Our cable provider recently sent us a guide to their programming for the coming weeks, and when I saw their write-up of the coverage for a basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, I had to smile because of its implications for the Dutch perception of Americans, Christmas, and basketball.  Here's the article, and my rough translation into English:

Digest your Christmas dinner in the same way that the Americans do it.  Plop yourself down on the couch and enjoy top-quality basketball.  The Los Angeles Lakers are the defending NBA champions, and they will be facing off against the heir-apparent for the title in 2011:  the Miami Heat, with the Big Three of Lebron James (sic), Dwayne Wade (sic), and Chris Bosh.  A guarantee for fireworks on this otherwise peaceful first day of Christmas.  Miami wants to let it be known that the power dynamics in American basketball are definitively shifting and that the East Coast is now calling the shots.  Led by Kobe Bryant, L.A. is planning to show the Heat's young dogs that they still have a lot to learn.

Funny, huh?

There are perhaps some meaningful insights in there -- such as the depiction of Americans as overstuffed, lazy media-addicts who ditch out on some of the much-prized gezelligheid of lingering for hours at the dinner table to go sit on their overstuffed La-Z-Boys parked in front of the television and consume sports entertainment.  As much as I don't like to admit it, I can see the portrait that they're trying to paint there -- and there may be some valid critique in there.  I also think it's interesting to see that the Dutch still seem to consider basketball as a very American sport (while my impression from American media -- and indeed from seeing other parts of the world -- is that basketball is becoming increasingly international).  They call the sport "American basketball" at one point, and they seem to be trying to illustrate the ways that basketball is uniquely integrated into American cultural experiences such as Christmas.  This observation, I think, may be less valid, especially considering the fact that the Dutch television station is actually going to be showing the game!  But even so, it's interesting to get that little mirror into the Dutch perception of basketball.

While granting some of the insightful information that such a write-up contains, I also think it's funny to see some of the misunderstandings that are perpetuated by the Dutch media.  First of all, I think they significantly overstate the significance that basketball plays in American Christmas celebrations.  Sports in general, yes -- but I would say that American football is more integrally tied-in with the holiday season than basketball is.  Secondly, they're providing a skewed analysis of some of the dynamics at play in the NBA right now, and I honestly don't know how much they're just making up as they go.  For instance, they misspell the names of two of the league's biggest stars, and they portray Miami's "Big Three" as being "young dogs" -- while, in fact, they are some of the NBA's most decorated players these days.  I'm not sure exactly why it strikes me as off (or at least markedly different from the tone that's given to these match-ups by the American media)... but I just intuitively sense that they're perspective on the sport is a lot different than mine, which has been developed by years of following basketball.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting piece.  All in all, I'm excited that the Dutch television stations are broadcasting such a game within the Netherlands (even though it comes on at an unfortunate time of day).  I enjoy the opportunity to view these sorts of things from two angles.