We went to one of their games the other night, played against a team from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The game was played at München's home arena, the Audi Dome. It was the site of the basketball games in the 1972 Olympics, although it has undergone some renovations since then. It holds about 6000 fans, and it was about 2/3 full. But those 4000 made a lot of noise! They definitely back their home team.
The European soccer (fußball) has an interesting structure. First of all, each country has it's own league, or leagues. In Germany, there are three leagues, each at a different level, and each league has about 20 teams. If you do poorly one year - i.e., you finish in the bottom 2 or 3 - you are "relegated" to the next lower league in the following year. On the other hand, if you finish in the top 1-2 of the second league, you can get promoted to the top league for the following year's season. The rules of promotion and relegation are very complicated, and it has as much to do with ability as politics (the top teams wish to remain in the top league).
In addition to league play, though, there is something called "Champion's League." This takes the top teams from all the leagues in Europe (from England to Spain to Russia to Turkey) and they compete in a competition similar in structure to the World Cup. That is, the top 32 teams are placed into 8 Groups of 4 teams; these 4 teams play a double-round-robin competition (with one home and one away game against each of the other teams), and then the top 2 teams from each Group go on to the single-elimination part of the competition, when finally the 'champion' is crowned.
Interestingly, Champion's League games and Bundesliga games take place essentially simultaneously. On Wednesday, FC Bayern might play a Champion's League game against Rome, and then Saturday play a Bundesliga game against Frankfurt.
European basketball teams have something similar. There is a Bundesliga, and something called EuroCup, which has a structure like Champion's League in soccer. FC Bayern is in a group of 4 teams with Ljubljana, and they are doing well. They won the game that we attended - although it was close at the end, and they have won 4/6 of their Group games so far. So they are on track to finishing first in their group, which means that they will have a good seeding in the single-elimination Round of 16.
Panorama of the Audi Dome, from about row 10, just behind the VIP seats. We had to sit there because we were not VIPs, but we were NVIPs.
In addition to league play, though, there is something called "Champion's League." This takes the top teams from all the leagues in Europe (from England to Spain to Russia to Turkey) and they compete in a competition similar in structure to the World Cup. That is, the top 32 teams are placed into 8 Groups of 4 teams; these 4 teams play a double-round-robin competition (with one home and one away game against each of the other teams), and then the top 2 teams from each Group go on to the single-elimination part of the competition, when finally the 'champion' is crowned.
Interestingly, Champion's League games and Bundesliga games take place essentially simultaneously. On Wednesday, FC Bayern might play a Champion's League game against Rome, and then Saturday play a Bundesliga game against Frankfurt.
European basketball teams have something similar. There is a Bundesliga, and something called EuroCup, which has a structure like Champion's League in soccer. FC Bayern is in a group of 4 teams with Ljubljana, and they are doing well. They won the game that we attended - although it was close at the end, and they have won 4/6 of their Group games so far. So they are on track to finishing first in their group, which means that they will have a good seeding in the single-elimination Round of 16.
Action! Bayern is in the dark uniforms, and Ljubljana is in White.
How was the quality of the game? In my opinion, it was about the same quality as a good college game in the US. They don't have NBA-quality players (otherwise they would be playing in the NBA and making a lot more money), but they have good players. In fact, the offense on both teams was pretty good - excellent 3-point shooting, for example, but the defense, especially in the first half, left a lot to be desired. And you could argue that it's easy to have good offense when you're not being defended well, which is true.
Bayern had two American players, one who graduated from U Oregon in 2008 and had been playing in Europe since then, and one who graduated from Santa Clara U in 2009, and also has been on the European circuit. They were the best players on Bayern, but had a solid supporting cast. Ljubljana had no Americans. All in all, it was a fun game!
Bayern had two American players, one who graduated from U Oregon in 2008 and had been playing in Europe since then, and one who graduated from Santa Clara U in 2009, and also has been on the European circuit. They were the best players on Bayern, but had a solid supporting cast. Ljubljana had no Americans. All in all, it was a fun game!
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