It’s amazing what can happen in a year. I’ve gone from a hater of sports to a lover of Basketball. Watching such a fast-paced game is entertaining and can be exhilarating. Over 2017 I think we have been to see 5 home games of Newcastle Eagles and every time we’ve seen them win. We’re sort of like lucky charms! We were offered the chance to see the Newcastle Eagles vs Leicester Riders game as guests of Zapatista. As Catherine was out at the Live Theatre, I thought I’ll introduce the game to my 75-year-old mother.
A Pre Match Bite at Zapatista
Finishing work and getting into town can be a bit of a nightmare. So to save time we decided to get a quick bite on route from my new secret parking spot!!
For a bit of a change, I thought I’d try some Nachos. The kids agreed and naively I thought nachos and cheese sauce only. Oh no!! These are really LOADED Nachos. Starting off with my fussy kids, they wanted plain Nachos with grated cheese (not melted) with a side portion of nacho cheese to dip in to. The Staff at Zapatista are always super friendly and accommodate special request brilliantly.
For my Nachos I opted to add a filling to top it off. Starting with some Nacho cheese sauce, the Shredded beef filling layered on top, a good dollop of spicy salsa, some guacamole, sour cream, and jalapenos. I could have also added roasted peppers and onions to the mix too. The bowl was full and looked amazing. My mother, however (from a different generation) said: “Oh… how unappetising”. She wasn’t eating anyway, so it was irrelevant what she thought of my tasty bowl.
Two Nacho bowls and 3 cokes were enough to fill me and the two girls. Total cost was just over £15, which also made is a great value meal.
As I was leaving I spotted a set of flyers for discounted tickets to the Newcastle Eagles. Offering up to 4 tickets at £8.50 each.
Newcastle Eagles vs Leicester Riders
Tip-off at the basketball is usually 7:30 pm, but tonight they were running slightly later as it was being filmed live for BBC Sports. The court had also been switched around slightly. The players usually sit on the East side of the court when not playing. But tonight they were sitting west side. Which meant they were sitting just in front of us. The reason for the switch was that the camera crew were set up on the other side.
Out of all the games, we’ve seen so far Newcastle Eagles are always on top form and seem to play to entertain. Its almost like they allow the other team to get ahead, then close the gap and level up. Which is sort of how tonight’s game went? At the end of the 2nd quarter, Newcastle were 32 to Leicester’s 41.
This was one of the few games where I’ve seen the ref call an offside or fowl and the Eagles battle his decision. It was very tense and a lot was hanging on tonight’s game. I’d worked out that Newcastle Eagles were top of the league, but had played two more games than Leicester. If Leicester won the next game then they would become top. The pressure was on for an Eagles win and you could feel the support of the fans.
It was the last 3 minutes that turned the game into the most exciting match I’ve seen. It was also the first one left feeling low! The Eagles scored a 3 point basket, which took them into the lead, but it was matched within 4 seconds by Leicester back to a draw of 77 each. Then disaster struck Leicester scored again in what became the final result. Newcastle Eagles 77 Leicester Riders 79.
Our first home match loss. I’d never felt like this leaving Sports Central. The worst part of this is that potentially the Riders are in a good position now to continue on the top of the league. So now it is even more important for the Eagles to win next time. The Next match is January 12th at Sports Central against Leicester Riders again. Let’s hope we can knock them back from number one spot in the new year.
Lets Go Eagles!!
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