The good folks at True Hoop had a great write up after attending a European game (in Greece) between Panathinaikos BC and Barcelona highlighting how absolutely great and insane the fans were.
Here is an excerpt from the piece:
The fans didn’t disappoint. By the time I took my seat, still half an hour before tipoff, all 19,000 of them were standing, singing, and as far as I could tell, smoking. The haze was made worse by some sort of torch that fans lit during big moments of the game, so much so that the smoke notably hung over and obscured the action on the court.
It took one minute and fifty-five seconds for the first fan to throw something on the court, and the singing, hissing, booing and cheering never stopped.
It was until recently, coupled with that write-up, that I was beginning to understand how big of a role basketball actually plays in Europe. I believe the following clip (from the same game) will give you also a pretty good idea of the fanaticism. Yes, that is fire inside.
via Sports Grid
