The All-Star Race hadn't started yet, but the TV in the cafeteria was already full.

It was a weekend, and the restaurateur had planned to close early and go back to spend time with his family, but when he saw the crowd gathered in the restaurant, he immediately dispelled the idea, with so many customers, business must not stop.

"Do you need beer? There are also a variety of sweets...... "The clerk began to peddle food.

Americans are accustomed to spending money for service, they watch football in other people's stores, occupy the store's place, and enjoy the store's stove, so naturally they have to pay something, so many people have paid for some beer or snacks.

George McCann hesitated and ordered a bottle of beer, and at the age of 19, he is the legal beer drinking age in Illinois.

After the lifting of Prohibition in 1933, all states imposed a limit on the drinking age, and George McCann's state of Illinois stipulated that beer could be drunk at the age of 18 and hard liquor at the age of 21. By the late fifties, almost all states raised the drinking age to 21 years old, and in the seventies states loosened the laws, many states lowered the legal drinking age to 18 or 19 years old, which led to a huge increase in the sales of alcohol in the United States in the seventies, and the popularity of alcohol also led to the birth of various cultures in the United States in the seventies that seemed non-mainstream at the time.

The U.S. Congress passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which included a provision that states that did not set 21 as the minimum drinking age would not receive federal highway subsidies, and states raised the minimum drinking age to 21 in order to receive highway subsidies. By 1988, the legal drinking age had been raised to 21 throughout the United States.

In the 40s, although the law imposed a minimum age for drinking, it was not so strictly enforced, and Americans did not have ID cards, so they could not carry their birth certificates with them in order to buy alcohol. Therefore, you can only judge whether your age is allowed to drink alcohol by visual inspection, and many times the owner of the alcohol seller will also turn a blind eye and sell the alcohol to minors. And a big man like George McCann at 6'10" looks like an adult at fourteen or fifteen years old, so restaurateurs don't question his age.

There is a joke that after the 2007 NBA draft, the rookies decided to go for a drink to celebrate, and Durant went to buy alcohol, but the bartender was reluctant to sell it to Durant on the grounds that Durant was carrying a school bag and looked like a minor, so he couldn't sell alcohol to him. At this time, Auden came over and said to the clerk that he was here to help me buy wine, so the clerk sold the wine to Durant, and told Auden when he left that when he bought wine in the future, he should not let his underage son do it for him!

Nineteen-year-old Durant does look a little young and immature, and nineteen-year-old Auden, who looks like he is forty years old, is definitely believed!

Closer to home, so many people gathered in front of the TV that George McCann felt cramped around him, and he looked around and saw a lot of familiar faces, all of whom had been here yesterday to watch the game.

"Big man, you're here again today!" A voice rang out from the side, and George McCann turned his head to look at a fan sitting behind him yesterday.

I only heard this fan ask, "Big man, you must be a basketball player, right?" ”

George McCann nodded: "I play on the basketball team at DePaul University. ”

"Do you know what today's event is? I've heard that it's called an All-Star Match, but it should be different from yesterday, right? The fan asked.

"Yes, unlike yesterday, yesterday was about skills, shooting, and dunks, and today's match is an official game." George McCann replied:

The fan nodded with a look of pity: "I thought I could still see the kind of game like yesterday!" What a shame. If you're just playing basketball, it's not interesting. Basketball is just too boring, nowhere near as exciting as baseball and football. ”

"It's said that their basketball has a new kind of rules, which is different from what we know now." George McCann spoke.

As a basketball player on a college team, George McCann must know more about the new basketball league than the average person, so he knows that the new league uses new rules. However, what exactly the new rules are, George McCann is not clear. The New Basketball League doesn't have a team in Chicago, and George McCann hasn't seen the New League's games, but he's gotten some information about the new rules by hearsay.

At this point, the televised broadcast of the All-Star Match finally began.

Wilson, the narrator, holds a pre-prepared document detailing information about the new rules.

