A Real Comeback. Except it was for RSL.

The season began with more of the same – a circus. Only it seemed to degenerate into an international incident. David Beckham versus Landon Donovan.

Donovan’s comments about Becks in a book were unflattering to the former England captain. But why not? It was the truth.

But the truth was Beckham had misplayed his hand. He could have significantly raised his profile. Boosted his stock. Instead he was a largely ineffective captain of the LA Galaxy who was also at the same time not in the pink of health.

After Frank Yallop and Ruud Gullit, the Galaxy finally brought in the most bemedalled American football coach in Bruce Arena. In his famous words to Donovan: “Let him (Beckham) be the captain; you be the star.”

Donovan performed well in the latter and led the Galaxy in scoring a year ago. But Beckham’s gallivanting and near defection to AC Milan destroyed him in the eyes of many. So he was stripped of his captain’s armband and booed in his first trip back to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

But after another slow start, the Galaxy began to play great football. In fact they were only one point less than perennial power Colombus 49 to 48. Although they finished at 12-12-6, they made it to the MLS Finals after beating Houston 2-0.

Except while they were one of the better teams in the past season, they were up against a red hot Real Salt Lake that played the best football in the second half of the season.

It seemed perfect… an opportunity for the LA Galaxy to win a title. And Becks, would have won another title in another continent and it would have significantly boosted his falling stock in North America. Except that this time, hobbled and bother by a stingy RSL defense, Becks and the Galaxy were kept on their heels.

And as it went into penalty kicks, Donovan, who had converted on 21 of 23 chances missed badly as his spot kick went way high up the crossbar as RSL keeper Nick Rimando guessed wrong. Edson Buddle, who was named after Brazilian great Pele, bungled a third PK and LA’s chances of staying alive depended on RSL’s Robbie Russell who nailed it 5-4 for the expansion team.

It was a terrible way to lose. But think of the magnificent turnaround – from last place to second place. And the year that started out with gossip page fodder became all about football and really, isn't that what it should be all about (Alex Rodriguez had a similar year except he held aloft a trophy by the season's end). As Beckham gets ready to play once more with the Rossoneri in order to secure a place with England’s campaign in South Africa, the future suddenly seems bright.

And for Victoria Beckham who will be staying with the couple’s three sons in Los Angeles, it is a sign that Goldenballs will be back. Hopefully, he will have fire once more in his eyes.

Got to Score (Thanks Noel and Jinno!)

Check out this new show on flippish.com -- it's called The Score with veteran sportscaster Noel Zarate and Jinno Rufino. It was at Solar where I finally got to meet Noel and we hit it off instantly. In fact, I credit him with giving me plenty of television breaks while at the cable channel. I think it was my first week when he invited me to make a guest appearance on his sports talk show on RJTV. Then he invited me over to on several occasions on NBA Radio with Martin David, Magoo Marjon, Justin Orbien, and Ralph Roy. When he did more production work, he produced two shows that I proposed and wrote -- the Solar Sports Year in Review for 2006 and 2007. The first was a two-hour episode while the second ran for an hour. Then we collaborated on Sports Desk. Now this guy is one walking sports encyclopedia and is a superb host. We chatted while watching the V-League playoff match between Ateneo and FEU and the following day, with Jinno in Boracay, he asked me to fill in. And would I have said no? Bwahahaha! My fave hirit... the Clippers will win because of Kate Hudson! Bwahahaha!

Taking Aim

The Ateneo Women's Volleyball Team took aim at a Final Four slot at the 2nd Conference of Season 6 of the Shakey's V-League. They led the FEU Lady Tams 2 sets to 1 but fell apart afterwards with a spate of receiving errors after which the never got their groove back. 

They started out the season slow but went on a run that saw them beat the top teams in the league in the second round where they won a couple of five setters (they're bane the previous year) against Adamson and UST only to lose in the playoff to FEU.

They'll be using their experience here as a springboard for the coming UAAP season. 

I took the photo and converted it into black and white, a medium I've always loved since following Ansel Adams' photography. That gave me an opportunity to sneak in using that for the 2010 Ateneo Sports Calendar. To my friends in Facebook, you may check out my shots for the Lady Spikers' playoff match with FEU there.

