A whole issue on sports: The best seats and the top players.
P>1. The crowd’s great. It’s old-school, consisting of hardcore fans. There’s lots of solitary men with leathery faces, intelligently watching the action, slipping out between periods for a smoke. You’ll find none of the “family fun” nonsense that’s ruined sporting events in the West.
2. There’s no National Hockey League this year. And you won’t miss it. The European game, with its bigger ice surface, is faster, prettier and more thrilling than North American dump-the-puck-and-wrestle-for-it hockey.
3. It’s quiet. At least at the games played at the Avant-Garde rink on Melnykova. No music between plays, no sound effects, no artificial hysteria. When nothing’s going on, the hall falls into a meditative silence. Between periods, Russian pop plays over the speakers, but that’s it.
4. It’s free.
5. You bring your own booze. This is key. Pick up a bottle of cognac or some beer – or whatever – and nip away.
6. It gets you out of bed. Home games at Avant-Garde are at 1 p.m., which means that you’ve already had a full day by the time the match ends in the mid-afternoon. The early hours mean only the aficionados show up (see #1). The drunks are still sleeping off last night’s Dynamo game.
7. The rinks kick ass. Sokil plays both at the Sports Palace and at Avant-Garde rink. The latter is the antidote to soulless corporate North American hockey arenas: a grungy shed that seats no more than 500 people on its benches. You can see your breath. Canadian junior-league teams laugh at such rinks. The place feels good and real. The rink’s so small, moreover, that you’re on top of the action. You can hear the players yelling at each other.
8. Hockey’s better live. American football’s better on TV than live; European football and baseball are, too, unless the weather’s great. But hockey’s better if you’re there. Everything’s good about it: the echoing of the caroming pucks and the slashing of skates; the candy-colored shininess of the new ice, and its sweet smell; the Zen spectacle of the Zamboni machine.
9. You never know who’s going to become famous. Sokil players like Alexei Zhitnik and Dmitri Khristich broke through to the NHL long ago; other players might, too.
10. Soccer’s lame. The only real alternative to hockey right now is soccer (football, if you will). And if you’re North American, you won’t be able to chase the suspicion that soccer’s for little girls. Hockey players never have effeminate hairdos like David Beckham; they don’t go by one name, like simpering pop stars or Brazilian soccer players; and they don’t fake falls and pretend to be injured. If they do, someone beats them up.
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..And Seven Reasons to Watch BC Kyiv
BC Kyiv, Kyiv’s entry in the Ukrainian Super League (USL) and the North European Basketball League (NEBL), has a long and proud history around here. They’re former Soviet champs, and they’ve produced legendary players such as center (and now team president) Oleksandr Volkov and, more recently, 2003-04 NEBL all-star American point guard Steven Goodrich.
The team hasn’t yet won the NEBL title, but it did reach Game 7 of the USL finals last year, only to lose to tough MBC Nikolayiv.
1. Slam dunks. Forget soccer and waiting 90 minutes for anything to happen. Virtually every 30 seconds someone on BC Kyiv is putting away a two-handed tomahawk dunk or an in-your-face stuff over a slack-jawed defender.
2. Great ambient noise. The squeak of sneakers on hardwood, the roar of the crowd after a three-point play, the buzzer sounding as a long-range shot hits nothing but net.
3. The BC Kyiv dancing girls. Lots of glitter, flashy outfits and great dance routines. When they come onto the court after every timeout and between every period of play, it’s impossible to look away.
4. The games are indoors. That means it’s warm, and you can drink beer in the stands without having to hide it from all the police, like at soccer games.
5. The best seats in the house are right behind the BC Kyiv bench. They’re so close you can give the players high fives – and they cost just Hr 20.
6. They actually give away t-shirts. Also, they hold silly competitions at the half like they do in the West between fans who actually think they’re funny.
7. Revenge is sweet. They’ll get to avenge their loss in Game 7 of th e USL finals as they host MBC Nikolayiv at the Sports Palace on Saturday, Oct. 16. Can you say ‘Grudge Match’?
Star Report: Football Players to Watch
Currently ranked 80th in the world and far from their high of 22nd in 1999, Ukraine continues to do battle on the road to the World Cup, to be held in Germany in 2006.
The Ukrainian squad played to a 1-1 draw against European Cup Champions Greece in World Cup Qualifying on the weekend, and coming into the Oct. 13 game against Georgia, Ukraine was tied for top spot in their group with Turkey with five points after three games.
Ukrainian National Team
Yevhen Kolesnyk
Andriy Shevchenko (Striker, #7). The legend. Goals for Dynamo Kyiv – 94, Goals for AC Milan – 79 (including the winning goal for Milan in the Champions League final in 2003); Goals for Team Ukraine – 22. ‘Nuff said.
