November 15, 2009 1:51 PM
I tweeted about Manny Pacquiao’s recent boxing win over Miguel Cotto. Another one for the Pacman. Good job!
November 27, 2009 9:00 PM
It’s either the controversy on Manny Pacquiao and Krista Ranillo has died down, resolved or I am just not watching much local news lately (either that or I just do not care).
November 19, 2009 6:00 PM
My officemate sent me a link about a blog which featured pictures of Krista Ranillo and Mocha making out. It was not a surprise to me though as I knew a long time ago that Krista is into the sexy and daring business as she had an FHM pictorial last year and she even writes for another men’s magazine. But man, this girl is really milking in the controversy. Like they usually say, ‘controversy creates cash.’
Some random day and time last week
I was chatting with a friend discussing about the Pacman-Krista alleged affair when he immediately shuddered the thought because he thinks that it is not true and it’s just a made-up scandal.
November 18, 2009 7:30 PM
I was finishing dinner at home when the video of Manny and Jinkee in a church at US was flashed in our TV screen. Jinkee was seen crying. I commented on it and my parents remarked that they think it was ‘all for the show’ because Pacquiao and Krista have a new movie to be shown in theatres. Makes sense but is it worth it to taint a national hero’s reputation? Hmmm…
Some random morning last week
I was driving Mom and Jeriel (my brother) to Makati and I was listening to Good Times with Mo (Mojo and Grace Lee). Mo Twister mentioned that it would be a great business idea to sell ‘Team Jinkee’ shirts just like Hollywood stars wore ‘Team Aniston’ and ‘Team Jolie’ at the height of the Aniston-Pitt-Jolie news. People are really cashing in the Jinkee-Pacman-Krista rumors. Controversy. Controversy. Controversy.
November 18, 2009 9 PM
I tuned in to cable news and realized that the Pacquiao-Krista controversy overshadowed Manny’s recent boxing feat. I know that Manny Pacquiao’s character is at stake in here especially that millions of Filipinos idolize the guy, but isn’t it tiring that we get to witness negative (yet is still uncertain) news more than the actual world-class achievement the guy had?! No wonder a lot of Filipinos are tsismosos and tsismosos. Shame on you media for breeding a generation driven by gossip, negativity and speculations. I know media should not be Disney-ish and all but portray some optimism and hope to the Filipino audience. Heck, Batman even covered up for Two Face in Dark Knight just to give some hope or inspiration for a doubting city. And he was covering up for the truth. In Pacquiao’s case, it was all rumor so far.
Oh wait, I have forgotten that controversy creates cash.
November 15, 2009 12 PM
I could barely hear the sound of tricycles and vehicles passing by the village. Yes, at 12 noon. It’s much silent than it is at 3 AM. This only happens when Manny Pacquiao has a bout. Amazing how Filipinos gather up as a nation to be glued in front of their TV sets just to witness the greatest Filipino boxer showcase his boxing skills.
Summer of 1999
We were in Baguio for a summer vacation and we were watching Saksi. Mike Enriquez ends the show asking Filipinos to pray for young Manny Pacquiao’s victory in his boxing match on that weekend. I could remember myself joking my brother that the reason why he lost his red jacket was because Manny Pacquiao stole it so that he will wear it on his match. Kidding aside, I had the feeling then that Pacquiao was going to be more special than Luisito Espinosa because I like the former’s boxing style.
November 15, 2009 1:40 PM
Pacquiao is on his way to victory in the last round and he is preparing to throw a powerful set of blows at Cotto when the referee stopped the fight to declare a TKO. Hell, it’s about time! Blood is already gushing from Cotto’s face. The guy already earned my respect for dueling that long but let us be humane and stop his torture. He deserves it. Manny Pacquiao makes history as the ONLY boxer to win seven titles in different divisions. As much as I hated Manny’s complacency in his practices for this match, I have to say that I could not be much prouder of being a Filipino when Manny prayed in his corner before celebrating his victory. Yes folks, the Filipino can!
November 15, 2009 1:55 PM
I texted my friend to spoil him of the outcome. Wait, let’s delete this as it is anti-climactic. (Yeah, and I am such an a-hole for doing this hahaha)
July 2007
Jam asked me which event I should choose: watching from ringside in a Manny Pacquiao bout or watching from the Patron section of Ateneo-La Salle Game 3 Finals. I chose the latter. This decision haunts me in the present time.
November 25, 2009 11 PM
I was reading Bill Simmons’ mailbag and I found out how he is happy to witness Manny Pacquiao’s victory. Here is the excerpt of it:
Q: If the boxing higher-ups had any sense whatsoever they would give us Pacman/Mayweather in six months. I would stop everything to have a fight night party for this event. I have not paid for a boxing event since Holyfield/Lewis in 1999 but I would spend at least $300-$500 to see this. What is the holdup?
-- Seth Johnson, Middletown, N.Y.
SG: It's going to be disappointing. Just warning you now. Floyd Mayweather Jr. could never in a million years trade punches with Manny Pacquiao. He will be on his bicycle for 12 rounds. There is no way that, at this point in his life, Mayweather wants any part of Pacquiao, a concrete-headed, indefatigable freak of nature who can finish with either hand from every angle. If Mayweather gets in the ring, he'll end up doing more laps than Steve Prefontaine did for the University of Oregon. Just keep your guard up when you're spending that $64.95.
(Important note: Will I be spending that money? Of course! Happily! I made the decision during Pacman's glorious evisceration of Miguel Cotto that he finally had reached the exalted "I Don't Care Who You Are Fighting, I Am Watching It Live & That's That" status, which puts him in the following company: Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tyson. My own personal Mount Rushmore. Pacquiao hit Tiger/Federer status about a year ago, and nobody cared. That's why he needs the Mayweather fight so badly. We've seen dominant pound-for-pound guys these past two decades, but nobody with finishing power anything like what Pacman has. He's like a coked-up Aaron Pryor, only without the coke. Insane. If he's fighting, I am watching.)
