THE DREAM LEAGUE
National Basketball Tournaments
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UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS |
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the first link underneath National Tournaments on the www.dreamleague.org homepage. Asian Ballers Head to Mecca of Hoops and Celebrate Vic's Inspiration
Who was Vic Cheng? Tournament Schedule
Whatado: www.allstarweek.com (New!) FREE All-Star Block Party Saturday minutes away (New!) Directions to Gym Tasty Travel in Houston by Food Network (New!) Bill Walton says All-Star Weekend is sports' greatest 72 hours Top 10 list from some guy at Denver '05, sort of an anti-partier Here's a guy who's there to party and party only (Denver '05) Good luck trying to crash LeBron's official Houston '06 VIP party Note: Tickets to the Rookie/Sophomore Game, the Three-Point/Slam Dunk/ 2-Ball Contest, and the All-Star Game are not available to the general public except via premium ticket brokers. Admittance to NBA banquets and conferences is also not available to the general public. DATES: Sat Feb 18 to Sun Feb 19, 2006 We are not planning to have games on Fri Feb 17 LOCATION(S): Houston Community Center gym(s) within 10-15 minutes drive of NBA All-Star festivities. See hotels below. TEAMS/DIVISIONS: There will only be one division of 6 to 8 teams, unless overwhelming demand warrants another division. Teams will be accepted and placed appropriately on a first-paid basis. FORMAT: 8-team consolation bracket (min. 2 games guaranteed). Last 4 teams to pay in full will get least consideration with respect to preferred game times. HOW TO ENTER YOUR TEAM: There are 3 quick, simple steps... (1) Have your captain click on the REGISTER link on the left-hand navigation panel and fill in all fields. (2) Establish contact with us at rich@dreamleague.org. (3) Pay team entry fee of $320 on or before Thu Feb 2 -- see credit card button on right side of this page, at top, or click here. Back to top HOTEL, AIRFARE, RENTAL CARS, AND OTHER COSTS: Use kayak.com for the latest and greatest airfares, hotel rates, and rental cars. To help you with planning, here are the essentials... Hotels. Most of the hotels (and motels) near the NBA All-Star headquarters downtown are already booked. However, there seem to be some vacancies near IAH airport. Please use one of the following websites for your search: ual.com, kayak.com, and hotelclub.com. Keep in mind, you can usually cancel hotel reservations up to 48 hours prior.
Airfare. Since 80% of Dream Leaguers currently call the Bay Area home, we will list the current airfares from SFO/OAK/SJC to IAH: There seem to be only three airlines with direct flights, United ($390), Southwest ($319), and Continental ($290). Southwest only has one nonstop from OAK-IAH (no nonstops from/to SJC). Again, kayak.com is your best starting point for help. Airfares listed are as of 12/31 and may not include taxes and airport fees. Rental cars. You will definitely need a rental car to get from the hotel to the gym to the NBA All-Star festivities. Again, we recommend kayak.com as a starting point. If you try Hertz, use CDP 1450445 (AmericaWest coupon code). It is probably best to rent your car at the airport. Also, keep in mind that Hertz and Avis consistently rank higher in customer satisfaction because their systems allow you to get into your car right off the shuttle. Expect longer lines with the other companies. Back to top
DISCOUNTS/FREEBIES/OTHER: Here are some ways to shave off some costs... Refer a team we don't already know and we will give you a $30 referral fee, which is an 8- to 9-percent finders fee. The situation must consist of your team *and* another team with at least 6 players brand new to Dream League on the team referred (not your team); you cannot refer your own team. Referral fees go to captains only and the referred team must not have already made contact with the league on its own prior to your referral. Referral fees will not be paid until referred teams have paid in full. Corporate Grant/Gift Matching will entitle you to a FREE Dream League Spalding TF-1000 basketball. Have your captain and teammates lookup their company name at http://www.matchinggifts.com/tdec/, then send an email to info@dreamleague.org for next steps. Scorekeeping, video production, and game articles are paid on a per-game basis; email info@dreamleague.org. We are looking for one person with whom we will refund your equivalent player fee (i.e., you would play in Houston for free) if you do a good job of documenting and taking pictures of your exploits during All-Star Weekend -- the PG-13 portions, of course! Back to top TEAMS, COMPETITION, AND PRIZES: Let's face it, for some of us, enjoying the All-Star festivities and partying will be more important than winning the tournament championship. As such, our focus is on making sure this is a great experience for Asian ballers. Teams. To keep things manageable, we are only accepting the first 8 teams to pay in full. We give special preferences to teams that pay early. If you are one of the last four teams to pay in full, plan on playing at 9AM or 10AM on Sunday morning. Commissioner's Team(s). Dream League will be sending a COMMISSIONER'S TEAM for those of you who are unable to bring your entire team. There is a discounted $32 player fee, which is a 20% discount off the regular team entry fee. Contact rich@dreamleague.org if you are interested. Competition. With only 8 teams in only one division, the caliber of play could range a lot -- but then again, it's All-Star Weekend, so let's go enjoy the show. As with our 60-team Bay Area league, we will do our best to ensure that everyone has a good time on the court as well as off the court. The teams that have signed up so far represent a pretty strong caliber of play in the national Asian American basketball scene. Prizes. Due to budget constraints, the championship team to receive 8 individual trophies only. There will be no prizes for 2nd place. There will be no MVP award, but there will be a Most Inspirational Player Award; we call it the "Vic" award in honor of Vic Cheng's positive love for the game. Back to top RULES AND REGULATIONS: Dream League's format goes by its namesake -- we utilize pro-style rules. Click on RULES & REGULATIONS in the left-hand navigation panel for more info. The pro-style rules we use include a 24-second shotclock, 6 personal fouls, 8 seconds to cross halfcourt, double-bonus on the 5th team foul in the quarter or 2nd team foul in the last 0:24 of quarters 1 thru 3 and 2:00 of the 4th quarter and OT, advance ball to halfcourt on timeouts, stopped clock on all made baskets and whistles in the last 2:00 of the game, jump ball on held balls, and more (please read up). To stay within the 1-hour limitations of gym rentals, we employ 9:00 quarters with the clock running until 7:00, then the clock stops during 1) free throws, 2) jump balls, and 3) the last 0:10 of the quarter on whistle and made basket, as well as 4 thirty-second timeouts per game (carries over at halftime), plus 1 each overtime. First OT is 2:00, second is 1:00, third is sudden death. SPECIAL THANKS: Nancy Hsu, Frank Cheng, and friends and family of Vic Cheng; Audrey Trevino and Lisette Luna of the Houston Rockets marketing department; Moses Becerra and Kenneth Allen of the City of Houston; Sgt. Larry Long; Yee Tran; Karl Dever; Tom Brow; John Hu; Saju Phillips; and Ice. DISCLAIMERS: Dream League is a registered trademark and may not be used without permission. The "R" is a registered trademark of Rocketball, Ltd. and the Houston Rockets. Other than informal sponsorship of this tournament, Dream League is not a subsidiary nor normally affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The NBA is a registered trademark of NBA Properties, Inc. The NBA and Dream League are not affiliated in any manner. Back to top | ||||||||||||||||||