The covers to the 2010 Ateneo Sports Calendar

We're coming out with three different calendars with different layouts some using different photos and with different covers. They will be out first week of December and at the A-Shop in Xavier Hall, the alumni office in Bellarmine, and the University Athletics Office at Blue Eagle Gym. Prices are at Php 400-350-250. 

Bleachers' Brew #184 The Question(s)

The Question(s)

by rick olivares

Why the New York Knicks did not sign Allen Iverson:

1. Under Coach Mike D’Antoni who is pushing for his seven-seconds-or-less offense with the downtrodden Knicks, if they had Iverson in tow, it will be forty-seven-minutes-no-less playing time. And as Donnie Walsh said, it will eat up the playing time for the younger players.
2. Gone are the days when the Knicks seemed like it was their official hair-fashion. Now sporting more or less a clean-cut look save for rookie forward Jordan Hill’s dreadlocks (dreads are cool),  sported cornrows the last thing the Knicks need is Danilo Gallinari, David Lee, and Darko Mlicic in cornrows.
3. Four teams – the Philadelphia 76ers, the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and the Memphis Grizzlies – have decided that Iverson isn’t the answer to their problems. And with every stop, the former Georgetown Hoya’s stint keeps getting shorter. In fact, if you go to the NBA’s Info Page right now (before they change it), Iverson’s photo is still with a Detroit jersey. His stay with Memphis was so quick that LeBron James was a host of Saturday Night Live longer (90 minutes) than Iverson got minutes with the Grizzlies (41 minutes). If that isn’t a reality check on the Knicks then Charles Dolan, Donnie Walsh, and Mike D’Antoni should have their heads examined. But already just being a part of one of the worst franchises in the NBA should merit a brain scan.
4. For the sake of argument, if New York gets Iverson, how does that affect their chances of making a huge bid for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or any other marquee player for the 2010-11 season? If Iverson is ditched after one season, is it a repeat of his claims of “disrespect” in Motown or a repeat of the situation in Mile High City with Carmelo Anthony? Methinks, the Knicks braintrust would rather get a team player in James.
5. When the Knicks see Iverson, they see the second coming of Stephon Marbury (Allen wore #3 with Memphis while Starbury wore #3 in New York). It looks, feels, and smells just like that re-make of Friday the 13^th.
6. It’s hard to get a player who was once nicknamed “The Answer” but now goes by “The Cancer.”

What’s next for Allen Iverson?

1. Compare notes with Marbury on their career paths then write a book on misunderstood playas where he’ll take shots at Philadelphia’s organization, Larry Brown, George Karl and the Nuggets, Melo, Michael Curry and the Pistons, Memphis, and what could have been in New York. The title would be “Knicked” (or some might say “Answers to Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask But Were Afraid To).” The foreword will be written by the Reverend Jesse Jackson who will bring up the ever-predictable race card.
2. Wait for an NBA team to pick him up. He is definitely not over the hill.  Some one out there will need to put people in the stands and win a few games; the future be damned. Or he can follow Marbury’s footsteps and play with the Celtics (but can he handle playing behind Ray Allen).
3. Ask SLAM to put him on the cover for a story: Who’s Afraid of Allen Iverson Redux?
4. Get more tattoos now that he has a lot of free time on his hands.
5. Play in Europe. I hear they pay just as well.
6. Or he can just call it quits.

 

More thoughts on the Iverson issue:

I am wondering by Charlotte Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown has been calling NBA teams on Iverson’s behalf. Why don’t you get him for your team, Coach? Or you’d rather have him on someone else’s team and watch them implode? Excellent strategy!

Somehow, this reminds me of the cornrowed Latrell Sprewell who was chilling in his home in Milwaukee after being released by the Golden State Warriors following his attempt to rearrange PJ Carlesimo’s windpipe. What’s the relation with Iverson here? AI is perceived to strangle teams’ hopes here if you have been reading newspapers and magazines outside SLAM. Spree, was a force of nature with G-State but was deemed to be a cancer on his squad. The Knicks came calling and soon he was a Knick where he led them to the NBA Finals in 1999 were they fell to the San Antonio Sterns. So will Walsh and D’Antoni relent and sign Iverson in spite of heir earlier pronouncements? Time will tell.

