Entries categorized as ‘Sports’
The Adriatic Basketball League (NBL is a bank that is the league sponsor) is a regional league consisting of 14 teams from the countries of the ex-Yugoslavia. After the bitterness and violence of the seccesionist wars of the 1990’s, it is surprising this league exists. I guess it must be a testament to the power of sports to transcend these things.
All of the countries have their own regular professional leagues, and the NBL is a “Champions League” type of format. The 14 teams play each other home and away for a 28 game regular season. Serbia has 5 of the 14 teams. The two big sport clubs in Belgrade, Red Star and Partizan are represented along with FMP from the Belgrade suburb of Zelenik, Hemofarm, from the city of Vrsac near the Romanian border, and Vojvodina “Serbia Gas” from Serbia’s second city of Novi Sad. Croatia has four teams, Slovenia three teams, and one each from Bosnia and Montenegro.
The league started in the 2001-2002 season and the number of teams has varied through the seven seasons. For one season, Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv was a member of the league. The champion of the first season was a team from Slovenia, and the second year was the Croatian team Zadar. The last 5 seasons, Serbian teams were crowned champions. Zelenik won twice, Hemofarm once, and the past two seasons the champion was Partizan, who also won the Serbian Soccer League last year.
This year they have played six games each and once again, Partizan is atop the league at 6-0. Red Star is second with a 5-1 record. The league starts in October and ends in April. Red Star American players are Andre Owens, the 6-4 guard from Indiana University played to brief seasons in the NBA and Lawrence Roberts, ex-Mississippi State star and Memphis Grizzly player. The 6-9 power forward played the last two seasons in the Greek league and is new to Red Star. Partizan features ex-UMass star Stephane Lasme, who played briefly with the Miami Heat.
I haven’t been to a game yet, but plan to. The league website is quite good.
Categories: Sports · serbia
Tagged: Adriatic Basketball League, NBL, serbia, Sports
Sunday Oliver and I attended the “Eternal Derby” in Belgrade. The derby is the game between the two biggest teams in the Serbian Professional Soccer League, Red Star and Partizan. The game was held in the Red Star Stadium (Crvena zveda in Serbian) in front of over 20,000 spectators.
Both teams are known for their fanatical hooligans, and I was a bit tentative from attending the game. But the father of one of my students kindly purchased tickets in the VIP section of the stadium for us which was safe. The father happened to be former NBA basketball star Vlade Divac. He hand delivered them to me on the morning of the game. You can see him behind Oliver’s head in the background of the photo above. He is known for his kindness and humanitarian service and it is true. It was a very nice gesture and I want to give him a huge thank you! Please donate to Humanitarian Organization Divac. Vlade is a big star still here in Serbia. I guess the equivalent of this in the US would be Magic Johnson giving us tickets for a Laker-Celtic game. Very cool!
The stadium had an amazing atmosphere! The fans of Partizan especially sang, had banners, fireworks, etc and were on their feet the entire game. We went to the game with my colleague, Luiz, a science teacher in the secondary school. He is from Brazil and used to this kind of rabid fans, but even he was impressed.
The Partizan Fans Celebrate A Goal
Partizan won this 134th edition of the derby, 2-0. There were many goal opportunities for both teams and the action was non-stop. This is Partizan’s sixth straight win in six rounds of the league and they are in first place. Red Star is in eigth place out of twelve teams, with 2 wins, 2 ties, and 3 losses.
Red Star is the biggest and most popular team in Serbia. They were formed in 1945 shortly after Tito took over, hence the communist red star symbol. They won the forerunner of the European Champions League in 1991, the only former Yugoslavian team to do so. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, they have fallen on hard times, as most of the top Serbian players go for the higher salaries of other European leagues. Oliver is a big fan of Red Star and so am I.
Partizan is more of a working class team and the second most popular team in Serbia. They were also … (time to go to school, I’ll finish this post later.)
