Thankfully for Kristi and I, Seville is home to several major sports teams including basketball and two football (soccer) teams. Given how much we enjoyed the basketball game in Berlin and football match in Porto, we definitely wanted to see both in Seville.
Seville's basketball team, sponsored by the local bank Cajesol are worse than the Raptors this year, with a record of 4-17 and expected relegation next year to an inferior league. However, when we saw them play Real Madrid, they came out in full force and took the game to double overtime before lowing 95-92. As you can tell from the sepia photo at the top of this post and the scoreboard above, this was a different experience than the NBA or even the O2 Arena in Berlin. Cajesol Sevilla plays in a small, 7,000 seat gym that is part of a large athletic complex about 15 minute from the city centre. While the facility was built in the 1980's, it looks like the basketball arena was built in the 1950's and hasn't been updated since. This is what Kristi and I thought an early NBA game would be like, with no Jumbotron, a very basic scoreboard (above) and concessions sold from folding tables outside the arena. Also, because the team is so bad this year they give away a large number of tickets for free to each game. Thankfully, that led to a jam packed arena and a really loud crowd, an asset to any sporting event. The free tickets also brought out a lot of families and teens, a rarity for basketball/hockey in Toronto when tickets are priced out of the range of most working families.
Also, Seville's team mascot is a bull, consistent with the bullfighting that is common in Spain (there is a 15,000 seat outdoor bull fighting arena right in the middle of downtown). This bull looks quite different than Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull, but still, this seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the success of Michael Jordan and the "real" Bulls in the 1990's.
For those not that familiar with Spanish baksetball, the main league (the ACB) is said to present the highest level of competition outside of the NBA. We thoroughly enjoyed this game, including loving every aspect of the old-school arena, sitting in our free seats, eating sunflower seeds with the rest of the fans and cheering for the local team (and their horrible uniforms). We are definitely going to try to attend more ACB games during the rest of our Spanish adventure. PS: For those of you interested, the best player on the floor was Louis Bullock of Real Madrid.
Following the success of our basketball adventure, Kristi and I definitely wanted to make it to a football match during our Seville sojurn. There was a huge local derby taking place between Sevilla FC and Real Betis during our stay, however, tickets were too pricey and the weather was dodgy that day so we decided to avoid it. Instead, we decided to closely monitor the Spain v England friendly taking place on on February 11th and picked up tickets right when they went on sale for a very affordable 15 Euro apiece. Again, this pricing strategy (tons of tickets available from 10 - 20 Euro) may not have been profit maximizing but brought out a very loud and boistrous crowd filled with students and 20/30somethings. When Kristi and I showed up at the stadium before the match, it looked like we were joining a riot as there were beer bottles and broken glass everywhere, tons of people dressed in red and yellow cheering and a few brass bands wandering around playing some of the Spanish songs (not sure that the equivalent in Canada would be, but I just don't seem to think that "This Land is My Land" or "A Place to Stand a Place to Grow - Ontari-ari-ari-o!" would bring about the same passion.
As for the game itself, with the crowd on their side, Spain managed to outduel England 2-0 with the loudest cheers for Spanish hero David Villa as he scored in his 6th consecutive international match. The loudest boos (whistles in Spain) were saved for David Beckham, especially when he picked up a yellow card for arguing. He then continued to get jeered afterward everytime he touched the ball. The post-game celebration was a little bit tamer than the pre-game but definitely a great time.
Seville's basketball team, sponsored by the local bank Cajesol are worse than the Raptors this year, with a record of 4-17 and expected relegation next year to an inferior league. However, when we saw them play Real Madrid, they came out in full force and took the game to double overtime before lowing 95-92. As you can tell from the sepia photo at the top of this post and the scoreboard above, this was a different experience than the NBA or even the O2 Arena in Berlin. Cajesol Sevilla plays in a small, 7,000 seat gym that is part of a large athletic complex about 15 minute from the city centre. While the facility was built in the 1980's, it looks like the basketball arena was built in the 1950's and hasn't been updated since. This is what Kristi and I thought an early NBA game would be like, with no Jumbotron, a very basic scoreboard (above) and concessions sold from folding tables outside the arena. Also, because the team is so bad this year they give away a large number of tickets for free to each game. Thankfully, that led to a jam packed arena and a really loud crowd, an asset to any sporting event. The free tickets also brought out a lot of families and teens, a rarity for basketball/hockey in Toronto when tickets are priced out of the range of most working families.Also, Seville's team mascot is a bull, consistent with the bullfighting that is common in Spain (there is a 15,000 seat outdoor bull fighting arena right in the middle of downtown). This bull looks quite different than Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull, but still, this seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the success of Michael Jordan and the "real" Bulls in the 1990's.For those not that familiar with Spanish baksetball, the main league (the ACB) is said to present the highest level of competition outside of the NBA. We thoroughly enjoyed this game, including loving every aspect of the old-school arena, sitting in our free seats, eating sunflower seeds with the rest of the fans and cheering for the local team (and their horrible uniforms). We are definitely going to try to attend more ACB games during the rest of our Spanish adventure. PS: For those of you interested, the best player on the floor was Louis Bullock of Real Madrid.
Following the success of our basketball adventure, Kristi and I definitely wanted to make it to a football match during our Seville sojurn. There was a huge local derby taking place between Sevilla FC and Real Betis during our stay, however, tickets were too pricey and the weather was dodgy that day so we decided to avoid it. Instead, we decided to closely monitor the Spain v England friendly taking place on on February 11th and picked up tickets right when they went on sale for a very affordable 15 Euro apiece. Again, this pricing strategy (tons of tickets available from 10 - 20 Euro) may not have been profit maximizing but brought out a very loud and boistrous crowd filled with students and 20/30somethings. When Kristi and I showed up at the stadium before the match, it looked like we were joining a riot as there were beer bottles and broken glass everywhere, tons of people dressed in red and yellow cheering and a few brass bands wandering around playing some of the Spanish songs (not sure that the equivalent in Canada would be, but I just don't seem to think that "This Land is My Land" or "A Place to Stand a Place to Grow - Ontari-ari-ari-o!" would bring about the same passion.As for the game itself, with the crowd on their side, Spain managed to outduel England 2-0 with the loudest cheers for Spanish hero David Villa as he scored in his 6th consecutive international match. The loudest boos (whistles in Spain) were saved for David Beckham, especially when he picked up a yellow card for arguing. He then continued to get jeered afterward everytime he touched the ball. The post-game celebration was a little bit tamer than the pre-game but definitely a great time. 
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