It’s a clear case of damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t. But since the season (at 3-9 of this writing) this early is going downhill, why not? If before teams would tank late in the season for a chance to get the top pick in the draft how different is this “newspeak” of developing players now for the future (read: let’s lose now then we can jettison the deadweight to clear cap space for a monster payday for LeBron)? But the NBA, whether because of poor front office moves or the global recession, is littered with bad teams nowadays. As this sees print, only 14 of the league’s 30 teams have winning records. But three of them are just a game above .500.

The Knicks are playing games both on and off the court. They are losing on the court and could lose big time if they don’t bag James in next year’s free agent grab fest. Should they fail on both counts, then this decade of mediocrity (an understatement if there was ever one) will continue and New York will still be searching for answers.

 

Recommended reading:

When The Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Jackie MacMullan

Shooting Stars by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger

The Beckham Experiment by Grant Wahl   

Pics of the Day

Joe Girardi at the Madison Square Garden. The Yankees have given New Yorkers something to cheer about since the Knicks are their customary sucky selves. Girardi will be given an award by the Knicks organization during their match against the Celtics for skippering the Yanks to their 27th World Series title and for his helping our a car accident victim mere hours after the win.
Long live the NWO! Sorry but any wrestling gang that came after them paled in comparison. And Hollywood Hulk Hogan is Boss! Now that's he's on TNA, it's interesting to see why he's wearing these old colors. Or maybe it's just nothing, right?
Displeased Knicks fans make their voices heard about the team's decision not to add Allen Iverson to their roster. So quick was AI's stint with Memphis that NBA.com never had time to even change his photo. 

Two-man jam annihilates backboard

Catch a rising star

I am not a big LeBron James fan. In fact, I have been critical of him in the past columns or in newspaper articles. But of late, I've got a better appreciation for LBJ and that isn't because he won last season's NBA MVP Award. The simple truth there is... he's growing as a person and as a player. And for one of such prodigious talents, how can I not watch or even pay attention?

In recent weeks, I've been trying to catch up on my reading and this book, when I first saw it on the shelf, attracted me. I went back and forth for weeks until I finally decided to plunk down some moolah to get the hardcover book.

I guess having Buzz Bissinger in there to make sense of everything was a huge selling point. Buzz in case you've been living in the caves with Osama Bin Laden, is the author of the masterful Friday Night Lights. So I told myself I had to pick this one up.

I didn't think that he'd write it like that football story of the Odessa Panthers because this is a basketball tale to begin with. 

I also had to unload my expectations following my read of Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment that was worth my time. And LeBron's storytelling is simple, honest, and well, it flows seamlessly. Like The Beckham Experiment, I understood a lot of things after having read it. With Shooting Stars, you will understand why James' game is like this -- when he'd rather pass than shoot. 

Cross-country 'cross generations

It was in every sense of the word a “fun” run. For some who have not been to the university in some time, the event, the run, was nostalgic. A trip down memory lane through a school that is at once familiar and different.

Former Ateneo baseball program head Jimmy General broached the idea of reviving the cross-country run at the start of 2009 while shooting the breeze with AAA President Mike Valencia. Cross country running, as introduced by the late Fr. Austin Dowd, S.J., was a staple of Ateneo sports life back in the 1950s to the mid-1990’s until it died down by the end of the latter decade.

The idea was an instant hit amongst the Ateneo Alumni Association braintrust and the planning for the event was put in motion.

While the term “cross country” no longer applies as the run that once took Ateneans through the campus, out to Katipunan Road and to the challenging roads of nearby La Vista, it still is somewhat a scenic run through the idyllic Ateneo campus.

Since then, events like these have been termed as “fun runs;” something that today’s generation is more attuned to. Mick Perez, a former Ateneo track athlete himself and current Program Head and Coach of the college teams was brought in to help in the implementation of the run along with former Blue Eagle center Vincent Araneta overseeing the project that was labeled “the AAA Sesqui Cross Country Fun Run.”

“We’re bringing back a tradition,” said an excited Valencia who once participated in these runs back in school.

Toby Tanjuatco, a former trackster and running enthusiast himself was excited about the event. “I used to run this when I was in school and have many great memories of it. I am looking forward to that.”