Categories: Family Journal · Sports · serbia
Tagged: Belgrade, derby, Divac, eternal, partizan, red star, serbia, soccer, Vlade
Serbia is participating in the qualifying rounds for the 2009 European Basketball Championship. The tourney takes place a year from now in September of 2009 and it is hosted by Poland. Sixteen teams will participate in the championships, with half the teams already set. The host Poland plus the seven teams who qualified via the Olympic qualifying matches. 17 other teams are competing for the final 8 spots, one of which is Serbia. They are in Group A and they have have a record of 5-1 in their first six games. They play Wednesday against Finland here in Belgrade. That is their only loss, so they will be looking for revenge. The Serbs finish up their schedule against Bulgaria which will probably be the deciding match for supremacy of the group and direct passage to Poland and the European Championships next year.
Serbia’s top player in the qualifying is Nenad Krstic who is averaging 13 points and 5 boards a game. The 7 footer played for several seasons with the New Jersey Nets and now plays in the Russia. Hopefully I will be able to go to the game Wednesday.
Krstic goes for two against Bulgaria earlier this month.
Categories: Sports · serbia
Tagged: eurobasket
Cavic (left) and Phelps (right) in a photo finish
Serbia’s brightest moment came in the 100 meter butterfly event. Milorad Cavic (pronounced Chavich) in Serb is shown above nearing the wall in the finals. He was beaten by Michael Phelps by .01 second. It looked like he reached first but was gliding as he neared the wall while Phelps was coming forward with his arm. In my opinion, it was just a lucky break for Phelps and the race could have gone to either swimmer. It was the closest scare, besides the relay event that Phelps had in reaching his goal of 8 gold medals. It is also funny that Cavic has a name very similar to Nadia’s maiden name! Milorad set the Olympic record in a previous heat that still stands in the event. He received a hero’s welcome here in Belgrade with thousands coming to a rally in his honor upon arrival from China.
It was a bit sad to see Novak Djokovich lose to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He did come back and win the bronze medal in the consolation match against Blake. He was the second best tennis player in the games and deserved a silver medal, but was seeded in Nadal’s bracket. We watched his exciting quarterfinal match against Frenchman Monfils in the shopping mall here in Belgrade. Everyone went crazy when he won. I could tell that Novak wanted to win the medal very badly.
The third and last medal was won by the men’s water polo team. Serbia defeated neighbor and best friend Montenegro to win the bronze medal. Last Olympics, those two countries were together and I wonder how they would have done competing together. Serbia’s three medals were its first medals as an solo independent nation. With only 6.5 million people, three medals is pretty good. That is a ratio of just over 2 million people per medal. Compare that to the USA’s 2.7 million people per medal and it is slightly better. I wonder how the former Yugoslavia would have done together in this olympics? I also enjoyed listening to the Serbian Olympic Theme, Srbija Navija! or Serbia Cheers! Thanks Sanja I. for sending it to me.
I really enjoyed watching them but am glad they are over as it dragged on a bit with so many obscure and unwatchable sports. I think the Olympics could get rid of many sports like synchronized swimming and diving, equestrian, shooting, table tennis, judo, etc.
Categories: Sports · serbia
Tagged: olympics, serbia
We are crazy for the Olympics here in the Kralovec family. Yesterday’s 4 x 100m relay swimming race had us on the edge of our seats. We hope Phelps reaches his quest for 8 golds. We also enjoyed the dunkfest of the USA Redeem Team against China in basketball. They will have tougher competition upcoming.
Serbia’s quest for their first medal as an independent nation has had it’s ups and downs. Their best hope is in tennis, but it suffered a set back yesterday when nagging injuries kept Ana Ivanovic out of the draw. The three other Serbs, Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, and Jelena Jankovic all won their first round matches and now are into the round of 32. Janko upset seeded David Ferrer of Spain. Novak has Raphael Nadal on his half of the draw, while Janko has Roger Federer on his side. Both should move on to the round of 16. Jelena is the number two seed, but has Venus Williams and Marat Safin’s sister on her half of the draw.
Ana drops out of the women's singles tennis draw.
In water polo, the Serbian men defeated Germany in the first round and are scheduled to face arch rival Croatia today. The Serbian men’s soccer team looked outclassed against the Ivory Coast on Sunday in a 1-3 defeat. Their final group match against Argentina is a must win situation. Argentina has already qualified to the quarterfinals and might play with substitutes. The Serb men have one point from a first round draw with Australia. They need a decisive win against Argentina tomorrow and an Ivory Coast close loss.
The Serbian Women’s Volleyball team has two wins against two lesser opponents and plays powerhouse Brazil tomorrow which will be a good test. The men’s volleyball team is trying to bounce back against Brazil today after a narrow defeat to Russia in round one.