I have been watching lots of NBA and ESPN lately and I have to attest that several American media guys have shown their utmost appreciation to Manny Pacquiao. Even Kevin Garnett idolized the guy. Commentators in NBA games sometimes use Manny Pacquiao references whenever a dominant team is beating the hell out of their opponents. Just like what Simmons stated, Pacquiao is in legendary status just like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer currently are. Yet, people sometimes poke fun at the guy because he is unattractive, he barely can speak straight English, you know (I have to admit that I also poke fun at this. His post-match interviews are always part of the highlights) but guess what, does the whole world care? Some people cannot even speak English when they are talking in front of an international audience. And yes, some are just like Manny (or even worse) when they try to speak English without an interpreter.
November 15, 2009 11 AM
I went outside to buy some Coke in the nearby sari-sari store as the undercard matches were ongoing. I realized that time that there was barely a vehicle passing by the streets in our village. As I hurried back home to catch up what is happening (even if I knew that the undercard bouts were still ongoing), I had a sudden realization. Our generation was a bit spoiled in boxing. We were able to witness Filipino glory in boxing for more than a decade already. We have Onyok almost winning the Olympic gold (if not for the stupid judges… yes, I am still bitter on it until now). We have Lusito Espinosa having the belt in the ‘90s. We have Manny Pacquiao punching out every boxer he faced. Simply put, we are in the golden age of Filipino boxing and we somehow get spoiled expecting a Filipino boxer to win whenever there is a match. Watching Manny Pacquiao seemed to be an automatic W for us through the years (except when he dueled Morales). I am sure that some have taken Manny’s feats for granted.
However, I also realized that the Filipino that Manny unseated as the best Pinoy boxer of all time then was Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde. The guy achieved his glory several decades ago. Do you know what this means? It means that it is just once in our lifetime that we can experience witnessing something legendary as Manny Pacquiao is. I had alarming thoughts then of ‘what if Pacquiao loses to Cotto? (since the latter is known to be a strong puncher)’ It would stop all of our annual Pacman celebrations and the guy might retire (thus depriving us of witnessing boxing achievements). We are so accustomed to winning that we may have forgotten to value it. It is only during the time when we do not enjoy this convenience that we will learn to realize its worth. And that would be very sad because we are not certain when the next great Filipino boxer rises up to the occasion. It may come or it may never come.
As a sports fan for several years, I have witnessed my favorite teams become champions and I can attest that the years that followed showed undesirable results. It was then when I realize that I was fortunate to see them succeed as a lot never did.
In my books (and in several experts too), Manny Pacquiao belongs to the top ten greatest boxers of all time. To be honest, he can retire any time from now as prolonging it might just taint his legacy. Manny Pacquiao is a phenom. We are so accustomed to seeing him win but we must also remember that we must value his current achievements as well. This is because it will not be easy to replace. This does not just go for Manny but for everything that is valuable to us: what you have in the present cannot be easily replaced.
As for now, let us savor the moment.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer
Read the more complete and looooooooooonger version of my review here.
Spoiler Note: If you have not watched (500) Days of Summer, do not read this blog if you do not want to be spoiled. This journal entry is meant to be a movie review/reflection.
(500) Days of Summer is not your normal love story. It isn’t as shown in the disclaimer at the start. It is a story of boy meets girl, but it did not end happily with both of them together at the end. Oh wait, we are getting too quick in describing it (even if this is the first descriptions my memory could provide me).
Summary
The flick is about Tom meeting a very special girl named Summer. The movie showed the usual developments of how two individuals get to meet each other. The great thing about it was, it was done realistically. Based on my experience, I never had a ‘love at first sight’ with a girl whether it be a crush or a girlfriend. The girl normally attracts you in a physical way but nothing happens special quickly. As evidenced in the movie, it was a subtle getting-to-know-you process. It evolved from the party to the elevator routines to the karaoke night before they got to be fully acquainted with each other. When the thing between them developed positively, that was the time they went the next step. It was in American context so the next level was their sexual relationship and dating. In the Philippines, it is normally dating. Nevertheless, you should get it – their relationship developed to something more special.
They dated and Tom had the time of his life. From playing husband and wife with Summer at the mall’s appliance center to their park hangout. It was the mushy part of relationships where they get to have fun with each other’s company. For Tom, it was the ‘honeymoon stage’ where everything seems right at the world and everything about the one you care for seems to be awesome. It developed further when Summer revealed more about her by narrating a story which she never told anyone. That was the time when Tom arrived at the next stage. His feelings grew and the infatuation/companionship grew into love. Unfortunately for him, either he misinterpreted the situation or Summer never felt something deeper for him. Tom’s fondness of Summer grew further and he started perceiving their relationship as a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.
As we know, Summer felt differently (Tom was just a friend to him), thus the inspired Tom who suddenly became the bearer of strong happy thoughts in their greeting card office went crashing and burning when they parted ways. Summer evidently left the office as well. It happened in the midway of the 500 days and he spent the next days feeling what normal human beings endure – depression in the aftermath of a failed relationship. His world shattered and his greeting card messages became depressingly awful. Months went by until Tom met Summer in an unexpected scenario. They got to talk and got to share each other’s moments again. For your typical movie scene, this is the ‘it’s destiny’ point. They separated but since fate showed Tom’s way back to Summer, he thought that they were meant for each other.
Plot thickens when she invited him to a party which made him expect that they will have the happy ending he wished. But reality hit him when he found out that she would be married. Tom went crashing back again to despair. Tom lost his job because of his emotions. On the other hand, Summer gets married. They still got to meet with each other where she put things in closure with Tom. They were just not meant for each other. The story ended when Tom applied for a new job and meeting a new girl. Ironically, this girl’s name was Autumn. Story ends there.
Review and Reflection
That was the chronological summary of the story but the movie was set up to have a non-linear plot. The days jump off from the relationship development moments to the depressing moments and back to the happy ones again. That made the movie more appealing. My brother stated that the movie had a simple plot but because of its structure, it became an art itself. We get to see the ironies of a happily-in-love guy to the loser guy. We get to understand how love greatly affects humans as seen in Tom’s greeting card messages. Instead of pitying Tom for his long emo moment, I saw it in a refreshing, funny way. The movie goes out of the box by being a story of ‘moving on’ and teaching an important lesson about it: being miserable sucks so you really have to move on. I do not know for you, but I understood it that way. The switching situations made me visualize how funny and pathetic it is to continue the misery. A linear method would have me feel more pity and (probably sulk… yikes!) with the main character. Lastly, the artistic non-linear way is the realistic approach because after all, we just remember moments in bits and pieces of non-chronological order.