In this All-Star match, Wilson was not only responsible for commenting on the game, but also introducing the new rules to the audience in front of the television.

Fans who come to Madison Square Garden to watch a game have already seen the New York Knicks, so they know something about the new rules, but the audience in front of the TV doesn't know about the new rules. What three-second zone expansion, offensive three-second rule, 24-second offense violation, etc., the audience in front of the TV does not know.

The new basketball league has only nine teams, and the scope of influence is only these nine cities, although there are large cities in the United States such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but the population covered is not even half of the total population of the United States. The audience sitting in front of the TV is distributed throughout the United States, and these TV viewers are completely unaware of the new basketball rules, and the basketball in their minds is still stuck in the old rules.

In order to let the audience in front of the TV understand the game, the commentator Wilson is needed in the process of explaining the game, and by the way, the new rules must be popularized.

For example, in the four major sports leagues in the United States, only one basketball can become popular in China, and the other three sports cannot become popular in China. For example, rugby, which ranks first in the United States, is a sport that only a few people can understand in China, and among these "few people", there are a few people who can know the rules of rugby well. Many sports fans in China can interpret basketball or football tactics in detail, but they don't know the most basic rules of rugby, just see a group of people crashing together, with a blanket face.

Chen Qiang's new league is just to make some changes in the rules of basketball, basketball is still the same basketball, not a new sport, fans understand basketball under the new rules, and they don't need to learn from scratch. As long as the commentator can explain it clearly, it will not be a problem for the fans to understand.

So it's a test of the narrator's ability.

On the commentary seat, Wilson sighed lightly: "While commenting on the game, I also have to introduce new rules, and the $100 commentary fee is really hard to earn!" ”

This is the first time in history that the entire basketball game has been televised, and of course, it is also the first time Wilson has televised the entire basketball game, and the key is to use the new rules, and Wilson is inevitably a little nervous and a little overwhelmed at this time.

At this moment, Wilson couldn't help but think of Chen Qiang's previous invitation to explain the situation during the All-Star Game. At that time, Wilson asked Chen Qiang why he was looking for him to explain, and Chen Qiang told Wilson that the reason why he chose him was because he was the best commentator!

"I'm the best basketball commentator!" Wilson repeated the phrase in his mind. Chen Qiang's bowl of chicken soup for the soul suddenly filled Wilson with confidence.

In the headphones, the sound of the countdown of the director sounded.

Wilson coughed dryly, cleared his throat, and said into the microphone: "Dear audience friends, welcome to the All-Star Match!" ”

……

The All-Star Game has finally begun.

Since there is no division between East and West, the two sides of the match are not the East and West Stars, but the red and blue teams.

On the court, the players of the red and blue teams came and went, and on the side of the field, the coaches of both sides were also racking their brains to direct the game.

The cheers of the fans at the scene were higher and higher, and every time a goal was scored, it would cause thunderous applause from the surrounding fans.

In front of the TV, the fans also watched with relish.

"The pace of the game is so fast! As soon as the ball was dribbled to the frontcourt, I couldn't wait to start attacking. One fan commented.

"Didn't you hear the commentators, they have a 24-second offense rule, and if you can't do it within 24 seconds, then the ball will be converted, so the attacking team has to do it within 24 seconds. At the very least, the basketball touches the basket. Someone next to him explained.

"I see! No wonder they were in such a hurry to attack. But I think it's even more exciting to play this fast-paced game, because basketball is too slow, and every player is slow, constantly passing the ball to find opportunities, which makes people want to doze off. Now it's different, take a sip of beer and you're done with an attack! ”

For these fans in front of the TV, they were watching a basketball game under the new rules for the first time, and the fast-paced offense under the new rules immediately attracted them and changed their perception of the game. Gone are the slow-paced basketball they remember, replaced by fast-paced offense and more intense confrontations.

And this is an All-Star match, the level of the players is the best in the league, the top players play together, and the game is definitely much better to watch than ordinary games.

