The NBA Addict!

No topic in mind...

2005-11-01T22:21:00.000+08:00

But I feel the need to dust off some cobwebs off this blog.

And I don't want to do it via a meme.

So...

Hmm...

Jeez.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Oh well. Back to Battle for Middle Earth. :)

With Lord of the Rings: BFME, Good doesn't always triumph. The game ALWAYS triumphs.

Shhh... They're On To Me.

2005-09-21T22:51:00.000+08:00

I think our zealous MIS Comptroller is too keen on my online activities.

It all started with their ban on Yahoo! Messenger and its website. Next to go was Friendster. But I had no reason to be paranoid then, since everybody in the office was doing it. Besides, I'm not a heavy Friendster user.

But then they banned Newgrounds. But that ban coincided with me sharing the site to my other officemates, so that had a question mark. They banned my online source of anything and everything mobile as well (i-Phone Forums).

But then... they blocked everything and anything blog. At first it was just blogger.com. But after that, anything with the word "blog" in the URL got blocked out by our Internet gateway/proxy server.

No more Blogger!!! Why???

Which just means... even less time for blogging! Grr...

But that of course doesn't mean more productivity from me. They haven't banned my sports sites yet. :D And anyway, I'm not the type of person that can work 8 straight hours. I need breaks. Frequent breaks. And if I can't get that from blogs, well...

Sorry. Ramblings of an irate employee.

(Plus they might be reading this blog. Hi guys! :P)

New Toys

2005-08-29T17:03:00.000+08:00

Delinquent Blogger I have been! I think I have a meme or two unanswered (sorry, abi!) that I'll get to in due time. But the worst thing about having little time left for blogging is that I get to read about you guys less and less :(

Things that are keeping me preoccupied:

1) New computer.

Pentiium IV 3.0GHz on an 800MHz ASUS Motherboard, 80GB Hard disk, Radeon 9200 video card. Pretty standard setup, though I do admit the processor speed is wasted on the relatively slow video card. But hey, it's a HUGE upgrade from my K6 desktop and my Intel Celeron laptop. Courtesy of my papi. Haha what a leech.

Currently "trying the system" out with Need For Speed Underground 2 (sluggish on the default video settings), Kult: Heretic Kingdom (Diablo type game which keeps on corrupting my games... arrrgh), and Armies of Exigo (Having trouble at stage 3. Will need to GameFAQ a cheat sometime soon).

2) New digicam

It's not the speediest, nor the smallest, nor the most high-tech of the cameras out there.. but I'm a sucker for freebies. It's a 4 Megapixel, 3x optical zoom camera that came with two 256MB SD cards and an MP3 player. Not bad for Php24,000 I think. :) Anyway, I split the bill with Happy. It's the first asset that we bought that we'll get to share :)

3) Newly-concluded term at La Salle

Getting an MBA sure eats up time. But it's fun to know that I still know how to cram :) I slept 2 hours last Tuesday because I had to run a simulation on Excel for a project for my Management Science Class. (For UP IE's out there, it's IE 141 + IE 142 + IE 181 crammed into 1 trimester) Of course, I was "trying out" the new computer at the same time, hehe...

4) New job responsibility

Apparently, now I am a purchaser on top of being a marketing assistant, operations assistant, copyboy, draftsman, driver, courier, and messenger. Gods. I wish I was kidding.

Anyway, what makes being a purchaser fun is that I just realized how large a marketplace the world is already. A person called me the other day out of the blue asking for my email address. Unfortunately, I can't speak Chinese. I can't even understand Chinglish. Anyway, she proceeded to give me a quotation for MP3 players but I was looking for MP3 GREASE! Jeez. The Chinese should learn how to read English. Or hire someone who does. (Anyone out there wanna hire me? Hehe.)

Or maybe I should start taking Mandarin lessons. Ah well.

*Just curious: is $146/pc cheap for an Apple IPod 4G? I guess you'd have to buy a hundred or so...

Megatrade! Megatrade!

2005-08-03T17:41:00.000+08:00

Not the one in Megamall mind you, but (what else?) one in the NBA!

LB going to New York has not been enough to get my lazy ass to blog. But this has.

MIAMI (AP) -- In the largest trade in NBA history, Antoine Walker was dealt from Boston to Miami on Tuesday night in a transaction involving five teams and 13 players.
The Heat also acquired point guard Jason Williams and small forward James Posey from Memphis, while the Grizzlies received guard Eddie Jones from the Heat.

Holy carps!!!

Let's look at a team-by-team:

Utah gives up Curtis Borchardt, Raul Lopez and Kirk Snyder in exchange for Greg Ostertag.

Holy fuck. Ostertag is worth that much? I should be GM! :D

Memphis gives up Jason Williams, James Posey, Greg Ostertag and Andre Emmett in exchange for Eddie Jones and Raul Lopez.

The past 2 trades are more about personality conflicts between GM/coach and player, methinks.

New Orleans gives up the draft rights to Roberto Duenas in exchange for Kirk Snyder and Rasual Butler.

One unsigned unknown for two players. Why not. New Orleans needs the bodies.

Boston gives up Antoine Walker in exchange for Curtis Borchardt, Qyntel Woods, two second round draft picks from Miami and draft rights to Miralles.

They were gonna lose 'Toine to free agency anyway. And we can't expect Ainge to hold on to him if he's gonna go on a youth movement. I mean, if Walker teaches Al Jefferson to throw up unnecessary 3's this early in his career, it would be a colossal waste of talent.

Miami gives up Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, Qyntel Woods, two second round draft picks, the draft rights to Albert Miralles in exchange for Jason Williams, James Posey, Andre Emmett, Antoine Walker and the draft rights to Duanes.

Ok, imagine this starting 5:
C: Shaq
PF: Walker
SF: Posey
SG: Wade
PG: Williams

Holy crapper! Dominant center, offensively potent PF, good defender and versatile forward, Dwayne Wade, and a (bit more) disciplined Williams. They still need a spark off the bench but it's looking good! Injury and chemistry remains the issue I suppose. In any case, they have 2 months to jell.

Cool. :D

War of the Selves; The Usual NBA Chatter

2005-07-05T14:11:00.000+08:00

Damn, it's been a while since my last post. And all I have to blame is this. I wish I could say it was work, or school. But fish? I've gotta get my head straight. Blogging should be a priority. :p

It's not even Worlds of Warcraft. I hang my head in shame.

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On the NBA - I don't know who the heck those people are that got drafted, but I'm quite positive all of them will be duds, in one way or the other. If the first pick of the draft, the supposed best player, is a white man, a product of the country who boast of other centers such as Chris Anstey and Luc Longley, well... One can't help but doubt, right?

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More NBA - Are you feeling good about a Redd - LeBron tandem? I'm not sold on the idea. A better version of Rip Hamilton earning max money on a team desperate for depth. Well, better 5 years of Redd than 5 of Ray Allen I guess. I can't imagine paying a 35-year old Jesus Shuttlesworth almost $20M a year...

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Watched War of the Worlds this weekend. It was exactly what I expected it to be. And since I'm a pessimist, that statement wasn't a thumbs up.

I turn you over to my two selves, Cynic and Critic.

***Spoilers may follow***

Critic: It was a great movie. This wasn't supposed to be a gang-bang, action-slamming affair. Spielberg's total remake of The War of the Worlds came off as a mirror of the human psyche, how we react in the face of adversity. And sometimes, the image in the mirror leaves you cringing. In other words, it's not Armageddon, but it is more of Deep Impact.

Cynic: Yeah, yeah, been there ,seen that. Face it, people watched it because of Cruise and Spielberg, not because of all that psychobabble crap you just spewed out.

Cr: But they came and watched, didn't they? Maybe it'll serve as a message for all the viewers...

Cy: ...to convert to Scientology?

Cr: ... No, to react more "human-ly" in case of extreme duress.

Cy: Uh-huh. Yeah, whatever. The thing is, the movie can be summarized so: Aliens attack, but forgot to innoculate themselves. Game over. As a movie, that plain sucks because its un-fucking-believable! Come on! A Tripod that can incinerate anything in its path and is impervious to missiles and it doesn't have heat sensors to detect hiding humans in basements?

Cr: Yeah but...

Cy: And can you excuse a movie not even having ONE token babe? NOT ONE??? (Unless Ms. Fanning caught your eye, you perv)

Don't cry Dakota... the movie's almost over...

Cr: ...

Cy: Game over. Case closed.

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My recommendation: play Insaniquarium. It has aliens, it has earth life forms, but it's more fun.

And the 2005 NBA Champs...

2005-06-24T14:31:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to the 2005 World Champions, the San Antonio Spurs!

They got it in 7, but I forgive them for screwing with my bracket. XD

Either He's Crazy or He's Crazy.

2005-06-15T07:42:00.001+08:00

Or, he got blinded by the money. In any case, Phil Jackson coaching the Lakers again after all he's said against the organization (not to mention its only star) during his vacation time pumps a bit of life and hope into a moribund LA franchise. Will he succeed? If he does within the next 3 years (and I'm talking about success = championship here, however unrealistic that is), he would really become the best NBA coach of all time, period.

Plus, this is a situation that Jackson has never found himself in - coaching a team with gaping holes in vital areas of his style - ball handling, big men, and defense in general. At least this proves he didn't take the job to easily break Red's championship record. So did he take it to prove that he can win with spare parts? Or maybe he did it for Jeanie?

Also, just a side note - With a 3-year, $10M/season contract, he will make more money than any of his players except Bryant and Odom. That in itself shows respect should be forthcoming from at least the lesser guys in the team. But to get respect from Kobe, they have got to win. That's the only time Kobe will forget about all the "uncoachable, etc." comments Phil Jax made. If they continue losing, they will continue to have their soap opera.
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NBA Finals update - Series tied 2-2. I predicted Spurs in 6. Before the season started I said Detroit will repeat. We'll see.

The NBA Finals, Firefox Woes, and the Dark Tower

2005-06-07T15:12:00.001+08:00

Blogger and Firefox conspired against me today. I've had the system crash on me ~~thrice~~ four times while I was making a post.

Lesson: use Notepad.

Auxiliary lesson: The office PC cannot handle Firefox, YM, Nokia PC Suite, and 3 open 11MB MS Excel files at the same time.

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I was supposed to post on the NBA matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs. But Firefox 1.04 crashed on me twice, and I've found myself writing a shorter and shorter take on the matchup. My first iteration was a full-blown analysis, with matchup comparisons and what-not. The second pass was a summarized version of that, but the Grey Box of Death did not allow me to save that. So, my take on the matchup that half the basketball world expected (the other half was in denial, wanting anything but a Pistons-Spurs Final):

Spurs too good right now. They'll take it in 6.

Jeez. That was just 10 words. And I was already at 600+ words in my 1st iteration.

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Just downloaded the Dark Tower eBooks in RepliGo format (eBook reader for Nokia 6600). I've been waiting for it for quite a while and I'm quite happy that I finally have it. I guess I should be using a lot of exclamation points by now but I'm sort of guilty I didn't buy a book that I really wanted to read.

But in full rationalize-mode, I tell myself that I don't have the thousand pesos to buy the book with anyway. Plus, I was just going to borrow the books from a friend so I'll just look at it as a way to make the situation easier for all of us. Except Mr. King of course.

Piracy, smiracy. Personally, my rule is: Buy local, download (or buy pirated) foreign. ;-)

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Random thought of the day: Kelan kaya iba-ban ulit ng MIS namin ang YM? Hmm...

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Lastly, visit Joey's post on the extracurriculars that happen in a gym. Read through the comments. Then again, maybe you shouldn't get a sneak peek. Warned you.

Liz Has Passed Away...

2005-06-03T15:11:00.000+08:00

Tiga-UP Eng'g ka ba? Bumili ka na ba dati ng bluebook, corn bits, cloud nine, yellow pad, atbp. sa IE Department? Dapat kilala mo si Liz.

Patay na siya. Biglaan.

As written by Dangs in her email:

felizardo bernal (our friendly dept "secretary") passed away this morning. hinimatay daw sya sa dept, and then the faculty brought him to the infirmary. nag-lock jaw pa daw ata. di naw daw sya na-revive. this happened around 11am.

Damn.

Death waits for no one. And claims its own in its own time.

