Nonong Araneta: Former Mr. Football to restore the sport to its glory days

This appears in the Wednesday January 5 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Mr. Football to restore the sport to its glory days

by rick olivares

Once you get into the game there’s no turning back.

Mariano “Nonong” Araneta has been engaged in football for more than 40 years as a player and as an official. Even now as president of president of Eastgate Maritime Corporation, Araneta splits time managing the shipping company and its other subsidiary companies aside from his job as interim president of the Philippine Football Federation. “I can run around between the two as long as I keep my weekends free for the family,” clarified the former Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball for the University of the Philippines about his busy schedule.

Araneta was born in Barotac Nuevo, a town in Iloilo whose greatest export are its football players who stock many a football team including the national squad. “Life in Barotac was very simple. Yung talagang probinsya,” reminisced Araneta. “When I was growing up, football was already the sport to play in Barotac. We use to play five on five everyday after school. We use to look forward to the football tournaments during Christmas and summer time. Playing for Barotac selection against our rival teams in the province was one of my fondest memories growing up.”

Having gone for his secondary education at the University of the Philippines Iloilo, Araneta took up Civil Engineering in the Diliman campus where he also played for the football and basketball varsity. “It was very hard to play for two varsity teams in UP considering that I was taking up Engineering at the same time. My practice in football was 4-6 pm on Mondays-Wednesdays-Fridays and basketball was 6-8pm also on the same days! I was practicing 4 hours straight  for three days in a week and if there were games in the weekend it left me with little time for my academics. But like it is in UP, you have to manage it.”

After helping UP to three football titles during his time there, Araneta played for U-Tex where we won the 1st National League Championship. He then brought his skill and amazing luck in winning titles when he transferred to CDCP where the squad also won one National League crown.

Seeking to continue his football career, he joined the Air Force where he also suited up for its eleven and proceeded to win six more national League championships.

“I played for the National team from 1975 to 1985. We were doing okay in those days. The first time we joined the SEA Games in 1977 in Kuala Lumpur, we won against Brunei, tied Indonesia and lost to Malaysia. We also tied Malaysia in the 1983 SEA games. Although we lost to Japan in the Olympic qualifiers in 1983, the game was memorable for me because I scored a goal from 40 yards away for the lone Philippine goal. Unlike today’s team which is known as ‘the Azkals’, we didn't have a name for the Philippine team before.”

While watching the Azkals in the semifinal stage of the 2010 Suzuki Cup in Indonesia, Araneta took note of the difference in the modern game. “In defending, it was more of a man to man defense while nowadays, you defend an area or a zone. Training now is more scientific and players now are more protected by officiating from unnecessary hard fouls or tackles.”

With his recent election as interim president of the PFF, Araneta had to temporarily give up his seat as president of the Iloilo Football Association (IFA). “We have already chosen an interim president for IFA so I would not be to involved in the day-to-day affairs. As for the PFF, I would be assisted by the board and committee heads to run the federation, so I don't see any difficulty in dividing my time between PFF and my business.”

With the cleaning up of the PFF, the success of the national team, and renewed interest in football on a national level, Araneta bared some bare bones plans for the summer. “We will have national competitions for categories that will be decided by the competitions and technical committees. This is just the start of our efforts to promote the sport.”

Araneta officially recognized by FIFA/AFC

This appears in the Wednesday January 5 2011 edition of the Business Mirror. Click on image to enlarge.

Araneta officially recognized by FIFA/AFC

by rick olivares

The Asian Football Confederation has finally recognized Philippine Football Federation interim President Mariano V. Araneta after FIFA/AFC lawyers submitted their findings to their respective organizations after a fact-finding mission last December 29-30, 2010. Fabienne Moser-Frei, FIFA Head of Corporate Counsel, and My Dung Nguyen, AFC Legal Director conducted interviews with PFF stakeholders while reviewing the documents and the video taken of the proceedings.

In an fax letter dated January 3 by FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke to his PFF counterpart Ramon Manuel, the former wrote: “After having thoroughly analyzed the report of the said FIFA/AFC delegation, we kindly inform you that the Chairman of the Association Committee is still of the legal opinion that the removal of Mr. Jose Martinez and the election of Mr. Araneta was in line with the relevant PFF Statutes as outlined in the FFA letter dated 20 December 2010.

