Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last June 1, 2009.
Last Saturday, I attended Sari’s despedida in her house along with my P&G colleagues. It was an eventful night as we got to have our get-together and we gave our farewell messages to Sari. It was actually the very first time that we get to say our farewell message (of all the despedidas I have attended) because we usually write it on some stuff that we gave to the departing member of our team. The night ended. I get to witness someone leaving our team again. It is very sad because I consider her as a friend and I lost one of my key resources in my Problem Management Team. She was also my backup in that team so it was extra difficult for me. But as always, we have to move on after such moments. As to how my team would cope, I do not know. It was a tough moment.
The last month was filled with tough moments for me. For most of it, I had to struggle with my lingering flu. I used to catch flu easily when I was young but this has got to be the longest because it stretched for months. I also could not take sick leaves because I had significantly more work demands. Stress really crept up as I had to work from 8 AM to 7 PM for most days (except on Mondays). My skin was terribly sun burnt last month and I had to annoyingly peel it off. I prefer my natural skin color that is why I hate getting my skin burnt. String of bad luck. Then, I lost a valuable team player. Tough times, indeed.
I heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as the month is about to end. Maybe, my luck will change come June. I woke up at the last day of May and I opened my Internet browser. I remembered that there was a Cleveland-Orlando playoff game that day and I slept on it that was why I had to check the results. My heart was beating fast. I intentionally skipped the game because I thought that watching it or viewing it in the Internet as the action is ongoing was unlucky. The Cavs were having a tough series. You can add this to one of my irrational actions due to being a fan (http://jeffdelprado.multiply.com/journal/item/111/The_Fan) . The text of ESPN.com in my browser start to appear and the dreaded words begin to appear: “Magic Kingdom”
It’s over.
Without watching the game, the outcome still broke my heart. Along with the millions of Cleveland fans in the world, I had to endure this sad reality. The Dream Season is over. Just like every year, I am experiencing this my-team-has-been-eliminated-in-the-playoffs-what-now? feeling again. But as compared to the past ones, this has got to hurt more than the usual. The Cavaliers have a legitimate chance of winning the championship as they have the strongest team they had so far. LeBron James is playing the best basketball of his life and the Cavs had the best regular season record. Ever since LeBron’s Cavs reached the playoffs some years ago, they have always come up with ways of getting better than their regular season played out. They have beaten the odds by beating an experienced powerhouse Piston team. They put the Celtics to the limit last year and were considered the best team which faced the latter. This year, they had a strong team, but the LeBron magic that usually overwhelms our expectations did not occur. What happened was, the Magic made The King’s Magic fizzle.
What Went Worng?
Ever since the Utah Jazz stopped being relevant in the early 2000’s, I stopped following the NBA regular season. Watching the Playoffs was still an annual event for me and I still rooted for some teams. Blame the rigors of college life then. When I started playing Fantasy NBA, I was reading NBA stuff during the regular season again. However, I was more concerned on the player statistics that I won’t be able to answer your question of who is currently leading the NBA in wins and losses. Everything changed this year. Perhaps, it was because my fantasy team plummeted. The bigger reason, though, was the Cleveland Cavaliers hot start. For the first time in years, LeBron’s team has a legitimate chance of being the best team. They were steamrolling teams and their only loss at home came from the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland became the favorites of columnists. I felt glad seeing them with the highest percentage in Hollinger’s well-calculated simulations of winning the championship. The Cavaliers had the right combination for a winning team. They have the league’s best player. He was complemented perfectly by a strong supporting cast. They had a strong defensive mentality. They had the best scoring differential. Quicken Loans Arena was also the home of the most invincible home squad of the year. They employ a slow halfcourt game which is best suited in the playoffs. Name everything that champion teams have, they usually possess it. What went wrong?
After sweeping their early round opponents, it seemed inevitable that Cleveland will reach the NBA Finals. Boston Celtics were terribly hurting and the Orlando Magic were very inexperienced in playoff action. Game 1 against Orlando seemed to be in bag as Cleveland underwent their normal routine of pounding their opponents early on. I was actually about to leave the house because I was expecting them to bench LeBron in the fourth due to the large lead. By the time I was ready to leave, the lead was just one point. How the hell did that happen?! Cleveland had a nightmare second half – something that was out of character for a strong defensive team. The game became a nailbiter and it ended with Orlando winning it by one due to Rashard Lewis game-winning three pointer. That set the tone of the rest of the series. No matter how large Cleveland’s lead was, Orlando will catch up and they battle it up to the end. Suddenly, the inexperienced Magic became an unfazed foe.
