After uprooting my life and settling down in Paris, I found myself longing for the comforts of home. It’s not enough that I can’t find an authentic Philly Cheesesteak sandwich to save my life, the bars where they show the NBA games are also in short supply.

The only thing I do that’s close to home is playing online poker at portals like http://www.partypoker.fr/. Although my French is very limited, Texas hold ‘em only has one language: the best hand always win. Since online casinos are relatively new in France, I’m pleased to say that I’m winning on a fairly regular basis as my crappy poker face and half assed bluffing doesn’t impede my game in the online scene. My substantial winnings are redirected to my efforts to find a good sports bar where I can watch the Sixers do their thing and finally get another shot at the finals. The amount of time I spend looking for such a bar in Paris is quite extensive and exhausting. The only recompense I get is the thought that I’m earning as I play poker.

I’ve resorted to watching the game at the Moose bar, a Canadian bar I found online near an Odeon and I saw on their website, MooseParis, that they show NBA games. Unfortunately, the NBA playoffs start around the time after the NHL (September) and the flat screens become predominantly filled with live hockey games. Still, you can ask to have at least one of the screens to be on NBA and the bar is probably as close to home as I’ll get around here. I try to watch every game but the wife is giving me curious looks for hanging out at a Canadian bar, way too often. After a disheartening loss to the Celtics last Saturday, I keep asking myself if I should even bother. The Celtics put up a great defense throughout the first half and ended it with a nice 21 point lead. After that, catching up was pretty much a numbers game with Holiday not doing so well. Young did a pretty good job closing the game with 22 points but the tight Celtic defense is what pretty much closed the deal. I still curse the Lakers ever since the 2001 game and I blame them for everything, regardless of how irrelevant the subject is to them. I checked on the Eagles today in the hope that they’re do better than their NBA counterparts and sure enough, they won against the Buccaneers by a hair. Their overall standing in the NFL is not so good either.

So my teams are not doing so well this year. Maybe we’ll do better next time. I’m still as hopeful as ever but I’m not going to spend a lifetime at a Canadian bar in Paris just to wait for it. Maybe I’ll play a couple of hands of poker until then.