One night, three victories

Saturday late morning, Hyde, Sonia and I bought some groceries and made a kind of breakfast feast. We watched a little Coupling while eating. It is becoming the show that we all talk about, however, if I was familiar with True Blood we might have two shows. After breakfast we took Sonia's film to get developed. It will be ready on Tuesday. In the meantime we're stuck with Hyde's pictures! Ok I meant "blessed".

Saturday evening was unforgettable. Hidemesonia went to Taksim to meet up with friends. A little later Hyde and I broke off and went to Beşiktaş to prepare for the Beşiktaş JK (not a joke) versus MKE Ankaragücü match. Our preparations involved finding beer and groups of crazy fans. We found groups of crazy fans who were looking for beer and followed them until we found beer. We also bought some çekirdek (sunflower seeds) and paraded down Dolmabahçe Caddesi to İnönü Stadium with hundreds of boisterous fans. Finishing off another beer, we went into the stadium and found a nice place to sit.

The game itself was quite entertaining. A goal in the first half led to deafening screaming and a steady stream of chants from the crowd for the rest of the game. The second half was much more entertaining for us because we were in the yeni açık stands and Beşiktaş was scoring on the goal in front of us. And score they did. Final score: 4-0, though to be fair Ankaragücü had a certain goal come back off the post. Credit to Cenk Gönen who was very sharp, but the score could easily have been a little different. Players of the game I think were Nobre and Bobo. Nobre really hustled and played with the most heart in this one. Bobo had finesse, scoring both from the air and the ground. Highlights from Beşiktaş - Ankaragücü.

Beşiktaş's shot off the post, captured brilliantly by Hyde.

When the game ended, nothing happened. The players went to the locker room, and the fans remained in the stands. On the big screen, they were showing the last minute of the Turkey vs. Serbia basketball game. Everyone was captivated. Even some of the players and crew of Beşiktaş looked on. As one of the Turkish players was taking foul shots, the crowd went nuts for the first one after it went in. He missed the second and 30,000 people let out an exasperated "ha- si&t^r!..." in unison. I never heard so many mouths utter a swear at once. Hyde and I left the stadium but I was still listening to the game on the radio as we walked briskly up the hill to Taksim. Then a thunderous roar was emitted from the stadium behind us. At that same moment the announcer was yelling some stuff on my headphones. Short version of the story: Turkey had won its place in the final match of the world basketball championships against the USA.

Hyde and I continued to hurry uphill towards Taksim although now the sound of the traffic was adorned with frequent car horns and people celebrating the Turkish victory and their first FIBA final. We arrived much sooner than I had hoped at my new favorite bar on the European side, whose name I still don't know. On the top floor, Jana and Sonia were waiting. It really was the perfect way to end the day. In fact, it felt like a victory of its own.

One night, three victories. Though pictured above, a possible fourth victory :)