Speaking of reality, the plot was so genuinely true. I can confidently say that most relationships end up badly. It is about time that we get to watch something that happens 90% of the time in this world. Tom had a significant revelation of this when he resigned: we are usually spoon-fed with goody, happy-ending, fantasy stuff but the truth is, it seldom happens. (500) Days is not your inspirational movie but it gives a valuable point for us to be realistic on how to approach relationships. Yes, there is always a chance that we end up in Summer’s experience of finally finding our true love but we must also be aware that it usually does not happen. I also liked the idea that the writers decided to make it an open-ended story after Tom met Autumn. It made me realize that Autumn will not be necessarily Tom’s next girlfriend but she is more of a symbolism that it is time to move on from Summer.
After all the creative ways and insights that the movie portrayed, I must admit that I liked (500) Days of Summer because I got to relate with the characters easily – not just Tom’s perspective but of Summer’s as well. I do not think that there is any need to elaborate on Tom’s viewpoint because it was already shown in the whole movie that he was the kind of guy who would try to fight everything just to keep his love burning for ‘The One.’ Ask my friends and they can tell you that I was like that for a lot of times. However, the story also made me understand Summer as well. Call her heartless for breaking Tom’s dreams but the movie is just a testament that a relationship is a two-way connection. Summer did not feel anything special from Tom, thus she clarified to him that they were just going to end up as friends. They were not meant to be so it had to end in some ways. The fact that she did not feel deeply in love with him after hundreds of days just showed that it will not materialize at all. She was just realistic. Just like Tom’s little sister. Her comment ‘there are too many fishes in the sea’ does not mean that you should disregard your current relationship and hop from one to another without any care. What it signified was the fact that Tom should look at the bigger perspective – there are lots of opportunities out there if you let them into you and you should not waste them by focusing on a lost cause.
With this, I easily give the movie a rating of 10/10. It was simple yet sensible. Funny and real. It is a break-up movie but it should be a feel-good one as well, because for me, it reinforced my idea of ‘why be miserable when you can be awesome, instead?’
Spoiler Note: If you have not watched (500) Days of Summer, do not read this blog if you do not want to be spoiled. This journal entry is meant to be a movie review/reflection.
(500) Days of Summer is not your normal love story. It isn’t as shown in the disclaimer at the start. It is a story of boy meets girl, but it did not end happily with both of them together at the end. Oh wait, we are getting too quick in describing it (even if this is the first descriptions my memory could provide me).
Summary
The flick is about Tom meeting a very special girl named Summer. The movie showed the usual developments of how two individuals get to meet each other. The great thing about it was, it was done realistically. Based on my experience, I never had a ‘love at first sight’ with a girl whether it be a crush or a girlfriend. The girl normally attracts you in a physical way but nothing happens special quickly. As evidenced in the movie, it was a subtle getting-to-know-you process. It evolved from the party to the elevator routines to the karaoke night before they got to be fully acquainted with each other. When the thing between them developed positively, that was the time they went the next step. It was in American context so the next level was their sexual relationship and dating. In the Philippines, it is normally dating. Nevertheless, you should get it – their relationship developed to something more special.
They dated and Tom had the time of his life. From playing husband and wife with Summer at the mall’s appliance center to their park hangout. It was the mushy part of relationships where they get to have fun with each other’s company. For Tom, it was the ‘honeymoon stage’ where everything seems right at the world and everything about the one you care for seems to be awesome. It developed further when Summer revealed more about her by narrating a story which she never told anyone. That was the time when Tom arrived at the next stage. His feelings grew and the infatuation/companionship grew into love. Unfortunately for him, either he misinterpreted the situation or Summer never felt something deeper for him. Tom’s fondness of Summer grew further and he started perceiving their relationship as a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.
As we know, Summer felt differently (Tom was just a friend to him), thus the inspired Tom who suddenly became the bearer of strong happy thoughts in their greeting card office went crashing and burning when they parted ways. Summer evidently left the office as well. It happened in the midway of the 500 days and he spent the next days feeling what normal human beings endure – depression in the aftermath of a failed relationship. His world shattered and his greeting card messages became depressingly awful. Months went by until Tom met Summer in an unexpected scenario. They got to talk and got to share each other’s moments again. For your typical movie scene, this is the ‘it’s destiny’ point. They separated but since fate showed Tom’s way back to Summer, he thought that they were meant for each other.
Plot thickens when she invited him to a party which made him expect that they will have the happy ending he wished. But reality hit him when he found out that she would be married. Tom went crashing back again to despair. Tom lost his job because of his emotions. On the other hand, Summer gets married. They still got to meet with each other where she put things in closure with Tom. They were just not meant for each other. The story ended when Tom applied for a new job and meeting a new girl. Ironically, this girl’s name was Autumn. Story ends there.
Review and Reflection
That was the chronological summary of the story but the movie was set up to have a non-linear plot. The days jump off from the relationship development moments to the depressing moments and back to the happy ones again. That made the movie more appealing. My brother stated that the movie had a simple plot but because of its structure, it became an art itself. We get to see the ironies of a happily-in-love guy to the loser guy. We get to understand how love greatly affects humans as seen in Tom’s greeting card messages. Instead of pitying Tom for his long emo moment, I saw it in a refreshing, funny way. The movie goes out of the box by being a story of ‘moving on’ and teaching an important lesson about it: being miserable sucks so you really have to move on. I do not know for you, but I understood it that way. The switching situations made me visualize how funny and pathetic it is to continue the misery. A linear method would have me feel more pity and (probably sulk… yikes!) with the main character. Lastly, the artistic non-linear way is the realistic approach because after all, we just remember moments in bits and pieces of non-chronological order.