Andriy Voronin (Forward, #10). Young playmaker Voronin has definitely impressed from day one, scoring in his debut against Greece in a Euro Cup 2004 qualifying match. He’s dangerous and versatile, playing as a winger, all-purpose forward or as an out-and-out striker. The Bayer Leverkusen forward also scored a beauty against Dynamo in a losing effort on Sept. 28. “Vorona,” or the Raven, is definitely the future of Ukrainian soccer.
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| Courtesy photo |
In the Ukrainian first division, Dynamo currently sit five points behind arch-rivals Shakhtar Donetsk, who are perfect through nine games. Dynamo are on fire too, beaten only once since September.
FC Dynamo Kyiv
Andriy Porokhnenko
Jerko Leko (midfielder, Croatia, #7; old #36). Leko was vital in Dynamo’s win against Arsenal last year, and he’s got an energetic, determined style of play that’s fun to watch and deadly for his opponents. He’s a great two-way player, though his tough tackling habits often get him booked. Before being traded to Dynamo, Leko was Man of the Match in Dinamo Zagreb’s win in the 2002 Croatian Cup final.
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| Yevhen Kolesnyk |
Diogo Rincon (forward, Brazil, #15). Rincon has impressed since he arrived in Kyiv two years ago, notching 16 goals in 60 league games. The versatile attacker is known for his ability to move laterally: Few cover the pitch as well as he does, and he really showed his stuff in their recent 4-2 win over Leverkusen, when he scored two crackling goals. Rincon was just rewarded with a new contract that will see him with Kyiv until 2010.
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| Andriy Porokhnenko |
Maksim Shatskikh (striker, Uzbekistan, #16). When superstar Andriy Shevchenko left for Milan, this Uzbek magician was brought in to fill the giant’s cleats – and he hasn’t disappointed, leading Dynamo to two consecutive Ukrainian league titles. Shatskikh has an uncanny knowledge of the pitch, dropping back into the midfield to harass opposition midfielders or moving forward on attack, orchestrating beauty. He has twice been Ukraine’s top scorer, and last year eclipsed Shevchenko’s league record of 94 goals (he now has 115 in 66 games).
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| Andriy Porokhnenko |
Goran Gavrancic (defender, Serbia, #32). This tall Serbian international is a rock in Dynamo’s backfield. A skilled defender, Gavrancic also had seven goals in 27 games last year, proving his offensive talents, and this year he was the guy who hammered in that sick goal off the crossbar on a free kick against Roma on Sept. 15. Needless to say, stand up and pay attention every time he takes a free kick. This September Gavrancic signed another five-year deal that will lock him up until 2009.
Top Spots: Where to Sit at the Stadium
Seats can make all the difference at any sporting event, big or small, important and life-altering or otherwise. Seats I had years ago – uncovered, in the end zone, close to field level for a rain-soaked and uninspired UEFA Cup match between Dynamo and Boa Vista – left me understanding why people leave games before the so-called bitter end. In the right seat, though, you’ll want those moments to last forever.
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For the Hooligan:
Sector 11 or 31, Rows 25-30, any dry seat without too many sunflower seeds and dirt on it.
Up here in nosebleed heaven, expect the least of everything – views, toilet access, protection from the elements, cordiality, etc. On the other hand, there are a lot of people. These are usually the first tickets sold out before any game, because they’re the cheapest at Hr 5 a piece. Somehow, the animals in these sectors always manage to sneak glass bottles or a smoke bomb into the stadium, and they always manage to be the first arrested when trouble breaks out, too. You’ll have a great time if you’re in the mood, but don’t bring your girlfriend.
For the Party Animal:
Sector 19, Rows 10-12, Seats 15-20.
You want vodka or cognac from a flask? Part of a half-eaten sausage handed to you by a friendly stranger who the moment before cursed you for returning to your seat late? A more colorful vocabulary? The action down here in “the pit,” near the field, unfolds right before your eyes, and so does the party. Restrain yourself from telling the shirtless guy in front of you, painted from the waist up in blue and wearing the tank commander’s helmet, to sit down and you’ll be all right. Leave the kids at home.
For the Soccer Purist:
Sector 38, Row 29, Seat 16.
These are the best seats you can get to a Ukraine or Dynamo game without being a former Communist or a member of the press.
To your left, below and above: raving local fans draped in Dynamo or Ukraine colors, studying the match, breaking into a frenzy only at the crescendo of a scoring chance. To your right, behind a phalanx of police: the opposition’s fans, singing national or team songs which don’t make a lot of sense to you, or are downright insulting. When the two teams exit the tunnel just below and to your left before the opening kick-off, you’ll think, “These are the best seats I’ve ever had.”
