league trophy, nevertheless there was the deep satisfaction of knowing that the Leopards were back.

Guardianistas

It's been a few weeks dominated by pieces of work, interpersed with some interesting football and basketball. The sun has started to shine which meant that on March 22nd we went to Chelmsford to watch Essex v Surrey in a pre season cricket friendly. The idea of sitting outside during March to watch cricket is frankly abnormal. The early start to the season will be blamed on the summer olympics in London, but frankly the warmer springs are far more likely the result of climate change, reinforvced by the fact that next week we have a horsepipe ban starting in our region.

Anyway Sunday saw me travelling to London for day two of the Guardian Open Weekend. I'm not sure I knew what to expect either when I signed up or when I got off the Underground at Kings Cross. I'd signed up for my three sessions , two environment and one sport. I got my attendees wristband and explored.

It was a hour before my first session and so I took the opportunity to explore King's Place. To be honest I didn't even know this place existed prior to this event. To my great surprise and pleasure I walked into the last day of an art exhibition of British artist, Norman Cornish. I learned that Cornish,now 91, had spent much of his life as a miner in the Durham coalfield and much of his art reveals life around the pit and the town of Spennymoor.

I sat for minutes looking at a painting entitled "Miners on Pit Road". It seemed reminiscent of 1st World War art. The soldiers were replaced by miners. Men huddled over, trudging towards the pit, identical rucksacks on the backs and boots on their feet. The posture identical to those going to war in the trenches. Such an amazing piece of art.

On investigation I discovered that many of these paintings were for sale, although there appears to be a permanent exhibition at the University of Northumbria.Frankly this art exhibition was worth the admission alone.

I moved on to the lunch time session on "Can environmentalism survive the austerity drive ?" The numbers were meagre compared with the session on understanding the banking crisis in the hall opposite. Two women I spoke to had come out of listening to Ed Balls who spoke about Labour's plan for the economy, they mentioned that he never once managed the environment, which set the tone for me. In recent months my thoughts have turned regularly to the issue of restoring prosperity without diving headfirst into unsustainable growth. In the discussion led by Damian Carrington, The Guardian's environment editor, I tried to steer the discussion towards tackling consumption. Of course this is off the radar to all mainstream parties. Talk of "green technology" filled the air, but there's simply no point looking at the supply side of the equation without considering demand and its distribution.

And so to lunch. I ordered a italian style pitta filled with hummous,sweet potato,red onion and rocket. As I ate it waiting for the next session I realised that twenty years ago, maybe even ten, I would never have had any of these ingredients in a sandwich. Have the taste buds of society changed so much ? I doubt it as I walked past the usual run of take overs and coffee shops on the way to the centre. As I took the last bite, I was left to wonder whether my taste in food reflects something wider about me, or whether it was just the company I was keeping on Sunday.


My next session was "How do we keep the lights on " the main discussion was between Ed Davey and Caroline Lucas, with a Cambridge economist presenting a market economics analysis of energy policy.

Caroline Lucas starting by reframing the question. She argued do we need to keep them all on. Immediately her style and her use of Lakoff's approach of not accepting their framing struck me. She spoke of the need to invest in insulation and asked whether shops,offices etc need so many lights at night. She addressed demand as well as supply.

Ed Davey was refreshingly honest, saying he didn't know exactly how the lights could be kept on as he couldn't predict what lay ahead. Significantly he failed to rule out nuclear power and reiterated the Lib Dem policy of no public subsidy. He and Caroline Lucas disagreed as to whether the current funding was weighted to the nuclear industry.

The key point that came home to me is that tackling energy policy in the future is fundamentally linked to the debate on behaviour change, and the sooner there's a honest discussion starting with "we can't go on as we are" the better.

Finally I headed to the Guardian headquarters, I walked the corridors and found myself in a room of cricket enthusiasts for the recording of a podcast featuring the Guardian sports editor and Mark Butcher. The hour flew by as Mark Butcher talked of England's problems facing spin in the sub-continent, the forthcoming tours of both the West Indies and S.Africa and the county championship. It was an enlightening discussion.

I was ready to make my way back to the Underground, after a thoroughly interesting and rewarding day at the Guardian.

Celebrity Status

The life of celebrities is something that normally doesn't take up too much of my time; however a news story, and an incident brought it to my attention while we were in New York City.