Over 850 people (including non-alumni and students) signed up for the run that was held last Sunday, November 15, 2009 with the starting and finishing line at the Ateneo High School parking lot. Of the 850 who registered, paid, and received a race singlet, 604 of them actually took part in the race that was one of three such events that day. But the Sesqui Cross Country Fun Run also saw runners from UST, FEU, UE and other schools participate.

Fr. Benvienido Nebres S.J. opened the event and fired the starting gun for the 5.6K race while Valencia got the second race, the 2.8K going.

For Christine Caoili, a parent involved with the Ateneo Students Parents Council, it was her first time to join any run and it was an eye opener for her. “I can’t wait to join the next one.”

Ateneo Women's Volleyball: Getting over the 5-set hump

Last UAAP season, the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team lost five five-setters. A win or two there and they would have made the Final Four. But the team was pretty much young as half the team were composed of veterans who didn’t see much playing time while the other half were rookies. The team made no bones about their regretting not pulling through in the clutch.

Cut to almost one year later, this time in the V-League. The Lady Spikers got the monkey off their back by beating Adamson the other week in a thrilling five set battle. They seemed poised to solving the Adamson problem (the San Marcelino team has owned them the last few years) as they won the first set before suffering a massive power failure that left them with a must-win situation heading into today versus long time nemesis UST.

As it was in the UAAP, Ateneo won the first two sets and seemed like they were going to sweep the Tigresses when Aiza Maizo arrived (late) right before the third set where she led her team to a spirited rally that saw them send the match to a fifth set.

Following an 11-all deadlock, Dzi Gervacio scored a point on a crucial block to give Ateneo the momentum on a four-point swing as they took the final set 15-11. They won 25-11, 25-18, 17-25, 19-25, 15-11 and another five-setter.

Gervacio scored a career-high (in the V-League) 23 points as teammates Fille Cainglet and Charo Soriano added 17 and 13 apiece.

Ateneo faces Far Eastern University this coming Sunday at the Arena at 4pm in a one-game playoff to slug it out for the fourth seed. FEU, Adamson, and Ateneo are all tied at the end of the eliminations with a 7-5 record but the Lady Falcons are assured of the 3^rd see with a superior quotient.

The UST Lady Tigresses are at #1 with a 10-2 record followed by SSCR with a 8-4 record. Adamson is at #3 with a 7-5 slate.

Fille Cainglet and Dzi Gervacio are #5 and #9 in  the Top 10 Socrers.

Gervacio is #6 in the Best Spiker category.

Jem Ferrer is ranked #7 in Serving.

In the Best Digger category, Steph Gabriel is #2, Cainglet at #7, and Gervacio at #10.

Jem is the Best Setter thus far with Kara Acevedo bringing up the rear at #10.

In the Best Receiver category, Gabriel is at #2, Acevedo at #6, and Cainglet #8.

On sports books

I was reading Svend Fransen’s commentary about former football players who publish their biographies in time for Christmas. And I agree that while some are good, most… let’s just say that we should save the trees! They have no right! They have no shame. And Wayne Rooney... you are only 23 years old. What have you done?

Ahem.

But there are a lot of good sports books out there. Reading Grant Wahl’s The Beckham Experiment, fills in a lot of the missing stories of what went on with that team. I couldn’t follow the LA Galaxy on a daily basis and relied on them making the headline news (when they did). When Alexi Lalas was fired and Ruud Gullit let go, I wondered why? At that time, Lalas was the face of American soccer (damn that word). I mean it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something was really wrong but nothing ever came out to expound on what happened. It was all speculation. The book explains what happened and why it happened. More importantly, did it change my view on David Beckham?

Yes, it does in a way but I remain a fan. After all, who is not without fault?

I have several football jerseys with names on them – Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, and Jeremy Toulalan to name a few. And Becks, yes, I do have his LA Galaxy. Even when he played for Manchester United, how could I not respect the player? He was more than the set piece king.

I don’t loathe Beck for what happened. I just shake my head in disappointment. I already agreed with Alex Ferguson’s comments about letting Golden Balls go to Real Madrid. That meant not dealing with the Beckham circus. I bought his autobiography and it is well, food for the masses. Not bad.

But if I wanted well-written, incisive, and behind the scenes pieces then I would have gotten other fare.

