This is a collection of some of my favorite basketball and football ( = soccer) memories and videos.
But first, a little bit about how I grew up with sports.



Football was my favorite sport at first, but then I focused more on basketball when I turned 13. Watching Nikos Galis (best offensive player I've ever seen in Europe: 1 -- 2 -- 3 ) had much to do with this.
I played bball for my high school team, as well as in local Athens leagues. Some days I'd be at practice for five or six hours total.
I also liked playing softball/baseball, as competitive as that could be in Greece, and also took tennis for two years.
When I was 16 I tore my right MCL, and i've since torn ACL and meniscus on both knees. I've had three knee surgeries and probably ought to have had one more. I've also damaged my neck/shoulder and lower back. So the NBA dream is fading.

I like watching football and basketball as well (although I'd happily watch tennis, badminton, table tennis, billiards, you name it).
I prefer European competitions, especially if the Greek national team or any Greek club is involved. I try to watch as much as possible when the world cup or euro are on, and same goes for the equivalent bball competitions.
Besides all this, I like it when Canadian teams do well at hockey. But I still don't know most of the rules. And I can't skate.

My favourite football moments:
  • Euro2004, hands down the best sporting moment in my life. We were ecstatic just to have scored our first goal, then to win, then to get through the first round, and so on, all the way to the end.
  • Qualifying to the world cup of 1994. Even though we did terribly when we got there.
  • Qualifying to the world cup of 2010, and to Euro 2008.
  • Getting to Euro 2012 and making it to the quarterfinal.
  • Olympiakos reaching the Champions League quarter-finals. And almost getting to the semis in 1999.
  • A great game in 1999 against Real Madrid. 3-3
  • The first home game in the 1997 champions league, after years of being terrible. 1-0 against Porto.
  • Panathinaikos reaching the UEFA cup quarterfinals in 1987, in particular winning against Juventus 1-0, 2-3, and then a huge comeback against Honved: 2-5, 5-1 . These games are actually some of the first football I remember, along with bits of the 1986 world cup.
  • Ajax-Panathinaikos for the 1996 champions league semifinal. 0-1

    Worst moments:
    Greece dominating but only tying Denmark in 1997 (a win would have sent us to the world cup). The late goal by Juventus in the 1999 quarterfinal mentioned above. Panathinaikos wasting huge chances to reach the 2002 champions league semifinals against Barcelona (1-0, 1-3). Then losing to Porto after extra time for the 2003 Uefa cup quarterfinal. (Porto won the cup easily after that).

    Best games I've been to:

  • Greece-Russia, for world cup 1994 qualifiers. November 1993, 1-0 . One word: flares.
  • Aek-Milan, for the 2006-07 champions league. 1-0 . Sea of flags.
  • Panathinaikos-Steaua 6-3, 1998 champions league qualifying round. I took my Canadian cousin to this. He said it was louder than any sporting event he had ever been to. And that was before we went into the stadium. Buying 2 tickets looked like a frenzy scene from the stock exchange, with people climbing on top of each other trying to get near the booth, and money handed to strangers who had a better position, hoping a ticket would be sent back.
  • Panathinaikos-Paok 2-1. 2004. Leoforos stadium. Visiting fans held umbrellas for protection from flying objects. I saw a guy near me get hit on the forehead with a stone, go to first aid, and return with stitches.
  • Vasco-Fluminense at the Maracana for the 2008 Rio state semifinal. Pretty tame compared to some games i've been to in Greece. But a very nice and different atmosphere. After all it is Brazil.
  • Cruz Azul - Atlante for the 2008 Mexican Apertura semifinal. Sold out game. In the morning I went to the stadium to look for scalpers, and found a ticket with the help of some local guys who were doing the same. In the evening we sat together in the stands and they made sure to turn me into a Cruz Azul fan.
  • Olympiakos - Atletico Madrid, Uefa Cup-Winners cup quarterfinal, 1993. 1-1
  • Panathinaikos-Barcelona, for the 2005-06 champions league. 0-0 .
  • Olympiakos - AEK 1-3, 1996. I thought the visiting fans were going to make the stands collapse with all their jumping.
  • Also: 2006 Champions League Lille-Aek and Anderlecht-Aek. 2012 Champions League Olympiakos-Schalke. Italian League Milan-Palermo in 2005, and a Sporting Lisbon home game in 2006.

    My favorite basketball moments:
  • Eurobasket 1987 and then 1989.
  • Eurobasket semifinal 2005 even though we won in the final too.
  • World championship 2006 semifinal win against USA (w/ Lebron, Bosh, Wade, Carmelo, Howard, etc).
  • The first time I saw Olympiakos play a European game (in 1992 vs Estudiantes), after years of being a mediocre team.
  • Olympiakos winning the 2012 Euroleague with a 20 point come back in the last 12 minutes.
  • Eurobasket 2007 huge comeback in quarter-final vs Slovenia.
  • Paok beating Zaragoza in the 1991 European Cup final .

    Worst moments:
    Olympiakos losing by 2 pts in the Euroleague final, 1994. Also losing by a couple points in the quarterfinal the year before. The three consecutive times Aris lost in the semifinals.

    Best games I've been to:

  • The Olympiakos-Estudiantes game mentioned above, and every other home game that followed for the next two years until I left Greece. I'd lose my voice for a day after each game.
  • All the games between Greece and Yugoslavia at Eurobasket '95 and World Championships '98, even though we always seemed to lose in overtime.
  • The other home games at Eurobasket'95 and the World championships in '98, and the Olympics in '04.
  • Two Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos playoff games, 2008. The visitor's bench was set on fire.
  • March 22, 1998: The last Chicago Bulls game at the Toronto Skydome before Michael Jordan retired (the first time, but forever from the Bulls). Official attendance 33,216. MJ had 33pts. Bulls won 102-100 with his game winning shot. Drove from Montreal with 3 friends, 9 hours through a blizzard and a no-drive warning. Watched the game. Drove back. Tickets were 5 bucks to sit at the very top.