We wish you well, Liz. The IE department would never be the same without you. Kung hindi man natuloy ang mga balak mo sa buhay, sa ngayon naman sigurado kami na nakamtan mo na ang kaligayahan na makukuha sa piling Niya.

The Musical Baton

2005-05-31T09:00:00.000+08:00

So what do we call these latest incarnation of chain mails and forwarded emails? Chain-posts? Forwarded blog entries? Blog-wards? Err...

Total volume of music files on my computer:
Less than 1GB on my office hard drive. Pathetic, I know. But that doesn't count the MP3's on the shared HD on the server. Wehe.

Last CD I bought:
The latest album by Nina methinks.

Song playing right now:
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

No Such Thing by John Mayer - Aside from having a resemblance to me (according to some people) and having a voice that's well within my singing range, I just love the melody of Mayer's songs. And the lyrics? A simple sample:

Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding up my sleeve

Coolness.

For You by Duncan Sheik - I always loved songs that has the vocalist effectively expressing his emotions through his song. When you feel that his emotions could extend from his voice, to the CD/MP3, to the speaker of your radio, to your ears, to your heart. That breed is rare nowadays, ever since we've been subjected to the poptarts on the radio that seem to just mechanically produce sellout songs. But when I heard this song last year, it blew me away. Made me go "Awww" and "Whoa" at the same time. Barely Breathing was cool but this was just.. sweet.:) Plus factor in me liking the song? It wasn't overplayed on the radio. :)

Wishing Wells by Eraserheads - Probably the best anthem for fantasy heads who wish that they can "go back to those fairy book tales, forget the real world a while and seek the seas of the talking whales." Or seek places where no man has gone before. Or simply just explore the nooks and crannies of Prontera. Oh, but I forget: Rokers already have an anthem - "Chicksilog". :p

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam - Because of 3 things:

Because Pearl Jam rocks;
Because Versus rocks; and
Because its long-ass title rocks.

Rave Stomp by DJ Dero - Just kidding. Kung di ka Camia, or di ka Pisay at naging teacher si Mijares, di mo gets to. 3 words: Lab gown boys.

You by the Carpenters - Because it's our song. 'Nuff said.

Five people I'm passing this to:

In random order -
Jaz
Abi
Logs
Kiven
Marden

Conference Finals!!! Plus: The Ultimate in Cell Phone Gaming

2005-05-23T07:56:00.000+08:00

San Antonio over Phoenix in 5.

Detroit over Miami in 6.

Give or take a game. :)

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Just watched parts of the 4th quarter of the Suns-Spurs game... and I have to say, Horry still has it. He still has most of his talent, with double the maturity. If only he was this mature when he was younger...

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My perception of Phoenix? The bull that charges at its opponent, overwhelming them with brute force, speed, quickness. I'd say the Spurs are the matadors, picking their spots, playing the bull's game..

On Heat vs. Pistons: Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, GP, Malone, Phil Jax, and soap opera drama vs. Pistons with current starting 5, plus better bench players- Pistons in 5. Heat with Shaq, D-Wade, the ghost of Eddie Jones and Mourning, plus better chemistry vs. Pistons with current starting 5, missing some key bench players from last year's run - who would you pick? Unless I'm underestimating the Heat chemistry, I still say Pistons in 6.

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Current cell phone addiction: vNES - the Symbian Phone NES emulator. Which means I get to TRY to beat Mr. Sandman after failing miserably when I was 10. Nope, not doing any better nowadays either. Click on the link to download! Then just search for "NES ROM [name of game]" on your friendly neighborhood Google, and you're on your way :D.

Oh, and did I mention that the 2-player via Bluetooth works? Sweet.

Now remember the old mantra: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start. Now go kick some alien ass. 8-)

edit:

~~Pardon the menu on the side.~~ Replaced the screenshots with something cleaner. Screenshots as promised:

And he winds up...

One-hit knockdown? You betcha!

Classic gaming? This has got to be at the top of the list of any 80's kid.

(Screenshots from my Nokia 6600)
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Phoenix vs. San Antonio - SA wins the series 4-1. Prediction tally? Both winner and number of games! :)
Miami vs. Detroit - Miami leads 3-2.

Is it the Year of the Phoenix?

2005-05-18T13:59:00.000+08:00

First, Steve Nash won the MVP award.

Next, Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni won the Coach of the Year Award.

Now, they have reports that Phoenix Suns president Bryan Colangelo has been named NBA executive of the year.

Kulang na lang Championship. (All that's missing is the championship) Well, congratulations. Surely well-deserved honors for turning around a lottery team into a championship contender in one season.

But if they win it all, I'm looking at it as a conspiracy by the league to promote their highly entertaining way of playing games. :p

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2nd Round Update:
Miami Swept Washington. Winner prediction? Check. Number of games? Nope.
Detroit over Indiana 4-2. Winner prediction? Check. Number of games? Check.
San Antonio over Seattle 4-2. Winner prediction? Check. Number of games? Check.
Phoenix over Dallas 4-2. Winner prediction? Check. Number of games? Nope.
Running prediction test score: Winner 4/4, number of games 2/4.

Nash Is MVP?

2005-05-10T11:19:00.000+08:00

Jason Kidd deserved it more in '02. Should've been the Big Daddy this year.

But that's just me. Sorry Trebs.

NBA Playoffs - Round 2!

2005-05-09T08:29:00.000+08:00

In my previous foray into the fortune-telling business, I got 5 of 8 winners correctly, with 2/8 finishing in the number of games predicted. I overestimated on Van Gundy, underestimated the Wizards, and failed to account for JO and Tinsley returning from injuries. My prediction numbers were failing scores in my point of view, but does that prevent me from pretending to be an expert once again? Heck no! Heheh.

MIAMI (1) vs WASHINGTON (5) - Unless the Wizards' bench gives a miraculous contribution, the Heat is too experienced to be fazed by Washington. The backcourt is fairly evenly matched, but the bigs of the Wiz are far overmatched by Shaq's posse. In the meantime, expect Coach Stan to find more minutes for Zo in anticipation of the Detroit tussle. Miami in 5.

DETROIT (2) vs INDIANA(6) - Well, well, well, the NBA pulled it off - they got the playoff match that everyone wished would happen, post-Palace brawl. But these guys faced off last year, and it didn't end favorably for the Pacers. Granting that they're missing Artest now, they'd probably just duplicate last year's feat at best. Detroit in 6, and my money is on Stephen Jackson getting suspended by Game 4 of this series. :p

PHOENIX (1) vs DALLAS (4) - Wow, all that firepower should make for an entertaining series right? I'd say matchup nightmares abound against Dallas. If Dirk struggled against T-Mac, how would he fare against the Matrix? Who's gonna guard Amare? Also, how inspired will MVP Steve Nash be, once he plays in Dallas? Could Avery Johnson shift gears instantly from playing against a 2-man relatively-disciplined team to a run-and-gun, helter-skelter 5? Phoenix in 5. But if the Mavs figure the Suns out and use their depth, good luck Suns.

SAN ANTONIO (2) vs SEATTLE (3) - The Spurs will beat them, the question is in how many games? I'd say in 6. You?

Damn, there are no upsets in my predictions! Oh well.

2005-04-30T14:23:00.000+08:00

I love the silence between us.

We don't have to say anything, You know that I love you, and that you love me too.

I've become a better person with you. With you I've become a bit more sociable, more patient, and more understanding of others around me.

I'm an infinitely better person with you, I know that from experience.

I love you, and I would like to be with you forever.

Too Much T-Mac, Too Little D

2005-04-26T14:55:00.000+08:00

Or so most headlines would read. While his near triple-double (22, 8 and 10) and his shot with 2.2 remaining was key, the Rockets were allowed to make more than half (54.8%) of their shots, led by Yao's monsterrific 13-14 FG. Granted, the guy is 8 feet tall, but Coach Avery must be chewing his team out right now. So much for the defense first makeover of the Mavs.

Of course, Houston didn't really do good on the defensive end either (they let Howard penetrate too easily, and the Mavs shot 50%) but Nowitzki was 8-21 with [insert name of Rockets SG] guarding him. That's not too shabby. Jeff van Gundy's D - ploys is still the difference maker here, IMO. Never mind that I might be wrong on the 6-game prediction. Go Jeff my man!

And dang, just 3 days into the playoffs, and 3 of my bets to win the first round seem to be in jeopardy. Blech. But you gotta love Miller. Yeah!

First Round Predictions

2005-04-25T13:53:00.000+08:00

Heavy oficework dumped on me because of a Boracay-halved workweek will not deter this NBA Addict, no sir, from posting thoughts on the playoffs. I've had 14 long hours to think about it, you see, since I took the MV Virgin Mary for the trip home. Anywhoo, because of time constraints and my (virtual) pile of files on my desktop, I'll be limiting my prediction analysis to 2-3 sentences per matchup. After which, I'll be towing the company line as sad as LeBron practicing his 3-pointer while watching Wade and Melo (and Darko!) in the Gund arena Jumbotron.

PHOENIX (1) vs. MEMPHIS (8) (Suns lead 1-0) - Phoenix in 5. Fratello will figure them out by game 4, but it'll be too little too late for the Grizz. This series surely will be watched by Avery and Van Gundy, no doubt.

DALLAS (4) vs. HOUSTON (5) (Houston leads 1-0) - Houston in 6. Just because I trust Van Gundy more.

MIAMI (1) vs. NEW JERSEY (8) (Heat leads 1-0) - Miami in 4. As if there was any doubt.

CHICAGO (4) vs. WASHINGTON (5) (Chicago leads 1-0) - The "Who's watching?" playoff match of the season, da Bulls will get theirs, in 7 games. This will be a home-court playoff series.

SAN ANTONIO (2) vs. DENVER (7) (Nuggets lead 1-0) - I HONESTLY thought before the playoffs started that the Nuggets will get one game. I just didn't think it would be Game 1. That said, I'm revising my original Spurs in 5 prediction to... naaahhhh.

SEATTLE (3) vs. SACRAMENTO (6) (Sonics lead 1-0) - Hardest to call, but I'll stick with the Sonics. Hot team, relatively gelled lineup, and too little C-Webb for the Kings. Sonics in 6.

BOSTON (3) vs. INDIANA (6) (Boston leads 1-0) - Much as I'd love for the Pacers and Pistons to meet in the second round, Boston is just too focused and too deep to lose this series. Boston in 5, only because Miller will put on a fireworks display at the Conseco Fieldhouse.

DETROIT (2) vs. PHILADELPHIA (7) (Pistons lead 1-0) - Sticking my head out, but Detroit in 4. This should be a statement series for the defending champs, and a message to Miami.

Cavs or New Jersey?

2005-04-20T09:41:00.000+08:00

As of today, the Eastern Conference's last seed in the NBA is the only thing not set in stone. It comes down to two teams: the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New Jersey Nets. They are tied at 40-40 (as of blog time) with two games left. New Jersey has the tiebreaker.

I don't know which team to root for.

Ok, recap: The New Jersey Nets seemed to start the season on a rebuilding mission: they traded away K-Mart for draft picks, they traded away their starting 2-guard (Kittles) for a 2nd round draft pick, and their 2nd string shooting guard (Harris) for 2 heads of cabbage. In seeming retaliation, Jason Kidd chose to rehabilitate his knee at the start of the season. They were a lottery team for a third of the season. But then a very strange thing happened. The Nets management turned around, publicly said they regretted trading one of their all-stars, and got Vince Carter. And, despite a season-ending injury on Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd got back just in time to tag-team with Carter and lead this rag-tag team of NBDL players to a .500 record (the first time this season for the the brink of a postseason appearance.

It's quite different with the Cavs. First came "Boozergate", but GM Paxson immediately made up for that by getting Gooden and Vajerao. They got Eric Snow, a nice rotation PG. Unlike the Nets, they were winning at the start of the season. Life was good. But then a new owner came around. Coach Silas had problems with his PG McInnis AND GM Paxson. And faster than you can say "Bamboozled", it went downhill for the Cavs. The addition of Jiri Welsh was not the fix-it that they had hoped for. It was even worse after Silas was canned. Poor Bronnie couldn't carry his team because he needs better support than this.

So who do you cheer for: A team with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and possibly Richard Jefferson, or a team with LeBron James and Z?

A team with management that turned it around and somehow made up for its preseason blunder moves? Or a a team with transitional management that probably didn't know any better?

