by Luc Ciotkowski

 European Vibe Magazine brings you an exclusive interview with American basketball star Will McDonald. McDonald, from New Orleans, currently plays for Vitoria club TAU Cerámica and will hope to help Spain’s remaining representative in the competition lift the greatest prize in European basketball this weekend. The 28-year-old star used to play in Madrid, and before that, Gran Canaria. I spoke to him about basketball, life in Spain and being a basketball star in Spain (includes some questions not in the magazine interview):

What do you think of your chances of winning the Final Four and taking the trophy back to Vitoria?
Well, we got this far, why not go on and win? We’ve got the same chance as the other teams.

Who do you see as the biggest threat in the Final Four?
The team we play first, the Russians (CSKA Moscow). They’ve got the biggest budget of any team in Europe. They beat us over there, and here, too.

Do you think Real Madrid will be tough to beat in the ACB Playoffs?
Well we’ve beaten them every time we’ve played them this season, so they’ll be more worried about playing us than we are about playing them.

After football, basketball is one of the highest profile sports in Spain. Do you get recognised a lot?
Yeah, it’s kinda different here (in Vitoria, Basque Country). It’s not like in Madrid where you’ve got millions of people and football is first. Maybe you’d go somewhere and someone would recognise you, but not like if you were a football player. But Vitoria is different. In Vitoria, basketball is first, basketball is before soccer. So recognition, and going places and doing things is different. And it’s a little more difficult because Vitoria is a small place… and we’re more popular here.

Right, so how do fans act when they see you? Are they, are they respectful of your personal space and privacy?
I mean, yeah… They’re fans, you know; I mean some people don’t know the boundaries and some people do know the boundaries. Maybe they wanna stop and ask for an autograph while we eat dinner. But it doesn’t matter to me, because I know when I was a younger player, if I saw someone who was famous in my eyes, I didn’t stop to think, “Oh, they’re eating dinner I’m not gonna go”, I want it now! It’s just a situation that you gotta deal with – some players deal with it differently. I’m just the player, that, I deal with it, if someone wants an autograph, I’ll stop and sign it, you know.

So it wasn’t like that in Madrid?
Well in the discos, in the nightclubs, places like that people would know who you are. Maybe around the city, people would know I am a basketball player ‘cos, I’m super tall! You know. But nothing like, “Oh, that’s Will McDonald!” No.

Where there must be a clear difference between the NBA and the likes of the ACB is in wages. Do think that makes you guys over here more humble and more approachable than the guys in the U.S.?
It depends on… some players make a lot of money and they act, like, different people. Not the normal players who earn not that much money. In Europe, I’m at a time with my money, like, last year I got an offer from the NBA. I got an offer from Milwaukee, for two years- guaranteed, but I didn’t want it, ‘cos I’m doing so well here and I’m actually making more here than if was playing in the States… So, the American Dream is really not mine: I just want to concentrate on playing basketball in a nice environment and make as much money as possible.

To see the rest of the interview, read the May 2008 issue of European Vibe Magazine, out now across madrid.

TAU Cerámica play CSKA Moscow in the semi-finals on Friday, 2nd May, 21:00. the winner will play either M.Siena or Maccabi Elite in the final at 21:00, on sunday, 4th May.

http://www.europeanvibe.com/imagenes_revista/200_pdf.pdf

This month, our Vibe Box comes from Alan Shelly - licensee of rock and blues bar Echegarito.

In the May issue of European Vibe Magazine, Echegarito was the venue for our monthly bar chat - where we talked about the pickly subject of infidelity. Check out the magazine to see what our bar chatters had to say about cheating.

These are Alan’s choices:

1. Emerald - Thin Lizzy

because: A great mix of rock and celtic music with great guitar solos.

2. Messin’ with the Kid - Rory Gallagher

because: This is one of his most famous tunes and deserves high ranking due to its originality. 

3. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin

because: Because Tom Graham thinks so!

Echarito is unique in Madrid in that it is a Spanish bar de copas with Stella Artois and Guinness on draught. (The Guinness is short-draw, too!) There is live music downstairs in the cellar bar.
How to get there: Echegarito, Calle Echegaray 21, metro Sol/Sevilla.

By Khilen Mehta

A magnificent goal from the halfway line by Marcos Senna kept alive Villareal’s slim yet mathematical hopes of winning the Championship. However, a win for Real next week against Osasuna will ensure that the league trophy will remain in the Bernabeu trophy room for a second consecutive year.

Betis keeper Castro was just a few yards off his line when the Spanish midfielder unexpectedly shot from the halfway line and caught the goalkeeper completely by surprise. Chances followed for both sides but Senna´s wonder goal meant the title race continues for one more week at least.

The wins keeps the Castellón outfit above Barcelona, whose hopes of regaining the title have now evaporated in the wake of Saturday’s below-par 2-0 defeat against Deportivo at the Riazor. Ahead of their crucial Champions League tie against Manchester United, confidence is low at the Nou Camp and many are doubting their credentials.

In Madrid last night, Real came away with a 3-0 victory, but were very grateful to a first half penalty save from Iker Casillas which prevented Athletic Bilbao from equalising. However with just victory needed against Osasuna next week to seal the title for Real, surely the champagne won’t be kept on ice for too much longer.

by Will Cade

If you have seen the video for “4 Minutes,” Madonna’s first single off her new album, “Hard Candy,” you will probably notice a nearly 50 year old woman, looking good and holding her own along side JT, someone nearly half her age. But, if you blink, you might miss the dancing duo, Hamutsun Serve, who Madonna flew in to London from Japan to be in the video. They are the two sporting red, Run DMC jump suits, dancing on top of what looks like a red, 70s model Ford.

Before filming began, Rikiccho and Dayoshi had become popular on YouTube for their frenetic “popping” style, which caught Madonna’s attention one day while searching for new talent online. Unfortunately, the two have a grand total of maybe 18 seconds of screen time in Madonna’s new video, which hardly gives them justice. Their most popular video on YouTube (see link below) showcases their moves a lot better. Even if at times their “popping” can look like a robot experiencing a power surge, it’s still amazing to watch. And come on, these guys can moon walk on their knees and their back. Why that didn’t make it into the video, we’ll never know. Maybe it wasn’t Madonna’s fault. Maybe it was the video’s editor or some caffeined-up intern that cut out their lunar dancing extravaganza. Either way, there’s a plethora of Hamutsun Serve videos on YouTube. They also worked with JT during their time in London, so we might see them in another video soon enough, but hopefully for more than 18 seconds.