What do baseball and Frank Sinatra have in common? That they were both born in Hoboken. If you’ve never heard of this New Jersey town that looks more or less like San Vicente del Raspeig but has impressive views of the sea and Manhattan skyscrapers, don’t worry. Those who knew where Hoboken was were American soldiers who went to fight during the First World War, as its port was the official embarkation point of more than two million youths called up as infantry. Since then comes the most famous phrase about Hoboken, coined by General John Pershing, who took command of the US troops in 1917. Encouraging children to fight in a war that has been going on for three years but that the US has not officially entered until then, He promised to do everything in his power to end the war as soon as possible. and bring them home for Christmas. So he told them that “Heaven, hell or Hoboken” awaits them on December 25. At the end of the year they would return to heaven or hell or Hoboken.
Our Lucentino fleet has an important battle this Friday. LEB Oro’s last fight. Two days are left and the “play-off” goal of the season has not been finalized yet. We drew with Guuk Gipuzkoa Basket eight points against the ninth in the Modernization Center. If TAU wins their match against Alimerka Oviedo Baloncesto, a defeat will doom us to play at Castellón next week. this is it the outcome of the weekend leaves us with two choices. No Hoboken waiting for HLA Alicante. All will be to play heaven or hell. We either win at home and secure the first games of the playoffs, or we shoot downhills from Castellón to consume our last bullet against Orenga’s men. TAU visits Pumarín on Saturday against a team that plays for permanence and salvation, while those from Castellón mathematically increase their chances of making the playoffs. The only way to not stick to the said outcome is to beat Gipuzkoa., who beat us by ten points in the first round. An average that should not be overlooked in the final calculations of the regular season. Rafa Monclova’s men better give their fans a win to complete the “play-off” at home. This is the sky that awaits us today. Otherwise, we’d go to hell, where we’d have to decide everything while waiting for the results of the rest… and in the final battle.
American soldiers in the First World War dreamed of returning safely to Hoboken. Either that or death. We have already returned to our home, to Pedro Ferrándiz, to our castle. Only the courage of our warriors will tell whether we live here to reap the glory of fighting in the playoffs or, on the contrary, wait for hell to die defeated in this battle.