Back in Bologna, the blogger jinx dies - TOMAS VAN DEN SPIEGEL

We are only four weeks into a new Euroleague season, but here in here in Sopot, it seems way longer already. Not only have we already changed some players, but we also played several games without key players like Milan Gurovic or Dajuan Wagner. I feel like we already had our share of bad luck for the rest of the season, or at least that is what I hope. You got it, we didn't really start out well, with big losses in home games against CSKA Moscow and Tau Vitoria and a last minute loss in Kaunas that might be important in the end. Luckily enough, we were able to go into the Bolognese Palamalaguti in Game 4 and get our first win. Soon after this blog is published, I hope we do the same thing in Athens, at Peace and Friendship Stadium. I think there is no gym in the world with a greater name...

And as I mentioned in my first blog a couple of weeks ago, going back to Bologna is always special to me. I spent three seasons at Fortitudo, made many friends (more or less half the city, as the other half are Virtus fans) and the air of Basket City still smells a little like home. Before our game I even wrote a big ‘F' on the palm of my hand and I told Virtus president Claudio Sabatini that I considered this game my own little derby. Now that I write it down, it all sounds silly, but it is not in Bologna: I guess you must have lived it to understand it. The booing by the crowd at the moment of team presentations even got me more motivated, and I probably played one of the best games in my career, earning weekly Euroleague MVP honors and getting almost more post-game text messages than I got best wishes on the day of my wedding…

Talking about derbies, a Polish one this time, my favourite blogger on Euroleague.net last season really tried all he had this weekend to send us back to Sopot with a loss. Yes, Jeff Nordgaard, I'm talking about you! Jeff was outstanding for his new team, ASZ Koszalin. He scored 24 points on us, coached his team on the court at the same time, got me into foul trouble, out of my free throw concentration and even found some time in between all this to chit-chat about EL fantasy challenge. (He let me know he had me on his team, which at that point wasn't too bad). It was a relief for all of us when he fouled out in overtime, which probably got us the win. And looking at the performances of the other EL bloggers lately, it seems the jinx that David Vanterpool was talking about last season is definitely history!

There are no Belgian teams in Euroleague, so as a Belgian myself, I'd like to focus one second on a great ULEB Cup performance last week. My former team Oostende, where I spent four seasons between 1997 and 2001, had a big home win over Dynamo Moscow, one of the favorites for the ULEB Cup Final Eight in Turin, Italy next spring. Since I worked out with them over the summer - the gym is literally around the corner from my Oostende apartment - it was great to see that Coach Sharon Drucker and the guys were able to show that Belgian basketball is moving in the right direction. At least, that is what I am hoping. Following Real Madrid's key player Axel Hervelle and my own example, I would like to predict that young Oostende point guard Sam Van Rossom will be the next best thing out of Belgium, making it to the Euroleague! Once we get to five players, we will form one team and apply at Jordi Bertomeu's office to admit us as the Belgian representative in the competition. Yeah, that would be a great present, for Christmas 2012 or so…

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TOMAS VAN DEN SPIEGEL - SOPOT, POLAND