Memorial Weekend Showdowns!

What a weekend of asian basketball! With two of some of the top asian tournaments in the country on the same weekend, there were definetly some exciting basketball! Not to mention the top team in the country going down! Of course the two tournaments feature great tradition. The Tigers Blue Tournament in California is known as the West Coast Championships! And the Chinese Nationals is the Chinese American Championships! If you win at either of these tournaments you got bragging rights on your rivals for the rest of the year. And two top notch teams can brag all year long! Here's some of the report from the weekend.

Tigers Blue featured the Top team in the country, the Chosen Few. They did not play their best and were beat in the Final Four matchup against an unknown team. (Name of the team is Woo Woo something). And they lost in by a huge margin in a preliminary game. So should the Chosen Few lose their top spot? But lets congratulate the champions of this year's Tiger Blue, Pac Rim. They beat a very good Tigers Blue team in the championsip game. Pac Rim now is the team to beat on the West Coast. We will see if Chosen Few can bounce back when they host their tournament in Hawaii against these same teams.

The Chinese Nationals in Philadelphia, featured also very competitive play. The return of the Seatle Bladerunners put a rumble through this weekend's tournament. And the rumbles became an earthquake. The Bladerunners edged out a 1 point victory over the Arizona Desert Jade. The Seatle Bladerunners were once the top team in the country. We will see if they will dissappear again or can they be a number 1 team again. This year's Nationals may have been one of the most competitive Chinese Nationals yet. With last year's Finalist Chicago Dragons and USAB Warriors, not even making the Final Four. This year's Final Four teams were NY Cruisers, Arizona Desert Jade, NY Maximum Output, and the Champions Seatle Bladerunners!

2008 Chinese Nationals Philadelphia, PA

This Memorial Day Weekend features one of the longest running asian tournaments in the country. The Chinese National Tournament has been around over 40 years. The tradition here maybe the most unique of all asian tournaments. Too bad it only allows Chinese decent. With the different levels of competition and organized planning, this tournament is the best of the best. The teams that win here used to be the best asian teams in the country. But with so much asian talent out there other than Chinese players, that is no longer the case. But Chinese basketball organizations have been around for decades. Such as the Chicago Dragons. Boston Knights, NY Cruisers, and NY Rockits. But there are new organizations forming that help boost level of play and Chinese basketball development. The passion of this tournament and Chinese basketball is undeniable. Contraversy, rivalry, and pure hatred sometimes between organizations makes the tournament very exciting. So if you are in the area, you should definetly check out this tournament.

Last year's winner the USAB Warriors will try to defend its title as the best Chinese team! But with the resurgence of old powers like the Seatle Bladerunners, its not going to be easy. But a new powerhouse in the New York area will probably give the most challenge. The NY Maximum Output Organization has been working hard recruiting and developing to maybe finally take the crown this year as the Chinese National Champion. We will see who will come out on top by weekend's end. Good luck to all the teams and thanks for keeping traditions alive! We hope everyone have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend, and remember to pray for those who serve our country at war!

$10,000 basketball tournament?

Wow! You have heard or recieved an email about a $10,000 cash prize tournament in Ontario, Canada. If this is true it will be the highest prize money for any tournament in history of asian basketball tournaments. But it also has a high entry fee ($1050 per team). Is this a good thing? Not sure. We will see if what the response is and find out if they can pull this off. But like or not, everyone is trying to host tournaments these days. Competition is everywhere. Tournaments are trying to outdo each other. This will be interesting to see what happens!

New York City World Journal Tournament Results:

Men's Elite
1st Place - NY Maximum Output
2nd Place - NY Top Guns

Women's Open
1st Place - NY Lady Cruisers
2nd Place - NY Sabres

45 & Over
1st Place - Santa Nino
2nd Place - Seven Sea

The World Journal New York City Tournament this weekend will have 31 teams participating in various divisions. This tournament is building to become a great tradition for the New York community. With ages from 12 - 45 competing, it gives an opportunity for asians of all ages to have fun playing ball. Looks to be a great event. Good luck to all the teams. We will have results next week.