Showdown In Chinatown

Just getting back from the Showdown in Chinatown held by Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna at Sarah D. Roosevelt Park in the city.

This years game and event had a slightly different feel than last years. Last year, the original one, felt a little more "pickup" and a little less organized. Last year felt as if Nash got a handful of guys together and said Hey lets go play in the park and people who were walking by just happened to stop and look. This year there was a lot more production involved including a huge set of bleachers behind the one goal and TV cameras as well as a slew of media.

I have to admit though, last year I hardly saw any plays and only was able to catch glimpses of the taller basketball players when they came into my corner. This year, though I did arrive two hours early, I was able to get a seat in the bleachers and see the entire game. Needless to say I was a fan of the produced event.

Unfortunatly in the metro area the weather hasn't been too cooperative and in the hours leading up to the game those fans who arrived early were treated to a nice steady does of rain for two hours. Some were smart enough to think ahead and bring umbrellas or rain gear, others (me) were not. So I had to make do with a ripped plastic bag over my head and shoulders and still got soaked.

The pregame festivities were some freestyle soccer players out there doing tricks. This portion of the show though I could not see because this was at the height of the rain and the person in front of me could not figure out how to hold an umbrella so that he stayed dried and so that I could see at the same time. Fan if you're reading this...it's asking a lot I know, but it is possible to lower the umbrella over your head so that all can see!

Anyways on to the game! Once the players stepped onto the field they were immediately

swarmed by fans and media. The players did interviews and signed autographs for the first 15 minutes they were there. Nash and Reyna hooked the boys up with some sweet gear from a company called Calle so everyone was freshly fitted and looked the part, albeit some more than others. Here were the sides as reported on via twitter by Marc Stein (@stein_line_hq): Team Reyna in Blue - Claudio Reyna, Javier Zannetti, Ivan Cordoba, Adrian Mutu, Salomon Kalou, Chris Bosh, himself, and Tony Parker with Mike Quarino in goal. For the Nash led white team - Steve Nash, Martin Nash, Thierre Henry, Mathieu Flamini, Ryan Babel, Edgar Davids, Grant Hill and Francesco Santoro.

Also on an aside, it was a pretty surreal moment in Twitter history to witness Steiny Mo standing at midfield by himself while everyone else was getting mobbed on his phone, twittering what I was reading. Reminded of the people who have no one to talk to at a party so they just take their phone out to make it seem like they're busy doing something, good stuff.

During the ten minute warm ups there was a clear distinction. While the professional soccer players on both sides were acting pretty serious and getting loose the NBA guys for the blue (Bosh and Parker) were a little less serious during warm ups. I think Bosh was just happy at this point to swing and connect with a ball at his foot. Bosh also had a quick sneaker change before the game going from a white pair of what looked like some sort of Nike Shox to a red and white pair of Air Max's. The NBA guys on the white team (Nash and Hill) were more a little more serious (as expected). Nash seemed to have a legitimate sweat going before the opening whistle.

The game itself was pretty slow paced actually, a lot more so than last year. The professional soccer players especially Davids and Kalou were really providing most of the entertainment throughout with some pretty sweet dribbling moves, though most players weren't getting stuck in on challenges too much (probably afraid of embarrassment).

The game though had some highlights, Grant Hill megging Chris Bosh was one. Chris Bosh then failing to return the favor on Hill, even as Hill stood with his legs open allowing Bosh to meg him back. Tony Parker had the opening goal of the game on a pretty sweet back hill off a cross. Even Stein himself got in there once on a cross, diving to try and score yet came up empty.

As far as our NBA guys go, as I said, Nash was really out there playing hard and just like how he does in hoops, he was always trying to create with the ball at his feet. Grant Hill actually surprised me with how sound he was at soccer. Plays pretty simple, but looked far more natural out there than Tony Parker which came as a little bit of a shock to me. I guess just because Parker is from France I expected him to be a little better at soccer than he was. While he wasn't bad, as I said, he just didn't seem as natural as Hill.

Then there was Chris Bosh. I learned two things about Chris Bosh today. One, Chris Bosh has probably never attempted to kick a moving ball in his life. Actually after watching his performance today, its possibly he has never used his feet for any other manner other than walking, running, or jumping. And two, Chris Bosh is a good sport. He knew he was no good at soccer, yet he made things entertaining and didn't take himself too seriously which I loved. NY Knicks fans made sure to get there "Bosh 2010" calls out to him as well which I thought was pretty funny.

Those were pretty much the highlights of the evening. I have to admit I lost track of the score somewhere around 3-3 but Stein reported the final was 8-4 after a Nash penalty kick got wiped from the board. Take a look at some of the video that I took and I apologize for the shaky camera.

Here is some video:

Here's Nash's penalty kick attempt which according to Marc Stein was later wiped from the game. Nash drew the penalty on the play before attempting a bicycle kick.



This is video of Grant Hill's goal which he got off a rebound. Watch the celebration from Nash and Hill after the goal.



And finally Chris Bosh's best attempt at goal. He should have taken the first shot but then he had a nice header attempt. If he wasn't 7ft tall he would have possibly made it. Good try though anyway.