The news story was the tragic but perhaps not unexpected death of Whitney Houston. Houston who came originally from Newark,New Jersey, seemed to be on a downward spiral of self destruction from many years. Nevertheless my mind naturally returned to the 1980s when she dominated the charts in both the USA and UK and when we saw her perform "in the round" at Wembley Arena.

Even in death, Whitney was front page news, filling hours of TV and pages of newsprint. How strange that when the family decided that they wanted a private funeral, some of the public felt cheated.It is as if the public felt that they owned a piece.

The rain fell on New York City one lunch time. Leaving Grand Central terminal we hurried across the street taking refuge in Modells Sports Store where I was looking for a Knicks sweatshirt. After some minutes my wife said that man over there looks like Paul McCartney.

It soon became apparent that it was, and that he was buying a baseball cap for a teenage boy.

Now for people of my generation, and I imagine for women in particular, Paul McCartney is a genuine "star". As I stood in line behind him, what pleased me was that he felt able to shop in person in a high street store, and significantly no one interrupted him. After he'd left the store, I asked the assistant if he realised who he had just served. To a young American no older than twenty, it meant little. He responded that some weeks earlier Derek Jeter had been in the store and that was really special.

This illustrated to me wonderfully that celebrity status and fame is often time framed and geographically centred. While Derek Jeter is a superstar in NYC, I'm sure he could walk into most shops in London and be just another American tourist.

Looking back on New York City

" Leaving New York's never easy" (Michael Stipe)





Ever since I first visited New York City as a teenager it has drawn me in like a pin to a magnet. Even when it was not financial possible to visit, I was still drawn to the films and music that it delivered. In recent years I've been fortunate to return more frequently, and therefore when it was suggested that we should plan a trip to celebrate my retirement from teaching, New York City was the obvious choice of venue.





The trip was planned to coincide with both some New York Knicks home games and the opening of an exhibition to the life and work of Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia. Having visited before I felt that this tripshould allow us to explore parts of the city not immediately on the tourist route. Anyway with a hotel a short walk from Times Square, the centre of town was never far away.





I am always left with the feeling that nobody cooks at home in New York, restaurants and take aways always seem to overwhelmingly outnumber food stores. Spoilt for choice but determined to experience everything from the local deli for breakfast to the delight of Junior's cheesecake.





Although watching the Knicks was my main focal point, for the first time I planned a visit to the theatre. Like London most Broadway theatres play safe showing musicals that attract the crowds. However I wanted to see a show , not available in London and with at lease some level of message. After some research I chose "Memphis". It deals with the racial segregation in music in the South during the 1950s. The acting,music and dance ensured that attention never wandered from the stage. The theatre built in earlier times provided everything except legroom.





While away Arsenal played AC Milan in the Champions League. Now the less said about the game the better, but it gave us the opportunity to travel downtown to visit 14th Street East the home of the Blind Pig . This bar is home to Arsenal NYC. It was mid afternoon and over 200 fans gathered to watch the game , beer flowed,food was served and a fair selection of Arsenal songs were sung. The bar was well decked out with Arsenal memorabilia. Shame that the manager failed to get in extra bar staff, but you can't have it all.

New York is a walking city, I love exploring it on foot and inevitably recount when I've seen this site in a particular film. A trip to the Guggenheim allowed us to explore the Upper East Side and likewise a visit to the Museum of New Yoek allowed us to explore the West Side overlooking Central Park. In downtown it was so easy to move about. On Saturday a friend visited us from Pennsylvania and we were able to see NYC from a taxi cab, something I've not experienced at length before. Sitting next to and engaging the driver in conversation I discovered that the old yellow cabs are being phased out, and the new vehicles are hybrid.

Without doubt my favourite walk is from City Hall over the Brooklyn Bridge, it's a walk that has helped me overcome my fear of bridges/heights; it also permits a great view of lower Manhattan. At the end of it a short walk into Brooklyn and a diner where I made a wonderful Burrito, a fine reward.

Leaving New York early morning, the shuttle bus came at 4am, the last thing I expected was a further tour, but the driver had pick ups in Greenwich Village, Chinatown and the Lower East side. After a week I felt we had gone someway to exploring the parts of NYC where many tourists never tread. I'd seen the Knicks in the Garden, replenished my wardrobe, visited an excellent art gallery, eaten more than I should, and seen the Bruce exhibition. No surprise that I fell asleep soon after take off on the way home.