Speaking of reality, the plot was so genuinely true. I can confidently say that most relationships end up badly. It is about time that we get to watch something that happens 90% of the time in this world. Tom had a significant revelation of this when he resigned: we are usually spoon-fed with goody, happy-ending, fantasy stuff but the truth is, it seldom happens. (500) Days is not your inspirational movie but it gives a valuable point for us to be realistic on how to approach relationships. Yes, there is always a chance that we end up in Summer’s experience of finally finding our true love but we must also be aware that it usually does not happen. I also liked the idea that the writers decided to make it an open-ended story after Tom met Autumn. It made me realize that Autumn will not be necessarily Tom’s next girlfriend but she is more of a symbolism that it is time to move on from Summer.
After all the creative ways and insights that the movie portrayed, I must admit that I liked (500) Days of Summer because I got to relate with the characters easily – not just Tom’s perspective but of Summer’s as well. I do not think that there is any need to elaborate on Tom’s viewpoint because it was already shown in the whole movie that he was the kind of guy who would try to fight everything just to keep his love burning for ‘The One.’ Ask my friends and they can tell you that I was like that for a lot of times. However, the story also made me understand Summer as well. Call her heartless for breaking Tom’s dreams but the movie is just a testament that a relationship is a two-way connection. Summer did not feel anything special from Tom, thus she clarified to him that they were just going to end up as friends. They were not meant to be so it had to end in some ways. The fact that she did not feel deeply in love with him after hundreds of days just showed that it will not materialize at all. She was just realistic. Just like Tom’s little sister. Her comment ‘there are too many fishes in the sea’ does not mean that you should disregard your current relationship and hop from one to another without any care. What it signified was the fact that Tom should look at the bigger perspective – there are lots of opportunities out there if you let them into you and you should not waste them by focusing on a lost cause.
With this, I easily give the movie a rating of 10/10. It was simple yet sensible. Funny and real. It is a break-up movie but it should be a feel-good one as well, because for me, it reinforced my idea of ‘why be miserable when you can be awesome, instead?’
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Yankee Doodle Doo
I spent a good number of hours watching Major League Baseball these past few weeks as the Fall Classic reached its climax. Whether it was on live TV or on replay, I viewed the final games with much enthusiasm even if – as usual – my favorite teams are not slugging it out. I want to watch it because baseball is my second most favorite sport. I rarely watched baseball this season though, because ESPN decided to show only Yankees games. Of all the teams, why did they choose the Yankees? Sigh!
For everyone’s information, the New York Yankees are the winningest team in professional sports history. Coming into this season, they have a record of 26 titles and have held the championship at least once a decade except for the ‘80s. The team also happened to have a gigantic payroll of around $200 million. Most star players target the Yankees even if their salary would take a hit. Nevertheless, New York’s squad boasted of elite names this decade like Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera and Roger Clemens. However, no matter how fat the paycheck was, bad luck hit them as their last championship run was the 2000 Subway Series against the New York Mets.
I fell in love with baseball as a kid. I loved the 90s Atlanta Braves so much as they featured the dominating pitching squad of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Denny Neagle. The Braves successfully produced a title in 1995 and eyed a back-to-back in 1996. They won the first two games of the World Series in ’96 only to be beaten four straight by the New York Yankees – the team that was always mentioned in encyclopedias. In the following years, the Braves went to win the most consecutive NL East pennants only to fall prey to the New York Yankees in 1999 again. The Yankees always buzzkilled my favorite team’s hopes and they remained dominant up to 2000. It is normal for sports fans to hate teams especially if these happen to always defeat the team they root for. It was usually the same case for me. Over the years, I hated watching Alaska Milkmen (PBA), San Antonio Spurs (NBA), Dallas Mavericks (NBA) and De La Salle Green Archers (UAAP) all for the same reasons. The hatred is deep that I sometimes cheer heavily (in front of my TV set) for the team that is battling San Antonio.
What about the Yankees?
To be honest, I do not hate them that much. I even have a Yankee cap here in the house. I respect them for dominating but I still have some amount of hate because I grew up seeing them killing my dreams. I even rooted for the Yankees to beat the Diamondbacks in 2001. Too, bad the pinstripe-clad team lost it. Just when it was the first time I rooted for them. Since then, the Yankees saw their highly paid squad destroyed year after year. They lost to Josh BecKKKKKKKett’s Florida Marlins. New York had the most humiliating defeats of all these years when they lost to their arch-rivals, Boston Red Sox in 2004 (the latter was down 0-3 when they staged the biggest comeback ever in my lifetime). Even if the Yankees acquired A-Rod and Giambi, they were still unsuccessful. For the biased haters, it was simply karma for having a highly paid pseudo-all star team.
2009. Last year of the decade. Yankees are on a nine-year drought and they started the year with a huge controversy. Alex Rodriguez admitted that he was using steroids. I have to admit that I idolized A-Rod a lot especially when he was slugging for the Seattle Mariners, but I could not help but poke fun at the Yankees because of that since I rooted against them 90% of the time. Days went by and the Red Sox steamrolled the Yankees in their first eight outings. I even blogged when I celebrated Boston’s eighth consecutive win against New York. The Yankees were not the threat it used to be.
Months rolled by and the Yankees started gaining their momentum. They snapped Boston’s consecutive wins and have overtaken them for the AL East pennant. By October, the New York Yankees were poised to make another case for the elusive World Series title. This got even stronger when my favorite team – the Yanks’ arch-rivals – was eliminated by the Anaheim Angels. In six games, New York disposed their West Coast opponents to face the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies for the World Title.
The World Series
The Fall Classic. Two titans faced each other for the shot at being immortal in history books. The Phillies have been there while the once-dominant Yankees only had few mainstays like Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and Posada to proudly have the ‘been there, done that’ attitude. But going to this series, I had an inner feeling that this is the year for the pinstripe team. They are still highly paid but at least they had the right ingredients of winning it all.
Believe it or not, the nine-year drought brings the team wonders. It made even the multi-titlists (Jeter and company) hungry enough to get the World Series title. A decade ago, they were a young, promising squad. In the present time, they are doing their very best to achieve what seemed to be a piece of cake then because time is not anymore at their side. Nevertheless, the past champions especially ex-Red Sox Johnny Damon still have their experience as a vital role for the team’s success. The Yankees had an imbalanced payroll but because they were failures in recent years, their pride was not that huge. The Yankees also had the role players in Swisher, Gardner and Cano. I always believe that the best team is not composed of superstars. There should always be role players. The Yankees are going to win this because they wanted it badly just like Kobe Bryant did last June.