A team with an inspired (or should I say, not uninspired) Vince Carter carrying the team in scoring, hurting Raptors fans everywhere because he didn't even try in Toronto? Or a team with management that has made personnel blunders left and right, firing Silas, failed to reach the playoffs with LeBron last year, and is threatening to do so again this year?

Who do you pick to have the rights to get massacred by the Miami Heat in the first round?

Stay tuned.

Update: It looks like both are 41-41 after today. New Jersey's next opponent: the revamped Celtics. The Cavs' opponent?

The Toronto Raptors.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Maybe the Raps will tank this game, just to spite New Jersey and VC. But if New Jersey wins vs. the Celts tomorrow, its all moot since they own the tiebreaker.

But personally, I wish the Cavs make it somehow, even though the odds are against them. LeBron James deserves better than the situation he is in. Plus, a LeBron-Wade matchup in the playoffs could be the first meeting between two rivals in the future. But it doesn't matter either way, because Miami will chew any of them up in 4.

No Such Luck

2005-04-12T16:39:00.000+08:00

Sunday - Woke up to CR-V with one front tire deflated and the other also nearly so. Had to spend close to an hour changing one tire. Not really how you want to spend a weekend morning. Had to bring the vehicle to the local neighborhood vulcanizing shop to get the 2 tires fixed. As the guy was returning the just-fixed tire, he unadvertedly pushed the CR-V, it rolled backwards, the jack fell out from under the CR-V, and the only thing that kept the CR-V from the ground was a just-fixed tire propping the vehicle up. That loosened the mudguard, but it is still attached to the vehicle.

I paid Php100 and kept my silence, just repressing my initial anger, thinking that the vulcanizing helper-guy would never be in any position to pay for a thousands-peso realignment and fix-it job. Of course my father was pissed when I told him about it. Well that's me: never angry when I should be, unnecessarily angry at the most inappropriate times and things. But that isn't my point. The CR-V incident looks like the start of a dreadful week.

Monday - I knew I brought my glasses, I even remember taking them out of my car the night before and placing them in my bag. But, in line with this week being a wonderful week, it (most likely) dropped out of the bag, leaving me with a day-long migraine while working and cramming for one of my 2 papers due this week for my MBA.

Tuesday - I thought oversleeping in the FX, forcing me to take a Php20 tricycle ride back to my house, was my bad luck for the day. (Incidentally, how is it fair that an airconditioned ride for 20km costs Php40, but it cost me Php20 to ride in a lousy tricycle for 1.5km?) Well, it could be argued that this time, it wasn't bad luck, but just plain stupidity, but here goes: I was hungry and was looking for a midnight snack to help keep me up while I was cramming for a paper. I raid the ref and saw a penoy. Apropos, I thought, pampatibay ng tuhod, not to mention that it was my topic for my industry paper - poultry, I mean. Anywhoo, I plopped it into a glass of water, popped it into the microwave, set it for a minute, waited, then BOOM! With a flash of light, I saw the egg explode inside the microwave oven. Strangely enough, the egg was still intact, and would've been possible to eat had it been NOT stale. But now, the microwave oven is broken.

Wow, bad luck, irony, AND stupidity in one paragraph. Story of my life, it seems.

Wednesday and Thursday - I have 2 final exams and 2 papers due on these days. Nuff said.

Friday - I'm quite sure something *will* happen this day...

Saturday - A housewarming party of one of my ex-officemates, sure to be complete with alcohol, beer, food, and hard drinks, is in conflict with a previous commitment with my girlfriend.

This is not my week.

NBA Update: Lakers are Out!

2005-04-07T08:04:00.000+08:00

As my new blog acquaintance paningit commented on my previous post, the Lakers are now statistically out of the playoffs. Now their history reads: 2003-'04: NBA Finals. 2004-'05: Lottery. Congratulations, Lakers. Congratulations, Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss. Congratulations Kobe. Woot.

-----------------------------------

With less than 10 games to go into the season, the Cavaliers are still on a freefall from the standings. Just over one month ago they could've been facing fellow playoff newbie Wizards if they held on to their seeding. Now? courtesy of a 7-14 record since last month, they slid all the way to 7th, where they will face 2nd seed, battle-ready Pistons. Firing Coach Silas was a mistake. And current 6th seed Pacers, #8 Sixers, and the Nets are not letting up.

-----------------------------------

Speaking of the Pacers, how about Rick Carlisle as Coach of the Year? Sure, Mike D'Antoni (Suns) made fastbreak basketball in vogue again, Nate McMillan (Sonics) and Scott Skiles (Suns) did a nice job in breaking all expectations, and Mike Fratello (Grizzlies) and George Karl (Nuggets) did a great job turning things around for their teams. But did any of them lose 3 of their starters at the same time due to suspensions for more than a month? Was any of them subjected to the same media / court circus, post-Palace brawl? Man, Carlisle even had to handle a *lot* of injuries, most notably J-O'neal's season-ending injury. But where are the Pacers now? 6th seed and no signs of slowing down. That's gotta be worth a mention.

-----------------------------------

As a last aside, I would just like to say that I hate Channel 9. First it was the commercials from the Paquiao fight that broadcasted the actual "live" coverage on a 3-hour delay. All a jackass had to do was surf the internet and spoil the results to everyone (which happened on some radio stations, I believe). That I understood, because, lets face it. This is the only time that RPN-9 can earn money. Let's cut them some slack.

What got me was when I was watching the L.A. - San Antonio match last Sunday. With 6.7 seconds left, the score was SAS 95, LAL 94. Laker ball. You know what was going to happen. And you watch NBA games because of these situations: the last second, clutch, game-deciding shots by the stars. And none better than Kobe to do it, right?

So I waited the commercials out.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Channel 9 kept on showing these inane promote-your-own-syndicated TV show crap, something like Trading Spouses, for at least 3 times. And that's just one commercial.

And when the game finally came back on, what they showed was:

San Antonio Spurs 95
LA Lakers 94
Final

WHAAATTTT??? Where the fuck did the 6.7 seconds go, which I waited 2++ minutes for ???

Damn. They should be sued. I was robbed.

Just to promote a show named Trading Spouses, they cut the climax from the basketball game.

That was beyond carelessness. It was imbecilic. >:-I

Wish List for Blogging NBA Players

2005-04-02T11:16:00.000+08:00

That blog of Phoenix Suns' Paul Shirly got me thinking: Who'd be my top current NBA players that I'd like to see blog their thoughts down? I mean blogs that shows what they *really* wanted to say (and not like a blog that seems heavily edited, and contains only all the right words. See these guys for example. Wait, those blogs look as boring as my NBA blog entries. Oh well.

Anyway, without further ado:

Darvin Ham. Who he? The Defending Champs' 11th off the bench (in front of Darko Milicic), that's who! I chose him over Darko because a)he's more experienced; b)I'm not so sure if Darko can carry a blog (changing your hair color and privately ranting at playing time can only be interesting for so many blog entries); and c) this little news bit. Come on, click it.

Back with us yet? OK. One, two, three.

NYAHHAHAHAHAHA!!! I thought that only happened here, as reported by tabloids!! To read that it happened to a 6'-7", 240lb forward of the NBA... I'm sorry if I'm being mean but... dang. And ouch. Wehehehe. Of course, if his wife happened to be Zheng Haixia, WNBA Chinese phenom, I wouldn't wonder so much.* Google her and you'll probably agree. Anyway, just imagine the blog entries: "I just went home from practice. I was berated by Coach for not putting my all, but I'm more scared of my wife than of him!" Hmm.. maybe I'd rather not read that blog.
Kevin Garnett. Maybe his blog will read like, "I tried to carry my team again today, but Sam Cassell became injured yet again after chasing after that blasted "precioussss" of his, Latrell was suspended because he tried to choke Coach McHale during practice, the Kandi Man's just that - a big, overgrown candy, Trenton (Hassell) and Wally (Szcwhateverbiak) have their playing time issues.... Jeez. I may be a super basketball player, but even I can't carry these blokes to the playoffs!" I'd really like to hear KG rant about his teammates. He deserves it, and it makes for good reading ;) And while were at the topic of dysfunctional teams...
Rafer Alston. Or any other member of the Toronto Raptors, for that matter, that had a front-row seat to the (alleged) slugfest between Coach Sam Mitchell and Skip-to-my-Lou(what the HELL does this nickname mean?). Rafer has been a timebomb all season, and although the rift seems to be mended a bit nowadays, its always interesting when two people are at loggerheads with each other.
Any member of the Portland Trailblazers. Come on... do you think the "housecleaning" by the Blazers management really cleaned their house up? They drafted a guy named Outlaw, for cripes' sakes. They've got Ruben Patterson there, a personality in himself. There's Telfair, a New York playground legend. What do I mean by that? Here are other playground legends: Ron Artest, Stephon Marbury, Rafer Alston. I may be generalizing, but still... Also, there's Darius Miles, a poster child for preps-to-pros bad examples. Add Damon Stoudamire, pot sessions, pit-bull fighting, ~~DIY's~~ DUI's... man, come on. Their blog would be a fun read. And maybe grounds for the arrest of the whole team :)
Kobe Bryant. Come on. Who else? I guess this guy would be first in your mind for anyone coming up with this list. His thoughts on playing the LA Clips group, Phil Jackson, Shaq? If his thoughts make the World Wide Web unedited, you'd probably recieve em as forwarded email in a matter of seconds.

Come to think of it, almost any NBA player would have an interesting blog, if it contained the risque part of their job, the things they aren't allowed to say. But these 5 first came to my mind first.

*credit goes to Renee, Sports Guy Intern Finalist for the Zheng reference

Random Babbling - The Holy Week, Baguio, and an Entertaining NBA Blog

2005-03-28T09:48:00.000+08:00

Fan of basketball? Want to know what benched players *really* think? Nothing to do? Read this:

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/shirley_blog.html

I never thought an NBA.com article could be this entertaining. And truthfully brutal :D Just read on!
-----------------------------
Anyone noticed that MYMP's "Love Moves In Mysterious Ways" was pulled out of the airwaves when Nina released her version of the song? Kawawang MYMP... they had a decent cover of the song but Nina blew them out of the water. Now they *had* to release "Constantly" because Nina also has it in her album. Beating her to the punch, so to speak.
-----------------------------
Is everyone this scared of Meningococcema (sp) or is the beach suddenly in vogue because everyone wants to flaunt their South-Beached body? Baguio probably had a 40% occupancy rate. Except for SM Baguio, the places were strangely uncrowded, and traffic wasn't bad at all!
-----------------------------
An inane brother of my brother-in-law (How do you call a brother of your bro-in-law?) posted this question:

If Jesus Christ died on Good Friday, why was it called "Good"?

Stumped me for a good while.
-----------------------------
Just finished reading the second of 2 e-books on my cellphone: "The Da Vinci Code". Not the best book to read while renewing your faith during Holy Week, to say the least. But it was entertaining, and it kept me up one night during vacation. Always a good experience in my book, heheh. Ü You just have to read it knowing there are facts in the book, but know that the facts were interpreted by a sci-fi writer. Consider it your warning.
-----------------------------
I finished "The Alchemist" 2 weeks ago. Thank goodness for RepliGo. If you find yourself in line or in traffic often, or just want to read without lugging around that heavy hardbound, this is a must download. Ayos pamatay-oras. You can get e-books here (free registration required).
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Went to Hundred Islands in Pangasinan. I thought there was an improvement made in their facilities. Di namin siguro napuntahan yung beach na may improvements, nasa Governor's Island(?) lang kami e. Andami pang tao. Mga jologs pa wiset. Nung nakita nila yung ate kong naka-shorts at naka bikini top, sumigaw ba naman ng "Pare, may hubad!" Shet. Ngayon lang nakakita ng naka-bikini. Dapat talaga sa secluded area na kami nagpadala e.
------------------------------
Ah, and what trip to the beach would be complete without kodakan :p

One of the Hundred Islands - almost as big as my nose

Para naman masabing hindi ako self - centered -- I did notice that it is nice out there ;) Good place to listen to the heart of the land and the sea, to paraphrase The Alchemist

Not at the beach, but in Baguio. Look not at me, but at the cuuute little butterfwy on my hand. Yeech.

Mannnny Paaacqqquiaoooo!!!!