So much more than a picture

LINsanity

I blame Michael Jordan for developing my interest in the NBA. While football and cricket are for life, basketball has been like a mistress. At times it consumes you with passion, but at others you feel content to walk away. I think this may be because the standard of basketball in the UK is not the highest. The late 90s were great years for the London Leopards and I filled my boots following them around the country as well as watching the NBA.

Sadly the Leopards for a range of reasons were not sustainable at that level and frankly neither was British Basketball. THe crowds and the quality has slipped. While the NFL has brought regular season games to London, the NBA focussed primarily on pre season fillers. This together with a lack of TV coverage stunted the growth of the sport, that has been saddled with "the next big thing" label for too long.

In the late 90s I was drawn towards following the Indiana Pacers and Reggie Miller. I say because the idea of seeing games was not an option. We were lucky to get to the USA on a couple of occasions and witness the NBA in Charlotte and in NYC. On the school visits to the USA I've built in trips to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Knicks, and more and more the Knicks have become my team.

While a trip to Indiana is about as likely as an overseas tourist visiting Wolverhampton, New York City is obviously more accessible and attractive. At the start of this season I decided to buy an internet package that has allowed me to watch all Knicks game online. Great value and it has allowed me to follow their progress at a depth previously not possible.

However in truth the Knicks have been under achievers in a city that demands success. Last year I was in NYC when new signing Carmelo Anthony made his debut. Anthony is a genuine all star player, the type of marquee signing that New York expects. The problem is the team hasn't gelled andtoo many games have been lost.

Circumstance of no established point guard, an injury to Carmelo Anthony and the tragic death of Amare Stoudemire's brother, meant that the Knicks went into the last fortnight very short handed. Enter Jeremy Lin. Lin defies all basketball stereotypes , he is an Asian American of Taiwanesse parents, he went to college at Harvard. He was undrafted, and was cut by Golden State Warriors after one season. The Knicks picked him up when no one wanted him. For weeks he sat at the end of a bench collecting the minutes that no one else wanted.

Then came his moment. Five games later and the Knicks haven't lost with Lin at point guard. He dropped 38 points on the LA Lakers last Friday. He went head to head with Kobe Bryant and came out victorious. The Knicks had played slow half court basketball in the early weeks of the season, now Lin has energised them, and the can play fast break, Tyson Chandler has benefitted hugely being the recipient of many pick and rolls and ally-oop passes.

New York is in the middle of LINsanity. The Knicks never sold Lin shirts, they do now. On Saturday night at Minnesota crowd records were broken when the Knicks came to town. With Lin in the line up, Knicks tickets have become hot. Its a story that strikes at the heart of sport, it's about the little guy making good, defying the odds, its David v Goliath, as Lin drives to the hoops past the trees standing in his way.

The NBA started the season in a labor dispute where one group of rich men battled another. It was not good public relations at a time of austerity amongst basketball's main audience. Jeremy Lin has to some degree carried the NBA and put into back onto the main pages of the papers. For that the League owe him a huge debt of thanks.

7Up

As part of my birthday weekend I went to see Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers. With public transport at its worst in London, it meant changing from my accustomed route. We are creatures of habit, and a change in routine meant for me exploring the Holloway Road , an area that was previously just a road on a map.

The game seemed over almost as soon as it began. A move featuring Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott led to Walcott crossing for RVP to tap in. Arsenal then played with Blackburn in cat v mouse fashion. In near sub zero temperatures it was great to watch until Blackburn had the audacity to equalise from an excellently taken free kick. In my ways this was their undoing, the lion awoke and discovered it had a thorn in its paw. What followed was a massacre.

RVp completed a hat trick, Alex Olade-Chamberlain showed what a talent he is by helping himself to his first two Premiership goals, Mikel Arteta helped himself to a goal with a shot from 20 yards, and after a late substitution Thierry Henry entered the pitch for what was likely to be his last appearance at the Stadium and scored with nearly the final kick of the game.

7-1 and the crowd went home happy and so did I. These days a ticket to the Arsenal comes courtesy of part-time minibus driving, today it was worth every penny.