A little looking back as the trip draws closer to an end

Not a lot of basketball here but what the heck.

-

Now, that’s what I was talking about.

I’m sure there were some good games in the preliminary round here but I haven’t seen one better than Spain-Greece.

The fans were crazy.

And that was just in the media seating area.

You know that old “no cheering in the press box” stuff? It goes out the window at things like these.

I saw guys from both Spain and Greece leaping out of their seats with each big basket, moaning with each missed shot and generally behaving like, well, like fans.

It’s rather typical of events like the worlds and the Olympics but it takes a game like Saturday’s to really bring it to the fore again.

And, at this one, I saw something I hadn’t seen before. That would be the woman in the mixed zone where we do our interviews crying uncontrollably. I’m wondering if her credential got ruined by the tears.

-

Know what they don’t have over here?

Laws against texting while driving or using hand-held phones while behind the wheel.

And I know this because you’ve not gone quite white like you do when a cabbie is trying to merge on to a highway that apparently has no on-ramp or speed limit and he’s steering and changing gears and typing on his phone all at the same time.

We made it, though. Not sure how, but we made it.

-

It always makes me smile when I see Garbo play for Spain because – three or four times here, four or five times in Beijing a couple of years ago – because his burning desire to suit up for his national team was in no small part of his divorce, amicable though it may have been, from the Raptors.

He was going to play in Beijing come hell or high water and the Raptors didn’t want him to. He got his buyout, he played, he won a silver medal and, I tell you, you cannot see a iota of difference in his game from the time he was in Toronto until today.

So I had to ask Marc Gasol when I was talking to him – Garbo didn’t venture back out to chat after the win over Greece – what the guy means to the team.

“He is kind of the soul of this team he’s been here so long; he’s one of the captains and he’s always shown so much courage and dedication to this team and what we want to do.”

-

A list, if you don’t mind, as I take my leave

Best thing I saw

The Blue Mosque, hands down.

Best thing I ate

Iskender kabob at a street-side café in Izmir. Oh, and there was this good fish carpaccio.

Cool things

Seeing the Bridge to Asia, that splits this city in about half, with some of it in Europe and some in Asia. Not a big deal but one of a kind.

Worst thing I ate

A sandwich bought from a window in an Istanbul of some undetermined meat byproduct with some kind of sauce that was a two-bites-throw-it-away lunch.

Turbulent times

It wasn’t very evident in Izmir but here in Istanbul, you cannot get away from the politics of a national referendum being held next Sunday. Now, I have no great interest in Turkish politics and certainly don’t want to suggest I know anything but I’m told the vote is to curb that power of the judiciary and military here. I’m not going to go into all the nuances or specifics but the Yes side is everywhere here. There is a park about a kilometer down the road from the hotel that’s hosting a gigantic rally in support of the “Evet” side (which is yes).

A thing I won’t miss

Traffic. I’m talking traffic with a capital ‘T’ and the only place I could compare Istanbul to is Rome and I’m not sure which is worse.

Most relaxing moment

Sitting on a bench on a beautiful morning with a coffee in hand staring out over the Aegean. It didn’t get much better than that.

Second most relaxing moment

Floating along the Bosphoros the first night in Istanbul with colleagues from Toronto, New York and L.A., three hours of

An international gathering

One night in Izmir, thanks to our close friend Safa The Volunteer, a gaggle of writers headed out to a dinner to sip an Efes or six and watch USA-Brazil.

There were guys from Canada, Spain, Serbia, Romania, the United States, New Zealand and Turkey.

Lots of stories, a couple of cocktails and some fun.

-

I owe the gold street vendors of Izmir an apology.

Apparently, those mussels I was talking about the other day, the ones that I thought were simply baking in the night heat, are in fact cooked, stuff with rice and quite tasty when you sprinkle a wee bit of lemon on them.

Oops.

I’m still not trying street mollusks, though.

-

Hey, what are the Raptors up to?

Oh, wait. That’s my job.

Let me check.

Um, nothing.

Still deathly quiet.

Just thought you’d like to know.

-

I need to make this clear to the people who are still killing Canada for losing to Lebanon last week.

Yes, perhaps they could have won the game with a better fourth quarter but you do realize that just because you’ve never heard of Lebanese basketball doesn’t mean it’s bad.

You do know that Lebanon had more NBA experience on its roster than Canada did, right?

