Well, with a lil bit of delay, a snowstorm is taking over the area throughout Sunday. I just came over from a basketball game and man it’s snowing like crazy. There was like 5 or 6 car accidents on our way to Daugmale and back.. Some of them are scary – makes me wanna remember my own New Year ‘08 ride to Daugavpils – thanks God I wound up alright..

And yeah, the snowstorm is on and poppin’! There are various reports of power outages in Riga. Let me post my own tho, quite funny one, the one that don’t happen every day..

We had a real hard hoops game today. 5-on-5, run & gun type stuff. I tell you what, I even got prepped for this one – watched last night’s Celtics @ Wolves game, listened to Mobb Deep on my way, to get to the battling mood, you know.

And check this out, my team’s in possession, right. I’m a playmaker, trying to see the court.. The ball was not in my hands at the moment though but face it – suddenly the lights go out! Total darkness, you don’t see shit!!! Can you imagine that! I was around midcourt, somehow found my way to the sideline, but some of us didn’t even know where to go, totally disoriented, you know what I’m saying =))

Everybody screaming, but in about a minute or two we started seeing the gym’s windows. It was dark outside too so still – it was kinda hard to find the way.

The lights went back on when we were in the lockers. The game had to be cancelled..

Memories again. Last time I suffered a blackout I was on board LPGC Havpil. Captain’s mate, on the bridge, alone, I was in charge of navigation and all the stuff. Quite a piece of an action, really..

Aaight then, I’m out like power, wishing y’all who’s in Riga to stay safe. And yeah, hopefully you don’t have to light up the candles due to the power outage tonight – save’em for a romantic dinner, would you.

Details of the accident are still unclear, no ambulance called, no cops, none of that. Appears like Ed grabbed a cab ride to the hospital himself after 5 to 6 people have reportedly attacked and beat him to the ground. The ankle surgery is scheduled tomorrow.

Kinda unpleasant news for Dinamo Riga who are having two days off right now after a good start to a fresh KHL season. They performed well during a 14 days 8-game streak, including on the road, having won 4 games and climbed to the 2nd place in Kharlamov Division.

Masalskis was named League’s Goaltender of the Week last week,  plus this Monday he proudly set a new League record of 138 minutes and 54 seconds with no goal allowed.

Get well Ed, for real.

PS: I’m out to get me some treatment myself, been battlin’ with sore throat lately.. One.

During the regular season and since the Playoffs have started, I got used to checking out games by downloading the torrents. But in that case, the time shift is present and I get to know the result later as the game is being watched the next day (for example, last time it took almost the whole day for the game to download, because it was in HD, 14 Gigs). From time to time I also run up into some spoilers, result updates somewhere on the web, which spoil the whole thing – there’s no sense to root for any team when you know the final score.

That’s why this time I’ve decided to turn to live broadcast and to chant “M-V-P” and “Let’s Go Lakers” together with packed Staples Center and while doing it from my Riga residence though, be present at this historical moment of my main man Kobe battling for the champion’s title.

I don’t give a damn what my neighbors might had been thinking about me at 4 AM then – when the show time tipped off, it seemed like the whole world is watching. The Finals are no doubt a huge event, including in Los Angeles where the 20,000 fans arena featured various mega stars like my favourite actor Denzel Washington, season ticket holder Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, David Beckham and Victoria, Spider Man, and of course basketball stars, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and tens more of globally known celebrities.

Ha, I don’t even speak about the ball game itself. Yes – the emotional factor here means a lot more to me. This is real additional value, provided by original commentary, game analysis brought by basketball icons Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller. This is a possibility to feel my presence in there – at once with other fans who are following this grand show. TNT Overtime All Access is even offering to choose one of four online cameras to decide who you wanna follow – either one of the players, or the part of the court or the arena you like.

This TNT feature is pretty cool, and for real, I felt like being present at Staples Center – all sounds are heard and you can switch cams watching the game from different angles. There’s a disadvantage though, the video is playing in the web page built-in flash player thus full screen mode cannot be toggled. Also, there’s no commentary and no live result shown anywhere on the screen, as well as no game/shot clock.

I went to watch the full game with all the commentary and stuff to one of the channels provided by p2p technologies. I found a stream which was broadcasting the same TNT, only the TV version where cameras are chosen by the director or whoever and of course with all the commercials (much more attractive than our Latvian ones here though), but like I said with commentary and easy to read game data, stats and live results displayed.

I had TNT All Access running in other window so I was switching to it occasionally to watch Kob’ exclusively, but during the commercial breaks to watch the bench, arena, and the show at halftime.

