Games in the British Basketball League hardly get any bigger than the one we have in store for you on Saturday night.
Our Brighton Bears take on Chester Jets in a crunch game at the top of the league in front of what should be a huge crowd at the Brighton Centre.
Am I excited about it? You better believe I am. For a start, just look at the talent that is going to be out there on court.
You have got ten BBL All-Stars, plus Pero Cameron, who is an All World player, and Kenny Gregory, who is the leading scorer in the league, so you have got 12 players there with accolades in the world of basketball and they will all be on the same floor right here in Brighton fighting it out in the race for the title. Wow!
It will be an even more special day for young fans who go to our Junior Ballers event at Henry J. Bean's in West Street from 4pm onwards. We are offering half price kids' food, great competitions plus a chance to meet the players and our big buddy Henry J. Bear ahead of the game. Call us on (01273) 626943 or grab yourself a flyer from the bar itself for details.
Going back to the one league this season, as opposed to regional sections, has clearly cost us a Southern Conference title but we are enjoying it.
We probably would have been in a battle like this last year if it had been one league because Chester and Sheffield benefited last year by playing a lighter schedule.
I still like the conferences but, with one league, it's winner takes all with no arguments about who is better, north or south, so let's get on with it and make it ours.
I really enjoyed Monday's game, getting a good crowd in there and seeing us go 28 points up so early aainst a good Newcastle team. It went a bit quiet after that, basically because we had killed the game. They were never going to come back from that deficit.
We also had important wins over Leopards and Birmingham over the weekend. My first words after we edged past Leopards at Brentwood were: "I never met a win I didn't like."
We had a really tough night up there. Give Leopards credit, they shot the ball very well and broke us down defensively. We had to go to a 3-2 zone to stop everything but we started playing better collectively and that led to opportunities at the offensive end.
Our guys stepped up at the end and made some key plays but that is what they are supposed to do. They are veterans in this league. We go back to Brentwood on Sunday and it will be another very tough game because Leopards are 20 points better at home than they are away.
The Birmingham blow out was just what we, and Randy Duck, needed. I thought Randy struggled on Friday but he was back in business on Saturday. It was good. We got ourselves easy buckets and got them struggling to score.
I was at Gillingham on Tuesday to see them play Nottingham Forest as guest of chairman Paul Scally and, other than the 4-1 defeat, I was impressed. The corporate facilities they have there are excellent. Over dinner I chatted to Alan Curbishley, who seemed a cool guy and was telling me about his time as an Albion player.
Don't worry though. I'm not thinking of moving us out to Kent! We are too busy making things rock right here, starting with Saturday's game. It's what I call a humdinger. See you there.
GO BEARS!
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