Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Champagne and Campaign spots (2 of 2)

It'll be interesting negotiating the trip with 3 other people with various interests. I'll have a fellow running mate who's also a hoops and hiphop head, a buffet enthusiast and a foodie. Personally I enjoy exploring subcultures and supporting local scenes, from wrestling, punk & hiphop to comedy. It's something I seek at home and in my travels, in some cases it overlaps with my love for basketball. We'll be working together to tick off our collective to-do lists as we explore each neighbourhood.

The '30 Home Games' Inside/Outside game
We come for the Basketball, we stay for the Culture

Our local contact in New York will be particularly handy, especially for finding local parks to ball in. One of the first things he did after relocating from Sydney was to find a local hoops league in Manhattan. I'm not a stellar player and haven't had to face tough competition in my travels. Basketball has not been widely played in many countries I've visited, relative to national sports like soccer and certainly its popularity in the States. I'll need to improve my game in the months leading up to the North America trip.
- 30HG NBA Destinations: WrestleMania 29 and Indy Wrestling
- 30HG Destination Spotlight: Finding Comedy in the NBA Cities

- NBA Cities: Eastern Conference
- 30HG mission: Atlantic Division map (Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia)
- 30HG mission: Central Division map (Chicago, Cleveland)

Below are the many places of interest in the respective NBA cities:

2015 NBA RoadTrip: New York

NEW YORK

New York Knicks

Madison Square Garden 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, 

New York, New York 10001 

Eats
- Joe' Shanghai
- La Esquina NYC
- Stumptown Coffee
- Spitzer's Corner

Comedy
TimeOut New York Comedy listings:
- Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
- Comedy Cellar
- Gotham Comedy Club
- Carolines on Broadway
- Whiplash [UCB Theatre]
- Cake Shop

Streetwear
- Billionaire Boys Club/BBC Bee Line
- Kith
- ONLY NY
- Staple
- Supreme

Wrestling
- 2CW Wrestling
- Empire State Wrestling
- Family Wrestling Entertainment
- House of Hardcore
- Warriors of Wrestling

Others
- 'Book of Mormon' on Broadway
- I'm New Here--Can You Show Me Around? (Jon Ronson and Maeve Higgins @Union Hall)

BROOKLYN & NEW JERSEY

Brooklyn Nets 

Barclays Center 620 Atlantic Ave, 

Brooklyn New York 11217 

Other 

- The Knitting Factory

- Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash

2015 NBA RoadTrip: Philadelphia
#NBAPostcards Philly Roadtrip variant

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia 76ers

Wachovia Center 3601 S Broad St, 

Philadelphia, PA 19148

Music

Philly-Shows venue listings

- Barbary

- The Electric Factory

- Milkboy

- PhilaMOCA

- Underground Arts

Wrestling
- Combat Zone Wrestling
- Dragon Gate USA Pro-Wrestling
- Extreme Rising
- Keystone Championship Wrestling
- Women's Erotic Wrestling

2015 NBA RoadTrip: Cleveland

CLEVELAND

Cleveland Cavaliers

Quicken Loans Arena 1 Center Ct, 

Cleveland, OH 44115

Comedy
- Cleveland Improv
- Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant and Club [Hilarities]

Music
- The Grog Shop
- House of Blues

Wrestling
- Mega Championship Wrestling

Other
- The Flats

2015 NBA RoadTrip: Chicago
#NBAPostcards Chi-Town roadtrip variant

CHICAGO

Chicago Bulls 

United Center 1901 W. Madison St 

Chicago, Illinois 

Eats
- Garrett Popcorn Shops

Comedy
TimeOut Chicago Comedy listings
- iO Improv Olympic
- Chicago Laugh Factory
- Second City
- Zanies Comedy Nightclub

Find my Eastern Conference to-do list here:
- Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Tip-off and Schedule (1 of 2)
- Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Champagne and Campaign spots (2 of 2)
- Champagning and Campaigning in the NBA Cities: Eastern Conference edition
- Find other Coolspotting and Subculture posts here

Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Tip-off and Schedule (1 of 2)

<< crossposted on the 'Loz in Translation' blog

The '30 Home Games' mission, my pursuit to visit all the NBA Cities officially tips-off in 2015. I'll be joining 3 friends on a two week Eastern Conference roadtrip. Primarily visiting a friend who's relocated to the Big Apple, we'll be passing through Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago then cap it off in Vegas. Returning home with a friend, the other half continue for a snowboarding excursion in Utah.

@30HomeGames 2015 NBA Roadtrip (January 26  - February 8)
 New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas

This preliminary trip will serve as a sampler for my 30HG mission. A chance to experience the North American travel infrastructure, budget considerations and hospitality expectations. For our accommodation and travel, we'll be AirBnB-ing and renting a car collectively. Outside of family I've never travelled overseas in a group, having backpacked Europe and South America solo. I've Couchsurfed and rideshared several times but have yet to try AirBnB. In fact none of the guys have, so we're looking forward to the experience.

#NBApostcards: Greeting from the Eastern Conference

I'm not one to make an itinerary, as in life preferring to go with the flow when travelling. I've stumbled onto happenings, made new friends, found places to crash and scored free tickets armed with a spirit of adventure and a curious eye. I usually don't have much lead time heading into a destination as I'm directed by my whims. I found out about the existence of EuroBasket weeks before I headed into Lithuania for the tournament. For FIBA Americas in Caracas, I mentally prepared myself having been forewarned by friends about the Country's complicated infrastructure. I was forced to scrap the playbook when faced with the reality on the ground.

'30 Home Games' figures to be a different experience as I've been researching and anticipating events and places well ahead of time. Whilst I've indulged my interests in comedy, wrestling and music in my travels, the States is the epicenter and birthplace for many of these things which sets some lofty expectations. That's not even considering the NBA!!!
- Find my NBA Roadtrip to-do list here

Eastern Conference NBA Destinations:
Atlantic (NY, BK, PHI) and Central (CLE, CHI)

'30 Home Games' has been 3+ years in the making and now it's really happening. I can't wait!

Find my Eastern Conference to-do list here:
- Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Tip-off and Schedule (1 of 2)
- Coolspotting: 30HG '2015 NBA RoadTrip' Champagne and Campaign spots (2 of 2)
- Champagning and Campaigning in the NBA Cities: Eastern Conference edition
- Find other Coolspotting and Subculture posts here