Choke

September 28: One of the worst days in sports for me | Credit: Associated Press

 March 2011. I was giddy at my MLB teams getting a great shot at reaching the playoffs this year. Atlanta has shrugged off its late 2000s slump and entered the playoffs last year as the promising young squad. Boston, on the other hand, made huge splurges in the offseason by acquiring ace slugger Adrian Gonzalez and all-around standout Carl Crawford. After decades of lambasting the Yankee Empire for using a huge salary to build a strong team, the Red Sox Nation had to be on a similar position now with these luxurious acquisitions. Both Boston and Atlanta rank quite high in analysts’ power rankings.

Everything is good for me. I was thinking to myself that this might potentially be the best sports year in my life. The Green Bay Packers already won the Super Bowl. The Duke Blue Devils are the favorites to win NCAA. Ateneo will be sporting an elite team. Atlanta and Boston might reach the World Series. This only happens once in a blue moon.

Revisiting the Emmy Awards

"Mad Men" continues its flawless streak in Best Drama | Credit: Mad Men

A month ago, I wrote about my Emmy Awards predictions. Yesterday, the Primetime Emmy Awards was finally shown. Did I fare well in my picks? Shown below are the results and my thoughts on them. (The picks that I will mention in here where my unbiased picks a.k.a. “who will win” picks)

Best Actor (Drama)
What I picked then: Jon Hamm (Don Draper of “Mad Men”)
Who Won: Kyle Chandler (Coach Eric Taylor of “Friday Night Lights”)
Prediction Record: 0-1
Aside from Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler was the next best guy to win in the next category. It was great to finally see him get recognized after all these years. “Friday Night Lights” Season 5 was a great send-off to this pantheon TV series. However, I have to admit that I have mixed feelings on this result. Jon Hamm’s extraordinary performance in “The Suitcase” was one of the greatest acting performances in TV. Furthermore, he also had superb episodes last season that stood out more than Chandler’s work in FNL Season 5. It was Chandler’s last try to snag the award as Coach Taylor so it makes the win a great experience. As a huge “Friday Night Lights” fan, I should be very glad of the result. True. But this leaves me a question on Jon Hamm’s chances of ever winning an Emmy. If a performance like that of “The Suitcase” was not sufficient to win award, then what will be for him?

8 Random Thoughts on Sports: September 2011 Edition

The Lambeau Leap | Credit: NFL

The NBA lockout is getting worse by the day, but it does not mean that we cannot enjoy sports in mid September. Yes, we do not have the occasional fantasy NBA drafts. I am not expecting for one in the near future, but that is for Future Jeff to get frustrated about. Let us concentrate on the present time when sports is at a very high gear.

Random Thought #1: Any thoughts on the Ateneo Blue Eagles?

First off, I have to say my traditional reaction once Ateneo reaches the Finals…

We’re Baaaaaaaaaaccccckkkkk!!!

UAAP 2011: Four Stories

This is it! Four teams are set to battle it out in this year’s edition of the UAAP Final Four. It is a bummer that my Ateneo Blue Eagles did not sweep the elimination round. Either way, it just deepened the plot. The battles are far more engaging with the Final Four storyline than the step ladder format (not that I was wishing for it). With the emergence and faltering of some of the teams, here is a quick look on what I think would spice up the storylines of the four teams vying for the championship this year.

Fantasy Draft 2011

Let's get ready to... draft! | Credit: The League

 Prerequisite to read this blog entry: None. This writeup is meant for anyone, even those who are fantasy newbies or who do not play fantasy at all (but are somehow interested)

It has been awhile since I last wrote about fantasy sports. It has been two years. Since it is fantasy season again, I think it is time to discuss this geeky topic.

Oh wait, the NBA is on a lockout. There is no fantasy basketball yet? Aww, man!

Because of the lockout (and boredom/laziness to find a more physical hobby), I decided to try fantasy NFL. It has a little audience in the Philippines because Filipinos are not avid NFL viewers – we do not have NFL in cable TV. Heck, fantasy baseball is not even played by my friends even if it the sport is shown daily in ESPN. But because I love numbers, the thrill of drafting players (as pathetic as it sounds, there is some self-fulfillment when I manage to get a great fantasy team because of my competitive nature) and I want to listen to podcasts about fantasy football, I tried the game.