2005-03-22T10:56:00.000+08:00

Manny Pacquiao lost! Some people were lamenting that if it weren't for the head cut, we would've had the chance. Irregardless, the fact is that Manny was outfoxed and outboxed from Round 1. Yes, he was aggressive, and yes, he did land some punches and won a few rounds, but Morales was hardly fazed and was steady. He was infinitely more prepared than the other Mexican that Pacquiao felled, Barrera. Pacquiao was well scouted by Morales' camp. But would this be the last PPV for Pacquiao? Heck no! Did you hear the crowd in the MGM grand through your TV's? If only based on that, We'll be sure to see the Pac-man again.

Better prepared physically and more importantly, mentally next time.

We still applaud the effort you gave, though. If anyone was going to lose a boxing match, let it be that way... not by a lousy bonehead mistake in judging.

GSB Night (Part 2)

2005-03-18T15:43:00.000+08:00

Graduate School of Business Night-capper
(continued from Part 1)

10:18 - To be fair, Merk’s was the first place that we saw with 2 adjacent vacant tables. The tables were not inside the bar, which had its pros and cons.

Pros:

Fresh air
A better view of the party happening at neighbor Absynth. Plus we get to listen to the sounds next door.
A bit more distance + a glass wall dividing us from the septuagenarian crowd inside.

Cons:

No aircon
Since we didn’t have to see over a crowd, we had a better (side) view of R.J. Jacinto playing guitars with a woman (in her late 30’s?) wearing a bra top and leggings dancing around with a tambourine. Reminded me distinctly of Margie in Ray: she was enlisted as a backup singer, but her gyrating onstage showed that she was there primarily to add a female presence, IMO.
We are constantly reminded (ok, envious) of the neighboring alternative place where the people were more our age level.
I had to constantly wish and pray that no one I knew would walk by and see me at Merks’. I would’ve died on the spot if anyone did. I don't need this...Jeez. I am uncool enough as it is.

10:30 – Hirits of the night:

“We’re sitting here??? Wait, I gotta fetch my parents …”
“They’re playing my parents’ theme song!”
[Upon hearing yet another 60’s song] “OK, uwian na. Tara!”
(After Father claps after a performance) "Father, aminin mo na, di ka na nakatiis, nag-eenjoy ka e!" And he promptly stops in mid-clap, and sheepishly replies, “Courtesy lang sa nagpeperform…” (yeah right :D )
"Edra, kapanahunan mo!"

All spoken while totally disregarding the fact that Richard Merk was sitting on the table right beside us at one point.

10:37 – Wow, someone ordered food! Oh, well. Let the torture continue. I thought we’d just drink one beer then get out of there but NOOO… I was hoping that I could get away from the place sooner rather than later…

10:40 – RJ announces that they’ll be playing a song that was a huge hit.

10:41 – As expected, we did not recognize the song. Wow, hit na hit talaga! Unless alam sya ni Father. J/K…

10:45 – When you hear “Blue Suede Shoes" during your gimik, it’s time to pack up. Seriously. So why am I still here? My parents brought me up to be too nice to just leave ‘em here. Waargh.

10:47 – Wow, RJ just played the guitar solo by placing the guitar at the back of his head! If it wasn’t so OLD school I’d be cheering.

10:52 – Just saw a grandma take her blazer off to reveal a bustier. Wanting to spare my eyes and sanity, I looked away – and was granted a view of a cute female in a see-through blouse and bra top.

Maybe I already have died and gone to purgatory.

11:21 – Just saw a 50 to 60 -something dad do an Eddie Guerrero/Antoine Walker shimmy shake. Good thing his kids weren’t here. If he was my dad I’d probably tackle him so that he’d stop his inanity. Gods, will this never end??

11:40 – Someone has answered my prayers! Nope, its not the end of their set. Nope, they didn’t have an alternate.

Someone in our group asked for the bill. :D

12:01 – I’m finally on my way home. Passed by McArthur Highway to spare myself the Php42 toll fee, cheapskate that I am. Bakit ba, wala namang trapik e…

Disclaimer: Merk’s is actually a cool place to be in IF you're a member of their target market. I obviously am not. Not yet anyway...

Till the next, peeps! :)

GSB Night (Part 1)

2005-03-16T11:32:00.001+08:00

After failing that Business Econ exam, I needed a break. And what better way than to attend a party that grants its attendees a plus-10 in their exams? The bad part is we had to fork over Php450 to attend it. The ugly? Php450 was too much to pay. We'll get into that later. On to my first "real-time" blog entry...

Getting There
6pm - Call time on the invite said 6pm. Naturally, I left Bulacan at that time to get there a bit late, but early by Filipino standards^_^

6:20 - Traffic at EDSA. What else is new? I knew I should've taken C-5! Wait, maybe I could. Lessee... East Ave --> QC Circle --> Katipunan --> Libis --> C-5....

6:45 - ...where now I am in a worse traffic jam than before. :-/ At least I get to see the traffic intersection (Kalayaan - C5) that Binay and BF are squabbling over. U-turn scheme or stoplight? Kids, stop arguing and build a freakin' flyover to get it over with! Jeez.

The GSB Night Proper
7:30 - Finally, the NBA Addict has returned to the RCBC tower! Ok, if you aren't a fan of the WWE/The Rock, you wouldn't have gotten that.

7:30 - Ticket says 40th floor, RCBC Tower. Sounds promising! So I got on the elevator, making sure that I was courteous with the people I rode the elevator with just in case one of them was the wife of the owner of the tower (can't have another Gretchen-esque scandal :p). Pushed "40". Waited a few moments - "ding!"

7:33 - Door opens to a largely unadorned building floor space, with its pipings and electricals jutting out of the ceiling, with minimal decors to cover-up the effing thing. Imagine your office floor without the walls, furniture, walls, nor ceiling. What you have left is a floor with an elevator in the middle and nothing else. Got it? Add a few banner ads, monoblocks, and buffet tables on one side, and a makeshift stage, a projector screen, and lightings on the other. Would've been OK but the bare (sometimes unpainted) walls distracted me too much. Obviously I was not impressed with the "warehouse party" look. This is what I get for my Php450?? And to think that price already came with a 10% discount. Jeez.

7:40 - At least the food was marginally good. And there's beer! Pale pilsen, not San Mig Light, but it'll do. :D

8:00 - The program started, finally. Acoustics are lousy in this place - it limited any conversation about the program to: "What did he say?" "Ano daw?" "Si Ma'am Rena na ba yung binibigyan ng award?" "Cute yung host! Pero yung suot nya palda lang.. na ginawang tube!" :p

8:30 - Prof. Rena de la Cruz was presented with an excellence in teaching award. Congrats Ma'am! Don't forget our bonus points! >:D And now that we've done our secondary objective for the night (namely provide our teacher with "pala" or a cheering squad of sorts), its time for the primary objective: socialize with classmates.

9:40 - After a modeling show, some talking, drinking, kibitzing, and camwhoring (check out Jaz's flickr), we decided to screw the raffle, say goodbye to the USB thumbdisks and Php10k watches, and decided that we should just hang out somewhere else. Our section split into groups, and the group I was with headed for Greenbelt 3, Coffee Beanery.

GSB Night-capper
9:55 - Hmm.. The Coffee Beanery is full. And it's even worse at Starbucks and Seattle's Best. So off we go to the second floor to find a more suitable place...

10:18 - Buddha Bar? We just ate at RCBC... Red Box? Naah. Not everyone was a singer in the group. Absynth? Too crowded and noisy for some of us. So where is it in GB3 that the noise level low enough to support a decent conversation, the prices are decent, and (most importantly) would still have a vacant table for a group of 8? We found a place.. and it was at...

...horror of horrors...

Merks'.

(To be continued)

Blargh exam.

2005-03-03T16:16:00.000+08:00

Midterms for Business Econ. Bought a book for eight hundred fifty fucking bucks that I'll probably use thrice in my lifetime. Reviewed my notes. Recalled what was discussed in class. Read the parts of the book that, to my recollection, was discussed in class. Read all of the chapter summaries for good measure. :p Of course, there could be something wrong with my listening habits in class, but I seriously doubt that my ears wouldn't have picked up concentration ratios and what-not. I seriously did not recognize most of the terms bandied around during the exam.

Needless to say, I felt like I was punk'd like I was back in EEE: where exams given assume you memorized the book, irregardless of what was discussed in class before you had any idea on how to tackle the problems. Where you were given seatworks as simple as 1+1, but long exams was in the line of the double integral of x-squared + 3xy + 2 dx.... I never thought this would happen in grad school.

Granted, I did cram, and I will deserve the 20-30% score that I am certain I will get. But the exam was way too academic for a graduate course emphasizing application onto the real world. But who am I to speak. I'm only the student who paid their cashier Php18,033 this term to get massacred.

Ah, well. At least Ma'am Gev ain't the dean in this college. I guess I'll havta make the Php850 (not to mention the eighteen grand) worth my while, then.

Iverson Passes to Webber....

2005-02-24T14:59:00.000+08:00

You read that right.

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Billy King announced tonight that the Sixers have acquired five-time NBA All-Star forward Chris Webber, along with forwards Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley, in exchange for forwards Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas and Corliss Williamson.

*from NBA.com

Initial reaction: 76ers are instant contenders!

Naah. It's only a matter of time before Webber gets injured...

Anyway, what have we have here actually benefits both teams. 76ers get instant credibility, some rebounds, crisp passing and scoring from the post. A jump-shooting point-forward is perfect for coach Jim O'Brien's coaching style. Plus, AI now gets the All-Star help he has openly coveted so much. The worry now is injury; post trade they will have only Webber, Samuel Dalembert, and Marc Jackson as the legit pivot men. If one of the 3 gets injured (as is certain), there will be trouble since they will be forced to use Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley, the trade throw ins who are just that. The 76ers are gambling on an injury-prone Webber. They realize it's now or never for the Sixers to make a legit push for the postseason. Iverson is not getting any younger, and he is at his peak right now - some may even dare say a peak where there is no way to go but down.

As for the Kings, they get youth, athleticism, and depth, something they lacked for the longest time. Unlike Philly, they weren't willing to gamble on Webber's shaky knees but instead is placing the load on its 4 stars: Mobley, Bibby, Brad Miller, and Peja. Considering that the Kings have shown they can win without Webber, how well Miller and Stojakovic plays without him, and how things can only get better when B-Jax returns from his injury, Webber really was the most logical candidate to go. That's not even counting his Whopper of a contract. Plus, Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner may still improve. They have shown flashes of brilliance last season and may just be waiting for the right system for their talents.

Advantage in the trade? Short term - 76ers (barring an injury), long term - Kings.

Now I got to go back to studying... got a Business Law exam later. Can't rely on stock knowledge this time around. What has I.E. got to do with Business Law?? Anyway, wish me luck!

Retirement of a Great One

2005-02-22T11:59:00.000+08:00

If you had played basketball with me, you would've found out that I have a borderline obsession with the 3-point shot. I love taking the 3, and I love it when it goes in for me. (Which is around 1 out of every 10 times, and only during shootarounds - never when it'll count in games)

The main reason why I love the 3-ball is Reggie Miller. Ever since I watched his 8-points in 8.9 seconds performance (1995, Eastern Conf. Semis, vs New Choke Knicks), I was a Miller-time junkie. He was clutch. He was there when you needed him, and most He's the reason why I used to practice with my back to the basket out on the 3-point area, dribbling, then suddenly turning and firing up a shot (Miller does this during pregame shoootarounds, turning when the shotclock is at "1".) This is the reason why I wanted to develop that weird-looking follow-through that Miller has on his shot (it seems to me that his hands flick sideways after each J). But most importantly for me, he is the biggest reason that pushed me to know more teams aside from the Jordan-led Bulls and barangay Ginebra, and subsequently made me want to know more about the NBA in general.

You will be sorely missed. Especially since there will probably be no one else quite like you.*

And you're always welcome to change your mind about retiring. Ü

P.S. As requested by Sherwin Ü

*Not just a cliche, since the closest comparison is Richard Hamilton, and he doesn't shoot 3's. Michael Redd? We'll see....

Wala nito sa bundok ko.

2005-02-14T14:00:00.000+08:00

Guess where?

Nope, not at Subic. Nor at Puerto Galera. Try Mandaluyong City. Ortigas Avenue to be exact.

