That's something my buddy @mambadt and I always say but how true is that? My interest in basketball ball started young in the 90s under the influence of my brother - Will. Watching players like Penny Hardaway, Magic Johnson and of course the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) Michael Jordan.
I would say that that is the golden era of basketball in Singapore because of MJ. We will wait in front of the TV on Channel 12 on Friday night waiting for that 1 game to be telecasted There was no internet, no league pass and no livescore. We lived in a world with little information and coverage but still, the sport was very popular.
Truth be told that basketball haven't been in my life fully all these years and the media didn't help. Those were the years that NBA was not on our TV besides cable. The papers write 8-10 pages on a daily basis about how Ryan Giggs scored a goal but a 1 paragraph snippet about Tracy McGrady career high. All my peers watched soccer and nobody was playing or remotely interested in basketball. Those were the darkest day of NBA and basketball in local sports history. I lost touch with NBA ever since Shaq left Kobe after their 2000 - 2003 3peat. I knew that the Detroit won in '04 and only manage to start watching NBA again when Celtics got the "Big 3" and beat Lakers at the finals at about 40pts. But Lakers came back with 2 titles.
I always ask myself why. Why ain't our country's media putting in more effort on NBA? on Basketball? We have S
Not too sure about the truth behind it but one thing for sure I was wrong, Singapore do have lots of basketball fans, in fact 200 teams of them and there are people who are doing things for the basketball community. Introducing.. *drumroll*
MEon3 The Ultimate Streetball Challenge by Mediacorp!
I was all excited about this competition when I first heard it from a friend and people around me was asking me to join them but truth be told is that I have always been a sofa NBA fan which means although I watched a lot, I play by the street, I have never been on any school team or represented any organisation before. I have never went for a proper training or competitive platform before. To sum it up, I am scare.
The good news is, although I am not going to be part of this major basketball event of the year as a player, I am 1 of the bloggers who gets to go behind the scene and cover the event! I was lucky to be selected along with Maybeline, Mint and Benjamin to cover this event.
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| Thanks Mint for sharing the pic! |
The picture above was taken during a FREE clinic arranged by the organisers for the school representative last week. The actual event is NOT over yet. (Read till the end for more information).
In conjunction with MEon3, mediacorp put up a free clinic for the school students and Mediacorp artist as well as the few of us was invited to join in the fun and played some games. We get to interact with the students, the coaches as well as Jeffrey and Elizabeth.
The Clinic
It was pretty cool seeing some of the students putting in effort during the coaching by Malaysia's NBL commissioner, Tan Kee Hian. Nope, not David Stern. I was busy walking around and all but I did watch a few moves he was teaching, like screening and moving the ball. It's pretty cool considering I was never part of any training like these.
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| Picture by Mint! Xie Xie. |
Both Jeffrey and I was invited to play with the guys from Slingers and we were playing against some of the kids from the school teams.
I was talking to Jeffrey before the start of the game and apparently he has some basketball background as well. We grow up in the same era watching Jordan and Allen Iverson but he started basketball because of the Comic Slamdunk. Jeffrey is really a cool dude to talk with. He is really playful and full of energy!
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| That's me looking short beside the Slingers players. I'm sure there's another pic but it seems to be missing. :( |
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| Me taking a shot. Too much muscles. |
It was the 1st time I am playing in front of live audience. Mint was telling me how she was shouting and cheering on me and I told her, all I could hear was my adrenaline rushing through my head and the sound of my own heart pounding.
We won by 1 basket thanks to the team. I took 2 wild shot, score none, and 1 air ball. It was pretty embarrassing but it was really good experience I must say.
The Shootout
We than get to play a shootout game against a group of school team players lead by one of Anglican High's teacher. On our team was Jeffrey, Elizabeth, Teach from Bedok North Secondary School, Mint, Maybeline and myself. This time round I did score a basket and we won the game thanks to the teacher's winning basket. Elizabeth and the girls did pretty well too considering the fact that they kept saying they don't play basketball at all.
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| And yes, we get to play with Mediacorp artist Jeffrey Xu, Elizabeth Lee and a teacher representative from Bedok North Secondary School! The Winning Team! On Today. Thanks to this event, we were on Today newspaper!  It's kinda tiny but you should be able to spot me and my name was mentioned! (Cheap thrill.) Read full article here. And if you are one of the kid there that day, spot yourself! The Event  The actual event details: Date: 15 and 16 June 2013 Day: Saturday and Sunday Time: 10.30am to 6pm Venue: Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza |
And I am so so so going because I want to meet Tracy Lee!!
Of course there are other fun activities so come on there and see you there!
For more information checkout their website: http://www.meon3.sg/
And here's some random picture of me added onto the post so that I can enter #OMYSba2013 best modelling blog. Can?
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Mr.Smith, it's okay if you can't play well but at least look pro.