Cleveland’s defense suddenly plummeted as the Orlando Magic started to shoot incredibly above the 45% FG percentage. Rashard Lewis was a matchup nightmare for the Cavs and the Magic shooters were suddenly shooting the lights out. After two miserable playoff rounds, the Orlando Magic were peaking at the right time. LeBron’s supporting cast suddenly went ‘poof’ as well. They missed wide-open shots and the strong Cleveland offense that pundits praised was inexistent. The only good thing that happened for Cleveland was LeBron James was playing remarkably. But as he acknowledges the game, this is a team sport. Thus, LBJ’s forty-point efforts were wasted.
I was confident of Cleveland going to the playoffs. For years, you can trust them that even if they do not have the sufficient firepower, they can give their opponents a hell of a time. Columnists even remarked them to be 100% better in the postseason. This time, it was the Orlando Magic who are doing it. By the time the buzzer ended in Game 6, the optimistic Cavalier nation was in the same spot they were years ago.
Failing to achieve your dream sucks. I remembered jokingly laughing at Jomic when he told me that they were dreaming to have a rock band before. I regretted it because I somehow buzzkilled his dream. “You don’t laugh at someone’s dreams.” Yes, no matter how unrealistic they are. Encouragement is the key to dreams. This is because most of which are hard to attain. Most of the time, you end up failing. That in itself is discouraging enough and this loss was a testament to that. Shame on you if you kill someone’s dreams. Therefore, Orlando Magic, shame on you for killing the dreams of the Cavalier Nation. Just kidding, of course. They do have their dreams too, you know… (in Pacquiao delivery)
Nevertheless, I am still a dreamer.
Losing Sucks
I hate losing. If there is one unfortunate thing when you follow sports, that has got to be losing. It swings my mood for a day or even a week because it is definitely a bitter pill to swallow. I admit that I cried at times when I was a child when I watched my favorite team lose an important game. You get passionate for two hours and it ends up with you losing. I have considerably experienced it numerous times. My teams were not the powerhouse dynasties in the 90’s and 2000’s. I had to endure Purefoods losing to San Miguel for most of their All-Filipino Cup battles. I felt helpless when Michael Jordan torched the Utah Jazz in the Finals. The first baseball game I watched featured my Atlanta Braves losing the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. After the Braves won the title in the following year, I had to watch them get eliminated every year in the playoffs. For most of the years, I had to put a YM status message “Thanks to the Ateneo Blue Eagles for a memorable season” because they usually come up short. As much euphoric I can get when I watch my teams succeed, I can also get devastated when I see them fall from grace.
This time, here we go again. Another failure. It is so normal that the pain of losing is not that bad as it used to. Unless you are a fair-weathered or a bandwagon-hopping fan, you will lose more than you win. The winningest team in sports history, the New York Yankees, had their last World Series title in 2000. The Boston Celtics lead the NBA in championship crowns but they had to endure 22 years of failure before they won it again last year. Right now, I am in a heartbreak because it is painful to see your team finally having the shot to succeed but still come up short in the end.
Through the years, I have learned to cope with defeat. Of course, I never shed a tear when my team loses after I have outgrown that stage. There were times before when I always hated the opposing team (Jordan’s Bulls were the only exception to this). It still happens but I seldom give harsh, irrational comments on the opposing team after they defeat my team. There will always be biases but I try my best to give a fair account as to how the game was played. Before, losing was just plain sorrowful to me. In the present time, I try to make it to a point to congratulate the winner. I never fail to applaud the opposing team ever since I started watching UAAP games live in Araneta or the Blue Eagle Gym no matter how awful sportsmen they were. Things change.
But, I still hate losing.
