kilicaslan b-ball

ishaq took us to a basketball game on new years,
an official holiday in turkey.
we went downtown to an indoor basketball court
next to the soccer stadium.
we entered to the chants of young, deep-voiced men.

many of ishaq’s students were on the court,
several teachers were in the stands,
and probably 15% of the audience were women,
most young girls cheering for their team.

since ishaq’s school, kilicarslan, has about 4 girls attending
it’s basically an all-boys school.
not that i was expecting it in this conservative city,
there were no cheerleaders,
but the young men continuously filled the small arena
with their chants.

i couldn’t understand a word,
but it sounded fun and i couldn’t help but smile
at their obvious efforts to humiliate the crowd cheering
on the other side.
and it wasn’t just chants and cheers.
they jumped up and down in their seats in unison,
often with their arms over their schoolmate’s shoulders.

we arrived just before halftime
with kilicarslan ahead of the opposing team by about double the points.
apparently they’ve been number 1 or thereabouts in all of turkey for a few years.
several students came by to greet ishaq and family.

they game was fast-paced and full of action,
and had me reminiscing of my high school years
when i sat the bench.

the cheering section was so constant in its chants
that i don’t think they paid much attention to the game.
there was one point in a chant
where they would put their fingers to their lips
and go: shhhh.
apparently, they had to shush over the bad words
out of respect for the school director and teachers in the audience.
cheerleaders are never that fun.

the loosing team’s cheering section
petered out about halfway through the second half
while kilicarslan’s crowd continued on in glory.
regardless, both teams played hard until the final buzzer,
but kilicarslan won by a large margin.

i can’t wait until the next game.
maybe understanding these naughty cheers
will motivate me to learn some more turkish.