Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle! Yahoo photos is closing down this September! Am transferring my stuff to photobucket and flickr. But I thought I'd post some of them here. Will add more from time to time.
with Gerald Rosales at Wack Wack. To the right is Karla, Zion Laterre's wife.
with Flash Elorde's grandsons Migs and Bai
with Monsour Del Rosario and Stephen Fernandez at the Fernandez home in Wack Wack.
with the Triggerman at Green Meadows. We've been friends since his days as coach for Ginebra San Miguel.
with Amang Parica at his pool hall in Quezon City 
with Vince Santos, 1996 UAAP Men's Football MVP and my former officemate at the Lead Institute of Sport -- a good friend of mine! Yo, Santos!
with Dyan Castillejo at the Palms
with Richie Ticzon at a San Miguel Beer practice at Reyes Gym
with Rico Villanueva after Red Bull practice at RFM Gym
with Chocolate Thunder at the Araneta Coliseum
with JC Intal during the shoot for the Ateneo Generations AVP at Xavier Hall, Ateneo
with LA Tenorio and Magnum Membrere during the 2006 PBA Draft
with Cecil Mamiit at the City Gardens
with Manny Pacquiao in a dinner feted by Solar Sports after his beating of Erik Morales in their third bout
with Ali Peek at National Sports Grill (I did I story on him for Men's Health magazine)
with the Azkals at the Mizuno Press Conferece after their successful Asean Cup Qualifiers in Panaad, Bacolod.
with Bob Arum and William Tieng
with Brandon Vera at Dish
with Brian Viloria at Oakwood
with Paolo Bugia after Red Bull practice
with Francis M and Brian Viloria outside the Eat Bulaga studio in Broadway, QC
taking a pic of the Three-time UAAP football champs at Philsports moments after the title match
with Alex English at Araneta Coliseum
with Danny Siegle at Acropolis (after a Men's Health story)
Interviewing the late Commish Jun Bernardino (who was a very good friend), the Hizons, and Monsour before Manny Pacquiao's second match against Erik Morales during the CCTV Viewing at Megamall
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Me as a Fanboy
Monday, July 16, 2007
Awakenings - UAAP Game 3 Ateneo 73 vs UE 76
http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=120&type=2&sec=27&aid=3815
Awakenings - UAAP Game 3 Ateneo 73 vs UE 76
Round One UAAP Season 70
by Rick Olivares
July 15, 2007
Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila City
A royal flush
The beat reporters exchanged notes. The Ateneo Blue Eagles were in for a beating, many opined. The UE Red Warriors were too deep and too tough. Their vaunted trap would once more stymie Ateneo’s sleek passing game. Some digressed and said that the Loyola Heights squad’s unblemished slate wasn’t a fluke despite their being seeded fifth at the start of the season. They haven’t played a good team yet, argued one long-time college basketball reporter and this afternoon was their acid test.
When the final buzzer went off and the UE gallery exploded into cheers as their team escaped with a hard-fought 79-76 win, some scribes agreed that not only were the Red Warriors for real, but so were the Blue Eagles. The game with its play-off like atmosphere was clearly winnable by the Loyola Heights squad were it not for a pair of turnovers in the waning moments. But then again, matches between the two schools have always been hard-fought.
Royal rumble
There are eight schools in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines. They’ve played with that line-up for some 20 years now and that’s more than enough time for each one to develop rivalries with each other.
Ateneo’s acknowledged chief rivals may be La Salle and the University of the Philippines, but with the UE Red Warriors… there’s no love lost ever since former Blue Eagle Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan turned his family-owned school into a hoops power with a six-foot-one center from Baguio City who liked to play point guard on occasion… Robert Jaworski. It was customary back then for the champions of the UAAP and the NCAA to meet in the post-season to decide which league was better and each team would pull one over the other all the time. When Ateneo, the undisputed basketball King of the NCAA, moved in 1978 to the UAAP where its former King, UE ruled the hoops landscape, the battles just got a lot fiercer.
In 1982, a small Ateneo line-up led by Chot Reyes and Jeric Hechanova upset the Warriors team led by (almost Blue Eagle) Allan Caidic and Jerry Codinera. Recalled Hechanova, “If there was a three point shot at that time, we would have beaten them all the time. We only had Mike Facundo to match up against Jerry and the Warriors were so tall. So we did a lot of our damage from shooting outside.” But at the end of the day, Ateneo got their licks in, but it was the red and white that won back-to-back titles.
In 1987, Ateneo finally broke out of the doldrums of its defection from the NCAA to win its first UAAP crown at the expense of the Warriors. It is a defeat that still rankles Codinera to this day (he lost back-to-back finals to UP and Ateneo).
But UE had their revenge in 1990 when they ousted Ateneo from championship contention when Richie Ticzon missed a pair of free throws with almost no time left on the game clock. The Warriors were led by Ferdinand “Bong” Ravena who was in his third year in the league and their unorthodox center Jolly Escobar (they lost to DLSU in a one-sided the finals) while Ateneo was bannered by Olsen Racela and Eric Reyes.
Now the assistant coach of Dindo Pumaren, Ravena still remembers the rivalry all too well. “Every one got up for Ateneo whether malakas sila or mahina,” recalled the former King Warrior who went on to win the Philippine Basketball Association’s Rookie of the Year Award with San Miguel (beating out Presto Ice Cream’s Vergel Meneses). “There’s something about beating them.”
The rivalry was revived when former player turned coach David Zamar (who played on UE’s ’84 & ’85 title teams) fielded the deadly troika of James Yap, Ronald Tubid, and Paul Artadi who had many memorable battles with the Blue Eagles of Rico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, and LA Tenorio. But the blue and whites played heartbreakers once more when Gec Chia knocked out UE with a buzzer-beating game winner that propelled Ateneo to the 2002 championship.
The cast of players may have changed but on the bench of UE sits an all-too familiar foe -- Dindo Pumaren who played for UE during his elementary years before moving over to La Salle where his talent-laden team fell to Ateneo in 1988. His older brother Franz may have won the 2001 title at Ateneo’s expense, but Dindo would love nothing more than attaining redemption through his own means.
The Warriors have won every pre and post-season title in the last few years. But the one title that has eluded their grasp for the longest time is the UAAP Men’s Basketball crown – something they last won when they trounced Pido Jarencio’s UST Glowing Goldies squad in 1985. And even with De La Salle’s return to the league, UE is considered as one of the heavy favorites to slug it out for the crown and to put an end to a 22-year UAAP drought.
The return of the King
For the second straight year, the Blue Eagles entered the collegiate hoop wars on stealth mode. The graduation of its stars were said to weaken the team’s chances since all they had were underperforming veterans and a bunch of untested rookies. But that’s just the way the coaching staff likes it. Low key profile but high on returns.
The season has been a revelation so far for several Blue Eagles. Claiford Arao has gone prime time. Jai Reyes has shut up the naysayers who wondered aloud if he was a one-dimensional player who could only spot up for a trey. And Jobe Nkemakolam has shown that he’s a keeper and can provide points, rebounding, and defense up front.
Quite noticeable in the team’s two wins was the absence of Chris Tiu’s scoring. While his contributions to the game go beyond the bottom of the net, the team’s co-captain is also perhaps its most deft playmaker.
Tiu has been getting good looks at the basket except that the shots aren’t falling. The coaching staff has urged him to continue because eventually, he’s bound to get going. And once he does then Ateneo will be firing on all cylinders.
And on Sunday, Norman Black tried to get his gunner untracked from the opening whistle. Although Tiu nailed his first shot of the game, a jumper from the left side of the court (hit 55% of his two-point field goals), he struggled from long range hitting only one of six attempts from trifecta land.
On this day, Tiu wasn’t the only one to come alive. Ken Barracoso, a former Juniors Most Valuable Player, finally had his breakout game by scoring 12 points including a huge three-pointer that gave Ateneo its final taste of the lead as well as hauling down six rebounds and dishing for three assists.
Warriors to the rescue
The game plan was to shut down Mark Borboran and limit Marcy Arellano’s production. While Borboran doesn’t put up spectacular numbers (he averages around eight points and eight caroms every outing), it’s his presence that creates match-up problems. Arellano torched NU for 21 points in their previous outing but against Ateneo, he was limited to seven points and three assists. Their vaunted trapping defense caused problems early on, but the Blue Eagles’ passing forced Kelvin Gregorio and the high-leaping Elmer Espiritu to the bench early on.
But playing the fireman’s role was guard Paul Lee and forward Hans Thiele who scored 13 and 10 points respectively. And for the first time, Ateneo got clobbered off the boards. The team averages 58.5 rebounds a game and the Warriors held them to 40 (as opposed to the 42 they grabbed). While the difference may not seem much, it should be noted that 20 of those were off the offensive glass. While Ateneo shot better from all departments (35.7% to UE’s 16.7% from three-point range, an even 50% from two-point area, and 60.9% to 58.8 from the stripe), it was these second servings that stopped the team cold.
Ateneo also averaged 17.5 turnovers in their first two games, but in this outing, the Blue Eagles coughed up the ball 19 times including the final two of Tiu and Eman Monfort that UE took advantage of.
In the game’s aftermath, the coaching staff stressed that the streak while it would have been good to keep going isn’t that important. The last couple of years saw Ateneo put together a long win streak before flaming out when it mattered the most. The important thing is to correct the mistakes while the season is young and use that as momentum towards the Final Four and hopefully beyond. The silver lining in this defeat was that Chris Tiu and Ken Barracoso have gotten their offense going. And for Ford Arao who is averaging 17 points a game (while shooting an impressive 60% from the field) on top of 9.6 rebounds to pace the team, he’s shown what he could do against top-flight competition. Even the sports scribes agree so.
Epilogue I
As the Ateneo crowd sang the alma mater, Bong Ravena eyed the Blue Eagles and looked at the pained look on some of the players’ faces. “I wouldn’t underestimate them (the Blue Eagles),” said the former pro. “You don’t learn much from a win. But with a loss like this, you know Ateneo will be ready next time.” He then went to pat Ford Arao’s back for a job well done.
Epilogue II
UP Maroons team manager Bombit Silva shook his head after the match. “Not a good day for the teams from Katipunan,” he said also referring to UP’s third straight setback (the Maroons lost to NU earlier in the afternoon). “It was the Gastambide teams’ day today. But it’s still early.”
Signs of the Apocalypse
We like our sports to come down to its basic and logical conclusion… that there are amazing winners and there are hard-luck losers. It’s defined in part by stats, performance, human achievement, and to a certain (maybe even lesser extent)… the judges’ decision. But it’s not a perfect world the way Nadia Comaneci was in Montreal, the Miami Dolphins were in 1972, or Michael Jordan’s shooting form and follow through against the Utah Jazz in 1998.
We would be in the realm of perfect if His Airness never went on his baseball sabbatical and instead led the Chicago Bulls to eight straight NBA titles; Luis Gonzalez never hit that bloop single into shallow center field that would have allowed the New York Yankees a dramatic win in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series; and Ateneo De Manila’s JC Intal’s bank shot in the fateful final seconds of regulation of the 2006 UAAP Finals went in.
But that’s not just the beauty of sports. There are every bit as much agonizing and Homeric stories where even failed campaigns remain etched in every fiber of our being, history, and culture. And there are boners, eyebrow-raisers, or head-shaking incidents that tell us that the apocalypse is upon us…
- Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White wasn’t planning on renewing the contract of Tito Ortiz, the Bad Boy from Huntington Beach. Showing behavior uncharacteristic for a top sports league’s president, White offered no good words for Ortiz and ended his tirade by calling him “a gorilla.” But after an unpopular draw with Rashad Evans in the main card of the recently-concluded UFC 73: Stacked, and all the trash talking that ensued in the post-fight press conference between them, White saw visions of dollars and top-Nielsen ratings flash before his eyes. So he did the next best thing – he declared that return match is good to go and he’s renewing Ortiz’ contract. Hey, it’s a business.
- FIFA is financing the new headquarters of the Philippine Football Federation. It’s located at the corner of Danny Floro and Javier Streets in Pasig City. That’s right in the heart of motel alley and a literal stone’s throw away from Victoria Court. That’s great -- football on one side and footsie on the other.
- After mercilessly booing Barry Bonds in every major league city (save for San Francisco) for the better part of the past several seasons due to suspicion of taking performance-enhancing steroids, baseball fans all across America voted him to the National League All-Star team.
- After weeks of denying that there were any irregularities with Jojo Duncil’s birth certificate, UST finally admitted that there were two authentic documents in the hands of the UAAP but with different birthdates. Although Duncil was of legitimate age last year, the UAAP Board said that they would only recognize the first birth certificate that was submitted that would have placed him over the playing age limit for Season 70. To avoid any further complications, Duncil “decided” to turn pro. And to think that UST is this year’s host in the UAAP and their theme for the season is “Recreating the value of honesty through sports.”
- In 1996, Real Madrid hired Fabio Capello to manage the famous football club. They won the Spanish La Liga that year but let Capello go at the season’s end because they felt that he wasn’t a fit. They brought him back for the 2006-07 campaign where Los Blancos won their 30th league title. Top management fired him again barely two weeks after because management felt he wasn’t the man to take them into a new era of sustained success.
- After declaring himself a Gunner for life last season, Thierry Henry left Arsenal for FC Barcelona. To justify his move, Henry pointed to the resignation of David Dein from Highbury’s top management and the alleged non-renewal of manager Arsene Wenger’s contract as huge reasons for his leaving. Henry must have paid attention to the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant who said similar things a few years ago.
- Self-promotion is not something new in sports. For all the clichés of “there’s no ‘I’ in team” and yadda yadda yadda, humility in the modern athlete is definitely out of the window. Remember when Purefoods Hotdogs’ forward-center Kirby Raymundo said that he deserved to win Conference Most Valuable Player Award over former teammate Enrico Villanueva of Red Bull? Well, Talk N Text’s Mac Cardona reprised that and said, “I think I am deserving of the award. I played well in the eliminations and in the finals.” So much for thanking mom, dad, and his parents (do you remember which PBA player said that gaffe?).
- Motormouth Gary Sheffield is in the right place… with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers. The slugger, in an interview with HBO’s Andrea Kremer last Saturday, said that his former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre didn’t treat black players well and that he singled them out during team meetings. White players, on the other hand, were called into his office. When asked if Torre was a racist, after a long tirade, Sheffield concluded that he didn’t believe the Yankees’ skipper was one.
- The landmark Manila Zoo is reportedly going to be torn down to give way for the construction of the Philippine Basketball Association’s permanent arena. Quite a few are thinking that they’re coming home.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Living Daylights - UAAP Game 2 Ateneo 79 vs. UP 55
http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=120&type=2&aid=3804
The Living Daylights - UAAP Game 2 Ateneo 79 vs. UP 55
Round One UAAP Season 70
by Rick Olivares
July 12, 2007
Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila City
Long-day afternoon
It was that kind of afternoon. In spite of the air-conditioned atmosphere of a white-hot basketball rivalry, Joe Lipa looked up to the rafters of the Ninoy Aquino Stadium and wiped his sweating brow. The game was a blur. He was oblivious to the cheers of the Blue Babble Battalion behind the UP bench.
His young Maroons scored 19 first quarter points and another 13 to end the half. It wouldn’t sound so bad except that they trailed 44-31 to an inspired Ateneo team after 20 minutes of action and were looking at the makings of another blowout. They had barely gotten over the opening day shellacking they got from a pumped up De La Salle squad then they were up against Ateneo which has swept them in the past two seasons. To make matters even more complicated, he was going into this match two men down as Martin Reyes was nursing a fever and Magi Sison hobbled by an injury. Even worse, he didn’t have anyone down the blocks to stop Ateneo’s new go-to player… Claiford Arao.
Lipa railed at his boys at halftime for their inability to execute and take care of the ball. Ateneo may have a taller line-up, but if their shot selection were better they’d be in the fight. The long-time UP coach hoped that a couple of long bombs would not only open up the game but also give his team some badly needed confidence. Chris Tiu was struggling with his shot but that wasn’t because of his guards’ defense. The Blue Eagles’ co-captain simply wasn’t draining them. But to the league’s surprise, Ateneo had found a wellspring of points inside the shaded lane with the three-headed monster of Arao, Jobe Nkemakolam, and Rabah Al-Husseini. Something not seen since Enrico Villanueva and Rich Alvarez patrolled the shaded lane for Ateneo.
The UP cheerleaders and dancers were putting the finishing touches on their halftime routine as Lipa stayed in the tunnel leading to the dugout. He issued last minute instructions to his captain Veejay Serios to be aggressive inside and to take the fight to Ateneo’s big men. The Maroons were taking a beating off the boards. They had to pull abreast now or the game was over.
At the 4:34 mark of the third quarter, the Blue Eagles’ Nkemakolam hit a one-handed jump shot; a 12-5 blitz that hiked the lead to 56-36. Lipa shook his head and was unable to mask the pain in his face.
The living daylights
Unlike in their season opener last Sunday July 8, where the Blue Eagles took to the floor joking and smiling, they were all business-like this time around. They started out flat against Adamson and after spotting the Falcons a sizeable lead; they nearly fell apart in the fourth quarter. They arrested their late game skid care of an and-one by Al-Husseini and a pair of free throws by Chris Tiu before handing over the scoring chores to Ford Arao’s sudden magic touch in overtime.
With Nonoy Baclao once more in foul trouble this time against the Maroons, Arao checked into the game with five minutes left in the first quarter to a huge ovation. The fifth year frontcourt man immediately went to work and scored six straight points to erase an early 14-15 deficit. The Blue Eagles would trail no more after Arao’s follow up bucket off a missed shot.
Since Arao joined the Blue Eagles in 2003, he’s always had to play second or even third fiddle to Paolo Bugia, Japeth Aguilar, Doug Kramer, and Rabah Al-Husseini. During his high school days in San Beda, he was the man in the middle who led the Red Cubs to a juniors crown over the Letran Squires. Several schools recruited him, but he chose to go to Loyola Heights that had somewhat become a favored destination among migrating Cubs.
The college game with its bigger and faster pace was a difficult transition for Arao. He found himself fumbling and bumbling plays to calls for his benching by rabid alumni. He persevered and under Norman Black, he has flourished and displayed a newfound confidence and intensity. Gone are the days when he’d flash his goofy grin and battle Doug Kramer for the Butterfingers Award. Over the last two years, Arao has slimmed down and reduced his body fat while adding some muscle to better manage the mosh pit of collegiate hoops. Not only did he win the UAAP Player of the Week citation last week, but incredibly, he’s leading the team in scoring and rebounding with a 19 points and 12 rebounds average.
After three quarters and Chris Tiu still misfiring, Arao who had 16 markers at that point (he would also finish with nine rebounds), turned over the scoring chores to Rabah Al-Husseini who dumped 13 points in the final period – one point less than the entire UP squad. While Rabah and Ford top-scored for the team (21 and 16 points respectively), the game also saw the UAAP debut of Bacon Austria (five points and four caroms), Kirk Long (two assists), and Chris Sumalinog (one rebound) who all found a way to contribute to the team’s second straight victory. But after the game, Arao apologized to Assistant Coach Sandy Arespacochaga for his five turnovers. The game had been over for about five minutes now and he still had his game face on.
After the funeral dirge that passed off for the alma mater, one alumnus serenaded Arao: “Ford for MVP!” The Blue Eagles big man suddenly thrust in the spotlight and adulation of the Ateneo gallery offered that sheepish and goofy smile of his.
Day’s end
The five strides to halfcourt from the UP Maroons team bench to shake Norman Black’s hand after the game was difficult. Joe Lipa’s young team had taken another beating. Almost all game long they were unable to mount a consistent attack. Were it not for Ateneo’s 20 turnovers – many of them unforced – the final margin might have been higher.
As his team walked off towards the dugout, he put his hand on his gunner Martin Reyes’ shoulder. “Coach,” asked Reyes.
“Growing pains lang ‘yan,” answered the coach who looked up one last time at the scoreboard. “I need a cigarette.”
Epilogue I
Doug Kramer watched his former teammates battle for their second consecutive win. As much as he looks forward to a career in the pros, Kramer terribly misses the college game and wearing blue and white. But he’s happy; he had a good seat in the house to watch Arao’s maturation and breakout year. After the game, Arao sought him out in the stands and they shook hands. The baton has been passed.
Epilogue II
At the far end of patron section, De La Salle coach Franz Pumaren and the rest of his staff scouted the Blue Eagles. The Green Archers had practice after the game and all of them watched and compared notes. Said Pumaren after the stadium began to empty out, “We’ll have to devise something to stop Ateneo’s bigs (referring to the Blues’ frontcourt players). And when we meet, it will be jam-packed. That’s all I can say.”
Monday, July 9, 2007
Bend it, Beckham. If You Can.
“Mahal.”
That was what Philippine Football Federation President Johnny Romualdez said when he was informed of the hefty price tag that came along with Goldenballs’ proposed tour of Manila. Half a million dollars. And in the event David Beckham does play you know he’s not even going to go full throttle. With his debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy coming up there’s no way Beckham will risk another injury more so after he limped off the pitch during the championship deciding match against Mallorca in the just concluded Spanish La Liga.
That price alone is enough to host a couple of seasons of a pro football league and pay for training, materiel, clinics etc. “But that’s possible only if we could find some sponsor willing to cough up that amount of cash,” added Romualdez.
Some time ago, there was also a similar offer regarding Diego Maradona to play in a seven-a-side friendly in Indonesia with a possible stopover in Manila. The asking price was the same and too steep. Yes, Maradona may have scored the greatest goal in World Cup history and is worshipped as a demi-god in Argentina, but even clean and sober, he’s far removed from his peak form.
It would have been nice to actually see Becks make an appearance, give a talk or two, and help out in a football clinic as it would have attracted attention from hardcore football fans as well as the casual and non-fans. Becks and maybe Posh by his side. It would have been crazy. But at the end of the day, would it have helped local football? Maybe. Maybe not, added another local football official. It would be erroneous to think that the spark that local football needs is going to come from an Englishman who may not be anywhere among the Top 20 best footballers in the world yet may certainly be the most well known. What is needed is a long-term plan with long-lasting and positive effects on the game not a short-term photo op with politicians who play footsie under the table and certainly not an opportunity for hawkers to sell Galaxy Beckham kits (his jersey number is still a mystery) to fashionistas who don’t even know how many MLS teams there are.
Signing Beckham to anything is also a cash bonanza. That’s something Real Madrid found out as soon as the former Manchester United right-winger signed with them. On the day of the Beckham signing, they sold out every available #23 kit for a 624,000 Euros (that’s equivalent to $850,321.60 or Php 39,119,045). In one day. In Beckham’s four years in the club, Real Madrid Marketing Director Jose Sanchez said that the club made L300 million pounds sterling (that’s $ 603,281,853.28 for the exchange rate conscious). The knock on then-Madrid President Florentino Perez was that he acquired the Englishman’s services not just to serve as the last piece to the championship puzzle for his galacticos but also for the media mileage and corporate sponsorships Becks would bring. Becks longed to play the central midfield but with Zizou and Guti in there, his job was to cross the ball to Ronaldo, Figo, and Michael Owen.
As Becks heads westward to a galaxy far far away in the football firmament, Major League Soccer is hoping that lightning will strike twice. Thirty-two years ago, Pele left Santos to play for the New York Cosmos in the now defunct North American Soccer League where he teamed up with Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia to raise the consciousness of America to the world’s most popular sport. Although well past his prime, he was plenty still good enough to prompt former American President Jimmy Carter to say, “Pele has elevated the game of soccer to heights never before attained in America. And only Pele, with his status, incomparable talent, and beloved compassion could have accomplished such a mission.” And as if on cue, Pele scored against the Dallas Tornados in his first game with the Cosmos for a 2-1 victory and led his team to the league title in his third and final playing year. In his farewell match in Giants Stadium, where he played for the Cosmos in the first half (and scored the equalizer) and with Santos FC in the second half, the game was beamed to a world that was watching.
Pele certainly sees comparisons and says that Beckham’s move to MLS will only be good, because if it works in America then it can only mean better things ahead for football which has been torn asunder recently with reports of racism and game violence.
ESPN will be giving Beckham marquee coverage. Its Sportscenter episode at 6pm will give the pre-game lowdown while the 7pm edition will be MLS-centric. By 7:30pm, the sports network will air an hour-long documentary “David Beckham: New Beginnings” to be followed by a half-hour pre-game show. The Galaxy will be going up against English Premiere League runner-up Chelsea FC featuring John Terry who replaced Becks as England captain. There will be 19 cameras used for this game with most of it trained on Beckham.
But beyond the hype and the excitement of the transfer is a torrent of cynicism. Even within ESPN, some like senior columnist Gene Wojciechowski opine that the madness that has inflicted LA (something not seen since Wayne Gretzky transferred from the Edmonton Oilers to the Kings in the National Hockey League) will dissipate within a few months time. Recently, several English premier League officials lambasted the MLS for its inferior play prompting Galaxy President Alexi Lalas, the Mark Cuban of American soccer, to retaliate by saying that American football players were just as competitive if not better than the British. "The experts in England talk about David Beckham as if he's going into semi-retirement, growled Lalas to the Guardian Unlimited. “It's insulting to say Beckham is on his way to Hollywood when he's coming to play in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.”
The Los Angeles Galaxy website is running a countdown to Becks’ July 13 debut. The team is currently in fifth place in the MLS’ Western division with a 3-3-5 record despite the presence of Captain America Landon Donovan who led the league in goals the past two years. Whether rightly or wrongly, David Beckham is being looked at as the savior of football in America. The footballer who would finally elevate football into the upper tier of sports in America and would begin an exodus of top-flight talent to the MLS.
Jorge M is a former officemate of mine when I used to work in New York. He transferred to LA two years ago so it’s closer to his homeland of Mexico. In LA, he roots for Chivas USA, a team deeply rooted with Hispanic and Latino players. Yet he’s clearly excited about Goldenballs’ move Stateside.
“Beckham,” he wrote to me via an email recently. “Oh yeeeaaahhh!”
Check out video of Ateneo Blue Eagles at: bleachersbrew.blogspot.com.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Emotional Rescue - UAAP Game 1 Ateneo 69 vs Adamson 63
http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=120&type=2&sec=27&aid=3780
Emotional Rescue - UAAP Game 1 Ateneo 69 vs Adamson 63
Round One UAAP Season 70
by Rick Olivares
July 8, 2007
Cuneta Astrodome
Manila City
An unlikely duel
Patrick Cabahug glided out of the Adamson locker like a shark. His predator eyes ablaze with excitement and intensity. There was a silent fury to his disposition that was in stark contrast to his teammates who joked and laughed. Perhaps it was to mask the first game jitters that seem to come at this time of the year.
Cabahug has not forgotten the three stinging down-to-the-last-shot losses to Ateneo in Season 69. He still maintains that Ateneo didn’t win them and that Adamson lost them. And today… today was time for retribution. Even if they were without the pro-bound Ken Bono and the graduated Mark Agustin.
The nephew of former pro player Elmer Cabahug is every inch a hotshot sniper himself. And he looked forward to an artillery duel with his Ateneo counterpart Chris Tiu.
Except that with the Blue Eagles’ co-captain misfired almost all game long. It was the six foot four Claiford Arao, in his final year in blue and white, to get locked in when the Ateneo sorely needed a go-to player.
Ford Arao has that easy going smile and hearty laugh that will make a person believe that everything will be all right. Even with the Blue Eagles laying a big fat egg at 12-0 with three minutes and thirty seconds gone by in the opening quarter.
Arao and Jai Reyes checked into the game for the ineffective Nonoy Baclao and Eman Monfort. And right off the bat, the two conspired for the point-starved Blue Eagles that gave the Ateneo gallery something to cheer about.
A grim reminder
William “Bogs” Adornado is the Falcons’ first year coach, but he isn’t exactly unfamiliar with his squad having served as an assistant to Leo Austria last year. Even after the Falcons were eliminated in last year’s Final Four, Adornado intensely watched the titanic championship series between the Ateneo, where he also served as an assistant coach during the Joel Banal years, and his alma mater, the University of Santo Tomas.
He noted that one advantage the Tigers had was that their guards and swingmen didn’t need screens to get their shots off. They were talented enough to create their own shot --- something Jojo Duncil did very well against Ateneo.
Adornado knew that he possessed the same kind of player in Cabahug who lived for big games. Cabahug could knock down the trifecta or post up for turn-around jay. And if his guard wasn’t squared for the drive, he would take it to the lane for the stretch or a drop pass to the forwards if someone foolishly rotated. And, thought Adornado to himself, if Roel Hugnatan could wreak havoc down low, it would open up the floor for Leo Canuday, Paul Gonzalgo. And plodding center Junard Yambot.
After six minutes of play, the rookie coach’s game plan was clicking with all five Adamson starters having scored. They had Ateneo on their heels with the score at 18-4. He hoped his team could continue their torrid scoring pace.
A big lift
Blue Eagles’ coach Norman Black shuffled his men to match up against Adamson’s man-zone defense. Digging deep into his bench, Black went with Reyes and Eric Salamat in the backcourt and Zion Laterre, Mike Baldos, and Rabah Al-Husseini up front.
And soon enough, Ateneo settled down. In danger of not even putting double-digits on the board, the Ateneans began to run their offense. “Make sure you get two when you come back down,” barked the third year American mentor to his guards. Reyes nodded and the team finished at a more respectable 22-11 at the end of the first canto.
Baldos’ activeness in the pit gave the physical Hugnatan fits as he coerced the rough-playing forward into his second and third fouls. With the Falcons‘ power forward playing Matador defense, Black sent Jobe Nkemakolam in. It was time to get their inside game going.
The rejuvenated Fil-Nigerian was a revelation in the pre-season as he posted sterling numbers in the Fil Oil tournament. And with his confidence growing with every game, Nkemakolam, thrilled at finally being able to play in Team A after being benched in his rookie year, scored four quick points to breathe life into the quiet Ateneo gallery.
With the Eagles breathing down the Falcons’ necks, the rally was somewhat stymied when they failed to convert off a pair of steals that had Black’s eyes bulging. “I need a lay up and two points,” said Black after a botched breakaway lay-up by Salamat who was fishing for a foul from Falcons point guard Lester Alvarez. “I do not need something special.” But even so, Ateneo was beginning to assert themselves. They finished the half down by five 25-30 in favor of Adamson.
A familiar scenario
“They have to make their run now,” muttered long-time Ateneo Sports Shooter Aaron Vicencio who was at the baseline of the Blue Eagles’ side of the court taking photos. With Arao and Nkemakolam (eight points and two rebounds) taking it strong to the rack, Ateneo finally stormed ahead 43-37 at the end of the third quarter.
Before it looked like they blow the Falcons off the court after racing to an 11-point lead, the lid suddenly closed on the Eagles’ basket and the turnovers began to pile up once more (the Blue Eagles had 15 as compared to Adamson’s 20). Then once more, it was Patrick Cabahug time again.
With Zion Laterre (three points, four ribbies, three assists, and one block) fronting him, Cabahug dribbled from left to right then arced himself backwards for a deadeye trey that saw Adamson wrest the lead from the Ateneo 51-48 with time down to 58.7 left in the game clock.
In previous years, Ateneo might have crumbled under the pressure but since last year, the team has displayed steel nerves when it counted the most. And just like that, they retook the lead, courtesy of a three-point play by Al-Husseini (five points, three caroms, one dime, and a block) and a pair of free throws by Chris Tiu (nine points and nine boards) for a 53-51 advantage. With time down to four seconds, Cabahug took the inbounds pass from Leo Canuday, spun around Laterre, and hit a floating leaner to send the game into the season’s second overtime.
A new day rising
Maybe you’ve heard that joke where Ford Arao jumps no higher than a telephone directory. Maybe you’ve heard that joke where when he gets rid of the ball in the post, he will find the opponent for an assist.
But maybe now, people would like to know if Arao has finally lived up to his potential after being highly recruited out of San Beda high. “What in the world did Arao eat his morning,” wondered an Ateneo supporter from the ringside seats. “I hope he’s got a huge supply of it.”
There would be no buzzer-beating shots today. Adamson had their chance and Ford Arao refused them second servings. In overtime, the fifth year player scored 10 of Ateneo’s 16 points and stole the ball from a driving Cabahug who was clearly tuckered out. Arao would also haul down 15 rebounds including four off the offensive glass. Plus he had only one turnover.
As the blue faithful sang the alma mater with gusto and relief, Arao’s teammates slapped high fives with him for a job well done. He looked sheepish because of the extra attention yet he still flashed that easy grin and toothy smile. “Thanks,” was all he mumbled.
By the Adamson locker room, Patrick Cabahug was devastated. He scored a game high 28 points and pulled down 11 boards in 37 minutes of action. He wore a pained look on his face. It was only the first game of the season, but it seemed like it was yesterday once more.
Epilogue
“I made a mistake,” said Bogs Adornado outside the team’s locker room. “My boys were tired. I should have given the starters a rest and let the bench play. Lessons learned ‘yan.” Assistant coach Jing Ruiz, who was a star for Letran in the late 1980’s, was quick to erase any doubts on his team’s morale. “We believe we can beat Ateneo,” he offered his voice trailing off. “We just have to go out and do it.”
Friday, July 6, 2007
Ateneo Blue Eagles 2007 Rookies
Meet the Ateneo Blue Eagles 2007 Rookies: Mike Baldos, Raymond Austria, Nonoy Baclao, Chris Sumalinog and Kirk Long.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Euro Football Clubs 2006-07 Power Rankings
The football season is done. After donning the colors of club teams now it’s time to play for the national sides. As teams gear up for the Euro Cup (arguably the biggest football title outside the World Cup), let’s revisit the season that was and rank the top clubs during the regular season.
1. AC Milan (4th Serie A 61 points, UEFA Champions)
Italy plays the best football on the planet. They not only ruled the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany but their club team rep to UEFA the Champions League beat Liverpool in a game for the ages. But the back story to AC Milan is much more complicated than that. They began the Serie A at an eight-point deficit because of the match-fixing scandal that hit Italian football prior to the World Cup, but still the Rossoneri finished fourth. Although they lost both times out to eventual champion Internazionale, AC Milan got their act together for the Champions League where they blitzed some really good teams. There was that unbelievable shellacking of Manchester United 3-nil, the trouncing of Bayern Munich on their home field 2-nil, and that injury-time win against Celtic before getting enough luck to beat erstwhile tormentor Liverpool despite being outplayed for most of the game. And all this without Andriy Shevchenko.
2. Manchester United (Champions EPL 89 points, 3rd UEFA)
The Kings of the English pitch are back where they feel they should rightfully be… the English Premier League champions. After surrendering the premiership to Chelsea the past two seasons, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo buried their differences during the past World Cup to lead the team against strong challenges from virtually almost every club in the 20-team EPL finishing with 89 points in 39 matches. They fell short of a Treble after losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final and to AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League semis.
3. Chelsea (2nd EPL 83 points, FA & Carling Cup champion, 4th UEFA)
For almost up to the last weeks of the footballing season, Chelsea was not only in the running for the premiership, but the FA Cup, the Champions League. They already pocketed the Carling Cup so a Quadruple was well within reach. The FA Cup victory over Manchester United might have soothed the pain of losing the EPL but manager Jose Mourinho will take it. After all, Chelsea has won all the titles available in Britain and with a plenty strong and talented side, they’ll be a threat in England and in Europe for years to come. The Blues scored 117 goals this season with Didier Drogba accounting for 33, Frank Lampard with 21, and Andriy Shevchenko adding 14 to round up the double-digit scoring.
4. Real Madrid (Champions La Liga 76 points, 5th UEFA)
The galacticos era has ended in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Yet, Madrid are still champions. Gone are Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, and David Beckham. After playing inconsistently for ¾ of the season, Manager Fabio Capello got his team to play their final 12 league games as if they were their “cup finals.” The result – their first La Liga title in four seasons. And it came over archrival Barcelona on a match that came down to the final playing day of a long and arduous season. Ruud Van Nistelrooy found new life in Spain after a tumultuous final year with Manchester United to lead the team in scoring with 25 goals.
5. Internazionale (Champions Serie A 97 points)
With Juventus relegated and AC Milan penalized, Intern Milan took full advantage and blitzed through the league with an incredible 30-7-1 record. With balanced scoring by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo, and Marco Materazzi, Inter captured its 15th Scudetto with five matches to play tying the record set by Torino FC way back in 1948. AS Roma finished a far 76 points behind for second place.
6. FC Porto (Champions 69 points, 6th UEFA)
Jesualdo Ferreira has walked out of the long shadows of FC Porto’s long line of successful managers to stamp his class with this traditional Portuguese power. After Co Adriaanse left with the season barely two months old, Ferreira guided his team as led by Helder Postiga and Ricardo Quaresma to a heart-stopping finish that was every bit similar to the neighboring Spanish La Liga. The league crown was decided on the last day of the competition with Sporting Lisbon finishing one point behind.
7. Olympique Lyonnaise (Champion Ligue 1 81 points, 7th UEFA)
Lyon won its sixth straight French league title but this might have been one of the hardest to capture. This feat only serves notice that Gerard Houllier is one of the best managers in the world right now after picking up from where Paul Le Guen left off and after having also steered Liverpool back to prominence in his previous stint. Led by Ligue 1 Player of the Year Florent Malouda and their twin Brazilian attack of Fred and Juninho, Lyon won the title in Week 32 of the competition.
8. VfB Stuttgart (Champions Bundesliga 70 points)
Looks like Bayern Munich underestimated the loss of skipper Michael Ballack to Chelsea as they stumbled this season allowing Stuttgart and Schalke to battle it out for the league title. But Stuttgart despite all its new players in Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira, Pavel Pardo, and Antonio da Silva blended just in time for this Baden-Wurttemberg team to win its fifth national title.
9. PSV Eindhoven (Champions Eredivisie 75 points)
In the first half of the season, PSV looked to take the league title as early as the 20th week. But the second half saw the mother of all meltdowns as Alkmaar Zaanstreek NV and Ajax Amsterdam caught up. AZ in fact did wrest the lead but a freak loss to Excelsior Rotterdam on the final match of the season allowed PSV to escape with the league title owing to a superior goal difference even against Ajax. Although that’s nothing manager Ronald Koeman is proud of it kept their grasp on the Eredivisie for the third straight year.
10. AS Roma (2nd Place Serie A 75 points, 5th place UEFA)
For much of the season, AS Roma kept themselves within striking distance of Inter Milan for the Serie A title and the UEFA Champions League where they eventually bombed out. But they did salvage the year when they won their eight Coppa Italia beating league champions Inter Milan on aggregate score.
Monday, July 2, 2007
National Ironic
Monday, June 25, 2007
The Deepest Cut
There was a sickening knot developing in his stomach. Jeff De Guzman had a feeling he was going to get cut from the final line-up of the varsity team. Not that he was playing bad. Unlike pro basketball where line-ups are more or less determined by skill, contracts, or even trades, in college basketball… there are many deciding factors to consider.
In the summer of 2003, Jeff De Guzman followed his teammates from San Beda high school to try and gain a slot with the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles who just won the coveted Men’s Basketball championship the year before. His Red Cubs team was no slouch themselves having won the NCAA juniors title against Letran. And now his teammates juniors MVP Claiford Arao, guards Yuri Escueta and Arvin Braganza, and forwards Mike Baldos and Jay Agbayani presented themselves to then-Ateneo coach Joel Banal. It was the last large defection of players from the Benedictine school’s famed juniors hoops program to another school. In the succeeding years, they would be able to keep players like Ogie Menor and Jay-R Taganas in red and white.
The only player promised a slot on the team was Arao. Agbayani moved on to UP while the rest of the team went to Ateneo and its Team B basketball team. Jeff on the other hand was not recruited. He passed the Ateneo entrance exam, tried out for the team, and landed a slot on coach Gabby Severino’s Team B.
A bright and sensitive kid, Jeff De Guzman was a late bloomer in basketball having taken up the sport only in his second year in high school. Oblivious to the world of big time basketball, he was surprised to find out that San Beda had a rich basketball tradition. He took to the sport like a fish in water yet was always cut from the NCAA jayvee team. He would play well on the Passerelle level but never gained a favorable nod from the school’s famed high school coach Ato Badolato.
By his fourth year, after a clamor over his being passed over in the previous years, Jeff finally made the NCAA team. But instead of getting an opportunity to show his wares, he burned a hole in his pants from sitting on the bench all season long never getting off even for one minute.
Watching his teammates celebrate the juniors title, Jeff felt somewhat out of it. After all, he never contributed to his team’s cause except to clap and cheer them on. But when Ford Arao and the others moved westward to the Ateneo campus, Jeff De Guzman followed (his older brother also went to Loyola Heights) hoping he’d get a chance to try out for the team. But the Blue Eagles were stacked deep in the guard position what with LA Tenorio, Magnum Membrere, Larry Fonacier, and rookie Chris Tiu eating up the minutes. So it was off to Team B.
Team B. Home of the varsity team’s discards and recruits serving out their residency. To get to games, they take the LRT lugging their gym bags crammed with shoes, socks, towels, and textbooks. They play in gyms that make the antiquated Blue Eagle Gym look like a state-of-the-art arena. Too often before games, the players change into their uniforms in locker rooms that double as maintenance rooms where the comfort rooms reek of piss and uncleaned tiles. They’re given no Gatorade energy drinks and instead they have to bring their own Colemans that are regular fixtures underneath their bench. They play in a soupcon of leagues that barely make the news wires and its where the head coach is the one who lugs a net full of basketballs to the game.
After toiling year in and out hoping to earn a slot to Team A and their shot at UAAP glory, Jeff began to despair of making the team. With a year of eligibility left, he dedicated himself to getting into the best possible shape and training daily so that when the tryouts for the seniors team was called, he’d be ready. And Jeff played well even unto the just-concluded pre-season where he was eventually short-listed for the last slot on the Blue Eagles’ 15-man roster.
Just this past summer, when he wasn’t named to the team that was going to train at the Joe Abunassar Impact Basketball Camp in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Jeff had that sickening feeling that he’d be cut once more. The assistant coaches steeled him for the eventuality that he didn’t make it once more and to keep his chin up and continue training. You’ll never know, they said. A few days prior to the official announcement of the line-up, Jeff found out that the coaching staff would instead give the slot to his former high school teammate Mike Baldos.
The weights room for the Ateneo athletes is just across the luxurious Maplewood court of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center at the far end of the sprawling campus. On this Thursday night, the Blue Eagles were engaged in a physical practice game with the visiting University of Guam. Jeff De Guzman is inside doing weights facing the opposite direction. He can’t bring himself to watch the match going on not even 20 feet away. He’s grateful for the sweat pouring down his face for it helps mask the tears in his eyes.
He goes up to the strength and conditioning coach to inform him he’s done for the day. They don’t keep him any longer than need be for they know the pain he’s going through.
He doesn’t notice he’s driving around the campus lost in thought. There have been many nights like this twisting and turning wondering about the what ifs and what nots. But he’ll go on. He’ll finish his studies and try out for a PBL team. And if he’s worried about getting cut once more… the worst of it has happened already. All Jeff De Guzman wanted was just to play for the Blue Eagles.
Author’s dedication: This is for my Team B boys who I helped manage for one memorable season: Eman Nazareno, Zion Laterre, Mike Baldos, Mark Badua, Gino Villame, Arvi Malixi, Jurgen Estanislao, Zach Estoesta, Migs Escueta, Harry Hipolito, Chester Chavez, Miggy Solitaria, Leon Hizon, Gio Pasion, Jay Gonzalez, Nico Frez, and Jeff De Guzman.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A Sports Conundrum
“I hope that the RP Men’s team loses.”
“Don’t get me the wrong way,” the Cigarette Smoking Man said as he took one last and long puff on his cancer stick then stubbed it out in the ashtray in front of him. “I’m nationalistic as they come. But all this continued emphasis on basketball means that there will be less corporate sponsorship of other sports.”
The man has been a part of (non-basketball) national teams as a player, a coach, and now managing it from the sidelines. He acknowledges the stifling and paralyzing politics that has robbed our national sports scene of its vibrancy as well as the corporate world’s predisposition towards basketball, boxing, and billiards (let’s call them the “B” sports henceforth) for sponsorship.
Just the other day, I sat down with a local football official who asked me why the Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga were being dropped from Solar Sports’ roster of shows. I had to explain that not only weren’t the ratings there, but it was difficult getting advertisers for the telecasts. Save for the die-hards, the games are said to be too early in the morning to watch and outside of Barcelona and Real Madrid no one knows the other teams and players. Clearly the numbers weren’t there after jump-in-the-bandwagon event of the 2006 FIFA World Cup spectacle and it didn’t justify the costs of paying for expensive properties.
We were asked what was being done to help the growth of football to which I replied that as much as I believe in that, it is not my job neither my company’s to propagate the sport. That is the job of its national sports agency. What we can do is show footage of local leagues aside from news and scores. If it’s something similar to the ASEAN Football Qualifiers where the national team – the Azkals -- are competing in then a few companies might be willing to shell out the big bucks to televise their matches. But was it the presence of Fil-foreigners that sparked the interest? While their controversial inclusion doesn’t help team chemistry or inspire our local players it does generate interest. So there are complicated chicken and egg questions to be asked where you factor in business, politics, and the spirit of the game.
In an effort to bring football news to our programming, I’ve diverted our news crews to cover UAAP football and Ang Liga tournaments. I even motored all the way to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to interview a stranded Ghanaian who was trying to play football in Singapore (he’s now with UP and will be suiting up for them in Season 71) but ended up living in the airport for several months in a real life version of Tom Hanks’ movie The Terminal. When I try to insert football into our news telecasts, it’s yanked off in favor of other more compelling sports or other newsmakers. It’s what the people want I’m told. All you have to do is look at the UAAP where it’s mandatory for all schools to field basketball and volleyball teams the others be damned.
One of our recent climbers of Mt. Everest said that when they were seeking sponsors to fund their expedition to the famed mountain’s summit, many turned them away. Of course it was understandable, the climber acknowledged. What’s mountain climbing anyway to the corporate world and the masses? But after their accomplishment, there were numerable photo ops and promises by various politicians (now if you believe in them then you surely believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny).
When we asked one media buyer why mixed martial arts doesn’t get sponsors locally she said that it’s too violent unlike boxing. Hmm. I don’t know of MMA deaths but boxing… So what does she know about boxing? “Manny Pacquiao.” What weight division does he compete in? “Ah… I’m not sure.”
Outside the B-sports, most have no professional league for athletes to move up. I asked Atty. Ogie Narvasa a few months ago why he didn’t pursue a pro hoops career after a sterling stint with Ateneo and the nationals in the late 1970’s. “To be very honest,” said Narvasa. “Back then, the sport wasn’t a lucrative profession. Very few made any serious money unlike now when a draft pick can mean you’re set for life. Maybe if I were coming out of college now I’d consider it, but only maybe.”
The late football official and Ateneo coach Chris Monfort once said that the one-year salary of a pro basketball player is enough to run a pro football league and pay allowances for all its players. The late coach’s long-time friend PBA Red Bull Barako coach Yeng Guiao concurred, “Chris is right. Definitely right. As much as basketball is popular, we should also give other sports a chance to fly. There are many more sports where we can be the best or among the best.”
The Cigarette Smoking Man lit up his fifth cancer stick during our meeting the other week. “It’s hard to explain. I want the men’s national basketball team to win but you know what I mean…”
“You mean it’s like I’m a Roger Federer fan yet I didn’t root for him in the last US Open and the just concluded French Open,” I offered suddenly wondering if I had made an apt analogy and if the Cigarette Smoking Man might think that I’m an idiot.
“What do you mean by that,” he harrumphed eyeing me peculiarly.
“You see as much as I am a Federer fan, I am a bigger Pete Sampras fan and I don’t want him to break the Pistol’s modern era record of 14 tennis Grand Slams.”
He laughed out loud and patted me on the back. “We understand each other quite well. I, too, am a fan of Pete Sampras.”
The author has a non-sports blog at: the11-25pages.blogspot.com
Monday, June 11, 2007
Meet the LeBrons
(From the Dinner with the LeBrons commercial)
Wise Man LeBron: Let me tell you this story. You run around here thinking you’re good… I grew up in the State Championship. I had 35 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists…
Business Man LeBron: You telling them bald headed lies again, Pops?
Wise Man LeBron: And 12 blocks!
Business Man LeBron: Please!
Wise Man LeBron: Now them numbers -- that’s a quadruple double there, bro.
Business Man LeBron: Kind of makes no sense to me.
Wise Man LeBron: Don’t be jealous boy! You ain’t got like I got.
Business Man LeBron: I don’t know if I can put up with this no more.
In his latest Nike campaign, LeBron James does an Eddie Murphy (see his hilarious performance in Coming To America) where he plays four different aspects of himself. In the commercials, James portrays four dimensions of his personality on and off the court: youth, wisdom, business and athleticism. The dialogue is funny, some of the commercials memorable, and James’ acting is way better than Michael Jordan’s in Space Jam.
But the problem is, the LeBron James on the NBA hardcourt features different personas as well.
Big Game James (with all apologies to James Worthy). There’s LeBron scoring 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points including the last 25 to beat Detroit in a double-overtime classic in Game 5 of the Eastern Finals. That he led Cleveland to the Finals in only his fourth year is already a fulfillment of a promise when he drafted number one overall in 2003. He also showed that he could be the star among the stars when he bagged the 2006 All-Star Game MVP honors.
James Namath. When was the last time James played American Football – in his early high school years? Oh that wasn’t too long ago, right? This version of James at times inexplicably opts to pass to teammates like Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, and Sasha Pavlovic rather than scramble out of the pocket to run for the first down or the end zone. You’re no Joe Namath or Magic Johnson, LeBron. You were First Team All-State Wide Receiver in your sophomore year in high school. If you want to be a QB, be like Michael Vick, who scores touchdowns (just don’t be the dog-fighting version)!
James the Invisible Man. Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer is upon us (at least Galactus isn’t) and James, in his first NBA Finals appearance plays like Daniel “Boobie” Gibson during the first few months of the regular season while the unflappable rookie plays like James in one of the biggest games ever in franchise history. First game jitters? If you wish to receive the accolades accorded to His Airness, D-Wade or Kobe Bryant, then accept the responsibility and flack that comes along with it. Fall down seven times, get up eight times. Who cares if it’s D-Wade’s commercial! Nike owns Converse anyway.
Cut to moments after the Cleveland Cavaliers dispatched the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 of the Eastern Finals, James was handed the conference trophy by Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who had advice for the 22-year-old. "You are representing the Eastern Conference," the Boston Celtics great said of the coming Finals battle with prohibitive favorite the San Antonio Spurs. "Make me proud."
I’m an unabashed Eastern Conference guy. As a kid too young to have pimples, I rooted for the Philadelphia 76ers of Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Doug Collins, Caldwell Jones, and Darryl Dawkins and sulked after the Los Angeles Lakers upset them on two NBA Finals match-ups. I rooted for Boston too, when the Birdman ruled the roost and painted the NBA landscape green. I switched once and for all to the Chicago Bulls as they featured a young Michael Jordan and Doug Collins as coach. I may have not liked the New York Knicks but I would have wanted Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and another fave player of mine, John Starks to win one against the Houston Rockets. I’ve not been much of a James fan but have acknowledged his prodigious talents. I’ve been hard on him because of his propensity to play below the radar after tantalizing you with some really incredible games. I thought that it was the lowest of the low to see him benched by Larry Brown in the 2004 Olympics where he averaged 5.8 points. Seeing James suit up for the Cavs reminded me of a young Michael Jordan when he led the woeful Bulls with Rory Sparrow, Quintin Dailey, Dave Corzine, Orlando Woolridge, and aging Chicago playground legend Granville Waiters. And to see another high-flyer move past Detroit was like déjà vu.
Last season, LeBron and the Cavs pushed Detroit to the brink and this year, they got over the hump. But until James leads his hometown Cavaliers to the NBA throne and the Big Game James persona shows up, snazzy advertising campaign and all, there’ll be only one King and he is Michael Jordan. And he… has left the building.
(From the Dunk Contest with the LeBrons commercial)
Wise Man LeBron: After I dunk this contest will be over.
Business Man LeBron: I want a writer, director, producer…
Young LeBron: C’mon, Pops. I ain’t got all day.
Wise Man LeBron: It’s almost over. I’ve been waiting for this a long time. (dunks but hits only the rim). Ohhh. My back!
Young LeBron: That was awful! 4.6 (referring to his score).
Wise Man LeBron: 4.6! I didn’t ask how tall you were!
(to Business Man LeBron) Top that pretty boy. Show me what you got.
Young LeBron: Stop showboating all the time and show us something.
Exactly.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The White Stripes
Where have you gone, Larry Bird? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Wo-oh-oh.
- transcribed from the ancient texts of Paulus Simonus
While there is no shortage of “the next Michael Jordans” in the National Basketball Association, Bird watching has become almost extinct. At least for American Caucasians who are suddenly lost in transition.
While Dirk Nowitski, Andrew Bogut, Andrea Baragnani, Andrei Kirilenko, and Peja Stojakovic among many others have made a case for the Great White Hope; they are however European or Asian (the land from down under belongs to the Asian continent).
So does that mean that the American Caucasian is ever more an endangered specie?
A year ago, the Charlotte Bobcats’ Adam Morrison who was then with Gonzaga and the Orlando Magic’s JJ Redick who was with Duke were their respective program’s main men as America was riveted to their personal duel en route to an NCAA finals berth. Morrison towed his Bulldogs’ leash past Redick towards a showdown with Florida where his team crash and burned in the final minutes. Between the Morrison and Redick, it was the Gonzaga alum who looked like a refugee from the Jefferson Starship who was unfortunately tagged as the next Larry Bird; the next in a long-line of models rolled out of the halcyon days of Hoosier hysteria when the NBA’s landscape was snow white and the only black was the Chuck Taylor high-tops that was de rigueur.
Unfortunately, the typical NBA player is not spared from a world obsessed with profiling and pigeonholing.
The African-American player was said to be all razzle-dazzle slamma jamma dunk-o-rama players. Physical specimens whose worth was measured by their ability to jump over seven-foot centers in a single bound.
Europeans were chain-smoking bearded guys whose actions on the court were so robotic and clumsy. They were considered to be soft players who eschewed the alligator-wrestling pond (as former Chicago Bulls assistant coach Johnny Bach described the shaded lane) and preferred to bomb from the relative safety of the three-point arc.
Woody Harrelson personified the white American baller in that moronic movie “White Men Can’t Jump.” Although they described to be slow and could jump no higher than a phone book, they were tagged as smart since they could make their free throws, issue some dope passes, and basically were the original big fundamentals before Tim Duncan co-opted the nickname.
Turns out they were as wrong as Dick Cheney on a bird-shoot.
There were players like Michael Jordan and Earvin “Magic” Johnson who were such complete players, second generation Oscar Robertsons whose names were in every stat column.
As for the Euros? Well, there is a reason why it has a bigger value than the dollar.
Georgi Glouchkov where have you gone?
Dirk Nowitski is not only the hands down favorite to win the 2006-07 Most Valuable Player Award (sorry, Kobe, your late season surge notwithstanding, Dirk has been consistent the past two years but he has made his team every bit better as well). The Memphis Grizzlies’ Pau Gasol despite being on the trading block is still one heck of a player on a sucky team. Andrei Kirilenko on the other hand is no doubt the face of the Utah Jazz franchise post-John Stockton, the poster boy for small white dudes who was a throwback in more ways than one (check out those short shorts circa pre-David Stern).
As for the white American player?
For the last three years, there have been no white American white hoopsters in the All-Star Game. In the last 10 years, only five have made the All Star teams: Tom Gugliotta, John Stockton, Christian Laettner, Brad Miller, and Wally Szczerbiak. Of those five, the first three have retired.
Let’s break it down:
• Of the 450 players in the NBA, there are over 80 who carry non-American passports.
• The remaining 350 are Americans with only around 39 who are Caucasians born in the continental U.S.A.
• And of 39, only 19 of them have played at least 7 years of pro ball.
• Of those 39 players, only two are averaging more than 14 points per game: the Chicago Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich currently with 15 points per game and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Mike Miller averages 14.1.
• The Portland Trailblazers have four American Caucasians in their roster while the Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Lakers all have three apiece.
• Two teams, the Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons don’t have any American Caucasians in their line-ups.
• But curiously, nearly two-thirds of the team coaches are white.
• For NCAA-philes, the Kansas Jayhawks and the Florida Gators have the most number of alums in the League with four each. Kansas has the Bulls’ Hinrich, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Scott Pollard, the Trailblazers’ Raef LaFrentz, and the Seattle Supersonics’ Nick Collison while Florida has the Heat’s Jason Williams, the New York Knicks’ David Lee, the Grizzlies’ Miller, and the San Antonio Spurs’ Matt Bonner.
ESPN analyst and former NBA player Tim Legler laments the apparent demise of the American white player. “It’s sad that the perception of the American white basketball player has become a reality,” frowns Legler who was a former three-point shooting champion with the Washington Bullets. The tags of “too slow” and “can’t jump” seem to have been the kiss of death of the white American. Their white European counterparts are not only just as schooled, but also in many ways more mobile and taller.”
Former NBA All-Star and original Dream Team member Chris Mullin grew up in Brooklyn where he went up against many of the borough’s top black players and held his own. Now the General Manager of the Golden State Warriors where he starred, Mullin realizes it was that grim determination to succeed and be accepted that caused him to take the subway everyday to Bronx and Harlem to do battle with the black stars that were beginning to populate and dominate the playground.
Legler agrees, “Now you don’t have that anymore. Kids are steered towards other sports like baseball and football. "I see it at summer camps. The makeup and attitude of the white kids has changed so much. No question it's the parents and their peer groups talking them off of it. A black kid of average talent in elementary or middle school is much more likely to be encouraged. A white kid of equal talent is going to move to baseball or something non-sports. They totally get discouraged to travel that athletic path, and it's been happening for years.
"My father begged me to not play basketball. I was a really good baseball player, and he thought I had a better chance at playing in the major leagues. But I loved basketball. For a white player to succeed in basketball, he's got to have a backbone. He's got to have that competitive mentality and play with a chip on his shoulder."
Conversely, African-Americans are experiencing the same in Major League Baseball where the game has become the domain of American white boys and Hispanics.
Some basketball analysts point to the Dream Team’s European exploits as a pivotal moment in the expansion and popularity of basketball all over the world. Even South Americans like Argentine Manu Ginobili admits the heavy influence of Michael Jordan in his game.
Who would have thought that Spain, the land of two of the world’s premier football clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid would also have the world’s basketball team as Pau Gasol and Juan Calderon led their country to the Gold Medal in the last FIBA World Basketball Championship?
And in the former states that once comprised the Republic of Yugoslavia are still known as the European version of Hoosier-ville having brought over players like Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic, Dino Radja, and Peja Stojakovic to name a few.
The world has caught up to America in basketball and not only are Americans feeling the blues after getting their behinds handed back to them over the last few years, but so have the white Americans.
For Mullin, the time that he played seems like the last hurrah for whites. Aside from himself, there was the immortal Larry Bird and his teammates Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge, there was Seattle and Phoenix’s Tom Chambers, Cleveland’s Mark Price, Utah’s Stockton, Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe, Charlotte’s Rex Chapman, and Miami’s Dan Majerle among others. “These guys made a huge impact on the game,” glowed Mullin who also starred for the Indiana Pacers under Bird.
In a 1997 article in Sports Illustrated, it was postulated that the lack of white stars in the NBA has caused a "white inferiority complex." As a consequence, the next white player with a hint of promise would always be tagged as “the Great White Hope” in the vein of Larry Bird who with each passing season seems to resemble one thing – the Only White American Hope.
In the Sports Illustrated article, then New Jersey Nets swingman Keith Van Horn admitted that since being “outted” in high school, he felt the burden of being compared to Bird when in fact, he was comparing his game to a black player, later-Seattle Supersonics player Derrick McKey. “It was hard,” revealed van Horn. “Eventually, it sets you up for failure when you do well but not as well as Larry Bird.”
After a sterling collegiate career and a stint with the Dream Team, Christian Laettner had a couple of good years with the Minnesota Timberwolves before he became a journeyman checking in with teams like the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards among others. The ever-loquacious Charles Barkley’s verdict on Duke’s one-time Golden Boy, “The only thing Christian Laettner and Larry Bird have in common is they both pee standing up.”
Judge, jury, and executioner.
With the Bobcats’ Morrison and the Magic’s Redick respectively scoring a paltry 12.3 and 6 points per game in their rookie season, it looks like the “next Great White Hope” has already been hung on the University of North Carolina’s freshman sensation Tyler Hansbrough.
And the cycle continues.
Tower Sports All-time White American NBA Team:
We have decided to divide the NBA into two eras with the demarcation line during the rookie year of Larry Bird in 1979-80.
So on one hand, it’s from the George Mikan years all the way to Dave Cowens and on the other, it’s from Larry Bird up to Mike Miller. Each line-up is divvied by positions with a 16-man roster. The line-ups aren’t purely based on stats but team chemistry and what they bring to the game.
1979-80 season up today:
Centers: Brad Miller, Bill Laimbeer, Mark Eaton, and Bill Walton
Forwards: Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Tom Chambers, Chris Mullin, and Mike Miller, Jack Sikma
Guards: Mark Price, John Stockton, Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge, Jeff Hornacek, and Brent Barry
Coach: Phil Jackson
Honorable Mention: Christian Laettner, Steve Kerr, Jason Williams, Scott
Skiles and Rex Chapman
Scouting report: This team has size, can shoot from the stands if need be, and can play hard-nosed defense. And please… no jokes about these white boys not being able to jump. Tom Chambers, Mike Miller, Thunder Dan, and Brent Barry will tomahawk you into youtube immortality if you’re a step to slow.
Offense: Now if there was any team to run Big Chief Triangle’s offense then this team is it. They’ve got the players to run the post-offense with Brad Miller and Bill Walton and the myriad of cutters and spot up shooters to make the opposition pay.
They can hurt foes too by drawing them out to the three-point line where its harder to defend a player then zip a pass to a cutter through the lane or beat the player off the dribble with some nifty footwork or feints.