Two guys who’d been in the league to one, right?

Anyway, it just gets to this point: There are countries out there that you may not think of as “basketball” nations but that doesn’t mean they can’t play the game.

-

This was not me, honest.

There’s a guy I know pretty well who took what he called The Walk Of Shame out of our hotel yesterday, wandering down the highway to, yes, McDonald’s.

He reports the Mega-Mac is like nothing you’ve ever seen with four – FOUR – hamburger patties.

So the fella decides to Super Size it (I guess the movie and inherent marketing mess it created hasn’t played here yet) and he says he got about a litre of coke and more fries than he could eat.

And four – FOUR – patties.

-

Hey, I found out where we lived in Istanbul.

It’s in the Zeytinburnu region on the southwest side of this huge city, right on the Bosphoros.

Or as I call it, the Don Valley For Ships because as I look out my window, I can count 45 freighters or fishing vessels parked in the water.

Very odd.

-

Okay, I have no idea when I’m going to get back here because I have one of the oddest travel-work days of my career ahead.

Have the Turkey-France game that starts at 9 p.m. here, will probably be done writing about 1 a.m. my time. Then there’s a cab to airport at 2 a.m. for a 4:30 a.m. departure and a three-hour flight up to Zurich.

After seven hours in Zurich, which is an hour time zone change from Istanbul, it’s about nine hours back to Pearson and if I’m at all functional when that’s over, I should win some award.

So maybe I’m back Monday morning if the Zurich airport has good wireless, maybe I’m back Tuesday morning from the comfort of Casa Doug as Super Son gets ready to begin his high school career.

Wish me luck.

-

Comments

[Jonathan]

Doug, please tell me you went to the Hagia Sophia, or that you're on your way now. It's totally unique, a former Orthodox cathedral converted into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople, where many of the mosaics were kept intact, making it the only mosque with representative artwork. The dome is an architectural marvel, nearly 200 feet high, the crowning part of what was the largest cathedral in the world for a millennium. I'm usually not much of one to take in the religious sites, but the Hagia Sophia is a massive exception.

Blogger's note: I did. Was fascinating

[Mauds]

A Double Big-Mac has 4 patties, so unless you mean 4 quarter pound patties, no big deal. And the super size is now called large, they just got rid of the medium. Still too much food for a normal person in one sitting, but hey why live in the West if not for the gigantic proportions?

If you're feeling homesick, no better way to feel at home than with a litre of cola. Hope your travel day from hell goes smoothly.

[Rob H]

Doug, The double big mac here in Canada, also has four patties..

Blogger's note: Really? That's gross

[Joe]

Thanks for the update on Garbo, Doug. Will he ever play in the NBA again?

Have you had a chance to see Turkoglu play or to chat with him?

Have a safe flight home. Good luck to your son as he begins his high school adventure on Tuesday. Best wishes.

Blogger's note: No, Garbo's NBA career is over and I'm about six hours from seeing Turkoglu play and I have a feeling it will be extremely difficult to get to talk to him; it's a bit of a media zoo here

[Lorie]

Morning Doug,
Four patties??? I could feel my arteries harden just reading that. And fries, too??? Enjoy the balmy breezes over there while you can as we in S.W. Ontario had to turn the heat on last night to fight the late summer/early fall chill in the air. Not quite frost on the pumpkin yet, but oh boy, a reminder of things to come. So, Spain looks very good, eh? Unbeatable do you think? Might we be headed for a US vs Spain clash for the trophy? (And did Jose arrive back to cheer on his Spanish teammates yet, and if so did you have a chance to speak with him?) Safe travels and thanks for all the reports!

Blogger's note: We could indeed see Spain-USA; and Jose's coming Wednesday, I'm told. I may still be asleep

[Andy]

In retrospect, Garbo was exactly the reason why the Raptors went from being Atlantic Division champs to falloffs during the 2008 season. He was the veteran and had the leadership presence that Bosh so sorely lacked. No flash in his game, but he had the calm composure, desire and experience the Raptors needed to perform well.

Garbo was probably what BC had in mind when he signed Turk, unfortunately Turk is far less of a spot-up shooter and more of a ball handler.

[Bill]

Hey Doug,
Why won't mother star allow you to stay for the grand finale of the FIBA worlds?

[Ted S.]

