As an NBL fan who was living overseas during the "height" of the league's lows, it is somewhat gratifying to only have stumbled across the following video right now in 2011. This skit produced for a show called The Mansion -- which ironically enough, I've never heard of -- on the Comedy Channel, pokes fun at the NBL's troubles circa 2008, including the fact that many people have not heard of some of the teams or are aware that the games are on.

I do find it amusing, if a little depressing. However, it's with a light heart that I can watch this, safe in the knowledge that basketball in Australia is safely on the return to some form of solidarity.

Sure, things are not at the level of their late '80s / early '90s height -- and perhaps they never will be again -- but they certainly are on the rebound (no pun intended, but I'll take it). It's refreshing to be a spectator during an NBL season where the talk is not of which teams are folding, but rather of which ones will get the nod to return to the league (with interested parties connected to the Brisbane Bullets, Newcastle Falcons and Melbourne team #2).

The Sydney Kings are back in the league and managing to draw league-leading attendances, despite sitting on the bottom rung of the ladder and irrespective of at one point maintaining a losing streak longer than an Ater Majok arm. The New Zealand Breakers are providing a formidable NBL presence across the Tasman, no doubt leading to increased interest in the land of the long white cloud. Teams in Far North Queensland are putting up solid competition against last year's Grand Finalists Perth and Wollongong. It's all going off... or at least it is on it's way in that general direction... and no, I don't mean in a sour milk type of way, but more like the TV advertisements featuring the ticking timebomb.

So on that basis, I can watch the following skit from mid-2008 with a wry smile, rather than a sulking frown.

Tough news has filtered out today for Brisbane Bullets fans. It seems that their most recent bid to get a franchise together and returned to the National Basketball League has been punctured again.

According to the always clued-in Boti Nagy at the Adelaide Advertiser, there is now more chance of the Newcastle Falcons returning to the NBL than than the Bullets:

Representatives of mining and racing magnate Nathan Tinkler's Tinkler Sports Group and Newcastle basketball met yesterday with Basketball Australia boss Larry Sengstock regarding the return to the NBL of the Falcons.

TSG plans to take control of the Newcastle Knights NRL club and is keen on backing the Falcons, who helped launch the NBL in 1979.

The Falcons lasted 20 years, then from 2003-06, Hunter Pirates represented one of basketball's primary areas.

"As a league we are encouraged by an organisation such as the Tinkler Group's interests in re-establishing an NBL club in the Newcastle district," Sengstock said.

BA's top priority remains establishing a presence again in Brisbane and a second team in Melbourne but I believe the Newcastle meeting went well and the Falcons may yet be back in 2013.

More background on the Newcastle consortium here.

Having waited for the Sydney Kings to return to the NBL (as they thankfully did this season), I can empathise with the plight of both Bullets and Falcons fans (as well as those in Victoria waiting for a second Melbourne team). Unfortunately, things don't always turn out as we would like them in a perfect world. One suggestion that always looms is for a community group to get together and resurrect a team, as per either the Wollongong Hawks or Cairns Taipans models. The best of luck to all of you.

One thing which is sometimes repeated to the point of cliché is that sport breaks down the barriers of colour, race, ethnicity, religion and language. The thing is, it's largely true.

Take a look at the World Championships or Olympics, where athletes of all creeds and backgrounds come together in the spirit of sporting achievement and international competition. Alternatively, take a look at the current make-up of America's National Basketball Association... this season will see the first ever NBA regular season games played in Europe (following in the footsteps of the USA's National Football League). The NBA regularly sends athletes to the farthest reaches of the world to provide inspiration through the Basketball Without Borders program. Meanwhile, what was once an American professional game is broadcast in numerous languages right across the world and features 84 international players from 38 countries (as at the start of the 2010/11 season).

Those players come together through the spirit of sport, making friendships, forming rivalries and decreasing ignorance of foreign cultures along the way. A perfect example of this mixing pot can be seen with the Portland Trail Blazers' group of buddies comprised of Australian Patty Mills, Spain's Rudy Fernandez and Frenchman Nicolas Batum. The trio have been of great support to each other, in what is a surprising mixture of ethnicities from varied backgrounds. 

Of course, this melting pot can occur on more micro levels as well. It can bring sub-cultures together, in one community. And it regularly does, when any group of kids get together for a pickup game of basketball on a street court. I've lost count of how many times I've done it myself and no doubt you have seen the same scenario played out numerous times. A person's background, colour and socio-economic group matter little when you are putting together a collection of people to play some hoops.

