Euroleague Final

This afternoon I am looking very much forward to watching UKTVSlam on UKTV G2 and their live coverage of the Euroleague Final. This will be a game between a pair of teams that would absolutely defeat somewhere between a handful and several NBA teams. CSKA Moscow have the highest payroll of any team in basketball outside North America. If I am not mistaken, it is somewhere in the region of $20-25m. They are a vastly exceptional team in this respect. Their opponents, Panathinaikos, while I am not sure, spent 2/3 to 1/2 of that. I could be wrong though. Not about CSKA though.

The Euroleague/ULEB have genuine hopes of playing the Euroleague Finals at the brandie-new O2 Arena in London before this decade is out. They would love to have a British team play in the Euroleague by then. Even my own wholly optimistic, gung ho, what the hell, all you need is love (read: money) mentality I can't even imagine such a thing.

I think the team in the Euroleague, one giant step above the ULEB Cup, with the lowest wage bill is something like $5m; sure, joke money for the NBA, but impossible to imagine in any respect for the British Basketball League.

If we gain entry to the ULEB Cup this fall, then we would be one step below this league. If we won the ULEB Cup we would be automatically in the Euroleague. Absolutely reality, but only technically. Not even in the best Cheech and Chong Kodak moment of a lifetime would we be that close except if by allowing oneself to dream a little dream.

However, I'm sure Thomas Edison had some rather peculiar dreams so it was only in this manner did he conjure up solutions to the challenges he faced in inventing things that no one could imagine.

Let me use my imagination on how it could be done. Quick! Someone call Paul Allen, the guy who spends no time working for Microsoft anymore, yet has as much money as Bill Gates. He throws money away on WAYYY more crazy ideas than this. Do I have his number?

That's it, I'm afraid.

But all of these clubs started from someplace and someplace was a dream. And in one hour, someplace is going to be in front of my neighbour's TV set as we drink a few bottles of Hogs Back T.E.A. and watch just how much better these teams are than not only the Guildford Heat and Real Madrid, but how much worse they are than the Golden State Warriors.

I wonder how many people who watch BBL basketball will be doing the same thing?