It's actually at the La Salle Greenhills (LSGH) Campus Fair grounds.

Wow. As in wow with a :-O

Wala nun sa bundok ko a.

Another one of the things I saw at LSGH:

You know the container vans used by trucks to haul products from pier to pier? Those things that scare the heck out of you on the road, because you never know if its just gonna fall on you? A 40-foot container was converted to a network gaming facility, of all things. And it was inside LSGH as well.

Wow. As in wow with a o_O. La Salle openly accepts Counterstrike as an extra-curricular activity! Sorry, this is from a guy that spent too much time on Doom2 and Starcraft. Probably cost me 2 years of my life... anyway...

Iba na talaga ang kabataan ngayon 'no? Back in the day, fairs were mostly kissing booths, marriage booths and assasination booths (you DON'T want to know what that is, much less experience it). Now its Nestea Beach Volleyball Tourneys and Netopi@-sponsored network gaming tournaments....

Sudden realization: Commercialism really runs deep. And it is slowly but surely dictating the lifestyles of the future of our nation.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I just wanted to share the pics with you, as well as the feeling I got from it all - I was incredulous.

'Till the next post...

NBA All-Star Musings

2005-02-10T09:55:00.000+08:00

7 players will play for the first time on the All-Star game in Denver. Teammates Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison of the Wizards, Argentinian Ginobili, Super Sonic Rashard Lewis, Man-beast Amare Stoudamire, "The Flash" Dwyane Wade, and of course, The Baron, LeBron. All are deserving. But many, like Steve Francis, Jason Kidd, and Chauncey Billups, are as deserving but didn't make it. But fret not, at least for the Westside players with All-Star aspirations: there is hope, because Kobe might not play. Tim Duncan might not either. But I'll assume only Kobe won't, for the sake of simplicity :)

So, with a lineup of Tim Duncan(F/C), Kevin Garnett(F), Tracy McGrady(F/G), Yao Ming(C), Ray Allen(SG), Manu Ginobili(G/F), Rashard Lewis(SF), Shawn Marion(F), Steve Nash(PG), Dirk Nowitzki(F), and Amare Stoudemire(F/C), who do you add to replace Bryant?

If one were to ask me, I'd use a few criteria:
1) Must have contributed significantly to his team(considering injuries): both in intangibles and in empirical terms;
2) Must be a star or a fan favorite, or at least have the potential to be one;
3) Must be a logical choice to help out the West team; and
4) Being on a winning team is a bonus.

Using that, we look at the first criteria to come up with a short list: crunch the numbers. Thankfully, Fantasysports@Yahoo! does that with "Sort Players Via Rank", using their contributions in Pts, Reb, Ast, FG%, FT%, 3pointers made, etc etc. I won't bother to explain, but if you signed up for a league you know what I mean :) Injuries play a factor here, since the ranking considers totals, not average on a per game basis, so tough luck to Kirilenko, Webber, and Baron Davis, who have been impressive when they were healthy, but didn't play enough games to balance it out.

Anyway, the short list goes like this:
a) Q-Rich (F/G), Phoenix. Mainly here because of his 3-point shooting, since 3-pointers made is equally valued in Fantasy Sports as, say, points or steals. So I guess we'll see him in the 3-point shootout. Besides, Phoenix already has 3 players in the All-Star team. One more and the Kings fans will boycott the NBA. Speaking of which:

b) Brad Miller (C), Kings. The whole Kings team was snubbed in the All-Star proceedings, but their fans are praying for a no-show by Bryant so that they have a chance to sneak one player in. And Miller is their best chance, at least numerically. His season numbers may not scream at you, but he's making a late-mid-season push. On his last 5 games, he averaged 21-10-4-2-1.2, considerable numbers indeed. He's been to the midseason festivities already, but he's challenging for a roster spot on a lineup that, sans Bryant, is stocked with big men. Besides, the All-Star game is for the fans, and have you seen anyone who is a die-hard Brad Miller fan? He's the third option in his own team, given that everyone's healthy.

c) Mike Bibby (PG), Kings. Another King that has a shot at being an All-Star. I like his chances better than Miller's because 1) He's a PG - Nash will need a backup in the game; and 2) He doesn't have an All-Star appearance on his resume yet - hey, there already are 7 newbies on the rosters, why not one more? Both Miller and Bibby have slightly improved on their point production since last season, but Bibby impoved in the other aspects of the game as well: passing, steals, even rebounding, partially filling the void Doug Christie left. Also, he already has a following in the NBA due to his clutch shooting, so its about time the NBA gave him his due.

I guess I've made my choice, but let's continue the list for formalities' sake.

d) Damon Stoudamire (G), Blazers. He's been playing great as of late, but the main things against him are: he plays for a losing team, and his Fantasy ranking is buoyed by 3-points made. I expected him at the 3-point shootout, but he got beaten out by Ray Allen, Radmanovic (both from Seattle), and Joe Johnson(Phoenix).

e) Peja Stojakovic (SF), Kings. The 3rd possible candidate for the Kings 1) has regressed from his 24ppg self to a 20ppg producer on a franchise that has an injured key player in 81 of 82 games played; 2) hasn't asserted himself on offense, enough for Petrie to trade for even more offense. Not a very good year to make a case for the man formerly known as Predrag.

f) Elton Brand (PF), Clippers. He plays for a winning team, but rarely puts in clutch performances to help out when everything is on the line. Why do you think Rick Brunson has been attempting all the game-winners all season? In any case, the West lineup is overloaded with forwards, so I guess it's good luck next time Elton.

So if Kobe doesn't suit up, I'd bet on Bibby making the cut. :) But of course, one never knows what the Commish is thinking, he may go with the most famous of the snubbed: Carmelo Anthony. Drug issues aside, he did get the most fan votes of those not selected. Who knows? Maybe the oft-injured will replace the injured as well. Basta, let's just enjoy the weekend! :)

Texas Love Affair, Gay Humor, Black Outfit

2005-01-26T08:14:00.000+08:00

SKL:

(Picture from Fox Sports)

Ewan ko lang a. :p Is it just me who finds something funny with this pic? Hmm....

Homophobic tendencies aside, I recently went to a videoke / comedy club just this Tuesday. It was a first for me to witness such a program, where guests sing their guts out and the hosts wrench it from them afterwards with "imagined and fictional statements that might be close to the truth," to loosely translate the warning that precedes their spiel. Otherwise knowin In the vernacular as "pang-o-okray". Here is where you see Filipino humor in its basest form: crassness = laughs. Bawal ang pikon dito. One guy got scorched because he said "Ano?" to each question, giving the hosts license to call him "Bingi" and "Tanga". A group was thoroughly noted for their getup, gender, and age, calling them "CWL" and making references to prayer meetings, pray-overs and such. A rotund lady was called "Mommy Mojacko". That sort of stuff was being tossed around by the hosts as Chokoleit was making the rounds among the audience.

Me? I was just glad he didn't spot me as I was wearing all-black --- same as the waiter's unis there.

Anyway, they sang as well, but the best singer by far was Anton Diva, who not only had a nice "girl" singing voice, he had the face and the body to match it. I was watching and I was like, shit, he could pass for a girl if I saw him at the street! He adeptly hides the first thing I look for to verify gender: the Adam's Apple. And he looks like a cross between 2 of my pretty women friends to boot. Nakakapraning.

After that, it was the audience's turn. I was expecting some heckling to ensue when the less talented took the mic but no! The first singer actually did OK singing "Before I Let You Go", the second singer had a decent rendition of a James Taylor song that I can't identify right now, and the third.... The third singer came to the stage with his son(!), they each had a guitar(!!), and after singing they promoted their album(!!!).

Potsa ano to, Star Search???? Pinoy talaga o. I guess, knowing that scouts are present at times in such bars, they took the opportunity to showcase their stuff... Cheesy, but the whole show was anyway....

It's nice that I experienced it for the sake of small-talk points, but the gay vibe ain't for me. Not because I don't find it funny, I do, but if I watch them more often, I might like their humor too much and adapt it to my own set of laugh lines, and I'm not up to that: gods know that I crack one too many gay hirits, davah? Charing!

Shit. Too late.

Disgruntled Personnel Carousel

2005-01-22T13:28:00.000+08:00

The Jazz and the Pistons worked out a trade: Elden Campbell and a 1st round pick for Carlos Arroyo. This trade has a semblance of fairness in terms of talent and team need. Detroit gets its backup point guard it sorely needs, and Utah reunites Memo with a veteran center who can teach him and Boozer a few tricks.

With Arroyo, Utah has gotten rid of a player who has fallen from grace with its coach. Sloan banished Arroyo to the bench for playing less than stellar defense, and this benching was something new to the Puerto Rican star, who started for the Jazz just a season back and led Puerto Rico during the Olympics. It's refreshing to see that some franchises hold the team concept first, personalities second (as with the case with Carter and Toronto) and this trade was just waiting to happen.

Speaking of trades waiting to happen, Jim Jackson was finally shipped out of New Orleans for 3 practice bodies. This of course is very good for Phoenix- they get someone for practically nothing, and at least now they have an 8-man rotation, once they have everyone healthy. But you'd think New Orleans could've gotten a better offer in the market. But since they are currently just waiting for the lottery, they may have thought, "Ah, to heck with it, at least I'm getting someone who could be better down the road." And they're also getting someone who is not a journeyman primadonna. Can you imagine that Chinese Guy from Ocean's 12 saying "I don't want to sign up for this ridiculous sequel, so I'm gonna sit out on all of you, producers and all-star co-stars be damned!"? Well, that was kind of what Jimmy J did, except that Ocean's 12 had the star power to do well at the tills. New Orleans had Baron Davis' balky back. But at least JJ didn't get paid while sitting out games, unlike T-Mac who openly admitted that he was only giving a partial effort into the games he played in for the 21-win Orlando Magic last season.

Can the Magic then claim part of McGrady's salary from last year? :)

Season 2005 Pre-Midseason NBA Post

2005-01-18T17:19:00.000+08:00

I've posted a past article about preseason picks for underachieving. Hey, 2 out of 4 ain't so bad. The Kings are doing what is expected of them this season: not as good as last season, but if they were any better they'd be overachieving. The Heat have been healthy thus far, except for the last two games. Against the not-so-lowly-but-nobody-cares LA Clippers, they missed Wade terribly, especially in the fourth quarter. Corey Maggette hit big shot after big shot after big shot in 2OT while the Heat were scrambling for a clutch player to perform. Shaq tried but he was a missed free throw waiting to happen. Butler tried but missed, Damon Jones had more success, but only a bit more. Wherefore art thou, Eddie Jones?

The Kings however have addressed their recent slide (if you call a 25-11 record a "slide") by trading away their top perimeter defender, positive locker room presence but sliding offensive threat. Offense for defense, Doug Christie for Cuttino Mobley. I was at first skeptical on the trade, thinking that the other team lost too much to be offset by the gains to be had. The Magic will lose 16ppg, and that's nothing to sneeze at since I believe their top 2 offensive performers (Francis and Hill) are already stretched as it is. No way the other Magic players, including Hedo, was going to make up for that. (of course, he then averages 16ppg over the past 5 games, probably just to spite me :p ).

As for the Kings having Mobley, he and the Kings are doing just fine. The Cat buried a clutch 3 to bury the Clips. He had 19 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and the only clue he was new to the team was his 4 turnovers. But you gotta take the good with the bad, as many Fantasy NBAers such as myself know. :)

One more thing: I can't believe I didn't write in the Nuggets to fail! I promise I had it in my head before the season started, I just didn't get to blog it down. Why? Lesse: They've got 3 very talented bigs competing for 2 slots on the floor but they have no shooters to speak of except for overachieving (and hopelessly injured) Voshon Lenard, their "star" is acting like he's in LaLa Land (he may as well be, who buys 9-carat diamonds anyway??), Lenard was their only shooter (and is now hopelessly injured) and their best offensive threat right now is 5'5". Overall, it spelled doom for Bzedelik and the Nugs.

But otherwise, its been a wildly entertaining NBA season. :) But for some reason, I'm not (yet) excited over the All-Star Game. Maybe if LeBron enters the Slam Dunk contest along with Vince Carter and Kobe? Coz the return of Grant Hill, injury free ain't enough for me to get excited, and this edition of Corvette vs. Brick Wall shouldn't really produce a Kobe dunk-on-your-head or Shaq-clotheline-from-hell highlight. It's an All-Star Game for crying out loud.