The Sydney Kings have long been a gathering force in bringing together the various sub-communities of Sydney. Playing out of the city's Chinatown, on game night Anglo-Saxon CBD "suits" can be seen mixing with Asian-Australians from Sydney's West, surfies from the south and Europeans from Sydney's inner-west. And that is just for starters.

The Kings have long recognised the binding entity that they represent·in this respect and have done a tremendous job over the years (to varying degrees with the various ownership groups that have been in place) in celebrating the diversity of the Australian ethnic makeup. One such example of this occurred on Friday night when the Kings hosted the Adelaide 36ers at the Kingdome.

Prior to the NBL matchup, the Kingdome played stage to a spectacle of the Filipino basketball community. Whilst being a smart marketing move by surely increasing attendance at the game, bringing in additional Filipino supporters, the occasion served as an opportunity for the wider people of Sydney to find a common bond they may share with Filipino-Australians.

The Australian Government, through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship recognised this contribution to cross-cultural pollenation and conducted some interviews before the game, with this video the result:

The night was presented with the collaboration of Hoopdreamz, an outfit setup by Marco Selorio, a Sydney-based Filipino basketball aficionado.

As if the state of Queensland had not already copped enough, there is a cyclone on the way. Wide-spread flooding in the Sunshine State has been widely publicised, causing immense damage. With Queenslanders in the midst of recovery efforts from those floods, there are now reports of Cyclone Yasi making its way across the Pacific, with residents in Cairns in particular warned to prepare for the worst.

The category five cyclone (as big as it gets) has meant that the National Basketball League has been forced to make the sensible decision of postponing Friday night's game between the Perth Wildcats and Cairns Taipans, originally scheduled to be played at the Cairns Convention Centre. The match will now be moved to 7:30pm Saturday 26 March, at the same venue.
A Stern Warning

Flood waters have ravaged the Australian state of Queensland through the end of 2010, with the situation continuing right now. At least 200,000 people and 70 towns, including capital city Brisbane, have been effected by the tragedy. Three-quarters of the huge state of Queensland have been declared a disaster zone, with billions of dollars worth of damage being caused. Read more about the tragedy here.

If you're more of a visual person, you can get a feel for the impact of the floods at this remarkable infographics link.

Australians are known for their resilience and for their ability to band together in times of hardship. That 'mateship' has been seen in Queensland as strangers have helped other strangers out, as people cling to life and try to start the process of rebuilding their shattered homes and lives, with unimaginable damage in many cases.

Foremost in this effort comes a great financial cost. Many sports stars have stepped forward to help out in these circumstances, including Aussie NBA stars Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills. Bogut has put together a fantastic NBA games/accomodation package to see the Los Angeles Lakers v Milwaukee Bucks, which currently is fetching over $53,000 in online bidding. Meanwhile Mills has lent his support by having proceeds from his jerseys bought at the Blazers store donated, as well as putting out the word on video.

Australia's NBL itself and its member clubs have also helped out in fundraising efforts. They too have been joined by sports stars such as soccer's Tim Cahill and international tennis players who yesterday competed in a Rally For Relief in a prelude to the Australian Open. 

Now Daniel Eade (@DanielEade) has put together a star-studded array of Australian basketball household names in a basketball event to be titled "Charity Baskets". All proceeds from the event will go to victims of the Queensland Floods. Names such as Andrew Gaze, Chris Anstey and Leapin' Leroy Loggins should be enough to get any Aussie basketball fan salivating and no doubt will. However they will be joined by other legends including Lanard Copeland, Darryl D-Mac McDonald, Rob Rose, Marcus Timmons, Frank Drmic, Andrew Parkinson, Darren Lucas, multiple slam dunk champion Brett Rainbow, Adonis Jordan, Darryl Pearce, Andre Moore... and more.

The match should be an absolute spectacle and will no doubt sell out, so if you are in Melbourne, get yourself down to the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre early on January 30th for a midday start to proceedings. Tickets will be sold on the door at the bargain prices of $20 for adults, $10 for kids and $50 for a family. You would be hard-pressed to get prices like that for this level of talent. Appreciation must be given to the legends who have pulled themselves out of retirement for this game.

You can follow the event on Facebook. And if you're on twitter, you can help to drum up recognition of Charity Baskets with the hashtag #CB4QF.

Of course, if you're outside of Melbourne or indeed outside of Australia, don't fret. You too can donate to help out victims of the floods! Either select from one of the various sports-related auction benefits mentioned above, or donate directly via the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. As I say, this can be done from anywhere in the world.

Get in there and help out some people in drastic need, if you can.