It would not surprise me if the Yankees win this one. I did not root for them, but I did not like the Phillies anyway so I was more of a neutral observer in watching this series.
Game 1 went the Phillies’ way as A-Rod and company had the jitters and Cliff Lee was simply outstanding. The Yankees finally broke through Game 2 after their sluggers faced Pedro Martinez. The tied series shifted to Philadelphia where the turning points occurred. Stealing one game from the road is huge, thus the Phillies (with their championship experience) were on the right track. Unfortunately for them, the Yankees really are an offensive juggernaut. That, combined with the experience of Andy Pettitte, the Yankees were able to snatch back the homecourt advantage.
CC Sabathia steps in the mound in Game 4. The Yankees built an early lead but the Phillies did not want to lose another home game. They were able to tie the game but as soon as the Phillies are set for a new inning to try and gain the lead, the dominating Yankee top-of-the-batting-order delivered runs. Derek Jeter. Johnny Damon. Mark Teixeira. Alex Rodriguez. As soon as one of the earlier guys get into the bases, an RBI was waiting to happen as A-Rod resurrected his ALCS form. Even if the pitchers escaped A-Rod, they will still be facing the offensive catcher Jorge Posada. Philadelphia is even lucky that Hideki Matsui cannot be a designated hitter due to NL rules. Nevertheless, the Yankees were able to create a new lead. Philly was able to inch again as it tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Citizens Bank Park crowd went roaring. Brad Lidge shut down the first two Yankee batters easily and was just one strike away of striking out Johnny Damon. The experienced hitter did not give up and eventually got to first base. That, ladies and gentlemen, was the turning point of the Series. It was just one strike away but the experienced and gutsy Damon was able to reach the base. They already had two outs but it was sufficient enough. Remember, the Yankees’ top-of-the-order. Damon went to steal two bases in one sequence and it paved way for the tie-breaking run off Alex Rodriguez’ bat. The Yankees added insult to injury when Posada drove the next two runs. All the Phillies’ fans could do was sigh and get depressed because after all the hoping of staging a comeback, they were always beaten in the next inning possible by the Yankees. This time, the game’s best closer – Mariano Rivera – went off to finish the next three Philly hitters.
The 3-1 lead is just so huge. Even if the Phillies dominated the Yankees in Game 5, it just reminded them that they need to do the same feat twice. Mind you, the Yankees were giving the Philadelphia crowd a scare even up to the last inning of that game. I was actually hoping for a Game 7 when the series shifted back to New York in Game 6 so that I could watch it live on TV. Unfortunately, the Yankees pulled the plug like euthanasia on the struggling Phillies as Hideki Matsui drove all but one run of the Yankees in their 7-3 win.
The Yankees are back on top. Hate it or not, they have found a way to be successful again. This could pave for future multi-titles or this could be a one-timer. As a baseball fan, I was entertained by watching this series. “It was just the right time for the Yankees to win again.” I said to myself. But given my past experience on how this franchise killed the rest of the league in the ‘90s after they defeated a defending champion, I am actually feeling a bit sick for stating that it was the right time. It is because the Yankees have tasted it again.
The Yankees may end up crushing everyone again. Sigh!
For everyone’s information, the New York Yankees are the winningest team in professional sports history. Coming into this season, they have a record of 26 titles and have held the championship at least once a decade except for the ‘80s. The team also happened to have a gigantic payroll of around $200 million. Most star players target the Yankees even if their salary would take a hit. Nevertheless, New York’s squad boasted of elite names this decade like Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera and Roger Clemens. However, no matter how fat the paycheck was, bad luck hit them as their last championship run was the 2000 Subway Series against the New York Mets.
I fell in love with baseball as a kid. I loved the 90s Atlanta Braves so much as they featured the dominating pitching squad of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Denny Neagle. The Braves successfully produced a title in 1995 and eyed a back-to-back in 1996. They won the first two games of the World Series in ’96 only to be beaten four straight by the New York Yankees – the team that was always mentioned in encyclopedias. In the following years, the Braves went to win the most consecutive NL East pennants only to fall prey to the New York Yankees in 1999 again. The Yankees always buzzkilled my favorite team’s hopes and they remained dominant up to 2000. It is normal for sports fans to hate teams especially if these happen to always defeat the team they root for. It was usually the same case for me. Over the years, I hated watching Alaska Milkmen (PBA), San Antonio Spurs (NBA), Dallas Mavericks (NBA) and De La Salle Green Archers (UAAP) all for the same reasons. The hatred is deep that I sometimes cheer heavily (in front of my TV set) for the team that is battling San Antonio.
What about the Yankees?
To be honest, I do not hate them that much. I even have a Yankee cap here in the house. I respect them for dominating but I still have some amount of hate because I grew up seeing them killing my dreams. I even rooted for the Yankees to beat the Diamondbacks in 2001. Too, bad the pinstripe-clad team lost it. Just when it was the first time I rooted for them. Since then, the Yankees saw their highly paid squad destroyed year after year. They lost to Josh BecKKKKKKKett’s Florida Marlins. New York had the most humiliating defeats of all these years when they lost to their arch-rivals, Boston Red Sox in 2004 (the latter was down 0-3 when they staged the biggest comeback ever in my lifetime). Even if the Yankees acquired A-Rod and Giambi, they were still unsuccessful. For the biased haters, it was simply karma for having a highly paid pseudo-all star team.
2009. Last year of the decade. Yankees are on a nine-year drought and they started the year with a huge controversy. Alex Rodriguez admitted that he was using steroids. I have to admit that I idolized A-Rod a lot especially when he was slugging for the Seattle Mariners, but I could not help but poke fun at the Yankees because of that since I rooted against them 90% of the time. Days went by and the Red Sox steamrolled the Yankees in their first eight outings. I even blogged when I celebrated Boston’s eighth consecutive win against New York. The Yankees were not the threat it used to be.