Categories: Sports · serbia
Tagged: olympics, serbia
It is a historic year for Serbia in the Olympics. It is the first time since 1912 that they have competed as Serbia. Since that time, they have either been a part of Yugoslavia or with Montenegro. They have 92 athletes participating in 11 sports. They did not win any medals in those Stockholm games of 1912, so this could be the first medal for Serbia in history!
Other medal hopes for Serbia are in the team sports. The water polo team recently won the World League championship in Germany. The men’s volleyball team placed second in the World League warm up tourney in Brazil last month. Serbia also has men’s soccer and handball teams.
I’ll hopefully have time to post a follow up during the games on Serbia’s medal tally.
Categories: Sports · serbia
Most of the 279 present were running the shorter “Half Bass” or 5 kilometer run/walk. Crystal Falls should be renamed Crystal Hills as there were killer hills throughout the race. There were some nice scenic spots as we ran by the Paint River. Nadia and I ran together as it was a rare opportunity for us to do something together sans offspring. Nadia started off slow but then got her second wind and we passed some runners. There was a large hill however at the 4 mile mark that took the wind out of her sails and she slowed a bit. In the last 2 miles she recovered and we finished strong together at 1 hour and 2 minutes. We didn’t win but that wasn’t the point. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and got out and did some exercise.
Categories: Family Journal · Sports
Tagged: Bass, run
My mother, Yvonne Kralovec is a sports fanatic. She still follows sports daily, at age 67. She was a great athlete in her day, playing fast pitch softball, basketball, and bowling. She was a long time girls’ basketball coach at West Iron County Public Schools.
Her top five least favorite athletes are as follows:
#5 - Peyton Manning, QB Indianapolis Colts - “He thinks he is so great. He still complains about losing out on the Heisman trophy to the Michigan guy.” She loved it when his little brother upstaged him this year.
#4 - Todd Jones, Pitcher Detroit Tigers- “He can’t get three consecutive outs and makes me nervous.” Note- Grandma watches or listens to every Tiger game. She has been doing this for the past 60 years.
#3 - Alex Rodriguez, Third Baseman NY Yankees - “Too much attention is paid to him, plus he is a Yankee.”
#2 - Kobe Bryant, Captain, LA Lakers - “Braggart, ‘I am the MVP’.” Anyone who campaigns for the MVP loses points in her book.
#1 - Tiger Woods, golfer - “That is all you hear about. For example, his poor knee, he won the US Open and they are worried about his knee. If he can play 91 holes, he doesn’t have problems with his knee.”
As you can see, she loves the underdogs.
Categories: Family Journal · Sports
Tagged: athletes
Escuela Anaco hosted yesterday the “Run For The Earth” 5 kilometer race. The Kralovec family did extremely well. Above, Owen and I ran together in the 1 kilometer race. Owen needed a bit of encouragement not to stop and look at all the people behind him. He was a tough trooper however, and finished with a time of 7: 48. He would have had the fastest time of any younger student, but the others cut corners on the inside of loop of the course while Owen and I ran the proper course. I was so proud to be running with my son. It was the first time we competed together. I hope we can continue to compete together in sports in the years to come.I kept going after escorting him to finish the 4.8 kilometer course around the school grounds in 28:09. It was extremely hot with temperatures in the mid to high 90’s. I couldn’t quite catch Mr. Flinn’s friend Leo who was visiting from England. I finished with the silver medal.
Nadia was the true hero of the Kralovec family however. First she ran hard and won second place in the women’s race with a time of 31:59. She then entered the 100 meter dash for adult females. She was having trouble with her hat and fell behind early, but came from behind to beat ninth grade student Francesca. Owen finished tied with his cousin Sebey in the Kinder 100 meter dash for second. Even little Oliver got in the act and did some running with the day care personnel. So overall it was 3 silver medals and a 100 meter championship for our family. This is our last fun run at the school as we are leaving next month.
Below, Nadia wins the 100 meter dash, with hat in hand and Ollie enjoys the run too. You can see these and more photos on the run by clicking on the photo above to take you to our flickr.com set.
Categories: Family Journal · Sports
Tagged: distance, fun, guacamaya, run, running
