Balls II

Primera Categoría Serie A

I did not watch a game in Ecuador but witnessed the celebrations of fans of Barcelona Sporting Club. This was pure, contagious joy when one's team had won:

Video: Joy

Primera División del Fútball Profesional Chileno

I managed to catch quarter finals between defending champion, Club Universidad de Chile played and Unión Española. The stadium was small but there was a sizeable crowd. The tickets for the second best seats were CLP8,000 (US$16) each, which was really cheap as compared to the European football matches. It was so hot that I almost died from heat stroke. After scoring the first goal in the first half, Universidad fizzled and lost 1-4.

Estadiao Nacional

National Basketball Association

We had a very strong basketball culture in high school. Unless there was a volleyball tournament taking place, all 7 basketball courts would be filled with boys and girls playing basketball. We were not very imaginative and in junior high, my team was called the Devils (we were from class 1D) and in my senior years, the Fakers (class 3F, after the LA Lakers). We grew up with the Lakers vs Bulls rivalry and although I like the Lakers, I now use an Air Jordan lanyard at work. 

Anyway, there was no way I was going to miss a live NBA game while in Los Angeles. I would have preferred watching the Lakers play the Rockets but that would mean flying back to Houston (boo...) so I had to "make do" with watching LA Clippers vs LA Lakers. The Clippers were doing very well in the Western Conference, ranking second while the Lakers were hovering somewhere in the second half of the table. 

I landed in Los Angeles, waited for my luggage in vain and went to watch the game without a change of clothes. The lady sitting a few seats away would have been horrified if she found out the truth:

She actually wore this to a game??? (冇眼睇）

Warm up

With air balls and less than impressive rebound rates, the sluggish Lakers struggled to keep up with the Clippers for the first 3 quarters.

Dunk

Free throw

This is how we should do it

Sigh...

There was a little drama when Clippers' Griffin flew into 2 kids as he tried to keep a ball in play. 

Lakers finally woke up in the fourth quarter and got their players and Lakers fans jumping up and down at their seats but it was too little too late. Considering how ineffective the passing and shootings were, the Lakers really did not lose by too big a margin.