Ricky Rubio looks awfully good in Barca colors | SCRIPT FIGHTING

If you're a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, you're probably pissed off that Ricky Rubio is going to be playing in Spain until at least 2011, but I like the deal that sent Rubio to Regal FC Barcelona.

Frankly, I don't care if Rubio never wears a T-Wolves uniform. Hell, I don't care if Rubio never wears an NBA uniform.

Because Ricky Rubio is going to be a rock star in Barcelona.

The impression I get is that the kid is already a budding rock star in Spain and Europe for his professional and international exploits. Now he's taking a step up from small DKV Joventut to grand FC Barcelona.

Juan Carlos Navarro, of Barca and Spanish hoops fame, is no slouch, but FC Barcelona is one of the most prestigious futbol clubs in the world. Barca, 2009 champions of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League, has winning in its veins.

Being around a top notch basketball team, global superstars like Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and the Furia Roja triumvirate of Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta and the whole "Mes que un club" atmosphere is going to rub off on the 18-year old from El Masnou.

Ricky Rubio will be playing for something year-round, be it the ACB title, basketball Copa del Rey or Euroleague championship. And when he's not playing for Barca, he'll be playing for Spain in Eurobasket, World Championship and Olympic competition.

He's got enough of a stage to prove himself - with the adulation of millions, no less. He could be the first basketball star in Europe to become as big as the soccer stars, and possibly take the popularity of basketball another level there.

In the meantime, the Minnesota Timberwolves will probably continue to be the Minnesota Timberwolves, wallowing in between mediocrity and wackness, and freezing under sub-zero temperatures. Between Barca glory and Mediterranean climate, and T-Wolves misery and Midwestern American weather, it's a no brainer.

If you were Ricky Rubio and had a chance (as I said in my earlier piece "To all you watermelon and fried chicken eaters") to transcend time and space, wouldn't you do the same?