But then again, no one ever thought an NBA player would be crazy enough to charge into the stands and start laying punches....

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal!

2005-01-17T11:49:00.000+08:00

Two friends of mine got married recently. I've been quite out of touch with them, so I was deeply honored that they invited me to witness this event, their event. (quick shout out: Thanks so much!Ü) A few thoughts while I was there:

Words on my lips upon seeing the church, situated near St. Paul QC (and yes, PC Options) - Pwede! :) Hopefully my friend won't sue for plagiarism if ever. ;)
I loved the touches on the ceremony that screamed "this is OUR wedding"! How he used his talent (and non-talent, sorry pare) to express his love for her during the reception, how some songs were sung as intermission numbers because it reminded people where it all started (during an extra-curricular activity),how she had her bridal march to the tune of "Nothing But Love" (Mr. Big). I also liked it that it seemed that I was the one of the few in the church who actually knew the song. Heheh.
I said I was out of touch and it showed:

I don't really *know* any of their other friends there, but this was excusable since we all were in different cliques way back when anyway;
As a consequence, I came in ultra-safe clothing: Long sleeves. Not quite casual, not quite formal either. Most of the other guys came in barong. Why was it a consequence? Because if I had known that they were coming full formal, I would've eschewed the "safe" outfit in a heartbeat.
I didn't know any of the back stories, the problems, the inside stuff about the wedding. I mean, you know the difference between being part of a ceremony as opposed to being just a witness? Somehow, this fact bugged me no end. The feeling that I was there, but not quite. Basta, I didn't like it. Maybe because we were close back in the day, and now... Now the door is open. As it always has been.

One friend said that she cried for them not because they were getting married, but because it signified that their barkada has graduated into adulthood with all of the problems that come with it. I was thinking that this particular group of friends was probably, IMO, her "escape" group from the bites of reality, and now life has caught on with their barkada. Now that one of them is going to face husband problems, motherhood, family budget constraints, it may mean a different atmosphere for their circle of 10. Then again, that may not be a bad thing, change is good right? :)
Funny thing, she constantly said "kids acting like adults" referring to herself. Di ba, at 25/26, that should be "adults acting as kids"? Heheh. Peace. I'm not putting her down or anything like that. In fact, I can relate a bit... I certainly am not above this all, being a quarter century old already, I still can't acknowlege that I'm ~~old~~ getting older. Remember just 7 years ago you were attending their debuts? Now it's their wedding. Birthday parties of your friend's kids. Being godfather in their baptism. And worse: your friend's parent's funeral (I attended 2 during the Christmas break, God bless their souls). Sooner or later lampas na ng kalendaryo ang edad natin... [our age will not be within the number of days in a month] Wala lang... ang bilis ng panahon... Time flies.

Friend, congratulations. Here's to your 25th wedding anniv, 50th wedding anniv, and in general, here's to forever. Cheers!

Look Which Post Made It At Last...

2005-01-17T08:03:00.000+08:00

One week delayed. 'Nuff said.

(Look at post below)

Publishing Through Email and Other Interesting Stuff

2005-01-15T11:14:00.000+08:00

I'll just share a few things I picked up this early on 2005:

For some reason, my office does not like my blogging activities, which they showed by blocking the Blogger site. Pasaway kasi nagba-blog during office hours, heheh. Lesson: use Unipeak whenever possible :)
As a result, I can't post new entries conventionally! Fortunately there is a feature in Blogger that lets me post via email. Coolness! You need to email to [USERNAME].[SECRET]@blogger.com, where [SECRET] is a word you enter somewhere in your configuration. It's under the "email" tab. Easy, right? :)
Oblation is actually a word that means something. Heheh... 7 years in U.P. and all that time I thought it referred only to the Poe Sr. inspired naked statue. Courtesy of Dictionary.com's Word of the Day:

Word of the Day for Friday January 7, 2005

   oblation \uh-BLAY-shuhn; oh-\, noun:
   1. The act of offering something, such as worship or thanks,
   especially to a deity.
   2. (Usually capitalized) The act of offering the bread and
   wine of the Eucharist.
   3. Something offered in a religious rite or as a charitable
   gift.

Ohhkaaaayy. Someone explain to me why Oble was named that way, and why he's our... uuuhh... official school icon. Some sort of representation that we are offering our intellects to the country? Or is it the government who is "offerring" its graduates to a company, or another country? Or is it just harkening to the cliche, "lambs to the slaughter"? Offerings in the Old Testament DID call for a sacrifice....

Wala lang. Just testing the post-via-email thing. :)

New Things to Know

2005-01-11T13:15:00.000+08:00

I'll just share a few things I picked up this early on 2005:

For some reason, my office does not like my blogging activities, which they showed by blocking the Blogger site. Pasaway kasi nagba-blog during office hours, heheh. Lesson: use Unipeak whenever possible :) The ban has been lifted, as of now. Best not to take any chances though. Publish away! :)
~~As a result, I can't post new entries conventionally!~~ Fortunately there is a feature in Blogger that lets me post via email. Coolness! You need to email to [USERNAME].[SECRET]@blogger.com, where [SECRET] is a word you enter somewhere in your configuration. It's under the "email" tab. ~~Easy, right? :)~~ Actually, it's not really easy. It's been 2 days and my email/post hasn't been published yet. I wonder what went wrong?
Ala Paredes' blog contains a reference to the Famicom game Contra and a cover of the video game sounds. I googled for the mp3 over the net and I can now say one thing: Vomitron rocks! Check out the sound file here. (Registration required.)
Oblation is actually a word that means something. Heheh... 7 years in U.P. and all that time I thought it referred only to the Poe Sr. inspired naked statue. Courtesy of Dictionary.com's Word of the Day:

Word of the Day for Friday January 7, 2005

oblation \uh-BLAY-shuhn; oh-\, noun:
1. The act of offering something, such as worship or thanks,
especially to a deity.
2. (Usually capitalized) The act of offering the bread and
wine of the Eucharist.
3. Something offered in a religious rite or as a charitable
gift.

Ohhkaaaayy. Someone explain to me why Oble was named that way, and why he's the Isko's... uuuhh... official school icon. Some sort of representation that we are offering our intellects to the country? Or is it the government who is "offerring" its graduates to a company, or another country? Or is it just harkening to the cliche, "lambs to the slaughter"? Offerings in the Old Testament DID call for a sacrifice....

Wala lang. Just ~~testing~~ tried to test the post-via-email thing. :) And failed. Ehe Ü

Blog Hopping...

2005-01-05T10:56:00.000+08:00

I just found Ramil's new blog, still named "The Trailer", because of the linkback feature on Blogshares. It contains reviews on movies and is not a blog that sells those things attached to trucks. :p Foolish of me to think that...

Jochan found out how freakishly accurate the Personal Style Inventory Test is.

Reg in all her Jolie glory narrated her Awitan experiences that spans the past 3 Eng'g Weeks. Made me miss singing, college even more so! And makes me realize that I'm almost 2 years removed from graduation! really can't accept the fact that I'm growing old.. Also, she reminds me of my pessimist / self-protection mindset that I so strongly have...

Regarding Soloflite's first post of 2005? How true, how true! Err... if she reads this, my girl will kill me >:)

As always, Jake's photos are amazing. Though Markku's are a close 2nd :p Heheh. :)

Just some of the blogs I frequent... More next... month?

What 2004 Hit Song Are You?

2005-01-03T15:29:00.000+08:00

100 Years by Five for Fighting

"Every day's a new day...
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live"

2004 was about thinking and reflecting - but isn't every year?

What 2004 Hit Song Are You?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2004-12-23T15:45:00.000+08:00

Hope y'all have a good one! It's my last day at the office. Filed a leave for the workdays next week, 2005 budget be damned. >:) Baguio muna, priorities! Heheh.

See you (or tag you) on January!

Frozen Bubble - a Symbian Game Review

2004-12-20T17:50:00.000+08:00

Continuing the thread on Symbian phones, I just had to show you the first game I downloaded over the internet. It got me hooked for a few good months. And it taught me that playing games on my 6600 is a bitch on the battery :lol:

Frozen Bubble

Frozen Bubble (download), as I had mentioned in a comment, is freeware originally from Linux ported to Symbian. How does the game go? Simple:

Fire away, mateys!

You shoot balls from a laterally stationary... harpoon(?). You can move the pointer 180%, fire a colored ball, and if the ball hits another, the ball fired will stick onto the ball on the screen. But if they are of the same color, those balls fall off the screen. Simple Puzzle Bobble mechanics.

Tip: bounce balls off walls! Wow! o_O

Only here, there is no score involved, and you can't die (until you quit that is). Sounds are nice, but not really great. The good news is, there are hardly any lags while playing, and its the type of game that you will not get sick of in the long run. You know there's an opportunity to play it, and its replay value is endless. Wish there was a save function though, and the high score contains only the level reached until you give up and the time you spent to reach that level, leaving much to be desired..

Yes, only Level 24. ~~I lost~~ No, I did not lose patience on the game early

Overall, addicting for a while but you may get sick of it once you realize that there is no end to the madness that is Frozen Bubble. Great game to have on your phone, great time-consumer, and great battery drainer Ü. Just don't get too preoccupied with the game, you just might not notice the cellphone snatcher beside you...

Scale of 0 - 5:
Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 3.5
Gameplay: 4.0
Addiction factor*: 4.5
Staying Power^: 5.0
OVERALL: 4.2 / 5.0

* - How hooked will you be? Will you be able to put your phone down?
^ - How long before you decide to uninstall the game?

Can You Say Alley-Oop?

2004-12-18T09:48:00.000+08:00

Vince Carter traded to New Jersey Nets. Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and a pair of first-round draft picks went to the Raps.

Whoa.

First thoughts: The Nets are gonna be hella fun to watch. It's going to be like an All-Star Game for Kidd every game, throwing up alley-oops to either Carter or Jefferson. The Nets owner finally coughed up some moolah to improve his team. The Nets may have a chance here.

Wait, belay that thought.

Fact 1: Kidd is still not 100%. Carter is injured (supposedly). So is Mercer and Planinic.
Fact 2: Carter of 2004 is not the Carter of rookie heydeys. Nope, Carter 2k4 is a player with incredible leaping ability who settles for too many outside shots. It's like he swore off dunking like it was a sin.
Fact 3: There are not enough shooters in New Jersey that will open up the paint in half court sets.
Fact 4: Most importantly, Their big men: Jason Collins, Brian Scalabrine, Nenad Krstic, and a couple of other fringe-NBDL players. If I was Lawrence Frank, I'd rather shoot myself before you make me pick who gets the minutes from this bunch. Run-and-gun offense are fueled by 3 things: athleticism, defense, and rebounding. Their big men can't provide any of the three. If they provide anything at all.

At least New Jersey boasts of a 3 All-Star caliber guys again. The Continental Arena attendance should spike 50000%. Heck, only 30 people watch the Nets play there now, its not too much to ask for. ;-)

Really good trade on paper for NJ. Emphasis on "on paper".

Personal Style Inventory

2004-12-11T08:50:00.000+08:00

In my studies at my MBA at DLSU, we were introduced to a test that will show you your basic personality type, your strengths and weaknesses. And I quote:

"Just as every person has differently shaped feet and toes from every other person, so we all have differently " shaped " personalities. Just as no person's foot shape is " right " or " wrong, " so no person's personality shape is right or wrong. The purpose of this inventory is to give you a picture of the shape of your preferences..."

This test is the Personal Style Inventory (R. Craig Hogan and David W. Champagne), which you can take online by clicking the link. Some companies actually use this test to assess whether your personality type is apt for the job that you are applying for! You can be one of 16 possible personality types, and I was labeled an I-S-T-P: a "Strategizer":

Cool onlookers. Quiet, reserved, observing and analyzing life with detached curiosity and unexpected flashes of original humor. Usually interested in impersonal principles, cause and effect, how and why mechanical things work. Exert themselves no more than they think necessary because any waste of energy would be inefficient. Action-oriented, precise and tireless. Can be impulsive. Challenged by complex equipment. Somewhat solitary.

I'd say that was quite accurate. :) How about you? What's your Personality Style?