Playmaking: Now perhaps save for the Black Hole of Boston and Utah’s Mark Eaton, if you’re not paying attention, the game might suddenly resemble dodgeball as the rock bounces off your head or your chest with some of the game’s best ever passers in this line-up. Players like Chris Mullin, Dan Majerle, Brent Barry, and Danny Ainge can take it to the basket on a series of cuts or drop passes.
Defense: You’ve got some terrific rebounders, shot blockers, and position defenders in this line-up. And if all goes wrong, then there’s that human roadblock in Mark Eaton to teach finger-wags like Dikembe Mutombo a thing or two about rejection.
To say that these boys play like Europeans would be total disrespect to them. The Euros play like these boys can.
Sidebar: Larry Bird
Some people have that defining moment that changes lives. But all-time great ones like Larry Joe Bird seem to have a scrapbook full of them.
Was it leading the Indiana State Sycamores to the NCAA Finals?
Was it winning the Rookie of the Year Award en route to leading Boston in what was then the single largest one year turn around in history (before David Robinson eclipsed the mark with the San Antonio Spurs)?
Was it beating Los Angeles after that call to arms that turned the 1984 Finals around?
Was it his scintillating run of three straight Three-Point Shooting Championships during the All-Star Weekend?
Was it winning three straight MVP Awards?
Was it the Willis Reed moment against Indiana in 1991?
Or was it his stint with the Dream Team in Barcelona arguably his last hurrah as a player?
Or was it coaching the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2000 against the Los Angeles Lakers before ultimately falling short?
Perhaps the best testament to Larry Bird is even black players like Kevin Garnett are compared to his all-around game. But still none come close. The Great White Hope is still the Only Hope.
1946-1979 seasons:
Center: Dolph Schayes, Dave Cowens, George Mikan, Tom Boerwinkle,
Forwards: Rick Barry, John Havlicek, Bobby Jones, Jerry Lucas, Gail
Goodrich, Jerry Sloan, Dave DeBusschere, Bob Petit,
Guards: Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich, Jerry West, Bill Sharman
Coach: Arnold “Red” Auerbach
Honorable Mention: Harry Gallatin, Joe Fulks, Dan Issel, Paul Arizin, Paul
Westphal, Tom Heinsohn, Ed McCauley, and Bill Cunningham
Scouting Report: The years from 1946-79 really covers a lot of ground and players particularly the time when the NBA was young and lily-white. Many of the names you’ll find on the team are from the latter part of the coverage when the game was closer to what it is today as opposed to the more grounded played when the Minneapolis Lakers ruled the roost. That doesn’t mean that the players were softer then. Not necessarily. In fact, they had to endure long bus or car rides to games, played in bad shoes, bad weather, and to ugly crowds. The physical training and style of coaching was at its best simple yet highly effective up to this day. There were times when courtside was separated from the stands by chicken fence wire to prevent the fans from hurting the players. It was tough leaving out favorites like the Kangaroo Kid, Billy Cunningham and Paul Westphal who had far superior stats to Jerry Sloan and Bobby Jones. But you need guys who can stop foes from scoring. It certainly isn’t enough to trade baskets to wins games; you need stops.
Offense: Four names. Rick Barry, Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, and Pistol Pete. Four people to shoot the daylights out of the gym. And we haven’t even talked about Hondo or Jerry Lucas.
Playmaking: The game’s original showmen in Bob Cousy and Pete Maravich aren’t here for the halftime tricks show. They are here because they can play. And more importantly, pass the rock. The Cooz has a lifetime average of 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. And the Pistol has 24.2 4.2, and 5.4 respectively. And their numbers got better during play-off time. What makes them deadlier is that they aren’t one-dimensional; they can drive to the basket and make a living off drop passes and other dimes. And up front, with Dave DeBusschere, Hondo, and Dave Cowens and Dolph Schayes they have passing-minded players as well.
Defense: But perhaps the best word to describe this line-up is: tough. Plenty tough. Maybe even dirty tough. Not dirty players out to hurt others but those who’re willing to hustle for the plays and do the dirty work that doesn’t make the stat sheet. And these guys have the floor burns and the broken noses to prove it. They were competitors with an ironclad will who would standout in today’s NBA. Now while they may not have any shot blockers supreme, what this team does is challenge every shot. The great thing about All-Star teams is they play the game they way it should be.
Now these boys can also rebound with the best of them. Tom Boerwinkle might not have a Hall of Fame career, but in his years with the Chicago Bulls, he was the certified man in the middle. Along with Dave Cowens, George Mikan, Hondo, Jerry Lucas, and DeBusschere, they can guard the shaded area as well as anyone in any time.
Sidebar: John Havlicek
You’re definitely in good hands with Hondo. Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 1962 NFL Draft as a wide receiver, the former Ohio State Buckeye chose to go to the Boston Celtics where he served as the chief caretaker of the dynasty when Bill Russell rode off to the sunset. He led then Celts to the 1974 & 76 championships before calling it quits two years later.
Even when Russell was still the main man for the Celts, Hondo was a primetime player on both ends of the floor (see the steal against Philadelphia and the shot against Phoenix in 1976).
His lifetime stats of 20.8 points, 6.3 caroms, and 4.8 assists are healthy by any era.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Just do Consider it
Nike’s Swoosh is one of the most ubiquitous symbols in the history of mankind. It’s right there with the Golden Arches, the peace sign, and the Heroes’ helix if Tim Kring’s blockbuster television series continues to sweep the world off its feet with its psychological thriller take on the superhero genre.
The Swoosh initially begat the day-glo perfection of the Jumpman, Li’l Penny, Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, and the LeBrons all the way to the latter day shocking images of sneaker murders (where punks murder people to get steal their Jordan kicks), sweat shops in Asia, environment unfriendly shoes where the carcinogenic and toxic content in its manufacture will hasten the death of the planet ala Dean Devlin’s The Day After Tomorrow.
Before you think we’re inciting the burning of shoes or a boycott – I’m clinging on to my Huarache’s and they’ll have to pry them from my cold dead fingers – salvation is at hand for the company that changed advertising, sports marketing, and they way we look at athletes forever.
Nike Considered, the line of these eco-friendly shoes, may be one blatant sales pitch but it’s certainly interesting to check out. This shoe line sprung from the experiments in the Innovative Kitchen where Tinker Hatfield (the genius behind the Air Jordans), Steve McDonald and company used recycled materials, snap-together tools, and water-based adhesives to create some nifty designs.
If you’re the type who needs to be satisfied with a product’s adherence to environmental precautions then know that these shoes use vegetable-tanned leather that eliminates toxic chromium when it turns into waste. They are designed for easy component disassembly when it comes to recycling and have no use for adhesives that are harmful to human workers.
Now lest you think I’ve cribbed notes from the product manual, let’s slip our feet into one of the products out of the Considered assembly line… The Soaker. The bad name aside, it’s a modern-day cross-trainer. The Soaker (check out the pic below) strikes a balance between street and outdoor wear making it perfect for water-sports such as rafting, yachting, kayaking, or even walking. It has portholes to drain water and waffles on the sole to provide traction. And it’s comfortable and stylish.
A word on the traction… the sole is composed of 0.44 rubber compound or “sticky rubber” that works well on a variety of surfaces.
On another front, Nike has plunged into the digital music arena with a partnership with Apple Computer, Inc. to come up with the Nike+iPod sports kit. This isn’t Nike’s first foray into digital music. A few years ago, they were working in concert with Philips to produce the MP3Run (or the “hockey puck” as people affectionately called it), a flash-based player that played music and told you how far you’ve run. It was recalled after a number of glitches.
The second time’s the charm for Nike with its current tie-up with Apple’s revolutionary iPod -- arguably the second-most influential proponent of digital music after Napster – for what is projected to be a better digital workout.
The Nike+ is compatible only with a select line of running shoes (Air Zoom Plus, Nike Shox Turbo V+, Nike Air Zoom Vomero+, Air Span+, Air Max Moto+, and Air Max 180+) outfitted with a sensor in the midsole that communicates information to an iPod nano. The runner gets instant audio feedback including time, distance, speed, calories burned; info that is instantly calculated on the run and can later be stored on your computer! If this is where sneakers are heading then I won’t be surprised if one day they’ll be outfitted with GPS that will point you towards the nearest pizza joint (so much for burning all those calories).
I don’t know if you remember that mid-1990’s Nike ad where the copy reads something to this effect: Until the car. Until that lamppost. Until the next corner. And so on. It was a creative way of interpreting the shoe’s timeless tagline of Just Do It. The Nike+ pushes you harder as you listen to your favorite music while your performance is monitored and measured.
And musically, the iPod tie-up sounds (pun intended) better since the MP3Run contained only 125 songs a serious concern for the audiophile.
No doubt Nike’s latest push will have an impact on consumer thinking with its younger and irreverent mindset. And who knows how this will affect product design? Digital music is making inroads everywhere from personal computers to mobile phones and portable players. Nike Considered in the meantime is consolidating its beachhead with its straightforward mission: Design products that deliver more with less while paying equal attention to performance and sustainability. For Nike Considered, the footwear is lighter as it retains its shelf life durability.
Now if it only costs less.