Months rolled by and the Yankees started gaining their momentum. They snapped Boston’s consecutive wins and have overtaken them for the AL East pennant. By October, the New York Yankees were poised to make another case for the elusive World Series title. This got even stronger when my favorite team – the Yanks’ arch-rivals – was eliminated by the Anaheim Angels. In six games, New York disposed their West Coast opponents to face the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies for the World Title.
The World Series
The Fall Classic. Two titans faced each other for the shot at being immortal in history books. The Phillies have been there while the once-dominant Yankees only had few mainstays like Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and Posada to proudly have the ‘been there, done that’ attitude. But going to this series, I had an inner feeling that this is the year for the pinstripe team. They are still highly paid but at least they had the right ingredients of winning it all.
Believe it or not, the nine-year drought brings the team wonders. It made even the multi-titlists (Jeter and company) hungry enough to get the World Series title. A decade ago, they were a young, promising squad. In the present time, they are doing their very best to achieve what seemed to be a piece of cake then because time is not anymore at their side. Nevertheless, the past champions especially ex-Red Sox Johnny Damon still have their experience as a vital role for the team’s success. The Yankees had an imbalanced payroll but because they were failures in recent years, their pride was not that huge. The Yankees also had the role players in Swisher, Gardner and Cano. I always believe that the best team is not composed of superstars. There should always be role players. The Yankees are going to win this because they wanted it badly just like Kobe Bryant did last June.
It would not surprise me if the Yankees win this one. I did not root for them, but I did not like the Phillies anyway so I was more of a neutral observer in watching this series.
Game 1 went the Phillies’ way as A-Rod and company had the jitters and Cliff Lee was simply outstanding. The Yankees finally broke through Game 2 after their sluggers faced Pedro Martinez. The tied series shifted to Philadelphia where the turning points occurred. Stealing one game from the road is huge, thus the Phillies (with their championship experience) were on the right track. Unfortunately for them, the Yankees really are an offensive juggernaut. That, combined with the experience of Andy Pettitte, the Yankees were able to snatch back the homecourt advantage.
CC Sabathia steps in the mound in Game 4. The Yankees built an early lead but the Phillies did not want to lose another home game. They were able to tie the game but as soon as the Phillies are set for a new inning to try and gain the lead, the dominating Yankee top-of-the-batting-order delivered runs. Derek Jeter. Johnny Damon. Mark Teixeira. Alex Rodriguez. As soon as one of the earlier guys get into the bases, an RBI was waiting to happen as A-Rod resurrected his ALCS form. Even if the pitchers escaped A-Rod, they will still be facing the offensive catcher Jorge Posada. Philadelphia is even lucky that Hideki Matsui cannot be a designated hitter due to NL rules. Nevertheless, the Yankees were able to create a new lead. Philly was able to inch again as it tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Citizens Bank Park crowd went roaring. Brad Lidge shut down the first two Yankee batters easily and was just one strike away of striking out Johnny Damon. The experienced hitter did not give up and eventually got to first base. That, ladies and gentlemen, was the turning point of the Series. It was just one strike away but the experienced and gutsy Damon was able to reach the base. They already had two outs but it was sufficient enough. Remember, the Yankees’ top-of-the-order. Damon went to steal two bases in one sequence and it paved way for the tie-breaking run off Alex Rodriguez’ bat. The Yankees added insult to injury when Posada drove the next two runs. All the Phillies’ fans could do was sigh and get depressed because after all the hoping of staging a comeback, they were always beaten in the next inning possible by the Yankees. This time, the game’s best closer – Mariano Rivera – went off to finish the next three Philly hitters.
The 3-1 lead is just so huge. Even if the Phillies dominated the Yankees in Game 5, it just reminded them that they need to do the same feat twice. Mind you, the Yankees were giving the Philadelphia crowd a scare even up to the last inning of that game. I was actually hoping for a Game 7 when the series shifted back to New York in Game 6 so that I could watch it live on TV. Unfortunately, the Yankees pulled the plug like euthanasia on the struggling Phillies as Hideki Matsui drove all but one run of the Yankees in their 7-3 win.
The Yankees are back on top. Hate it or not, they have found a way to be successful again. This could pave for future multi-titles or this could be a one-timer. As a baseball fan, I was entertained by watching this series. “It was just the right time for the Yankees to win again.” I said to myself. But given my past experience on how this franchise killed the rest of the league in the ‘90s after they defeated a defending champion, I am actually feeling a bit sick for stating that it was the right time. It is because the Yankees have tasted it again.
The Yankees may end up crushing everyone again. Sigh!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Week 1 Fantasy Buzz(kill)
(For non-fantasy NBA fans, you can just read my final paragraphs. At least you will be able to relate with it.)
The 2009-10 NBA Season has begun. My fantasy drafts finished just right before the new season started and I got a bunch of awesome and awful picks. Finally, the new NBA Season has arrived to validate how superb my fantasy NBA expertise is. Last Wednesday morning (in Manila), I got to watch my Cavs battle the Celtics and my Fantasy NBA players exhibit their hoops skills. At the end of the day, the Cavs suck and so did my sleeper picks. So much for my ‘fantasy NBA expertise.’ I spent the next days more on regretting why I passed on some players more than celebrating Agent Zero’s fantastic return.
Suddenly, Week 1 is about to end.
For the record, I was drunk when I wrote my recent Fantasy NBA article and I removed the owner names in there to have no biases (except on my picks since I know my picks!) However, I will most probably have the same opinions on the picks anyway (whether or not I am intoxicated). I heavily criticized some players but they proved me wrong in most cases this week. As I mentioned last week, it’s the actual results that matter.
These Players Made Me Eat My Words
Eric Gordon (LAC). I commented that this guy will have less opportunities to score with too many offensive options around. I still have the ‘Blake Griffin is not around’ alibi but we must note that the Clips currently have an offensive giant in Chris Kaman so we know with or without Blake, Gordon is going to get his points. I never visualized Baron to suck in scoring this badly as well.
At least, I got it right on Al Thornton. Haha!
TJ Ford (Ind). Yes, TJ is on this list not because I said he sucked. I even stated that he is a good sleeper this year. Ford (or more of his coach) made me eat my words when TJ just had 21 minutes per game so far and has only accumulated ten points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and two turnovers in two games. I did not pick him in my other drafts but he is my keeper in my 18-team 8-player keeper league.