Tip: Since you will be asked to rate your preference from 0-5, as much as possible, avoid scoring an item 2-3 points. Go for the extremes whenever applicable. Good luck!

Wham Bam Slamming Action

2004-12-08T16:36:00.000+08:00

"She got hit by a truck.... [fades to giggling noises]"
-Anthrax

I recently slammed our Toyota Vios onto a Ford Explorer.

The results? Explorer 1, Vios 0.

I was 3rd in a chain of 3 cars that were bumper-to-bumper, literally. By their accounts, the first one, a Civic, narrowly avoided a car who suddenly stopped for no apparent reason on top of the EDSA - Ortigas Flyover. Car # 2 was alert enough to hit the gutter at the side of the flyover, therefore lessening his speed enough to only impart minimal damage to the Civic.

I, of course, was not so lucky nor was I as quick on my wits (only in humor, not in driving. Damn), and crashed onto the back of the Explorer at about 20-30kph. Miraculously, the engine was still operational after, and the headlights were still working, even if the impact was strong enough to push back the radiator (and possibly the engine as well) 4-5 inches.

But the Explorer only got a scratch on the paint job. Not even a dent.

Damn, I want my 4x4!!! Bump car tayo sa EDSA! Wooohooo!!!

If the NBA Playoffs Were Held Today...

2004-12-08T16:09:00.000+08:00

Cleveland would have the Eastern Conference second seed, beating out the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons for the Central Division's best record. Of course, as a result, they will face 7th seed Detroit in the first round..
The #1 seeded team in the East would be the Washington Wizards(!!!)
New York will claim the Atlantic (and the third seed) with a record below 0.500, and will earn a first round matchup with Indiana, who sports a record above 0.500.
No surprise: The Spurs have the best record in the NBA.
Big surprise: the Seattle Sonics are virtually tied with the Spurs(!).
Above expectations: The Phoenix Suns are also virtually tied with the Spurs and tied with the Sonics..
#1? seed? Washington Wizards! (just in case that didn't sink in)
The Clippers make the playoffs at #7! And they'll face Seattle, increasing their chances to get past the first round of the playoffs in a very, very, very long time.
Four Western Teams with better win % than the East 8th seed will miss the playoffs.
Sacramento vs. Dallas in the first round. Some things wouldn't change with time.
And lastly, the #1 seeded team in the East would be the Washington Wizards!!!(sorry, I really couldn't believe that)

NBA: Artest Lives Up to His Number

2004-11-22T16:11:00.000+08:00

If you haven't heard yet, the NBA's Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, one of the most intense rivalries now in the NBA, has figured in arguably the messiest situation the league has ever faced. To wit, Ben Wallace overreacted to a hard foul by Ron Artest. Big Ben charges Rapper Ron (or Asinine Artest, depending on where you stand), respective teammates restrain them, situation settles down eventually, then a cup of beer/juice/soda hits Artest. He snaps, charges the fan that threw the offending beverage, melee ensues, Stephen Jackson joins in the fray, Jermaine O'Neal smacks a haymaker to a rabid Pistons fan. The game is called with 45 seconds remaining. Both teams exit the arena while the Pacers are pelted with popcorn and drinks. Jack Nicholson arrives and admits it was all a ruse to test if Ron Artest has passed his Anger Management class, which of course he obviously didn't. The Commish lays down the law, says "You asked for it, you got it!" and smacks Indiana with suspensions to 5 players, 3 of whom are starters who will miss all (Artest) or half of the NBA season. (4 players from Detroit were suspended as well, but only for 1-6 games)

I could be wrong with the Nicholson bit, but the rest was almost surreal. Can you imagine, guys who lift weights for a living taking on the typical couch potato type NBA fan? Show some restraint, please, guys. You may say you're as human as we are, but you have brute strength. And earn $$$. Plus, those fans paid to see you in action! if we wanted to watch people bash each other, we could've just tuned in to Randy Orton prancing about, delivering RKO's.

Of course, one may argue that the fans were asking for it, since they threw things first. But these athletes are there for the money-paying fans of the game who came to see a good game of basketball. And that ugly scene between Ben and Artest? NOT what they paid for. (Well, maybe Mike Tyson would've apprecated it). Dare I say the fans were justified? Not really, since there is still such a thing called decorum. But still, the athletes forgot the big scheme of things. They were playing a game not for playoff positioning. Not to be a step closer towards winning the championship. Not to provide writers and bloggers with fodder to feed their RSS. But ultimately, they were there to entertain. The FANS. The customer is king, but the players treated the palace fans like Jerry Lawler in the 90's.

In any case, at least #91 now has a lot of time on his hands to promote his rap album. Hmm.. maybe the Rodman idolizer really did ask for it.

Late Post on UP / Miriam

2004-11-10T20:01:00.000+08:00

After the Miriam Santiago Fiasco, I'm even more convinced that the Philippines does not have hope anymore. For a government officer who should have the people's interest first and foremost, she goes and rants about how her son's suicide was supposedly caused by UP College of Law. A suicide, by the way, that has a weird premise. The bullet point was from the back of the nape to the front of the face. Weird way to commit suicide. Plus, how many months had passed since he failed the UP Law interview? 4? 5? Weird, ain't it?

In any case, many others have failed the exam. It's still up to the person if he wanted to commit suicide. Ultimately, the psychological makeup of the person will be to blame and who had a hand in forming that?

Read here and here for more. :)

NBA - 1st day of the Season

2004-11-03T16:12:00.000+08:00

Against the backdrop of the US elections, the NBA started the 2004-'05 season with great matchups. Dallas defeated the Kings behind Nowitzki's hot hand (and good contributions from their newcomers, rookie Devin Harris and Erick Dampier). At Michigan, Antonio McDyess made his umphteenth comeback try (and getting the boot out 9 minutes after he entered), the defending champs got by the Shaq-Kobe heir apparents. Naturally, Detroit won it with defense against the Rockets.

But I'm sure more people were interested on the last match-up: Kobe vs. the Nuggets. The Lakers beat Denver handily, with a statline-filler performance from Bryant: 25 points, 7 dimes, 3 blocks(!), and 4 boards. And 4 turnovers. He didn't exactly throw up 50 shots as everyone expected, but handled the ball (as expected) and passed the ball. His receipient of the night was Chris Mihm, who was probably as surprised as the Nuggets when he got his career-high 23 points.

Kobe passing the ball. Chris Mihm scoring against Camby, K-Mart, and Nene. Lakers win. Who knew? :p

NBA: Underachiever Preseason Picks

2004-11-02T14:51:00.000+08:00

Most sports sites have been listing their preseason picks to win it all. I'll be posting my own thoughts with the antithesis: those hyped to succeed but likely to fail. In no particular order:

Team: Sacramento Kings
Issue: Chemistry
Skinny: With Vlade defecting to the Lakers, Webber talking the (conflicting) talk about hard working teammates that includes/does not include Peja, and with Peja wanting a trade because he feels it is the best way to move forward for both teams, the Kings are ripe for an implosion. When your best player says that the team can best win by trading him away, there's a problem there! And that's not mentioning the decline of play of Doug Christie, the underpriced contract woes of Bobby Jackson, and downgrading their center talent from Divac to Ostertag.

Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
Issue: Aged/Disgruntled Backcourt
Skinny: Sprewell and Cassell wants a contract extension. McHale and the T'wolves don't want to give them one. And with good reason: these guys are already O-L-D. I wonder why the backcourt duo fail to realize that. Let's hope Cassell and Spree come to their senses, and just play ball, and not choke the life out of their chance for a championship.

Team: New York Knicks
Issue: Guards That Need The Ball Too Much
Skinny: Ballhog SG + Ballhog PG = ... well, lets just state that the most recent incarnation in recent memory of this happening was in Philadelphia, and Stack and AI didn't last long on that team.

Team: Miami Heat
Issue: No bench depth
Skinny: 2 people a team does not make. One major injury to Shaq is sure to affect their teams. Think about it: the Heat's starting lineup will become Dwayne Wade, Eddie Jones, Wesley Person, Udonis Haslem, and Michael Doleac. In other words, stud, old, old, raw, and in-the-NBA- coz-he's- 2.1-meters-tall, respectively. I shudder to think who will come off the bench. Rasual Butler? Bombed last season. Christian Laettner? Actually the perfect model for Kwame Brown - wonderful when playing against people with less talent than him, but couldn't keep up with the big boys. Caron Butler? Oops, he's in Lakerland already. The Miami Heat better start praying to the injury gods to spare their Big Daddy and also their Future as well.

Bye-bye Globe, Hello Sun!

2004-10-29T08:08:00.000+08:00

Please update your phonebooks. I've switched to SUN! Yes, the signal strength is comparable to Globe's when text was still free, and sound clarity is definitely not up to par as compared to the two big telcos in mobile communications, but for a measly Php250, for 30 days, you can call and text fellow SUN subscribers for free! The Prepaid SIM pack is Php150, and SUN loads you up Php100 for 3 months. And since I got the SIM card this October, I have a 15-day trial of their CTU(Call and Text Unlimited) plan free! Talk about laying it all out there. Digitel is really fighting hard for market share.

Anyway, I guess it's time to spare you the infomercial babble. :) My numbers now are 0918-902-5800 (office line) and 0922-471-2278 (SUN). For my fellow SUN subscribers, text me your numbers! :)

Back to Sports: Red Sox Make History

2004-10-22T09:02:00.000+08:00

I was never a baseball fan as I found the sport too inert. But any sports fan has got to appreciate what just happened a few hours ago.

The Boston Red Sox won the American League pennant against the Lakers of baseball, the New York Yankees, after being down 0-3 in the seven-game series.

This wasn't supposed to happen. No one expected the Red Sox to win the series, much less come back from being down 0-3, the only professional team in all of sports to do so. But with a bit of luck, and with a lot of support from their loyal fans (report: 76% of Boston tuned in to Game 7 against 43% of New York's TV viewers), they did it.

I can't give justice to Boston's accomplishment, but I can refer you to someone who can: a lifelong fan of the Red Sox, and my favorite sportswriter right now: The Sports Guy from ESPN. Click on for his Game 7 review.

Congratulations to the Red Sox!

*Thanks to Markku for the correction. Sabi ko nga di ako baseball fan talaga e ;)

Got Symbian?

2004-10-18T16:06:00.000+08:00

The office just recently issued Nokia 6600s and I was lucky enough to be assigned one. My current phone being a Nokia 6210 (stuff the guffaws, I did have a color-screen phone… for a full 6 weeks, before it got lost/stolen), I was instantly amazed by the capabilities of the new-generation Nokia. Its Symbian OS opens the possibility for various software to be installed in your phone. WAV ringtones and themes are just the tip of the iceberg, baby! Do you know that you can actually play Super Mario on your Nokia? What about turning it into an MP3 player? A weather forecast generator? A remote control for your TV? Well, without further ado, time to share some things that will help you maximize your Symbian Phone!

1. Does your phone run on Symbian OS?

First we have to make sure that your phone runs that OS! If you own a Nokia 6600, 7650, 7610, 9210, 3650, N-Gage, SE P800, or P900, then we’re on the same page Ü. Check out http://www.symbian.com/phones/ for more info. In any case, if your phone is a bit more "technologically challenged", stick around, because these principles can still be applicable...

2. Do you have a way to connect your phone to your computer?

This means that you need to have either a USB connector, an infrared port, a bluetooth dongle, or at least a memory card reader to download the files to your phone. For proud owners of Nokia 7610s, your phone comes with the USB cable and the Nokia Data Suite. Make sure you use it, because you don’t know what you’re missing if you don't. If you’re not as blessed, you’ll need to buy the necessary peripherals. Both available at most cellphone stalls and Cyberzone stalls, the IR port (Php1,600-1,800) is cheaper than the Bluetooth connector (Php2,000+), but Bluetooth is much faster and more reliable (generally). So gogogo buybuybuy! :)

3. Do you have the files to install to your phone?

There are many possible sources of downloading files, aside from bluetoothing files from your friends (you leech, you :p ), or paying your friendly neighborhood cellphone hawker for them to do the dirty deed for you. FYI: You don’t need to pay for it! Where do you think the guys at Virra Mall get their stuff anyway? Over the Internet, of course!