My Playoff Bracket
Cleveland losing seals the lid on the last round of my playoff bracket (http://jeffdelprado.multiply.com/journal/item/106/NBA_Playoffs_2K9). Here are my final scores per round:
1st Round: 52/80 = 65%
2nd Round: 52/80 = 65%
Conference Finals: 32/80 = 40%
Finals: 0/80 = 0%
Total Score: 136/320 = 42.5%
Orlando Magic really screwed my bracket because they beat both Boston and Cleveland. I might have hit the mark by predicting Denver will go far but since Cleveland was beaten prior to the Finals, I was already deprived of 37.5% of the total score. This is not a good final score but having it over 50% is not easy especially if your predicted champion goes down before the Finals.
Who am I rooting for in the NBA Finals? As usual, the Los Angeles Lakers. I did not root for them in their playoff matches because I wanted Cleveland to have an easier time in getting the title but since Cleveland is out of the picture, I will be rooting for the Black Mamba again. I want them to defeat the Orlando a.k.a. “Dream Killers” Magic.
I am Mr. Bright Side
As usual, here is the stage when we have to accept defeat. Winning it this year was not meant to be. God has bigger plans in store for us and hopefully we learn from this loss. Enough of the clichés.
Last May was a tough month. But, life is not built for me to just look at the bad side of things. This is part of the reasons why I avoid emo music like the plague nowadays. Life is not built for me to just rant on the bad things. This is because there are so many things I have to be thankful for.
As much as it was tough, I think last month was still better than the normal. I got to have two brief summer swimming outings in Mt. Pinatubo and Club Manila East. It was great bonding time with my peers and I get to eat at Mr. Kabab each time. I get to blog more often and I am working more efficiently again. This is a good sign that my once-lost passion is back. Fewer wasted times and I am more self-fulfilled. Our HD TV and sound system were also set up in our house so all my Xbox 360 games and movies/episodes are remarkably better than before. I was treated with the best season enders of shows ever as I got to watch the best Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and American Idol season finale episodes ever. The NBA Playoff games were also superb as we had close matches in the 2nd round and the conference finals. If you look at the brighter side of things, even Cleveland reached farther than they had the previous season. The most important thing was, I am very happy for most of the month. To be honest, it was harder for me to recall all the bad stuff I put in the introduction than enumerating this list of awesomeness. Good times, indeed.
No, not good times. Great times. Or, I can say these are awesome times.
Stay awesome.
Last Saturday, I attended Sari’s despedida in her house along with my P&G colleagues. It was an eventful night as we got to have our get-together and we gave our farewell messages to Sari. It was actually the very first time that we get to say our farewell message (of all the despedidas I have attended) because we usually write it on some stuff that we gave to the departing member of our team. The night ended. I get to witness someone leaving our team again. It is very sad because I consider her as a friend and I lost one of my key resources in my Problem Management Team. She was also my backup in that team so it was extra difficult for me. But as always, we have to move on after such moments. As to how my team would cope, I do not know. It was a tough moment.
The last month was filled with tough moments for me. For most of it, I had to struggle with my lingering flu. I used to catch flu easily when I was young but this has got to be the longest because it stretched for months. I also could not take sick leaves because I had significantly more work demands. Stress really crept up as I had to work from 8 AM to 7 PM for most days (except on Mondays). My skin was terribly sun burnt last month and I had to annoyingly peel it off. I prefer my natural skin color that is why I hate getting my skin burnt. String of bad luck. Then, I lost a valuable team player. Tough times, indeed.
I heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as the month is about to end. Maybe, my luck will change come June. I woke up at the last day of May and I opened my Internet browser. I remembered that there was a Cleveland-Orlando playoff game that day and I slept on it that was why I had to check the results. My heart was beating fast. I intentionally skipped the game because I thought that watching it or viewing it in the Internet as the action is ongoing was unlucky. The Cavs were having a tough series. You can add this to one of my irrational actions due to being a fan (http://jeffdelprado.multiply.com/journal/item/111/The_Fan) . The text of ESPN.com in my browser start to appear and the dreaded words begin to appear: “Magic Kingdom”
It’s over.
