Mike Monroe: Fab's Fans

[Spurs Brazil]

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...onroe_fab.html

Mike Monroe: Fab's Fans
As I was de-planing at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, my Express-News sports section in hand, two passengers took keen interest in the photo on the sports cover. It showed Miami's Shaquille O'Neal hammering Manu Ginobili to the floor during the Spurs' victory over the Heat on Wednesday at the AT&T Center.

"What did Shaq do to Manu?" one of the passengers said, with a thick Spanish accent that sounded su iously similar to that of Ginobili's accented English. "He did that to him before in one game in Los Angeles. Doesn't he like Manu?"

Turns out the two Spurs fans, Diego and Sebastian, were from Cordoba, Argentina, the hometown of Spurs center Fabricio Oberto, and they were en route from Dallas, where they now live, to New Orleans to see the Spurs play the Hornets on Friday night. They are bringing a huge Argentine flag to New Orleans Arena, and they promise to be noisy and rowdy in support of, in order, Oberto, Ginobili and the Spurs. Three more of their Argentine friends joined them in the concourse. All five of them have tickets for the game.

"We like Manu," Diego said, "but Oberto is from our town. He is very good at rebounds and blocking his man. We wish (Luis) Scola was with them, too."

I told them Ginobili was off to a great start, leading the Spurs in scoring in the first five games, playing as well as he did during his All-Star season of 2004-05.

"Yes," Diego said. "He should have been MVP (of the 2005 Finals).

I had to confess I had been a voter for Finals MVP in 2005 and voted not for Ginobili, but for Tim Duncan.

"That's OK," Diego said. "We will still yell to you at the game tomorrow night."

I look forward to hearing from Fabricio's friends on Friday night.

[thousandth]

His fans weren't disappointed when they saw him play in New Orleans last night.