2006-07 Fantasy Challenge champ: Jorge Martinez
by:
Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
May 28, 2007
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 There was one big winner at Final Four weekend who went quite unnoticed by the majority of fans - even though he was very much one of them and a champion in his own right. Jorge Martinez, the 2006-07 Fantasy Challenge winner from Valencia, Spain, had the time of his life as Euroleague Basketball's VIP guest throughout Final Four weekend in Athens. The special privileges Jorge enjoyed are almost too long to list: a flight to Athens for him and a friend, an executive room at the headquarters hotel where all the Final Four teams stayed, VIP passes to all games and to the Gala Awards Dinner, where he was the last person brought on-stage to be recognized with the best Euroleague players of the season. Finally, Jorge and his friend were allowed on the floor after Panathinaikos won the final to join in the celebration. In short, it was a fan experience unlike any other in the world of sports. After returning home, Jorge talked to Euroleague.net about his once-in-a-lifetime weekend. "We couldn't ask for more," Jorge said. "The best recommendation I can give is that I can't wait for the game to start again. I can't wait to defend my Fantasy Challenge title."
Hello, Jorge. The first question has to be quite obvious. How did it feel to be up there on stage with the great Theo Papaloukas at the Euroleague Gala Dinner?
"It was a fantastic experience. Euroleague Basketball treated us very well and everything for us was perfect. Everything truned out to be just as expected. I had the opportunity to meet Theo Papaloukas on stage. He is a great guy. I met him in the hotel two hours before the Euroleague Gala Dinner and we spoke a little bit. We took a picture together, and then we had the same situation on stage, so this is what we talked about. He is a very nice guy, very friendly, always ready to have pictures taken with everyone. I had already seen that some previous Fantasy Challenge winners had gone on stage, so I kind of expected to get there. I met a lot of people in the Gala Dinner, so it was great to be there."
You also managed to get on court right after the game, when Panathinaikos lifted the Euroleague trophy. What did you think about that one-of-a-kind experience?
"Just the fact that I attended all the games was enough for me, our seats were really good. Our VIP accreditation gave us some extra room to move around, as we could be in the media room, the locker room area and the VIP room, with a free buffet in between games. We jumped on court but everything was under control, as the organization and the Greek police did their job really well. We managed to celebrate with the entire Panathinaikos team and I could see my face on some Greek newspapers and posters the day after the final. There was a poster in one newspaper in particular that I was celebrating right there with Dimitris Diamantidis, as if we were Panathinaikos fans. We made friends with a Panathinaikos fan sitting next to us during the games, we got along well and he translated all the Panathinaikos songs for us. We couldn't ask for more. We had a great time. It was very intense."
Did you meet any other interesting people over there? We know you were there with a Pamesa Valencia jersey and someone really noticed you...
"Well, Dejan Tomasevic and Demos Dikoudis played for Pamesa in the past and Dikoudis went crazy when he saw me in the locker room area. They took us by their locker room after the game and gave us their shorts. Tomasevic gave me his and my friend Jorge got one from Dikoudis. It was a great detail from them. That adds even more to the whole experience. We were located in an executive room at the Divani Hotel, with an incredible terrace. The transportation between OAKA, the hotel and the airport was perfect. We also made some friends at the 3-on-3 Streetball tournament at Syntagma Square, we played a couple of games with some really good players our age there. Greek people speak very good English in general, I can handle a conversation while Jorge is really good at it, too, as he lived outside Spain in the past. We liked the city, too, seeing the Acropolis or the Plaka neighborhood."
 Other than Papaloukas, did you speak to anyone in particular that you were really looking forward to meet? What did you like most about your own experience as our guest?
"I liked it all, to be honest. Maybe the best part was the post-final celebration, seeing all Panathinaikos players lifting the trophy. I had to chance to congratulate Tomasevic, who treated me really, really well. It is not like I had special interest to meet anybody in particular. Papaloukas was great, and then we spoke some time with Trajan Langdon, too. He is a very friendly guy, even when his wife wanted him to go and have dinner with her, he still spoke to us about going to CSKA Moscow in the summer when he also had an offer from Unicaja. He is a great guy, too."
Well, now you are back in Valencia as the Euroleague Basketball Fantasy Challenge defending champion. We asked you if it was worth it to play the Fantasy Challenge right before the Final Four. After all that you experience, what do you think now?
"What can I say? The best recommendation I can give is that I can't wait for the game to start again. I can't wait to defend my Fantasy Challenge title. I know that it is almost impossible for me to win it all again, but I hope to have my chances and see one of my teams among the best in the competition. I hope to fight hard, but you need talent and luck to win the competition. There are some players who made it to the Top 10 in consecutive seasons and maybe I could be able to do that, but winning again would be just unbelievable, maybe too much. I would have too many enemies inside the game (laughs)."
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