Without watching the game, the outcome still broke my heart. Along with the millions of Cleveland fans in the world, I had to endure this sad reality. The Dream Season is over. Just like every year, I am experiencing this my-team-has-been-eliminated-in-the-playoffs-what-now? feeling again. But as compared to the past ones, this has got to hurt more than the usual. The Cavaliers have a legitimate chance of winning the championship as they have the strongest team they had so far. LeBron James is playing the best basketball of his life and the Cavs had the best regular season record. Ever since LeBron’s Cavs reached the playoffs some years ago, they have always come up with ways of getting better than their regular season played out. They have beaten the odds by beating an experienced powerhouse Piston team. They put the Celtics to the limit last year and were considered the best team which faced the latter. This year, they had a strong team, but the LeBron magic that usually overwhelms our expectations did not occur. What happened was, the Magic made The King’s Magic fizzle.
What Went Worng?
Ever since the Utah Jazz stopped being relevant in the early 2000’s, I stopped following the NBA regular season. Watching the Playoffs was still an annual event for me and I still rooted for some teams. Blame the rigors of college life then. When I started playing Fantasy NBA, I was reading NBA stuff during the regular season again. However, I was more concerned on the player statistics that I won’t be able to answer your question of who is currently leading the NBA in wins and losses. Everything changed this year. Perhaps, it was because my fantasy team plummeted. The bigger reason, though, was the Cleveland Cavaliers hot start. For the first time in years, LeBron’s team has a legitimate chance of being the best team. They were steamrolling teams and their only loss at home came from the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland became the favorites of columnists. I felt glad seeing them with the highest percentage in Hollinger’s well-calculated simulations of winning the championship. The Cavaliers had the right combination for a winning team. They have the league’s best player. He was complemented perfectly by a strong supporting cast. They had a strong defensive mentality. They had the best scoring differential. Quicken Loans Arena was also the home of the most invincible home squad of the year. They employ a slow halfcourt game which is best suited in the playoffs. Name everything that champion teams have, they usually possess it. What went wrong?
After sweeping their early round opponents, it seemed inevitable that Cleveland will reach the NBA Finals. Boston Celtics were terribly hurting and the Orlando Magic were very inexperienced in playoff action. Game 1 against Orlando seemed to be in bag as Cleveland underwent their normal routine of pounding their opponents early on. I was actually about to leave the house because I was expecting them to bench LeBron in the fourth due to the large lead. By the time I was ready to leave, the lead was just one point. How the hell did that happen?! Cleveland had a nightmare second half – something that was out of character for a strong defensive team. The game became a nailbiter and it ended with Orlando winning it by one due to Rashard Lewis game-winning three pointer. That set the tone of the rest of the series. No matter how large Cleveland’s lead was, Orlando will catch up and they battle it up to the end. Suddenly, the inexperienced Magic became an unfazed foe.
Cleveland’s defense suddenly plummeted as the Orlando Magic started to shoot incredibly above the 45% FG percentage. Rashard Lewis was a matchup nightmare for the Cavs and the Magic shooters were suddenly shooting the lights out. After two miserable playoff rounds, the Orlando Magic were peaking at the right time. LeBron’s supporting cast suddenly went ‘poof’ as well. They missed wide-open shots and the strong Cleveland offense that pundits praised was inexistent. The only good thing that happened for Cleveland was LeBron James was playing remarkably. But as he acknowledges the game, this is a team sport. Thus, LBJ’s forty-point efforts were wasted.
I was confident of Cleveland going to the playoffs. For years, you can trust them that even if they do not have the sufficient firepower, they can give their opponents a hell of a time. Columnists even remarked them to be 100% better in the postseason. This time, it was the Orlando Magic who are doing it. By the time the buzzer ended in Game 6, the optimistic Cavalier nation was in the same spot they were years ago.
Failing to achieve your dream sucks. I remembered jokingly laughing at Jomic when he told me that they were dreaming to have a rock band before. I regretted it because I somehow buzzkilled his dream. “You don’t laugh at someone’s dreams.” Yes, no matter how unrealistic they are. Encouragement is the key to dreams. This is because most of which are hard to attain. Most of the time, you end up failing. That in itself is discouraging enough and this loss was a testament to that. Shame on you if you kill someone’s dreams. Therefore, Orlando Magic, shame on you for killing the dreams of the Cavalier Nation. Just kidding, of course. They do have their dreams too, you know… (in Pacquiao delivery)
Nevertheless, I am still a dreamer.
