Professional basketball, despite having played a crucial role in my youth, was not something I thought I would miss while abroad. I'd already given up on the sport: I can't say for sure if it's because the quality of NBA basketball has really gone to hell since the days of Bird and Magic or if it's just because I'm a Timberwolves fan, but it had gotten to the point where I couldn't sit still in front of a game for more than five minutes. And parting with the kind of money necessary to witness one of these sloppy, disinterested bore-fests in person with 15,000 nacho-eaters who only make noise when the scoreboard tells them to? Please.