These fans in front of the TV watched a basketball game with the new rules for the first time, and it was still a high-level game, and soon they were completely immersed in the game.

George McCann has long known that the new basketball league is using new rules, but it is also the first time he has seen this kind of game with new rules.

"Fast-paced offense, more intense confrontation, this kind of basketball is really exciting!" George McCann had his eyes glued to the TV screen, he never thought that a basketball game could be played so well!

At this time, George McCann's hands couldn't help but start shaking, and he couldn't wait to play a game of basketball with new rules.

"I'm going to play there too!"

At this moment, George McCann seems to have found his purpose in life!

……

In the box at Madison Square Garden, Chen Qiang frowned.

Because the players are playing too seriously.

This kind of very serious style of play is not the all-star match that Chen Qiang wants. In Chen Qiang's impression, the All-Star Game should be performed against each other in the first three quarters, how to play fancy, and wait until the fourth quarter, and then the two sides will show their strength and play seriously for a few minutes.

However, today's All-Star Game is not the case, from the beginning of the game, the players on both sides are extremely serious, no one goes to fancy performances, every player is strictly implementing the tactics formulated by the coach before the game, they try to play every ball, and the attitude towards the game is more serious than playing the playoffs.

The players are fighting bravely on the field, and the coaches on both sides are fighting wits off the field, constantly making targeted tactical arrangements, and the importance of the game is as if it has reached the finals.

"What's going on? Isn't it an all-star match? Is this what it looks like? I don't know, I thought this was the seventh game of the finals! Chen Qiang frowned.

Edward-Ireland, who was next to him, noticed that Chen Qiang's brows were frowning and he looked a little unhappy, so he asked, "Mr. Chen, is there any problem?" ”

"Edward, don't you think they're taking it too seriously?" Chen Qiang asked.

"This is an all-star match, of course you have to play seriously!" Edward Ireland spoke.

Chen Qiang was a little speechless for a moment, he was not in the same dimension as Edward-Ireland at all, and he didn't know how to explain his thoughts to Edward-Ireland.

Edward Ireland said: "It's an All-Star game, only the best players in the league can participate, so everybody wants to win so that they can prove that they are the best of the good players, and of course they have to give it their all!" The same goes for both coaches, who are both hungry to beat each other, and for them, it may prove that they are the best coaches in the league! ”

"I see." Chen Qiang nodded in realization.

In the future All-Star Game, perhaps only the All-Star MVP is worth fighting for, and many stars don't even attach much importance to the All-Star Game, and playing All-Star is just for entertainment. And in the future, in addition to the All-Star Game, the league will have an annual awards ceremony every year, and that's where the stars prove themselves compared to the All-Star Game, and the stars don't have to prove themselves in the All-Star Game.

The regular season MVP, scoring champion, rebounding champion, assist champion, best sixth man, best rookie, best team, best defensive team, best coach, etc., will be announced at the annual awards ceremony, which is a recognition of the player's strength and also means that the player is the best person in the league in some way.

Now Chen Qiang only planned the All-Star Game, not the annual awards ceremony, so the All-Star Game has become a place for stars and coaches to prove themselves.

For example, the two head coaches who were selected as All-Stars, the two are equal, but these two must want to separate who is first and who is second, so the All-Star game has become a battlefield for the two head coaches to fight off. In the eyes of the two coaches, whoever wins in this All-Star game is the "No. 1 Coach in the League", and for the name of "No. 1 Coach in the League", the two must be desperate to win.

It's the same with the players, they don't want to admit defeat and want to beat their opponents to prove that they are the best. It is precisely because of this mentality that players and coaches treat the All-Star Game the same way they treat the Finals.

"Miscalculation, this All-Star game has become a battlefield for players and coaches to compete for the first place in the league. Looks like we're going to have to move the annual awards ceremony out next year. Chen Qiang said secretly in his heart.

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