@ Andy:

I hear the sentiment of your comments but Garbo is to Turk what CB4 was to Oliver Miller.

[rob]

Hi Doug,
Thank you for the Lebanon digression... Basketball is the number one sport in lebanon and fans are very passionate there. it is also worth mentionning that lebanese clubs are one of the best in Asia and are always the favourites to win the Asian cup. As for the country ... they are arguably the second best team in Asia after China (even though they ve had some epic battles in recent yrs with the chinese).
Too bad Canada and Lebanon both bowed out of the competition very early... The only two teams i was rooting for.
Thank you for keeping the blog going Doug, and for the travel tips . I hope u enjoy the rest of your trip.

[kent]

oh gosh, more Garbo talk. He is an average NBA player at best. Don't worry Raptors fans, you will get to enjoy many more useless Euro-league(aka Minor League)basketball players in Toronto for years to come.

Blogger's note: Yeah, those darn minor leaguers, polluting the great North American talent pool. Leave 'em all at home, I say.
Yeesh

[Nick]

Let's get down to business, what's the beer like over there? Could you do a list of the top 5? Surely (not calling you Shirley) there has to be some interesting brews in that part of the world that are worth mentioning and worthy to add to the list of the likes of your friends Stella and co.

Blogger's note: No, not really anything interesting. I'm a huge fan of Efes Pilsen now but other than that, there was some Tuborg and some same old, same old American imports

[M]

Once again, xenophobia raises it's ignorant head! Back under your rock, boy!
The Spain-Greece game was one of the best games ever. (text talk=BGE). The international game is just as interesting and as much fun as an NBA game.

[Steph]

The game and the play that Garbo was injured on while playing in Toronto was the epitome of team play. A walk off lay up that Garbo would not let happen. He defended in a way Raptor fans hoped every player would, but only Garbo did. He was and continues to be the heart and soul of any team he plays for.
..
Ignorant fans (and I'm talking to you Kent) will never understand what effort means to a team. How effort can overcome talent, how one player can inspire a team to play harder, defend more aggressively, play with more desire. And every team needs that player to pick everybody else up. Intangibles, what ignorant fans don’t get, the little plays that are the difference between winning and loosing, a good screen, good positioning, the right foul, taking a hard charge. A player that does those things is worth more then prima dona who score 20, but doesn’t do anything to help his team mates or his team.

[bob]

hav \e you thought of becoming a travel agent when you retire from your gig at the star? Or maybe you can shuffle over to the travel section. Just a thought, as you describe interesting things about your travels.

the article on Andersen scared the beans out of me. Every time I hear "they play an European syle" I get scared. let's hope the organization performs an exorcism on anything involved with European playing style. yuck.

If we do play "European" then we're going to be losing games in an average score of Raptors 95 opposition 135.. Maybe the only benefit will be getting more of those little balls for the draft.

[Kent]

"Once again, xenophobia raises it's ignorant head! Back under your rock, boy!
The Spain-Greece game was one of the best games ever. (text talk=BGE). The international game is just as interesting and as much fun as an NBA game."

ok, "interesting" and "fun". You sound like one of those people who argues that the CFL is better than the NFL. Exhibit A: Anthony Parker was a two-time MVP in the Euro-league and whenever he plays against D-Wade or Kobe, he gets schooled ever single time. Exhibit B: Kleiza was a role player in the NBA when he played with Denver. He goes over to Euro-league and he instantly becomes a superstar/leading scorer of the entire league. A league in which Kleiza is the leading scorer is a minor league. Period.

Blogger's note: Tell me which of your NBAers don't get "schooled" by D-Wade or Kobe?

[Kent]

How does understanding what effort means to a team have to do with my argument that all of this Euro-League stuff is overrated?

So how many championship banners did Garbo and all the other Euro-league guys put up at the ACC? Zero. No, the "Atlantic Division" one doesn't count. Stop romanticizing these guys.

All they did was win 47 games in a weak division. And if I remember correctly, the Raptors got punked in the playoffs by Vince (the effortless one) and the Nets. I guess effort doesn't always overcome talent, does it?

Enjoy Calderon, Kleiza, the 7-foot 3-point shooter, the effort, and the 22 wins the Raptors will provide this year.

Blogger's note: Punked? In a six-game series that went to the final seconds of Game 6. Punked? Okay. Anyway, thanks for your input. We'll be done with this issue for now. Regards