Losing Sucks
I hate losing. If there is one unfortunate thing when you follow sports, that has got to be losing. It swings my mood for a day or even a week because it is definitely a bitter pill to swallow. I admit that I cried at times when I was a child when I watched my favorite team lose an important game. You get passionate for two hours and it ends up with you losing. I have considerably experienced it numerous times. My teams were not the powerhouse dynasties in the 90’s and 2000’s. I had to endure Purefoods losing to San Miguel for most of their All-Filipino Cup battles. I felt helpless when Michael Jordan torched the Utah Jazz in the Finals. The first baseball game I watched featured my Atlanta Braves losing the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. After the Braves won the title in the following year, I had to watch them get eliminated every year in the playoffs. For most of the years, I had to put a YM status message “Thanks to the Ateneo Blue Eagles for a memorable season” because they usually come up short. As much euphoric I can get when I watch my teams succeed, I can also get devastated when I see them fall from grace.
This time, here we go again. Another failure. It is so normal that the pain of losing is not that bad as it used to. Unless you are a fair-weathered or a bandwagon-hopping fan, you will lose more than you win. The winningest team in sports history, the New York Yankees, had their last World Series title in 2000. The Boston Celtics lead the NBA in championship crowns but they had to endure 22 years of failure before they won it again last year. Right now, I am in a heartbreak because it is painful to see your team finally having the shot to succeed but still come up short in the end.
Through the years, I have learned to cope with defeat. Of course, I never shed a tear when my team loses after I have outgrown that stage. There were times before when I always hated the opposing team (Jordan’s Bulls were the only exception to this). It still happens but I seldom give harsh, irrational comments on the opposing team after they defeat my team. There will always be biases but I try my best to give a fair account as to how the game was played. Before, losing was just plain sorrowful to me. In the present time, I try to make it to a point to congratulate the winner. I never fail to applaud the opposing team ever since I started watching UAAP games live in Araneta or the Blue Eagle Gym no matter how awful sportsmen they were. Things change.
But, I still hate losing.
My Playoff Bracket
Cleveland losing seals the lid on the last round of my playoff bracket (http://jeffdelprado.multiply.com/journal/item/106/NBA_Playoffs_2K9). Here are my final scores per round:
1st Round: 52/80 = 65%
2nd Round: 52/80 = 65%
Conference Finals: 32/80 = 40%
Finals: 0/80 = 0%
Total Score: 136/320 = 42.5%
Orlando Magic really screwed my bracket because they beat both Boston and Cleveland. I might have hit the mark by predicting Denver will go far but since Cleveland was beaten prior to the Finals, I was already deprived of 37.5% of the total score. This is not a good final score but having it over 50% is not easy especially if your predicted champion goes down before the Finals.
Who am I rooting for in the NBA Finals? As usual, the Los Angeles Lakers. I did not root for them in their playoff matches because I wanted Cleveland to have an easier time in getting the title but since Cleveland is out of the picture, I will be rooting for the Black Mamba again. I want them to defeat the Orlando a.k.a. “Dream Killers” Magic.
I am Mr. Bright Side
As usual, here is the stage when we have to accept defeat. Winning it this year was not meant to be. God has bigger plans in store for us and hopefully we learn from this loss. Enough of the clichés.
Last May was a tough month. But, life is not built for me to just look at the bad side of things. This is part of the reasons why I avoid emo music like the plague nowadays. Life is not built for me to just rant on the bad things. This is because there are so many things I have to be thankful for.
As much as it was tough, I think last month was still better than the normal. I got to have two brief summer swimming outings in Mt. Pinatubo and Club Manila East. It was great bonding time with my peers and I get to eat at Mr. Kabab each time. I get to blog more often and I am working more efficiently again. This is a good sign that my once-lost passion is back. Fewer wasted times and I am more self-fulfilled. Our HD TV and sound system were also set up in our house so all my Xbox 360 games and movies/episodes are remarkably better than before. I was treated with the best season enders of shows ever as I got to watch the best Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and American Idol season finale episodes ever. The NBA Playoff games were also superb as we had close matches in the 2nd round and the conference finals. If you look at the brighter side of things, even Cleveland reached farther than they had the previous season. The most important thing was, I am very happy for most of the month. To be honest, it was harder for me to recall all the bad stuff I put in the introduction than enumerating this list of awesomeness. Good times, indeed.
No, not good times. Great times. Or, I can say these are awesome times.
Stay awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment