Tuesday
evening
When
I woke up this morning, I said to myself I didn’t want to get up. I could have
used a few more hours of sleep that always seems to be in such short supply.
Then
I began to receive a lot of text messages inquiring about the UAAP games today.
A quick check with the league authorities indicated their continuation.
Personally,
I was against it considering the horrible weather. When I spoke to the four
teams that played today (women’s and juniors) as well as FEU’s Anton Montinola
today, they were all glad to play. They wanted to. They were all psyched up to
play and they were nervous that all that energy would go for naught had it been
postponed.
But
the weather – it brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. I was a victim of
Typhoon Ondoy two years ago (like many others) where my apartment was
underwater and I lost much of what I own (also to looting). In many ways, I was
happy to watch the UAAP basketball games (Women's and Juniors) that pushed
through today.
Mr.
Montinola told me after the Juniors game that he advised Ateneo to wait ‘til 12
noon before making the decision to postpone the seniors match because the
weather would have cleared somewhat. And it did. But then again not everyone
lives in the Cubao area so it was again for the best that it was postponed.
I
saw some comments about how the finals series will turn against Ateneo (they
cited 2006 when the Blue Eagles lost to UST). Now don’t get me started on that
finals. That typhoon theory has been blown to smithereens with the 2009 finals
between Ateneo and UE.
Anyways,
I’ll share my thoughts on the seniors finals in the next few days. On to
today’s games:
Juniors
Game 2 NU vs. FEU
“Jerie
Pingoy is Jerie Pingoy,” exclaimed National University head coach Jeff Napa.
The Cebuano point guard scored 17 points in the first half and looked
spectacular as he routinely beat his guard with his quick first step and
devastating pull-ups and floaters.
That
was 17 points in 15 minutes in the first half.
Talk
about devastating. He gets where he wants to go. Can anyone guard him?
But
what got the FEU Baby Tamaraws their 29-19 halftime lead was the strong play of
Al-Jonier and Janner Hassan. I loved following the FEU Juniors squad this year.
Not simply because of Pingoy, this year’s MVP. But I love the energy the Hassan
brothers bring to the game.
They
are an unrefined product with great energy. If you watch Al-Jonier, you have to
like his willingness to sacrifice his body inside the lane as he takes charges
and tries to block drives all while taking an elbow to the face. No Baby Tam
gets hammered more than this kid.
I
wish he’d stick that mid-range jumper with better consistency. Their shooting
coach should tweak the mechanics of his release. A little more and he’d help
his team a lot.
The
brothers played great D, got the rebounds, and scored to points to put them up
going into the break. However, come the second half, I thought that the NU
Bullpups found a spark of life with the strong play of Raph Atangan and Paolo
Rivero.
When
I saw Atangan play last season, I was reminded of the Letran Squires Jarelan
Tampus (of course he is now with La Salle) with the way he drove hard to the
basket and scored on all these twisting layups. He should be awarded three points
per bucket for the degree of difficulty.
NU
played great D in the second half while Pingoy went mental – in the wrong sort
of way. In FEU’s first six or seven possessions, Pingoy took the shot or turned
it over. That just killed them right there. The ball never was whipped around
and the others were not able to get into the game anymore.
Pingoy
scored only four points in the second half – a bucket in third and another in
the fourth period.
The
halftime adjustments of NU were simple – crank up the D and let Pingoy shoot
himself out of the game and stop his teammates.
I
had to ask Napa about his wards’ atrocious three point shooting when he himself
was such an assassin for the Bulldogs during his playing days. “Mahuhulog din
yun,” he said optimistically.
Wherever
the Bulldogs end up in this series, this is their best showing ever and Napa
has done a good job. As for FEU, it’s been 25 years since they last won. That
was when Johnny Abarrientos was manning their point. So history will be made
right here in Game 3.
Tuesday
morning
Someone
asked if I bought Steven Gerrard’s autobiography. I am not too big on sports
bio books but this one I picked up. And I enjoyed it. I wasn’t written I am
sure. More like dictated then someone transcribed it and switched stuff here
and there to sort out the ramblings. Still not bad. Gerrard’s story fills in a
lot of gaps in my knowledge of Liverpool history.
Books.
I have a huge backlog of reading material. About 25 books now? And that’s not
counting the magazines.
Heavy
rotation on my iTunes: Eyes Set to Kill (White Lotus), Arch Enemy (Khaos
Legions), Dream Theater (A Dramatic Turn of Events), Taken By Cars (Dualist),
Go Jimmy Go (Roots Rumble), Weezer (the blue album), Sigur Ros (Með suð í eyrum
við spilum endalaust), Highball Holiday (self-titled), Death Cab for Cutie
(Codes and Keys), and Yes (Fly from Here). How’s that for eclectic?
Will
comment on Smart Gilas in a day or two. Let me clear my head and ask some
questions before I sink my teeth into that.
Am
surprised that the UAAP basketball championships will push through today in
spite of this horrible weather. What on Earth! I know. I know. I cracked on my
Facebook and Twitter account: “UAAP Season 74: All out. All heart. All
weather.” So if you see someone use that line you know where they pilfered that
from.
I
am all for seeing the games push through but not like this. It is putting
people in harm’s way.
Monday
night
Am
in the midst of watching Season 5 of Top Chef. I got the original DVD. Of
course, it’s New York. And love the challenges so far – to prep food based on
different places in the city, to cook for the Foo Fighters, to cook on the
Today Show… Okay. Stop. I’m only at that episode so far.
I
am wishing for a few days where I didn’t have to work and instead stay in the
kitchen and cook stuff. Quite an interesting shift in interests. Too late to be
Top Chef but I can still do stuff in the kitchen.
I
shift from one thing – doing office work at home, listening to Dream Theater’s
new album A Dramatic Turn of Events, and falling asleep. Yes, I did. My
king-sized bed has my pillows, laptops, and portable DVD player. If you looked
at my bed from above it would resemble a work station. Now how I do not roll over
my stuff is an art. Hahaha. I got used to sleeping on a couch, one airplane
seat that I don’t need to roll over the place.
I woke up around midnight. Put in a few things then dozed off around
130am. I need to have a normal life.
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