WHAT’S DANISH FOR ‘A HOOT’?

The Dream Team had a good laugh when a Danish sports columnist asked during a news conference last week why a basket is worth two points.

The columnist, who writes under the name Madsen for Copenhagen tabloid Ekstra Bladet, hopes his readers had the same response.

Madsen’s specialty, according to colleagues, is humor. They say that he asked the question as a joke.

“He writes crazy, funny stories,” said Jan Lund, a reporter for the more serious Jyllands-Posten in Denmark. “It’s a Monty Python thing.”

Madsen’s inquiry was widely reported in the U.S. media. Most fell for the prank.

“I can’t believe that anyone would think we are so stupid in Denmark,” Lund said. “We play basketball.”