Basketball’s Friday sensation

BASKETBALL IRELAND has sensationally decided to break with a 25-year-old tradition and belatedly move this year’s Superleague National Cup finals to the first Friday in February to facilitate live television coverage, much to the disapproval of the participating finalists.

The finals had been originallyscheduled to take place on the last Sunday of January as has been the sport’s traditional slot.

But in the wake of RTE’s decision not to broadcast this year’s finals, Basketball Ireland general secretary Bernard O’Byrne has negotiated a deal with Setanta Sports that will see the Superleague’s women’s final between UL and DCU starting at 7.15pm on Friday February 3 followed by the men’s final between UCC Demons and UL Eagles tipping off at the particularly late time of 9.15pm.

It is a high risk strategy by O’Byrne to stage the Superleague finals as a standalone double bill and run off the other underage and intermediate National Cup finals the previous weekend, thus removing much of the festival feel of the Cup weekend while also bringing the Superleague finals directly up against major sporting events like the National Football League and Six Nations which both start the following evening in Dublin.

None of the participating finalists were consulted in the decision and with three of the four teams based in Munster, UL Eagles chairman John King is still hoping there is “room for manoeuvre” otherwise the cameras could be showing a half-empty National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.

“While we commend the association for securing live TV coverage, staging the biggest game of the year at 9.15pm on a Friday night wouldn’t be the most family-friendly situation for supporters coming from Limerick and Cork,” said King.

“We’d be hoping there’s still some room for manoeuvre by either playing the game on Sunday January 29 and then having delayed coverage on Setanta the following Friday night, or else stick to that Friday night but move the event to the Neptune Stadium which would be almost guaranteed to be full with the crowd Demons would bring.”

UCC Demons chairman Michael O’Leary added: “Television is a welcome bonus but it’s not a necessity. Asking us to trek seven year-olds up and down to Tallaght on a Friday night at this notice just doesn’t make sense. Even from a biomechanical point of view, starting a game at 9.15pm is unfair on the players. When something is done not by agreement but in the form of an ultimatum it’s not good for relations.”