Current Events

Zalgiris – European Cup Winners

Lithuania’s Kauno Zalgiris was greeted by tens of thousands of fans rejoicing the historic victory in the Euroleague Finals in Munich when team members arrived home on April 24th. The team, which marked the victory by shaving off their hair, was met by a host of political leaders including Seimas Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis, who thanked the players for their outstanding performance.

However, the victory-turned-national-holiday nearly switched to a mass riot as the basketball fans flooded the streets of Lithuanian towns and cities celebrating the victory by overturning cars, pulling down billboards, and hitting traffic lights, dustbins and trees. The crowds of basketball fans were dancing, singing in the streets during the night, spraying champagne, and chanting the names of Zalgiris players. Kaunas police and the first army division were called to control the situation.

President Valdas Adamkus called from Washington and said that the victory of the Zalgiris players was a restitution of the name of Lithuanian basketball in the whole continent.

At a special awards ceremony on April 28th, Pres. Adamkus awarded the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas 2nd Grade Order to the team’s chief coach Jonas Kazlauskas. Gediminas 4th Grade Orders were given to seven Zalgiris players -- Dainius Adomaitis, Americans Anthony Lee Bowie and Tyus Dwayne Edney, Tomas Masiulis, Darius Maskoliunas, Kestutis Sestokas, and Jiri Zidek of the Czech Republic. Since the other three leading players -- Saulius Stombergas, Eurelijus Zukauskas, and Mindaugas Zukauskas -- were decorated with Gediminas 4th Grade Orders already last year; Pres. Adamkus handed them letters of gratitude.

The president handed a copy of the decree of Lithuanian citizenship to Zalgiris club co-owner and board member, Shabtay Kalmanovich. Others awarded were Coach Algirdas Brazys and the club’s board chairman Mindaugas Plukas. The rest of the team, including the doctor and masseur, received Gediminas 1st Grade Order medals.

They were also honored in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Government officials and several hundred schoolchildren met the champions carrying the Cup. "Basketball hour" was held there, during which the basketball players imitated government officials and answered questions. A representative of the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius welcomed American players of Tyus Edney and Anthony Bowie.

In addition to the awards, the government allotted four million litai to the team for preparation for the next season.

The owners of the Zalgiris team hinted to Respublika, a Lithuanian daily, that Eurelijus Zukauskas was leaving in the summer for the NBA, and Turkish and Italian teams were interested in Saulius Stombergas and Tyus Edney, who received the title of the Most Valuable Player in the Final Four tournament.u

Source: ELTA News Agency

FYI – from the editor

We’ve received several inquiries regarding our "Books to Note" section. Unless otherwise noted, all books can be ordered at your local bookstore. We’ve tried to mention those books that have recently been released or are still available. If you stumble upon one that is out of print, let us know. We’ll make a note of that in the column.

At the present, we’re collecting a new batch of recently published books. Some can only be purchased from the publishers themselves. That information will be given with the articles.

Another set of inquiries includes questions regarding events in specific locations in the United States. We don’t list all the Lithuanian-American Community chapter events mainly because we don’t receive them in time for people to schedule them into their calendar – usually it’s after the fact.

Many local chapters publish their newsletters, which contain calendars and interesting news. Several chapters that come to mind are the Philadelphia, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Petersburg, Fla., and others.