The 3rd final tournament of Red Bull King of the Rock was held on the playgrounds of Basketball Team Red Star in Kalemegdan fortress in the heart of Belgrade. The seats were filled to the last place with crowd which extended moreover around the fortress looking for a place with a view towards the playgrounds in order to see the best Serbian basketball players.
ABOUT RED BULL KING OF THE ROCK
In 2010 Red Bull produced the first and only sporting event to be held on “The Rock” since the inmates left over 50 years ago with 64 competitors from the West Coast of the United States. In 2011, Red Bull again created an outdoor basketball venue on one of the world’s most iconic and recognizable locations and did it with ballers competing from around the globe. The caliber of the players was higher, the competition was fiercer and the determination to win the crown was greater. In 2012, the intensity of the play was unparalleled. The competitors demonstrated a level of talent that was even more powerful than 2011. It was an awesome sight.
On September 28, 2013, King of the Rock is back and promises to be better than ever. With some of the world’s best players converging upon Alcatraz, we have the opportunity to showcase their talent, provide these global basketball athletes with a truly amazing Red Bull experience and witness incredible street basketball in a truly iconic location.
Here’s how it works, the qualifiers and finals will incorporate the normal one-on-one basketball set-up where players go head-to-head on an outdoor court, using a single elimination tournament bracket. In other words, it’s win or go home. The rules and scoring will be the same as regular hoops, shots will either count as 2 or 3 points and five fouls is an automatic L. Here’s where things get crazy, the players will engage in four intense half-court games going on at once, each getting it’s own referee, court manager and scoreboard. All winners must immediately proceed onto the next court to face another player, this is where a player must bring his A-game and show some serious stamina, if he wants to be crowned Red Bull King of the Rock.
THE HISTORY OF ALCATRAZ
As far as maximum security prisons go, Alcatraz Island a.k.a. The Rock, was one of the most infamous, housing some of the most hardened and dangerous criminals in US Penal System history. While many have tried to escape the confines of the prison walls, Alcatraz’s complete isolation from society and the hazardous elements of the San Francisco Bay made it undeniably escape proof. Originally, Alcatraz was used as a military prison to hold Civil War prisoners and captives from the Spanish-American War, in 1934 Alcatraz officially became a federal prison. Alcatraz received a complete renovation to assure that the facility would harbor no weaknesses, a direct result of The Great Depression and prohibition ushering in an overwhelming crime wave, especially from organized crime during the late 20’s and 30’s and Alcatraz was the ideal place to detain America’s new public enemies.
For 29 years, the cells of Alcatraz were home to some of America’s most unsavory criminal clientele, such names as George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Robert Stroud aka Birdman of Alcatraz, Alvin Karpis, Bumpy Johnson and last but not least, Al Capone. It was the “whose who” of the crime world, a sort of all-star line up of the baddest men to go against the Federal government.
On March 21, 1963, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (yeah that Robert F. Kennedy) shut the cells door of Alcatraz for good due to operating cost and severely eroded buildings from a half of century of salt water saturation. Over the years, the island has been featured in everything from movies, cartoons, books, TV shows, comics and games. Today, the island is a historic landmark and controlled by the National Park Services which offers visitor tours. Still, even though it seems that Alcatraz has been tamed, its grim past continues to loom over the island.