A tip before we continue: For programs, games and themes, you will ultimately need a .SIS file or a .JAR file. If you download a *.zip or a *.rar, you need to uncompress it using the proper software until you see the .SIS or .JAR. You can get WinZip here and WinRAR here.

There are 3 basic site types for downloading your themes, apps, ringtone files, or games. One is directly from the official website of the app that you want. This site for a freeware game (Frozen Bubble for Symbian phones) is an example. Looking for these sites take major Googling powers, plus you have to know what you’re looking for. But at the very least, you’re sure of the file you’re downloading, in terms of stability and safety versus viruses. Unfortunately, most of these sites want you to pay for downloading their files, so of course we need a better option. A cheaper option if you may. ;-)

The easiest option is to join a mailing list dedicated to sharing apps and ringtones. One only need to put in "Nokia 6600" in the Groups Search Bar, and you can now choose from a plethora of email communities that’ll provide you with the latest ringtone. An obvious disadvantage is the volume of mail you receive may be too much for someone who doesn’t check his mail at least twice daily. 15-20 messages a day can flood your mailbox, and that’s on the average. And also, you can’t just look for the file that you want. You have to request for it over email, wait for it, and hope someone hears your prayer.

Which brings us to the last option: Websites and forums dedicated for all phone-related concerns. One example is i-forum.org. For frequent forum users, this is the way to go. For those unfamiliar with the forum setup, this can be a reason to start registering your nick in! You can search for files, browse through topics that can produce what you’re looking for, and download every conceivable app on the planet. Of course, it can be trying at times (not all the posts are useful, to say the least), you may find yourself browsing endlessly and still you won’t find the file you want. But it’s still the way to go.

One last thing: if you got your phone from Globe, Smart, Sun, or Islacom, and you want to unlock it, THERE IS A PROGRAM IN THE INTERNET that enables you to do it! And of course, its FOR FREE! Jeez, and the Greenhills guys charge Php500 for open-line-ing your phone. Try this site: http://www.unlockme.co.uk/dct4free.html. Google is a wonderful thing. ;-)

Just One Question.

2004-10-08T16:27:00.000+08:00

My goodness, I've been so busy at work I couldn't find the time to blog! Imagine that, hehe. But since I [never] want this blog to be a journal (or worse: a diary [shudder]), I just leave you with one long-winded question:

De La Salle University is a Catholic/Christian School, right? It was founded by a St. John Baptist de la Salle, with a quest for religio, mores, cultura*? Espousing values above all else?

So why did they pick a dealer of death, an Archer, to represent their school?

Just a curious question...
...

*religion, relations with fellow person, right appreciation of one's traditions

8 Things About the MBA Program

2004-09-29T09:23:00.000+08:00

Things learned so far during MBA interaction with admin/faculty:

You can’t walk into an exam without studying the slightest bit and expect to ace it. Especially since the last time I faced an exam paper was when I was in college. Dang, and I wanted that DLSU scholarship… (FYI, a 95% entrance exam score supposedly gets you a partial scholarship)
Before going to a job interview, or a pre-MBA interview for that matter, brush up on your general industry knowledge. Meaning if you work for a food company, you better know the recent government policies that affected the price of your Chippy. Trust me, the guy isn’t going to ask you neither how you executed a cost-cutting measure in your manufacturing plant, nor how you managed to systematize your computer files away from your desktop. Be a bit prepared. And while we’re at it, lets hear a gripe about the industry that I am in:
The petroleum industry is assumed to sell only gasoline and diesel. Never mind that I work exclusively for the Lubricants department, the questions that were asked went to the direction of the gas stations. Which we only have about 50 of. Which I do not know a whit about.
Those wearing glasses are assumed to be intelligent. Young guys wearing glasses are assumed to be computer nerds. Upon my enlistment for the subjects to be taken up, the lady helping me exempted me from "Business Communications" and chalked me up to take an exemption exam on "Information Management". This after finding out that I took Industrial Engineering in college. And that has *what* to do with the computer hardware / software business? Hey, it could be my exam results that got me exempted, but I’m thinking the glasses had a lot to do with it. >:-)
Enroll early. Or face a hefty P200 late reg fee. Not like it was my fault, with the schedule of the entrance exam I had to get, it was impossible to enroll on time! So what’s up with the late reg fee??? Come on, it’s like it was set up for me to enroll late! *sulk*
It costs a lot of money to take up masters. Can you say nineteen thousand five hundred fifty nine? Say it again. Php19,559. That’s for 2 subjects and a validating exam. Ö
Even if you already took the subject in college, its nuances will escape you until you've had a refresher. With my Management Principles course. I swear I had a subject on the different schools of thinking for management, but I came up with blank during discussion. As for my other subject, consider this: I took and passed a math subject, Probability for EE, and Probability for IE. Made me think I can sleep through my Management Statistics. Nuh-uh! I couldn’t even correctly answer some of the sample questions! Grrr…. A direct result of the "Flush all information after exams" type of mentality.
And lastly, I learned that "heuristic" is supposed to be pronounced as "hoi-ris’-tik". Para bang "Tag Heuer". I was taken aback of course, because this challenged how I’ve pronounced it for a good 10 years or so. Naturally, I took it as gospel out of respect to the Course Instructor who backed up his claim by saying that he knew German, and so that’s how he was sure. Of course, when I had the opportunity, I looked it up. And lo and behold: Merriam-Webster lists "heuristic" as hyu-'ris-tik, just the way I learned it from my esteemed UP and Pisay Professors. Props to the La Salle prof for knowing how the Germans, who originated the word, pronounce heuristic but unfortunately, we use English as the language here. Hello… haay. Bumalik na lang kaya ako sa UP? Tsk, tsk, tsk…

An Isko's Nightmare.

2004-09-20T16:45:00.000+08:00

Did you get to watch the Ateneo - La Salle game yesterday? For diehard Ateneans (e.g. Miko, Peter, Jake V., Eurose, Candy, etc. etc.) and La Sallians (my honey, Soloflite, Elaine (tama ba?), my sister Jomai, Janice, etc. etc.), alike, it was a must - watch. Students and alumni met, schemed on how to get hold of tickets, saved their favorite green/blue shirt for the game, and at the very least, blocked off their schedules so that they can catch it on TV. It's a phenomena already documented on paper, how amazingly zealous the graduates of these schools are. But what is an NBA addict to do in the offseason of the NBA? Watch this game of course, as this will surely be a treat: Basketball with emotions running high. But who to cheer for?

IMO, the standard UP grad would naturally cheer for their alegedly pompous Katipunan-based neighbors, as too many Di Pumasa Sa UPCAT jokes berating the La Sallians have been passed around in the campus. (Pop quiz: In a room, a million dollars, a humble Atenean, an industrious UP student, a virginal Assumptionista, and an intelligent La Sallian were in a room. Who will get the million? The UP student, because the rest don't exist.) At least, we say, the Blue Eagles approach us in intellect. Nyahahaha!

But then I remembered something..

I just enrolled in DLSU's MBA program last Saturday, which technically makes me a La Sallian.

Err....

GO LA SALLE!!! Beat the Tamaraws!!!! :p

Personal Space in the Commuter's World

2004-09-14T16:38:00.000+08:00

It has been taught in our ergonomics class that every person has a defined "personal space". Invasion from other people would elicit reactions, positive or negative, depending on the situation. For example, if a crush invaded your "space", it would possibly trigger a number of responses such as blushing, saying a muted "hi", or mumbling an incoherent response if ever she asks for the time. In other countries, just be within 2 feet of a person and someone is bound to shout out a "Good day!" or "Fine weather we're having."

But, isn't it weird that when we commute, we share our space with a fellow human being and not care? I mean, if you've ever been in an LRT (Light Rail Transit) during rush hour, you'd know what I'm talking about. It's not just space we share, sometimes we're so close with one another, you'd already be able to smell what soap he bathed with that morning. (Let's not even think about what happens if he didn't shower.) You do care, in a self-preservation kind of way, but as for interactions with your fellow person, it has been reduced to pushing and shoving. In a jeepney, people would be conjoined at the hip for an hour but you don't acknowledge the presence of the other people. Not unless they were sleeping and was trying to use your shoulder as a headrest.

Still, we apparently have a different set of social rules for commuters. I can come up with one right now: "Never initiate communications with a fellow commuter you don't know. Only do so in times of dire need, or when your well-being is at risk."

Just my thoughts on a traffic night on the commute...

How to Misinterpret a Map

2004-09-10T14:31:00.000+08:00

I'm about to go to De La Salle University (Taft Campus) for an interview to hopefully get myself admitted to their MBA program. It's scheduled later today, 5:30pm. My office is in Ortigas and I get off at 5pm. Hmm...

Courtesy of http://www.onthemap.com.ph/

*measure, measure* 2 inches from Pasig to Manila. Anlapit lang pala e! Kayang kaya! :lol: j/k... Wish me luck!

Irony in the Philippine Government

2004-09-08T13:23:00.000+08:00

I was driving with my girlfriend last Saturday along EDSA from a trip to Makati. Saturdays without work, being a very vital commodity for a Unioil employee as myself, must be spent wisely... or on a girlfriend who just had her birthday. :p Anywhoo, while driving the northbound lane of C-4, I saw glimmers of siren lights on my rearview mirror. The traffic being not-so-friendly in north EDSA due to buses occupying most of the road while the private vehicles were mostly in the left side as well, the convoy then went to the yellow-lane side of the road. Guess who it was?

No, I don't know who it was for sure. But I did see that some blue towtrucks in the convoy, as well as catch the plate number of one of the vehicles: "8 MMDA".

Hmm. The implementor breaking the rules himself? Sounds ironic, but it's just another day in the circus that is the Philippine Government.

The Seven Samurai

2004-08-25T09:45:00.000+08:00

Just bought and watched a "copy" of The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. The movie piqued my interest because it (and Kurosawa in general) was credited to be the inspiration for movies like The Magnificent Seven (which I have yet to watch), movies by Spielberg, Lucas, et. al., and was credited by Stephen King in the Author's Notes of Wolves of the Calla, book four of the Dark Tower Series. Some say that it is the best Japanese movie made, period.

That, and I read about it in Adrian's blog. Ü

What can I say? Shichi-nin no samurai was made in 1954, but the black-and-white visuals did not deter one from experiencing this great movie. It was clean (in a cinematic sense), swordfights were mostly real without being overly gory, and there was superb characterizations from the primary characters. Each of the Seven were describable in a word: leader, apprentice, follower, witty, contemplative, smooth, and boisterous. There was a Kuwabara(from Yu Yu Hakusho) type of character, a Goemon(Lupin III) type... the actors came through with their performances, making each character distinct.

But movie buffs watched it mainly because of Kurosawa. Not being a polished movie critic, I didn't know what to look for. The DVD feature with the commentary was enlightening, to say the least, on how meticulous a director must be to come up with perfect scenes on every scene. And this is a 3-hour movie, fellas. Whew! If it were me, I'd only be able to direct the 10-minute gap that served as an "intermission", presumably for washroom breaks. (Every 3-hour movie should have this!)

Anyway, I got to get back to my job (this is borrowed time on a borrowed computer). All I can say is, for curious movie fans, watch it. Its a far cry from the special effect-laden action flicks we see in moviehouses nowadays, but The Seven Samurai is a movie, not a flick.

'Till the next, peeps!

First Post / Team USA Blunders

2004-08-16T22:49:00.000+08:00

I switched in this morning at the start of the second half. The score was 49-27. Initial reaction: OK, Team USA is on track.. until I found something weird with the scoreboad.

Sitting beside the Puerto Rico Flag was the score "49".

WTF?

I watched the 3rd quarter and the first part of the 4th. USA was having a mini-run to close the gap to within 9. But when USA threw up an airball which led to a fast break, with Carlos Arroyo outrunning Lamar Odom and outsmarting him to get an "And-1", I knew it was game over. They couldnt shoot from the outside, Tim Duncan was triple-teamed at the post every time, and most importantly, they couldn't defend perimeter players and slashes.

Yari na talaga sila ngayon! [They're doomed!] Lets see if David Stern still doesn't regret putting together a team that was meant to sell, not to win. NBA the best basketball in the world? They better redeem themselves in the next game. Even if they go on to win the gold, this game was just plain unexcusable.

Oh yeah. Welcome to my blog. Ü