I saw hunks and babes last night.
In the most unlikely of places you could ever find me.
I was at a pro-basketball match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Yep. I, who yawn at the sports section in the papers and develop an allergic reaction every time someone surfs to a sports channel on TV, watched a live basketball match.
To me, sports is meant to be played, not watched, so I could never be a sports groupie, if there’s such a term.
But I was one last night. A basketball groupie, that is.
It’s all Nicholas’ fault. He invited me to an NBL game to watch home team Singapore Slingers slug it out with the fiersome Melbourne Tigers.
I accepted his invitation because I’ve never watched a live basketball match and, as much as I feel that sports spectating is a stupid activity, I believe that it’s important to try different things in life whenever you get the chance to.
As a matter of fact, I have attended one Aussie Rules (Australian football) game in Melbourne and one baseball game in California. Both were surprisingly enjoyable. So, I guess it’s just as well I have a basketball game to add to my collection.
The Slingers management hosted us in a corporate box, which put us nearer to the action and allowed us to ogle the hunks and babes more effectively.
When I stepped into the stadium, the two teams were warming up on the court. I wanted to support the Melbourne Tigers because the members looked taller and more aggressive. And they also happened to be leading this seaon’s NBL Championship with no losses to date. And also because I used to study at Melbourne, so I feel a kind of affinity for that place.
But I decided that it’s better to be patriotic and support the Singapore team, never mind that they’re currently placed second to last in the league and that there are, in fact, only two actual Singaporeans on the team.
Well, and it’s only polite to support the team which management is hosting you in a $25,000 corporate box.
So, I quickly found myself a favourite Slinger to root for.
Number one Rod Grizzard has a funky hairdo and a cool goatee and he’s like a little over 2m tall. Gosh.
(His profile picture from the Slingers’ website.)
I know nuts about basketball, but I liked the way he kept plucking the ball right out of the enemy’s grasp and robbing them of the chance to score. He was also, of course, one of the top scorers for the night.
Having a favourite made it very easy to enjoy the game.
There were tons of breaks during the game, which was when the Slinger Girls got to show off their stuff.
Haha. They look like they’re about to strip their tops off.
Whenever the game was in progress, they sat or stood by the side, ocassionally yelling cheers.
I didn’t quite get the level of energy I expected from them, though. I had the impression that they were just doing a job and weren’t really into the game or the basketballers.
But what’s nice was the audience participation. They fished this bloke randomly out of the audience to shoot some hoops.
He was given a few tries at different distances from the hoop. He got two in and I think he won $60 or $80. Cool!
After half time, the girls changed into cuter outfits and did more dancey stuff.
The Tigers suffered a casualty early in the game.
But that didn’t stop them from winning.
I think most people expected the Tigers to win, anyway, since they hadn’t lost a single match this season, and the Slingers are a pretty new team and still getting their feet wet in the NBL.
But it was a really close match. In the last quarter, the Slingers managed to close up the gap quite substantially and actually looked like they had a chance to win.
Too bad they didn’t.
The final score was Slingers 96 to Tigers 105. The Slingers put up a really good fight!! Yay for the Singapore team which consists of only two Singaporeans, neither of whom played last night’s game! *lol*
After the match, the Slingers hung around at the court for autographs and photographs.
Grizzard was mobbed by kids!
So I took pictures with some of the other basketballers. I mean, they were pretty cool, too. Just that I can only have one favourite, you understand.
They’re really tall. I look so short beside them. And I was wearing my super chunky platform boots.
Boots that, incidentally, got me banned from the court halfway through my groupie activities.
“Excuse me, miss. Your shoes are a little hard and might damage the court, so would you mind stepping out and not walking on the court?”
What the heow lah. Morons. My boots are light lor.
Anyway, I stuck around the sides and brooded until Nicholas, bless him, brought Grizzard over to take a group photo.
Whee!
Second last photo. Me with Daphnemaia and Princess Sabrina!
On the whole, it was enjoyable. I actually wouldn’t mind catching another match. And maybe even hanging out with the Slingers at Brewerkz afterwards.
The Slingers hang out at Brewerkz Indoor Stadium after each home match and fans are invited to kinda hang out with them there. I don’t know what it’s like since I had to rush home after the game last night, but I’m sure it’ll be pretty cool.
The NBL Championship is on till February of next year and there will be 10 more matches played in Singapore, at the Indoor Stadium.
Tickets are available through Sistic if you’re interested.
Go, Slingers! I hope they win more games and stop staying at the bottom of the ladder! I could see they gave their best shot last night so I think they deserve to get a better result!
See lah. Stupid Nicholas made a basketball groupie out of me.
(This photo was taken by Precious. I stole it from her Facebook photo album. Hehe!)
Oh yeah, check out themediaslut for great photos of the match and of the bloggers who attended the match!
Sorry, my photos CMI one. Haha.
ahahah how tall are you.. ?? you looked so small compared to those guy.. (and a few centimetr from his armpit..) lol XD
btw.. the first photo would look good with a faster cam.. :)
Lol, didn’t know you were following Rod Grizzard. He is super yummy!
heh really nice post!
You’re right, the gals were a little low on energy last night compared to previous nights. But I kinda lost my voice after the match from all the shouting!