Oh yeah, and KB24 was simply incredible. I follow his ways from back in his (and mine) high school days – on and off the court. I’m so happy for him getting an MVP this season, everything is moving towards the ring too.

But regarding the NBA broadcasts and the aura that reigns at the games, here’s a few words I’d like to share – it’s so pity that basketball is not that popular here in Latvia, and our league has such a long way to go to that level. Couple weeks ago I was at LBL Semifinals game in Arena Riga, which was not even half empty, but well – empty. National broadcasts are also not being provided like they supposed to. LTV7 is trying to show something from time to time, including NBA, but that’s actually a rare occasion and of poor quality. This upcoming Monday, May 26, 6:50 AM local they’re gonna air Game 3 of Western Finals though. But ain’t no wish to watch that channel anymore with all its stupid host comments, funny-ass interface/titles and so on – that ish makes me wanna lose my lunch, straight up.

I know that in Latvia it’s possible to tune in to some satellite channels that show NBA. Seems like Garais was telling me about DirecTV? But anyways, I don’t have the plate so I’m stayin’ with torrents and live online broadcasts while enjoying original atmosphere of the basketball motherland. Go Lakes!

The world’s most popular basketball league is planning to create a special division this side of the seas. The teams of this European division would play all 82 regular season games and compete for the NBA title.

As Ian Thomsen is writing on SI.com, a league source confirms that this Saturday in New Orleans, during the All-Star weekend, NBA commisioner will officially announce about the League plans, having discussed them at the annual meeting with international basketball representatives.

There’s a question of course, is Europe ready for Big Basketball? Can it reach the Baltics, where many kids would be dreaming of “making it to the NBA”? A lot has to be done before that. Everything needs to be changed, from laws and rusted basketball federations in each country, to arenas and most definitely, fans’ attitude. For real, I mean is a day gonna come when we’ll go to a sports event with the same joy we go to a concert, or a theater? With family, friends – in a way that sports is a holiday. Obviously, lots of time’s gonna pass till that would be a reality, at least here in Eastern Europe.

Sarunas Marciulionis once already tried telling Europe to listen to Stern: “There are no big brands – none – connected with high-scale basketball in Europe because it’s a mess. We need one structure, one clean pyramid. I think David could unite Europe.” Since these words, said on the 2006 All-Star Game in Houston, no actions were taken though.

And now, looks like there’s a movement of some kind. Sure, there are plenty of other aspects – would american players be willing to play overseas, how would they cope with constant transatlantic flights.. But all I know is a good thing: in the nearest time London, Berlin, Rome and Madrid can become the cities of real basketball holiday, which will also boost the development of basketball in our own region.

I got lucky to visit the event and once again make sure that figure skating is such a beautiful sport!

Almost all of the major participants of Dance With The Star sampled TV show had shown up. More of the rest we missed Chulpan, Ville, Galustyan, Semenovich, Grebenschikova. A lot of people were frustrated that the winner of Ice Age Chulpan Khamatova did not come to Riga. But impeccable figure skating of pros and actual Olympic champs Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, as well Igor Vernik’s jokes would not let the Arena down.

Vernik told the story of his trip to Riga – he forgot the passport at home and just 45 minutes before the plane thought he would not make it from Moscow. But actor-figure skater was so happy his kid’s nun managed to bring the travel document on time, that he tried to tell the story several times.

Marat Basharov showed his Latvian language skills, greeting the public “Labvakar Riga” (Good Evening Riga) and later “Sveiki” (Hi there). And we also enjoyed perfect figure skating of our Lithuanian neighbors Povilas Vanagas and Margarita Drobiazko, as well as Alexey Tihonov and Maria Petrova, Lobacheva and Averbuch and other Ice Age participants including Russian prima ballerina Anastasiya Volochkova.

Alexey Makarov looked kinda bored without his Anna Semenovich. He was skating with Albena Denkova, but at the end of the show, when participants were called, he came out alone, looking sad and all.

Irina Slutskaya skated for the first time after her child’s birth. She was so nice – go girl! It was funny though when she dropped right on her butt while sponsor’s presents giveaway. But seems like there was some stuff on ice, flower leftovers or something.

Overall, the show turned out remarkable. Special effects, color lighting, sparks and flames along the border of the ice rink gave the show additional beauty. Ice hockey marking disappointed though. Shame on organizers for saving on ice, leaving so unneeded here blue and red zone lines, goal crease, faceoff spots and circles. At least they cleaned the ice at halftime =)

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