The Beckham Experiment is turning out to be one of my favorites because football in America is so below the radar that it also is quite revealing on how the sport is viewed and how players cope with the lack of attention and meager pay (except for a few).

After reading Let Me Tell You A Story – that was somewhat disappointing – The Beckham Experiment is a refreshing change that is way more interesting and well written. And unlike books like Jack McCallum’s Seven Seconds or Less or Sam Smith’s The Jordan Rules, this one features a lot of the front office machinations that make one understand how a team is run and put together.

Someone asked me if I only read sports books... no, I don't. I read lots -- advertising, thrillers, fiction, non-fiction, war and adventure, fantasy, biographies/autobiographies. and funny stuff. 

What a tough break for Ireland!

Have a seat, Sean Avery!

I half expected these Washington Caps to dump New York Rangers left winger Sean Avery inside the goal. But working the crease... no way, buddy. The Capitals were more physical and they beat the Rangers 4-2. 

Grand (Slam) Reunion

Members of San Miguel's 1989 Grand Slam team in the PBA threw a congratulatory dinner for teammate Ato Agustin who piloted the San Sebastian Stags to the 2009 NCAA Seniors Men's Crown. The dinner held at the Kamayan sa EDSA featured: Tonichi Yturri, Elmer Reyes, Bobby Jose, Alvin Teng, Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, Franz Pumaren, and Agustin. Paul Alvarez later joined San Miguel but not as a part of the 1989 Grand Slam team.

Yes there is hope

The New York Islanders (8-6-7), without franchise goalkeeper Rick DiPietro who is still in sickbay, are playing better now that they are getting back their young studs back in harness. Matt Mouslon and John Tavares led the Isles, still at the bottom of their division in a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins. The last time the two teams met, New York squandered a 3-0 lead in a wild wild Bruins win. 

But tell me, was Moulson expected to lead the team in scoring this season? Yes, Kyle Okposo had a bout with swine flu and is getting back in circulation but the story thus far (I know Tavares is a huge signing and will change the perception of players who wear #91 -- see Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest) is Moulson who has been up and down with hockey leagues and seems to have found a home with the perennially downtrodden Isles. Thus far, he has 10 goals as New York has gone 6-2-2 in their last 10 matches. Against the Bruins, he was attack-minded. Gotta play that way if you want to win, guys. 

Credit as well Dwayne Roloson as keeper #1 while DiPietro is out. Those were mighty big saves in the first couple of periods that earned his sixth win of the year. 

Now Scott Gordon, let's keep the wins coming, eh?

Manny the Great

Manny the Great

by rick olivares

He is a man on top of the world and clearly is at the height of his power. He is modern-day Alexander the Great. Yet unlike the Macedonian, he isn’t weeping because he has nothing left to conquer after all there’s still a host of foes out there.

As the placard that some fans at the MGM Grand Arena read: “De La Hoya – X. Hatton – X. Cotto – X. Mayweather you’re neXt.”

The circus and madness that surrounds Manny Pacquiao is much like what follows the icons of our time --- Michael Jordan, David Beckham, and Tiger Woods to name a few. They are in the eye of a storm of unprecedented media coverage, endorsements galore, and the subject of gossip items both real and the stuff of slanderous fiction. Perhaps, the only source of relief is once he steps inside the ring. And that was so obvious when the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer finally made his way from his dressing room at the MGM Grand Arena to the ring. His face glowed with a joy as if to say, “Finally, we can get it on.”

Or was it more of “Let’s get this over with. I’ve got a concert later?”

Manny may smile a lot because he sure has a lot to be thankful for. But that’s also because no one has yet been able to wipe that off his kisser.

He may have a good word for everyone but deep inside of him lies an assassin’s heart. When Miguel Cotto said that he was going to beat the Filipino at the weigh in (even boxing analysts predicted that Cotto would stop the rampaging Mexicutioner in his tracks), all that the former challenger to the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization Welterweight belt had to say was, “he was a tough guy and it’s going to be one heck of a fight.”

Manny and Freddie Roach can hear all of the slights perceived or real (remember how Floyd Mayweather Sr. taunted Roach during the press conference of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight). They store that in the back of their minds. As Roach said then and now, “We do our talking inside the ring.”

When Cotto made his way to the ring, tattoos, if-looks-could-kill look and all, it seemed that the sold out arena was going to witness a mixed martial arts match. But when Pacquiao entered earlier, he entered once more to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” that segued into Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” from the movie Rocky IV. If anyone noticed, Pacman was smiling.

When referee Kenny Bayless told both fighters to touch their gloves and go, Pacquiao ditched the smile for the eye of the tiger.

When Cotto grabbed Pacquiao and put his forearm on the Filipino’s nape in the first couple of rounds, the Pacman was royally miffed. After Cotto got decked in the fourth round, the Puerto Rican fought a delaying action – float away and sting like an annoying bee.

Cotto had knocked out nine of his foes after the sixth round. Manny had only managed four.

However, since he rebounded mightily from his first encounter loss to Erik Morales, Pacquiao rattled off 10 impressive wins by mowing down four world champions in that span. And perhaps more tellingly, he finished off four of those fighters with a minute to go in late round action. That meant that Manny not only cold finish off foes early but he could go the distance with the best of them and retain serious knockout power. Cotto no doubt about it, had to know that.

After a feeling-out first round to get the measure of the champ’s power, Pacquiao dropped the smile proceeded to rain 372 punches on the champ with over 250 of them loaded for bear. After the 11^th round, trainer Joe Santiago asked his bloody and nearly broken fighter to throw in the towel. “One more round,” said the beleaguered champ although one can’t be sure if it was a question or a statement.

If Cotto was hoping to get lucky with a punch that would allow him to retain his (he did get in a few good licks at the Filipino), it turned into another opportunity for Pacman to further tenderize him.

Bayless, the best referee in the business today, has officiated several of Pacquiao’s fights. Four of them to be exact. He let Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez duke it out in their return engagement. He saw Ricky Hatton floored in two last May. This time, with Cotto’s face being remade by Pacman’s fists, 55 seconds into the final round was enough. He waved off the fight and Pacquiao raced to his corner in prayer then into the arms of his trainer Buboy Fernandez with that smile – this time with unbridled joy.

Manny Pacquiao, was World Champeen in a seventh different weight class. He had one more than Oscar de la Hoya who he sent into retirement when the Golden Boy refused to answer the 9^th Round bell in their mega-fight in December 2008.

If Bill Russell is the Lord of the Rings, the Filipino is the Beltmaster. The only thing lacking is a black belt. Who says that isn’t possible? General Santos City’s most famous son is an excellent basketball, billiards, and darts player. Who knows how good he can be if he puts his mind to things?

When famed boxing writer and analyst Bert Sugar interviewed a Pacquiao who had showered and dressed up (although with his head taped and bandaged from some solid hits by the dethroned Cotto) some time after the fight, he asked the new Welterweight Champ how could he had been so confident about winning to have arranged for a concert way long before Firepower Saturday got underway.

Manny smiled and simply said without a trace of arrogance that he knew he’d win and that he wanted to sing for his fans.

The new WBO Welterweight Champion smiled.

It’s good to be the king.

Deck the trees with lights so bright and jolly...

A worker atop the acacia tree at the corner of Fr. Masterson Drive and Parade Loop at the Ateneo campus. Some 1000 boxes of Christmas lights are put up to replace the old ones that have been in use for the last couple of years. Unlike before, the lights will now adorn the branches of all the trees that surround the field.

Pacman in Yankee Stadium

The old Yankee Stadium at the corner of 161 Street and River Avenue played host to more than two dozen World Series, NFL titles games, some 20 of boxing's most famous fights, memorial services and a Papal Mass. The old ballpark finally closed down on September 21, 2008 after 85 years. 

Its tenants, the Yankees, moved to their new and massive $1.5 billion digs just across the street where they recently closed out their 27th World Series title. A championship to celebrate its opening year! 

Well, how about an encore? Perhaps of the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. kind? And that would be keeping in tradition of great sporting events held at Yankee Stadium as the new one charts its own history.

Ross Greenberg, the President of HBO Sports said that such a fight, should it happen, needs a Super Bowl worthy stage. And that stage could be the new Yankee Stadium. The MGM Grand Arena where the Pacquiao-Cotto fight was held sits up to 17,000 people. In the Stadium, that number triples (52,325 seating capacity). The fight that could happen by May 2010 and right around the time the new Major League Baseball season gets underway. 

The Pacman at Yankee Stadium! Holy Moley! 

Monday

I spent the day finishing work for Noynoy's PR campaign, checking layouts and discussing the artwork for the 2010 Ateneo Sports Calendar, sneaking out for a 15 minute shoot, and beginning drafts for other pieces I need to put away. 

By day's end, I dropped by and chatted with Ateneo Women's Volleyball Coach Roger Gorayeb then attended the Smart Gilas practice at Blue Eagle Gym. It's the first time I've been with the team since that lopsided loss to Ginebra. The guys noticed my absence and we caught up with what has transpired on both our parts since the game at the Cuneta Astrodome. And well, that's a lot. Nice to see Rey Guevarra up and about. Caught up with Dylan, Aldrech, Jayvee, Magi, and Mark. Lots of interesting stories that will all be told and written about by next week. Coach Jim Saret and I discussed finally getting off the ground the project we first talked about in Jakarta. As my sked frees itself up, I finally have time to attend to that. Whew! That should keep me busy. We meet again this Saturday to make final plans and agreements before everything is a go. And thanks as well to Chris Tiu. 

And thanks to Starbucks for the free frap. Nice way to cap a long Monday. 

Patriots beat the Kuala Lumpur Dragons 73-63

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The Philippine Patriots went to imports Jason Dixon and Brandon Powell in the final period to hack out a thrilling 73-63 come-from-behind win over the Kuala Lumpur Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Sunday at the MABA Stadium here.

Combining quickness, creativity and a little of guile,  the 6-foot-10 Dixon came through with a double-double performance of 17 points and 16 rebounds as the Patriots surged to their third straight win and fourth overall in five starts in the home-and-away tournament.

It was the finest showing so far for the former PBA import, who vowed to help the Philippine Patriots win this inaugural 6-nation tournament.

Powell, the 6-foot-5 guard who is known for his rugged defense, also had 17 points, including two triples that helped the Patriots outscore the Dragons, 25-9, in the deciding fourth period.

With the win, the Patriots, co-owned by Harbour Centre CEO Mikee Romero and businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco, cemented their hold of second place behind the Singapore Slingers (5-1).

“It was a scary win, good thing we recovered our bearing in the fourth period,” said RP Patriots coach Louie Alas. “This is a wake-up call for the players. They can’t take anyone in the tournament lightly.”

The luster of their massive 70-53 win over the erstwhile unbeaten the Singapore Slingers last week appeared to have disappeared in the third frame where they fell into poor shot selection and turned the ball one after another that saw the Dragons taking a 54-48 lead.

It was at this juncture that Alas used the team’s vaunted full court pressure with Dixon manning the shaded lane as if he was guarding a bulk of gold bullions.

The defensive strategy worked wonders for the Patriots as they scored in bunches behind their brilliant transition plays. But the most telling was that they held the Dragons scoreless with 2:33 left in the game.

“Our hustle and depth spelled the difference,” added Alas, who sorely missed the services of bruiser Jerwin Gaco (due to flu).

Ateneo star Nonoy Baclao and Warren Ybanez each had eight points and combined for 9 rebounds while Froilan Baguion had seven points despite nursing a knee injury.

The Dragons, who trailed 31-34 at halftime, took a series of eight-point leads in the third – thanks to their three Filipino cagers Rudy Lingganay (10 points), Roel Hugnatan (10), Fhadzmir Bandaying (6) and import Chris Kuete (13).

The Dragons, however, failed to protect that lead as the Patriots put up a great defensive stand to silence the huge home crowd. (Rey Lachica)

The scores:

RP PATRIOTS 73 – Powell 17, Dixon 17, Ybanez 8, Baclao 8, Baguion 7, Espiritu 6, Acuna 5, Wainwright 3, Daa 2, Sta. Maria 0, Mirza 0

KL DRAGONS 63 – Kuete 13, Lingganay 10, Hugnatan 10, Loh 9, Batumalai 9, Bandaying 6, Wee 3, Chee 2, Koh 1, Ho 0, Chai 0, Brown 0

Quarters: 19-13, 34-31, 48-54, 73-63.