Let’s do this again, without the boots this time!
haha, had a surprise seeing you at the game yesterday. i’m the girl in the striped tee seated behind your group. lol.
wanted to say hi since i’ve been reading your blog but thought it would be awkward. =p
stzee, I’ll say hi to qiao yun if I’m you. you know it’s not that you’ll see her often. you might not get a change to bump into here again in your life time.
zield: I’m 1.66m. That’s like a dwarf compared to the basketballers! lol. Yeah, my camera is a cheap one and I don’t have any photography skills. No idea how to make action photos not blurry. :P
precious: Yeah, he’s so cool! It’s hard not to pick him out, really. He really did stand out with his performance during the game. ;)
Nicholas: Haha. Your shouting was great! Sorry to hear your lost your voice, though. Drink some honey! Well, I hope to see the girls in their full energetic power next time. Will wear my Mario mushroom bedroom slippers to the next game. Hahaha.
atzee: Hey! You should have come say hi. Nothing to be awkward about wat. :) But thanks for saying hi here anyway!
JokeDiary: That means if you ever bump into me, you’ll come up and introduce yourself, right? What will you say? “Hello! I’m JokeDiary! Nice to meet you!” Hahaha. :)
Well, usually one would be more interested in watching a game of a particular sport if he/she is/was player of the game him/herself.
As such, I enjoy watching football, tennis and golf.
The local Ta1wanese community talks about Major League Baseball (US) non-stop and even more so when that have a fellow Ta1wanese starring as the pitcher for the New York Yankees.
For me? Baseball is “ok lor” type of game to watch for obvious reasons.
ooh..I’m more of a badminton person. BUT! i think most basketball guys are usually kinda good-looking if you get what I mean – Think back during Secondary/JC days- haha..does that render me a bimbo?
The 2 Singaporeans in Slinger is there just to make the Slingers on the home team. 90% of the time, they are left on the bench. Hahaha…. Thats what I got from some basketball fans.
Nice pictures. I’m sure the boys will be anxious to see more of the cheerleaders lol. You are featured at The Singapore Daily [singaporedaily.wordpress.com]. Keep blogging!
Basketball is fun to watch live, there’s something different when you hear other people cheer and shout… the rumbling of the arena as the ball bounces around, the sound (like to pickles rubbed against each other) of the players shoes while running… hotdogs… peanuts… :D
While on the otherhand, watching it on TV (even when live) sucks bigtime.
Those cheerleaders… :D
Looks fun! i only appreciate slamdunk lol!
Even if you are not a basketball fan, you will become one after you watch it live!
I will come up to you and say, “Hi are you QY” (Just incase I bump into QY look alike else qiu ta le, dont know where to put my face).
Once you say yes, then follow by “WOW, nice to meet you.” follow by a big warm hug. Follow by “See you around, bye” and walk off leaving you thinking WTF. Who’s is this guy, crazy fellow. LOL
JayWalk: I think, whether you play the game or not, watching a live match is always more interesting than watching it on TV. At least you can feel the atmosphere and you’re kinda part of it. I don’t mind catching another baseball match… cos I think hunky men in baseball outfits are too darn cute~! :P
serene.s: I used to play badminton when I was younger, but once I kinda hurt my wrist and then it hurt every time I played, so I got tired of playing it. Haha. Nothing wrong with admiring good-looking people wat. I don’t see how that makes anyone a bimbo!
The Goonfather: Is that really true? Sounds kinda… sad.
The Singapore Daily: Thanks for featuring my blog! :)
modchip: You’re right. Watching it live is much better than watching it on TV. But there was no hotdogs and peanuts at the match I went to. :P I mean, nobody was selling anything to eat. But there were snacks and drinks provided at the corporate box I was sitting at, so I guess that wasn’t too bad. Haha.
Wang Wang: Maybe you should go to a match and see for yourself. ;)
Precious: Heh, like you? :P
JokeDiary: Wow, that’s scary. Hahaha. Lucky you tell me first so I’m prepared for it. If not, I’d think I met a psycho. lol.
i wish i was tat tall =( i was onli 1.7 T.T
Smallapple: Why would you want to be over 2m tall? That’s too damn tall, it’s scary, unless you’re a basketball player. :P
I love to watch live matches if I have the time, getting ready for the F1 too next year ;)
Gasp..u know Nic? Me too!! It has been a while since i spoke to him tho…
Jason Ho: I didn’t know Nic until he invited me to the game. I met him for the first time there! ;) Maybe we can all go to a game together sometime. Would be nice to meet you, too. ;)
Oh yeah? Nic is one heck of a nice guy!! He is now in China though, would be great if we all could catch another match and of course have the honour of meeting you too ;)
Jason Ho: Yeah, I have to agree he’s a really nice guy, even though I’ve only met him once. I know he’s overseas, but he should be coming back soon, right? ;)
LOL it’s really weird to be discussed about in someone else’s blog comments section… but thanks for the nice plugs :D
Yeah I didn’t realise Jason was a blogger and a basketball fan till his visit here else I would have invited him for Tigers game too!
Let’s do this whole basketball groupie thing again when I’m back! :p
Nic: Haha, stranger things have happened, I’m sure. What’s strange for me is that I’m actually looking forward to watching the next Slingers match! So, hurry up and come back quick! ;)
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