Added Valcke: “Hls (Martinez) view ls mainly based on the facts that alI stakeholders agreed on the sarne set of statutes adopted by the PFF Congress in 2007 as well as on the same national laws app cable to the present case and that the vldeo which was submitted by the PFF administration to FIFA and AFC containing the facts happened during the second part of the PFF Congress was not contested.

“Moreover, the Chairman of the Association Committee took into consideration that the decisions taken by the PFF Congress were neither challenged at the arbitration court nor at the competent local court by any PFF member or by Mr. Martinez within due time.”

With the stamp of approval, Araneta and his party were immediately granted a visa and accreditation to the 24^th AFC Congress in Qatar.

Accompanying Araneta are Manuel and Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Monico Puentevella who all left at midnight of January 4 via Emirates Airlines bound for Doha to attend the one-day congress on January 6. Said Araneta in a conversation with BUSINESSMIRROR before he boarded his flight for Doha: “We received our accreditation only today (January 3) but before 2010 ended, we received an invitation by no less than AFC President Mohammad Bin-Hammam to arrive earlier for a series of talks before the congress. That to us is a good sign. But this is just the start. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”

In the a related development, the AFC Executive Committee unanimously approved last December 31 a proposal by Hammam that would give all 46-member countries an opportunity to be a part of the AFC Cup, the continent’s flagship football tournament.

“Next year in the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, we can expect to see the kind of top-quality action we see at top-level world competitions,” said Hammam. “This is a great opportunity for us to invite all our Member Associations to be part of this great celebration. I don’t think this has happened in the past, at least since I have been President.”

The AFC Congress meets every two years to deliberate and decide on issues confronting concerning the AFC  Statutes, the methods and procedures of their implementation and application, the approval of the annual report, the acceptance of new national associations, and holding of elections.  For the elections, at stake is the post of AFC President and three slots on FIFA’s Executive Committee.

UAAP Season 73 Football Tournament sked

Team on the left will wear light colored uniforms.
Watch out for my UAAP preview.

Breaking news: Araneta "recognized" by AFC. Leaves for Qatar for AFC Elections.

The leadership of the Philippine Football Federation -- President Mariano V. Araneta and Secretary General Ramon Manuel -- will be flying to Qatar tonight for the meting and elections of the Asian Football Confederation. The accreditation of the two came in today and that means that AFC recognizes them already. 

So that you know, before the 2010 ended, AFC President Mohammad Bin-Hammam already invited Araneta to leave earlier for Qatar so that they could talk. The way we interpret this is that the findings of the FIFA and AFC lawyers validated the results of the 7th Ordinary Congress of the PFF where the former president was removed and replaced.

That invalidates the TRO filed by the former president since AFC already recognizes Mr. Araneta.

Congratulations to all for a job well done.

A Weiss choice?

This story appears in the Tuesday January 4, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

A Weiss choice?

by rick olivares

With the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup five weeks away, Englishman Simon McMenemy might not make it back in time to handle the Philippine National Men’s Football Team which just came of a successful Suzuki Cup campaign where they made it to the semifinal round.

McMenemy does not have the proper “B” coaching license to be accredited for the tournament which is strictly monitored by the AFC. “I’m working on it,” said the English coach who professed that coaching the national team was the experience of a lifetime.

With a gaping hole at the bench, there is a possibility for a couple of coaches to come in. All of them happen to be Germans and that includes Hans Michael Weiss to whose resume includes a lengthy tour of duty on three continents.

“During the last 14 years, I have obtained great knowledge on the International football level in Asia in Japan and China,” said Weiss who holds a UEFA Pro License and who completed his studies in Sports
Science and Management at the University of Mainz in 1995.  “I have worked on the highest professional level in the J-League in Kyoto, worked on the highest youth level with the CFA in China and also at the best high school for developing young players in Nagasaki, Japan.”

Weiss also worked as a Technical Director and coach of the Under-17 National Team of Rwanda in East Africa. “We started under very difficult conditions in 2007 and have changed the system there.” said the native of Dannenfels, Germany. “I was successful in training and detecting young talents in order to prepare them for the National Team. So most of the players coming up to their A-team learned from the ‘German System’. During the past years we had even managed to reach the top 100 in the FIFA ranking.”

If he lands the job of national team boss, Weiss said he will tap his network that includes the German Deutscher Fussball Bund, FIFA and AFC to develop the Azkals into a better and more respected squad. “I am sure that given some time and intensive preparations on the pitch we can lift the level of the National Team in the Philippines.”

In related football news, the 2014 World Cup Asian Qualifiers kicks off this coming June 29 and July 3, 2011 in a home-and-away format. The winners from Round One will progress to the second round which will also have a home-and-away format on July 23, 2011, and July 28, 2011.

Twenty teams, including the winners of the second round, will be divided into five groups of four teams each. The winners and runners-up from each group will advance to the fourth round after playing in a home-and-away format. Ten teams in the fourth round will be divided into two groups of five and top two teams from each group will qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This round will have a home-and-away format. Third-best teams from Round 4 will play home-and-away in Round 5 and the winner will qualify for a Round 6 playoff against a team from another continent to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

MATCH DAYS

Round 1 MD1: June 29, 2011 MD2: July 3, 2011

Round 2 MD1: July 23, 2011 MD2: July 28, 2011

Round 3 MD1: September 2, 2011 MD2: September 6, 2011

MD3: October 11, 2011 MD4: November 11, 2011

MD5: November 15, 2011 MD6: February 29, 2012

Round 4 MD1: June 3, 2012 MD2: June 8, 2012

MD3: June 12, 2012 MD4: September 11, 2012

MD5: October 16, 2012 MD6: November 14, 2012

MD7: March 26, 2013 MD8: June 4, 2013

MD9: June 11, 2013 MD10: June 18, 2013

Round 5 MD1: September 6, 2013 MD2: September 10, 2013

Round 6 MD1: October 15, 2013 MD2: November 19, 2013

Even the other teams get their love. The Merah Putih's Irfan Bachdim.

Even the other teams are getting their love. The new issue of Hai with Indonesian midfielder Irfan Bachdim on the cover.

Black Coffee Part 1: My thoughts on the current row about football in the Philippines

The problem about the current power struggle between the new PFF leadership and Mari Martinez is frightening. As you may surmise, it isn’t easy going up against someone in authority more so if they have patrons behind them (read: Hammam).

To our foreign partners – the issue isn’t a power play but the removal of a person who has done the sport and the country a disservice. The issue isn’t a technicality but the falsification of public documents, the misuse of the PFF funds, and the loss of trust by its members. Let’s not confuse the forest for the trees.

Things aren’t that easy to fix. As much as I hate playing politics, I understand why people play them.

For example, the last PFF Congress that saw the ouster of Martinez. I thought that what proved crucial to his being booted out was when the various members of the federation spoke up to vote “aye” for the incumbent’s removal and replacement. The first few people to cast their vote for removal were so passionate in their delivery (especially Atty. Anlu Carpio) that it lent to a supercharged atmosphere. Not everyone in that chamber was for his removal. If maybe a few said “nay” at the start then who knows what might have happened. As it was, those perceived to be his allies spoke up close to the end and they would have looked stupid to have countered the “ayes”. So they voted to remove him. 

Why? Kasi maraming nakinabang in the form of bribes, suhol, favors or whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-use-so-you-can-be-politically-correct such as travel abroad and even allowances that were illegal in the first place.

I was surprised that some board members said that if Martinez returned the lost money he should be given another chance. WTF kind of thinking is that? That is why our country is like this. We jail coup plotters and other thieving politicians then let them go scott free. If these were ordinary people with no money or even a modicum of influence they’d rot in jail. If I stole from a bank and if I returned everything then I wouldn’t have to go to jail? Punyemas ang ganyang kamoteng pagiisip.

I was surprised to see that immediately after Martinez was removed and Nonong Araneta was asked to sit behind the table on the podium, a few others sat close by as if they were a part of the new administration. Mr. Mike Batilles who was voted the new Executive Officer didn't even sit down there as he was kind enough to give the new president the opportunity to preside over the remainder of the Congress. Yet one or two even whispered into Araneta's ear. A definite no no. Why? Because it can be viewed as a power play. As if one were signifying that yes, I was behind your ascension. It doesn't look good nor does it sound good. Beware of people who say that they played a role in the removal and ouster for they are the ones with agendas. If you did it for the sport then shut the fuck up and do things quietly.

If you ask me, I do not trust many of those now trying to make his or her voice heard. Even worse, we’ve seen the entry of new players. Where the F were you when all this was happening? Some want merely to capitalize on the success of the national team. Excuse me. When you talk about involvement, you talk first to the president of the PFF not anyone else. Oportunista!

The full story of what is going on and what came before is dizzying. It will make you want to throw up and cuss out.  When the full story will be told it will make you feel as angry as I am. Look, it's not fun taking shots at people. Maybe for others who make a career out of it (and who try to gain notoriety as well) but not me.  

You have football association presidents who have problems with their own constituents yet when they sit down in front of everyone it’s like they were God’s gift to the sport. And you have people -- good ones -- who were so disillusioned by what happened before that they decided to do their own thing without the PFF's help. Bless them and keep them.

Yet with all that is happening there is a possibility that the PFF could be suspended. When that happens there goes the national team. Same as what happened to the BAP. And remember that the federation runs on the Financial Assistant Program of FIFA. Without that money how will the PFF run especially since it has been bled dry by the former president? And there are so many unpaid bills from the past coaches and so on.

As for the national team, one cannot have a team composed of Fil-foreigners. You have to understand that. It is both good and bad. If you look at the Philippine sports landscape, more and more Fil-fors are taking over the slots from tennis to swimming to basketball to football. Time after time, the government and the people rail against the poor performances in international competitions. But does anything happen? Nope. It’s the same shit day in and day out. A delicate balance must be struck. A serious grassroots program must be put into place. What happens is you have someone starting something and when the next Johnny-come-lately arrives, he will junk that in favor of his own idea. Doesn’t that remind you of all these public officials who put out signs that say “This is a project by…” Wait. Pera mo ba yang ginamit mo o pera ng tao? And furthermore… trabaho mo yan kaya ka nandyan. YOU ARE A PUBLIC SERVANT. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

It’s time to look at football in the eye and say, this is what needs to be done. You have people in all the wrong places where they have the competence of a glass of water. If athletes are graded on their performance so should officials. They cannot perpetuate themselves in power forever.

So what can you do, the ordinary person on the street or the die-hard/casual football fan?

Ask your local FA on how you can get involved or help. Express your indignation by writing articles or as loathe as I am to say it, seek the help of people who are in a capacity to do something about it. Maybe also write to FIFA or the AFC. Let your voices be heard. And it starts with your own corner of the world. Your own district or football association. If it’s run by people with the right frame of mind and the right code of ethics you will go places.

There’s so much work to be done. I just want you all to know the score.

Azkals brass meets Germans while Macca waits

This story appears in the January 3, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Azkals brass meets Germans while Macca waits

by rick olivares

The Philippine National Football Team brass heads for Germany today for a two-day meet with the Deutscher Fussball Bund (the German Football Federation). On the agenda is to discuss how the Germans can help not just the national squad but the Philippine Football Federation and Philippine football. The DFB provides aid, training, and technology to some 17 countries.

According to Philippine football officials, the DFB has also offered the services of Hans Michael Weiss as a coach for the national team. Whether that means the English head coach Simon McMenemy will be replaced is unsure at the moment.

When queried about the Philippine job, Weiss, who has worked with Rwanda, the Chinese and Japanese Football Associations, and worked as an intern with Real Madrid FC, Arsenal FC, Argentina’s River Plate, and the Bundesliga’s FC Kaiserslautern said, “Hopefully the Azkals will continue their momentum not only in 2011, but also in the upcoming years. For the moment I cannot comment on anything. After next week the Philippine soccer world will know more.”

McMenemy steered the Azkals to a semi-final appearance in the 2010 Suzuki Cup, the nationals’ best finish in an international tournament. With the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup looming, McMenemy might be disqualified on a technicality as he lacks a B coaching license that is a requirement to coach at this level.

In a conversation with McMenemy yesterday, the Englishman informed BUSINESSMIRROR that Asean Football Federation officials have signified their intention to help him secure the license needed to continue with the Azkals. “I’d love to comeback and continue what we started with the Philippines,” said McMenemy. “Hopefully, we can secure a long term contract because I think we can put together a three-year plan to make the team better and go farther.”

McMenemy clarified reports about Vietnam being interested in his coaching services. “It wasn’t only I who received offers,” underscored the former Worthing FC assistant coach. “The players were also getting interest from different countries. As for Vietnam, it was a club team from their premier league. As I understand, it was the former team of Mr. (Henrique) Calisto.”

Calisto is the head coach of Vietnam who piloted the emerging Asean powerhouse to the 2008 Suzuki Cup title and refused to shake McMenemy’s hand after the Philippines 2-0 win in the group stages. Calisto, who is Portuguese, accused the Philippines of degrading the sport by “parking the bus” in the endgame.

McMenemy countered by saying, “I believe that the objective is to win the game. And you do what it takes to do that.”

BUSINESSMIRROR also learned that James and Phil Younghusband have been offered $6,000 each to play for an Indonesian club.

The National Team returns to action on February 9 when they host the Mongolian National Team in Panaad, Bacolod City in a home and away series in the qualifying stages of the AFC Challenge Cup. The visitors who are ranked #182 in the world by FIFA. The Philippines is currently at #150 it’s highest ranking to date.

Bleachers' Brew #241 The 5th Annual Brewskies

This appears in the Monday January 3, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

The 5th Annual Brewskies

by rick olivares

At the end of every year, Bleachers’ Brew hands out the Brewskie Awards to people, athletes, and teams that have made the world of sports even more interesting if not controversial.

Heel of the Year – LeBron James. He took his talents to South Beach and his popularity went south faster than a temperature drop. If people weren’t convinced of his greatness before switching jerseys not even an NBA title with the Miami Heat will now change that.

The Larry Brown Award – Rafa Benitez. Named after the nomadic NBA coach who changed the fortunes of his teams as soon as he arrived but left after less than desirable circumstances. Benitez whether by his own design or not won at Valencia, Liverpool, and Intermilan but as in his last stop in Italy, he was out after a few months. Jose Mourinho he isn’t.

The Tough Guy of the Year Award – Floyd Mayweather Jr. Unwilling to fight Manny Pacquiao, he instead picked a fight with a girlfriend and got hit with eight counts of coercion, robbery, grand larceny, battery, and harassment. Then he compounded matters by assaulting a security guard a few weeks after that.

Peace Prize of the Year – Jose Mari Martinez. He unwittingly united the warring factions within the Philippine Football Federation to the point that even his former allies voted against him in the 7^th PFF Ordinary Congress. The voting went 26 for his removal and replacement with four abstentions. As Martinez sought the help of AFC President Mohammad Bin-Hammam that saw FIFA and AFC lawyers fly to the Philippines in a fact finding mission, previous opponents such as former NCRFA president Pocholo Borromeo and PFF Chairman Emeritus Johnny Romualdez shook hands as they joined the move to prevent Martinez from regaining his post. It must be more than the Holiday spirit.

Cheap Shot of the Year – New York Jets Strength and Conditioning Coach Sal Alosi. Alosi tripped up Miami Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll as the player went out of bounds. Not only was Alosi fined but the team suspended him indefinitely after it was learned that he ordered players on the sidelines to form a wall to potentially impede opponents.

Jose Canseco Award – Floyd Landis. Took dope. Denied it. Life went into the crapper. Suddenly discovered he had a conscience enough to rat on teammates. Once a dope always a dope.

Fair Play Award – FIFA. With their referees bungling so many calls during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the calls for the use of goal line technology and instant replay became louder. Incredibly, FIFA exonerated their dumbass referees from any wrongdoing.

Shooting Guard of the Year - Gilbert Arenas. Should change his nickname of “Agent Zero” to “El Pistolero” for his penchant for guns. He even brought firearms inside the locker room of the Washington Wizards where he got into a dispute with a former teammate. In case you didn’t know, the former name of the franchise was “the Bullets.”

Instant Karma Award – Les Bleus. The French National Football Team advanced to the 2010 World Cup by ousting Ireland after an unlikely handball by Thierry Henry to teammate William Galas who scored a the marginal goal. Once the team got to South Africa, they didn’t win a match, were ousted in the first round, and got embroiled with an embarrassing spat with former coach Raymond Domenech. The coach removed striker Nicholas Anelka for his petulance and the team responded by striking. Domenech ended the most forgettable tournament by refusing to shake hands with his South African counterpart Carlos Alberto Parreira whose squad booted out the lackluster French.

Raymond Domenech Award for Sportsmanship – Vietnam national football team head coach Henrique Calisto. After his defending Suzuki Cup champions were on the business end of a 2-nil upset (one of the most massive in footballing history) to the Philippines, Calisto reprised disgraced French coach Raymond Domenech by refusing to shake the hand of Azkals’ head coach Simon McMenemy and blasting him over the next two press conferences of the tournament. Even worse, he took offense at the media’s portrayal of his team’s loss to the point where he angrily challenged a British writer during a press conference.

Best Scouting Report – Minnesota Vikings c/o Randy Moss. Moss, who played his first seven years with the Vikings, led them to big wins while racking up huge scores and bushel loads of touchdowns. Even as he couldn’t lead Minnesota to the Super Bowl, Moss got into all sorts of off-field problems that eventually led to his trade to Oakland. He did go to the Super Bowl with New England but the Patriots lost to the New York Giants. He was traded back to Minnesota this past season but waived after a few games after a series of off-field problems. Vikings officials claimed that Moss had an attitude. You mean after seven years in the Metrodome, they only just learned about it? Methinks Minnesota officials are suffering from amnesia after suffering numerous concussions owing to post-season playoff failures.

With Friends Like This Who Needs Enemies Award – NCAA Philippines. They claim that they are one big family. They “knew” that University of Perpetual Help Dalta System had some players with “questionable papers” (that are highly debatable) as early as the summer leagues but did not say anything until right before the start of their Season 86 which severely damaged their chances of competing. Worse, even as Perpetual Help presented proof, they sat on it and did a lousy job of ferreting the truth. After San Beda lorded it over the league with an unprecedented 18-0 sweep, they conducted a meeting without the Mendiola school’s presence to curtail the “imports” that have proved vital to the Red Lions’ hoops success.

FEU Storyline of the Year – Season 73 Finals loss. Every year something’s up with the FEU Tamaraws. If it isn’t a batok incident with an opposing team manager who lost his composure, then it’s disbanding the team after not making the Final Four, a player getting shot for still unexplained circumstances, and a player getting tossed for allegedly throwing games. This year it’s a meltdown in the worst possible time capped by a high-blood pressure incident suffered by their former head coach in their final game of the season. So what’s in store for 2011?

 -------------

Here are the past Brewskies awards. Have fun (and a laugh) reading them!

The 4th Annual Brewskies 

The 3rd Annual Brewskies

The 2nd Annual Brewskies

The 1st Brewskies

A blast from the past. With former Azkals Head Coach Des Bulpin.

With Coaches Roroy, Brax, Des, Diding at the Ateneo football field before Azkals practice March 2010. I was covering UAAP football at this point and had junked the PFF. But after speaking with Coach Des, he convinced me to get back. The moment I did, I took a broadside to the leadership.

The Winter Classic of their Content

When I watched the first meeting between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins (played at the Verizon Center), I knew that it was going to be a larger than life match. Aside from the two teams not liking each other, the knowledge that it was being filmed on HBO and was the prelude to the Winter Classic gave it more meaning. The match ended 3-2 in favor of the Penguins where Pascal Dupuis scored the winning goal during the shootout after overtime. While I was rooting for the Caps, I think the Penguins play some of the best ice hockey known to man. They have since they drafted the great Mario Lemieux all the way to Sidney Crosby. And they got former Russian Super League star Yevgeny Malkin who is such a solid player. The Penguins had their brush with mortality in their recent win streak as they fell to the Philadelphia Flyers and ahem -- my New York Islanders but they have owned the Caps. So it was sure nice to see the Caps get a huge win despite Alex Ovechkin not scoring once more. Yes, I know that too much is being made out of Ovie's not scoring but c'mon. Who doesn't have slumps? As Washington GM George McPhee said, "Whether it's Pavel Bure or former Caps Jaromir Jagr (who won two Stanley Cups with the Pens of Lemieux) or Peter Bondra, offensive stars get into a stretch where they are not scoring and their whole game seems to fall apart." Caps coach Bruce Boudreaux figures that after a two-goal match, Ovie will be his old dangerous self.

But the Winter Classic -- Eric Fehr with two goals for Washington! How about that? Ovie leads the Caps in celebrating after Fehr's goal. Now the win put them on level points with the Tampa Bay Lightning at 51 points in the Southeast Division of the NHL's Eastern Conference. In the meantime, the loss of both the Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings puts them both at 53 points for the season. Oh yeah. All pics are from NHLI. Thanks!

Bleachers' Brew through the years

The statistics of Bleachers’ Brew for December 2010 are as follows:

56,155 hits, 79,518 pageviews, 22,641 unique visitors with an average of 8:09 on the site.

Was December 2010 the highest? Nope. That honor belongs to September 2009 as Ateneo was going for a back-to-back. The single most number of hits in a day was over 8,000 and that was an Ateneo Blue Eagles preview before this Season 73 of the UAAP.

For the entire 2010, the stats are: 421,638 hits, 529,444 page views, 132,637 unique visitors from 169 countries. Average time on site 8:03.

The top stories of 2010 in Brew:

1.    Exorcising Benchley

2.    2010 List of PBA Draft Applicants

3.    My Clockwork Oranje

4.    An Official Statement from the Philippine National Men’s Football Team

5.    A Chat with Kiefer Ravena

6.    How San Beda survived a mugging

7.    Fil-Indonesia Gabe Honosutumo has Azkals dreams

8.    German to coach Azkals?

9.    Smart Gilas Year One

10.  Azkals play the globalization game

The numbers for Brew have gone up every year. Since the blog was put up in 2006, it has been a syndication for most of my materials that I produce for Business Mirror, ateneo.edu, Philippines Free Press, Maxim, Tower Sports NBA, Maxim, FHM etc. It is only the stuff in Rebound, the South China Morning Post, and Real Madrid FC that has not been posted because of contractual concerns or previous agreements.

We began keeping track of the stats only in mid-2007 so there are lost numbers. But the readership has grown exponentially every year.

I have oft received emails from sources where some materials are pasted on to their email because of firewalls or inaccessibility (whatever the hell that means) and that doesn’t register in the numbers.

The blog has been amazing and immensely gratifying. At first, I didn’t even believe in it but someone else insisted on it. Someone has better sense than me, right? The material that comes out here has been a source of information not just for your everyday sports fan but also other agencies and offices that I’d rather not mention. I don’t want to toot my vuvuzela on this. Suffice to say that I’ve received letters from people I never expected to hear from in my lifetime. I’ve received letters/email (and lots of FedExed materials from documents to DVDs/CDs to shoes) from almost every corner of the globe. And not just from Filipinos. That is reflected in Facebook's Brew entry where you'll see a multi-ethnic selection following. And many of them aren't even my friends on FB!

Brew began from being a hub of all my stories about the Ateneo Blue Eagles (I was writing about their games like an alumni version of the college newspaper The Guidon) and eventually my first columns in Business Mirror (the first was me trying to write like the other columnists as per the direction of the editor before me junking that for the way I wanted to write it). The first column for BM was so forgettable. By the second one, I wrote about the travails of a PBA referee, then Barry Bonds' "Dear God" letter, and then football. Obviously, what began as an Atenean audience has expanded. It's now gone beyond school affiliations to international borders. I receive letters from Tunisians (who want to know more about Philippine football and in turn I asked them about George Lucas filming Star Wars in their country), South Africans, Swiss, Serbs, Greeks, Vietnamese, and so much more. Even US State Department types. 

My designation in BM is “columnist” as my Bleachers’ Brew column 99.9% of the time comes out on a Monday (but there have been three occasions where I had two columns in a week). But I’ve since done more stuff like covering Smart Gilas; beat reporting for the UAAP and NCAA, and special features.

I’ve since branched out from sports writing (I began back in the early 1990s chipping in lots of feature writing for the Philippine Daily Inquirer) by doing music stories on bands, climate change features, political opinion and features, fitness and health, home improvement and home features, and travel.

More than writing, I also take photos and videos helping change the way reporting is done (as espoused by one of my gurus Kevin Sites).

I am excited for 2011 and what we can do.

Thank you so much for reading and all the support.

Cheers!

Rick

We had some special guests at our family New Year's Eve party.

Our family on all sides went to Ateneo (including my mother's side). So when we have family reunions, talk is on politics (there are a number of professional writers), business, and sports. Among us first cousins, six of us played varsity sports. My brother was in the Blue Babble Battalion back when it wasn't considered a varsity team. Now among the next generation, we still have a few but in either in motorsports or baseball. Not one basketball and football player (darn it). Anyways when talk is about sports you know that it's about the Ateneo Blue Eagles (and the NBA and NFL). We had some special guests at the family reunion last night -- the Younghusbands! James, Phil and youngest sister Keri. My kids Matt and Anthony are also in the pic. Ants is wearing the Azkals jersey and you should see him play football (he plays the midfield and him being an Arsenal fan he's a playmaker who is inspired by Cesc Fabregas). And he is real good to boot. Matt for some reason I cannot fathom prefers to play goal keeper (no disrespect to GKs everywhere). My kids were thrilled to meet the brothers. Phil was saying that the only thing that was missing was a "#10" on Ants' jersey. Yep, he did watch the Suzuki Cup games. They also both love playing FIFA (as do I) on Playstation. Thanks to the Younghusbands! Happy New Year!