Basketball à la mode

Yesterday after work we went with some colleagues to the European side of town, to see a basketball game between Turkey and France. (Free tix for us, it turned out, courtesy of our school, ISTEK; photo & video are courtesy of our friend, Arnaud Godon.) This was no little-league-type game: both countries have very talented teams—and France's includes something of a star performer, the American (born in Belgium, raised in France) Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs (and hubby of Eva Longoria, a not-so-desperate housewife).

In some ways, it wasn't all that different from a basketball game in North America. Except here many of the fans come with a particular gusto, often blowing hard into a kazoo-like contraption, especially whenever the opposing team has the ball—the deafening sound (almost as loud as a Who concert! Get out the earplugs, fast!) apparently meant to distract or disturb the team into blowing the shot, or just losing the ball to the Turkish team. They also like to chant "Türkiye!" and clap in unison to show their support. (To see and hear for yourself, play the video clip below.)

Well, it seemed to work. Or maybe the Turkish team was just really on the ball last night. (Or maybe France just got sloppy, or was otherwise unprepared.) In any case, the final score wasn't as close as we thought it might have been. We've forgotten the score already, but it was something like a 15-point spread at the end. So most folks left the sports halls in high spirits, and we made our way back to our apartment building, crossing the Bosphorus with the glittering lights below, over to the Asian side of Istanbul—a fairly long ride, actually, but at least long enough to regain our hearing.