Blake Griffin (LAC). I got him in two of my other leagues. Well, we all know what happened to him.
Jermaine O’ Neal (Mia). Nobody saw the 20-point 10-rebound statlines coming. He is suddenly like the JO of old times. I am not sold on him because of his injury history but he is an absolute steal to whoever drafted him.
Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJ). CD-R proved me wrong more than once. 1) He is a starter. 2) He is not the awesome sleeper that I thought he was. Nevertheless, he made it up awhile ago with his 25-point performance.
Terrence Williams (NJ). Is most probably worse than Moon?! This rookie shined a lot in his debut, Jeff!
Brandon Rush (Ind). So much for me being too confident for this guy. Dude has been benched a lot. O’Brien is fantasy buzzkilling me this season. Grrr!!!
I Told Ya So!
Ever since 2007, I have been blogging about Fantasy NBA and I have noted some of my favorite draft-day picks that would shine in the season. In 2007, it was Caron Butler as he climbed up to Top 5 status before Tough Juice went down. With all the raves I had in this year’s Fantasy Draft, I have some Caron Butler picks.
Josh Smith (Atl). I reached for him in second rounds of my two drafts and I was happy I did it. Smoove is back swatting those shots and crashing the boards.
Al Horford (Atl). I stated he was a good reach. His current averages: 17 PPG, 53.6% FG, 80% FT, 14 RPG, 2 APG, 1 TOPG, 3.5 BPG. A-W-E-S-O-M-E-!-!-!
Andre Miller (Por). I did not say he will be good. I said he will be bad. Coming off the bench in a team that has few possessions really does not help for this veteran PG.
Michael Beasley (Mia). To all the Beasley haters, told ya so! This kid is just primed to shine with or without the controversies. Miami’s choice of not doing anything in the offseason just meant one thing: Beasley will shine. Wade cannot score all the time, folks!
Caron Butler of the Week: Trevor Ariza (Hou). Several pundits hated him in a fantasy standpoint. However, he has proved them wrong in terms of scoring (23.3 PPG, 50% FG) and shooting it from downtown (3.7 3’s per game). Unfortunately for me, I drafted him for his low turnovers. This week, he has damaged me with 4 turnovers per game. Ouch!
For a ninth rounder in a head-to-head league, Ariza’s stats are awesome.
FYI, I am losing 4-5 this week. LOL.
Other Notes
When I was watching the 2009 NBA Draft, the next awesome fantasy player that I had in mind after Griffin and Rubio was Stephen Curry. Unfortunately, he was drafted by Don Nelson’s Warriors. Everybody loves their fast-paced style but some fantasy owners (including me) avoid the Warriors because of Nellie’s propensity to over-shuffle his rotations. There is no safe assurance in his team even for Biedrins owners. Thus, I thought that Curry was not fantasy-worthy this year. Guess what, kid proved me wrong by playing 30++ minutes per game and having noteworthy stats in his first games. There is really a huge reason why New York fans heavily booed Golden State after the latter picked Curry.
I went in a mental lapse when I was picking in my 18-team 8-keeper league when I chose the promising James Harden over preseason favorites Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. It was because he had ‘keeper’ written all over his name. I forgot that my lineup is already filled with promising keepers and I should be targeting to win than to rebuild. After a week, Harden did have limited playing time but I somehow felt glad I went by my instincts. Rush and Hibbert are struggling this early. I know Harden will get his time to shine. He is not the 3rd pick for nothing.
Ending Message for both non-fantasy NBA and fantasy NBA fans
Last weekend, I started to crave for more of Grey’s Anatomy after I finished watching their last two episodes. This put me to a depressing ‘I am craving to watch a US TV show’ last Sunday. Unfortunately, I have watched all the latest episodes. When Tuesday came, I hurriedly searched for new shows to be available for download. I got disappointed because there was no new ‘How I Met Your Mother’ episode and the only episode I could download was Heroes. As I stated it in Twitter, ‘that crappy show’ was all I could download. It was because I suddenly realized that I watch it for the sake of watching it. I also realized that I watch it because there are some hot chicks in the show (oh wait… they already killed them, right?!) OK, I find Ali Larter sexy and Hayden Panettiere as ‘suddenly passable because they killed too many chicks that I have to settle for her.’ Thus, it was the time Heroes hit the ‘this is a crappy show’ meter.
I have to admit that I am a bit shallow when watching TV shows because one of the enticing factors is viewing beautiful actresses in it. That is normal in the start as I had similar experiences on Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break. But, if that remains as the only reason why I watch the show after some seasons, then the show must be terrible. Grey’s Anatomy has the most number of hot chicks in the recent shows that I watch but I do not even care if they existed now (heck, Katherine Heigl just left the show) because I know that the show is going to be great with or without them. Listening to Paramore’s latest album just builds up my theory as I am not that fascinated in Hayley’s external beauty anymore but I am loving their music more than ever because it is awesome as it is.
I just remembered something I heard in a show before: If the only positive comment that people give you is “you are beautiful”, then you are in deep trouble. Beauty is just for starters. In the end, the substance matters more.
What I just wrote might be so cliché-ish but sometimes I just have to get a better realization of the obvious to further appreciate it.
Will I still watch Heroes? Probably. Will I care on how the show is? Definitely, NO.
The 2009-10 NBA Season has begun. My fantasy drafts finished just right before the new season started and I got a bunch of awesome and awful picks. Finally, the new NBA Season has arrived to validate how superb my fantasy NBA expertise is. Last Wednesday morning (in Manila), I got to watch my Cavs battle the Celtics and my Fantasy NBA players exhibit their hoops skills. At the end of the day, the Cavs suck and so did my sleeper picks. So much for my ‘fantasy NBA expertise.’ I spent the next days more on regretting why I passed on some players more than celebrating Agent Zero’s fantastic return.
Suddenly, Week 1 is about to end.
