Spring Break and British Basketball

Hi everyone, sorry about the lack of posts lately. To be honest, I didn’t realize how much time has passed since my last one. The last couple weeks have gone by very quickly- most likely because they’ve been pretty uneventful. And I mean that in a good way, it’s been relaxing- like spring break should be.

After spending the first ten days in London, and the following weekend in Cardiff, I have spent the last few weeks here in Durham. I signed up for the ‘long lease’ dorm contract, meaning I have access to my room throughout the entire school year. Most of my friends not only couldn’t stay over spring break, but they also had to clean everything out of their rooms. I’m glad I didn’t have to do that. I have way too much stuff already. I’m trying not to think about how I’m going to get everything home in June, at least not yet…

It has been pretty quiet around Durham the last few weeks, as most of the students went home for the entirety of the five-week spring break. I have been spending the time outside quite a bit, because the weather has been so nice. It only rained once or twice in the last four weeks (really!) and the temperatures have been in the high 50s to mid 60s. I have been going on hikes and exploring the area, I’ve been playing basketball and soccer at the park, and recently I’ve started studying quite a bit. With exams now less four weeks away, it’s high time to start getting prepared and brushing up on everything I’ve learned this year. I’ll be back with more on exams soon.

One of the coolest things I did in the last few weeks was going up to Newcastle with a friend who lives there to see the Newcastle Eagles. The Eagles are a basketball team that play in the British professional league, The BBL. The BBL is not a great league (it’s considered one of the weakest basketball leagues in Europe), but it’s growing in both talent and popularity. The Eagles have historically been the best team in the league, and they finished in first place this year. They also have a 10,000 capacity stadium, while most of the other teams’ stadiums only seat two or three thousand.

I went to two games. The first, a week ago, was the last game of the regular season, and on Friday I went again, this time to the first playoff game. For the more recent game, I went with a bunch of my friends from the Durham basketball team who were back in town, so it was a good team outing and fun to hang out with friends.

The level of play in the matches is not outstanding, but each team seems to have a few really talented players. About half of the players on the teams are American, and the rest are made up of local Brits and other European players. The Eagles won both games I saw, winning via a blowout in the last regular season game, and winning in a tightly contested affair in the first playoff game.

Here are some photos I took of the two games:

(The Eagles huddle up before tip-off)

(A London Capitals player inbounds the ball)

(A drive to the basket by they London Capitals' star player)

(Different seats for the second game vs. the Cheshire Jets)

(Freethrows late in the game by a Jets player)

That’s all for now. Things are getting more exciting here in Durham, with nearly all of my friends back now, the dining hall opening tonight, and classes starting again tomorrow. I’ll be back with more very soon.