For the record, I was drunk when I wrote my recent Fantasy NBA article and I removed the owner names in there to have no biases (except on my picks since I know my picks!) However, I will most probably have the same opinions on the picks anyway (whether or not I am intoxicated). I heavily criticized some players but they proved me wrong in most cases this week. As I mentioned last week, it’s the actual results that matter.
These Players Made Me Eat My Words
Eric Gordon (LAC). I commented that this guy will have less opportunities to score with too many offensive options around. I still have the ‘Blake Griffin is not around’ alibi but we must note that the Clips currently have an offensive giant in Chris Kaman so we know with or without Blake, Gordon is going to get his points. I never visualized Baron to suck in scoring this badly as well.
At least, I got it right on Al Thornton. Haha!
TJ Ford (Ind). Yes, TJ is on this list not because I said he sucked. I even stated that he is a good sleeper this year. Ford (or more of his coach) made me eat my words when TJ just had 21 minutes per game so far and has only accumulated ten points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and two turnovers in two games. I did not pick him in my other drafts but he is my keeper in my 18-team 8-player keeper league.
Blake Griffin (LAC). I got him in two of my other leagues. Well, we all know what happened to him.
Jermaine O’ Neal (Mia). Nobody saw the 20-point 10-rebound statlines coming. He is suddenly like the JO of old times. I am not sold on him because of his injury history but he is an absolute steal to whoever drafted him.
Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJ). CD-R proved me wrong more than once. 1) He is a starter. 2) He is not the awesome sleeper that I thought he was. Nevertheless, he made it up awhile ago with his 25-point performance.
Terrence Williams (NJ). Is most probably worse than Moon?! This rookie shined a lot in his debut, Jeff!
Brandon Rush (Ind). So much for me being too confident for this guy. Dude has been benched a lot. O’Brien is fantasy buzzkilling me this season. Grrr!!!
I Told Ya So!
Ever since 2007, I have been blogging about Fantasy NBA and I have noted some of my favorite draft-day picks that would shine in the season. In 2007, it was Caron Butler as he climbed up to Top 5 status before Tough Juice went down. With all the raves I had in this year’s Fantasy Draft, I have some Caron Butler picks.
Josh Smith (Atl). I reached for him in second rounds of my two drafts and I was happy I did it. Smoove is back swatting those shots and crashing the boards.
Al Horford (Atl). I stated he was a good reach. His current averages: 17 PPG, 53.6% FG, 80% FT, 14 RPG, 2 APG, 1 TOPG, 3.5 BPG. A-W-E-S-O-M-E-!-!-!
Andre Miller (Por). I did not say he will be good. I said he will be bad. Coming off the bench in a team that has few possessions really does not help for this veteran PG.
Michael Beasley (Mia). To all the Beasley haters, told ya so! This kid is just primed to shine with or without the controversies. Miami’s choice of not doing anything in the offseason just meant one thing: Beasley will shine. Wade cannot score all the time, folks!
Caron Butler of the Week: Trevor Ariza (Hou). Several pundits hated him in a fantasy standpoint. However, he has proved them wrong in terms of scoring (23.3 PPG, 50% FG) and shooting it from downtown (3.7 3’s per game). Unfortunately for me, I drafted him for his low turnovers. This week, he has damaged me with 4 turnovers per game. Ouch!
For a ninth rounder in a head-to-head league, Ariza’s stats are awesome.
FYI, I am losing 4-5 this week. LOL.
Other Notes
When I was watching the 2009 NBA Draft, the next awesome fantasy player that I had in mind after Griffin and Rubio was Stephen Curry. Unfortunately, he was drafted by Don Nelson’s Warriors. Everybody loves their fast-paced style but some fantasy owners (including me) avoid the Warriors because of Nellie’s propensity to over-shuffle his rotations. There is no safe assurance in his team even for Biedrins owners. Thus, I thought that Curry was not fantasy-worthy this year. Guess what, kid proved me wrong by playing 30++ minutes per game and having noteworthy stats in his first games. There is really a huge reason why New York fans heavily booed Golden State after the latter picked Curry.
I went in a mental lapse when I was picking in my 18-team 8-keeper league when I chose the promising James Harden over preseason favorites Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. It was because he had ‘keeper’ written all over his name. I forgot that my lineup is already filled with promising keepers and I should be targeting to win than to rebuild. After a week, Harden did have limited playing time but I somehow felt glad I went by my instincts. Rush and Hibbert are struggling this early. I know Harden will get his time to shine. He is not the 3rd pick for nothing.
Ending Message for both non-fantasy NBA and fantasy NBA fans
Last weekend, I started to crave for more of Grey’s Anatomy after I finished watching their last two episodes. This put me to a depressing ‘I am craving to watch a US TV show’ last Sunday. Unfortunately, I have watched all the latest episodes. When Tuesday came, I hurriedly searched for new shows to be available for download. I got disappointed because there was no new ‘How I Met Your Mother’ episode and the only episode I could download was Heroes. As I stated it in Twitter, ‘that crappy show’ was all I could download. It was because I suddenly realized that I watch it for the sake of watching it. I also realized that I watch it because there are some hot chicks in the show (oh wait… they already killed them, right?!) OK, I find Ali Larter sexy and Hayden Panettiere as ‘suddenly passable because they killed too many chicks that I have to settle for her.’ Thus, it was the time Heroes hit the ‘this is a crappy show’ meter.
I have to admit that I am a bit shallow when watching TV shows because one of the enticing factors is viewing beautiful actresses in it. That is normal in the start as I had similar experiences on Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break. But, if that remains as the only reason why I watch the show after some seasons, then the show must be terrible. Grey’s Anatomy has the most number of hot chicks in the recent shows that I watch but I do not even care if they existed now (heck, Katherine Heigl just left the show) because I know that the show is going to be great with or without them. Listening to Paramore’s latest album just builds up my theory as I am not that fascinated in Hayley’s external beauty anymore but I am loving their music more than ever because it is awesome as it is.
I just remembered something I heard in a show before: If the only positive comment that people give you is “you are beautiful”, then you are in deep trouble. Beauty is just for starters. In the end, the substance matters more.
What I just wrote might be so cliché-ish but sometimes I just have to get a better realization of the obvious to further appreciate it.
Will I still watch Heroes? Probably. Will I care on how the show is? Definitely, NO.
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