Thursday Stuff

The NU-look National University Bulldogs will be leaving early next month for training in Indianapolis! Hoosiers are us, dawg!

There's a possibility that former Chicago Bull and Charlotte Hornet BJ Armstrong will be a part of the Junior NBA program not the NBA Asia Challenge as I previously stated.

Got an invite to the Bikers Party of Kawasaki on April 8. Thanks, Teench! So is Katrina Halili going? And the Kitty Girls, eh? Interesting.

Looking for bloggers who want to write about Philippine Basketball Association players. Email me if you're interested then we can talk! This is going to be fun. Thanks.

The 1st HIGH PERFORMANCE SAQ (Speed, Agility and Quickness) CAMP FOR ATHLETES this SUMMER!

The hottest sport training program in the US is finally here! Join the first ever SPEED, AGILITY and QUICKNESS (SAQ) CAMP in the Country! Get your young athletes to GET FASTER, MOVE QUICKER and REACT BETTER! U.S. Speed and Conditioning Specialist Coach Jim Saret and our country's Top Olympic and Asian Games Athletes will teach you how to be extremely Fast, Quick and Agile -- the foundation of every superior athlete! Launching on April 5 at ADMU. Open to kids 7-18, varsity and pro athletes! This special camp is powered by MILO and A.P.E.X. (Athletic Performance Enhancement Training) Sports Training! Call 0906-387-5058 (Cookie) or 0920-952-1979 (Coach Jen) for details!

World-class trainer and former tennis pro (not to mention good buddy) Jim Saret will be conducting the program for elite, pro and national athletes. It's also offered to the public so anyone who wants to get better can experience the same program. It's guaranteed to help improve every athlete!

Saret will be assisted by the best and the fastest National Athletes we have such as Asia's sprint king and queen Isidro Del Prado and Elma Muros; Olympian Henry Dagmil; and other Asian and SEA Games Champions!

Its the best program conducted by the best coaches in the country! :)

--

Coach Jim, MSAT, PES, SAQ, CAPT
M.S. Athletic Training / Sports Medicine
Brigham Young University, USA

Performance Enhancement Specialist / Speed and Conditioning Coach, RP SMART Gilas; Sports Training Consultant, POC;
Sports and Fitness Columnist; Men's Health Fitness Advisory Board Member; FIT Radio Co-Host, 99.5RT; Regular Fitness Guest, Salamat Dok, Umagang Kay Ganda, DZMM, etc.

Hurricane coming

Manny Pacquiao isn't the only boxer to hold multiple belts in different weight classes. She is Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton, the Fil-Am boxing sensation from San Francisco, California and is the reigning WBO Super Bantamweight Champion and IBA Super Bantamweight Champion. She hopes to add a third belt when she faces WIBA super bantamweight champ and four-time world champion Lisa “Bad News” Brown on March 27 (March 28 Manila time).

At a young age, she trained in Bok Fu, a softer combination of Kenpo and Kung Fu. Not soon after she received her black belt at the West Wind Karate School (where she trained under Chris Thompson) in Berkeley, California, she took up boxing.

She began her amateur boxing career in 2004, along the way clinching the San Francisco Diamond Belt, and was ranked No. 6 overall in the U.S. She was the San Francisco State Champion, San Francisco Golden Gloves Champion, National Diamond Belt Champion, and eased a rank higher at No. 5 in 2006. And before she turned professional, she was the San Francisco Championship Gold Medalist, and ranked No. 2 the U.S. in 2007.

Julaton won the WBO super bantamweight belt after beating Kelsey Jeffries in September 2009 and annexed the IBA super bantamweight with her triumph over Deborah Biggers in November 2009.

Ana, born Luciana Julaton, was born in San Francisco, California, to Filipino parents. Her family is from Pagasinan.

Under the guidance of trainer Nonito Donaire, Sr., she is also in the running to becoming the undisputed world champion in her weight class, and arguably the best pound-for-pound female boxer.

Julaton’s bid to capture the WBA super bantamweight belt is on March 28 and will be shown exclusively on GMA Network.

Five Questions with USA Basketball's Jerry Colangelo

This interview appears in the Thursday March 25, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.

Five Questions with USA Basketball’s Jerry Colangelo

interview by rick olivares

pics provided by NBAE (thanks!)

A month after the announcement of USA Basketball’s new national pool of players, Jerry Colangelo, National Director for USA Basketball and the former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, was able to squeeze in some time for an interview with Business Mirror about Team USA.

Rick: How does USA Basketball keep its NBA players focused on team play, winning, and the competition when on international duty? After the gold medal in Beijing, how do you prevent any letdown in intensity and focus?

Jerry Colangelo: All of the USA team members are professionals, and so competing to win, while focusing on playing as a team and setting aside personal goals are things that are part of their lives every time they step on the court. A question I’m often asked is about managing all the players’ egos and I can honestly state it has never been a problem because our players are aware that they are representing more than themselves or their professional teams. They know they are playing for their country which is the highest honor for an athlete. We also are very fortunate to have a very talented coaching staff led by Duke University’s Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The players respect Coach K and he has a special ability of connecting with the players and getting buy-in from them. The composition of the USA Basketball teams for 2010-12 will be different than it was in 2008, just as the teams in 2006 and 2007 that represented the United States in various FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions were different than the 2008 Olympic Team. Each team develops its own chemistry and character, and while we have the entire coaching staff from the 2006-08 USA National Team back and some of the players from 2006-08 back as well, it will still take time for the players to find their roles and to play as a team. We do not expect any let down. We all know 2008 was a great experience and an accomplishment to be proud of, but that is in the past now. We’re starting the building of another USA Basketball national team all over again and the fact that the United States has not won a World Championship since 1994 is not lost on anyone involved with the 2010-12 USA Basketball national team.

Rick: Is it difficult to persuade an NBA player to be in the national pool? How do you account for fatigue because of the long NBA season?

Jerry Colangelo: I haven’t found it to be difficult to secure commitments from NBA players. You have to accept that there will be injuries and personal issues for some of the players. But we’re fortunate to have a tremendous pool of gifted players to be able to choose from. In building the 2006-08 national team, we were able to change the program’s atmosphere and its perception in a positive way. Thanks to the commitment of the 33 players who were part of our 2006-08 national team, it again became a prestigious and a desirable thing to the players to be part of. The players know what an honor it is to be selected to the USA team and to represent their country, and they also understand the commitment that has to be made if we are going to be successful. Most players in the NBA have reached that level because they are gifted and because they are extremely competitive. They love playing against the best and certainly the Olympics and World Championships present an opportunity to represent your country and play with and against the best players from around the world.

Rick: After Beijing, what countries look to offer the toughest competition to the US and why? What has Team USA learned from the past Tournament of the Americas and the Olympics in terms of playing the international brand of basketball and their skills improvement?

Jerry Colangelo: With a field of 24 teams competing in the World Championship there are a number of teams that should be considered medal contenders in 2010. Spain, Argentina, Greece, Lithuania, Croatia, Brazil, and Serbia are all excellent teams and there are any number of other teams that are also capable of putting a run together to win the World Championship. What makes this World Championship such an exciting competition is the format. From the Eight-Finals thru the quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game, it’s whoever is best that day and we know there many teams that possess the talent required to win on any given night. And that’s all it takes, being the best on that one night. These aren’t the best of three or best of seven series. These are a series of sudden-death games where only the winner lives on to compete for the gold medal. The primary obstacles the U.S. faces whenever it fields a team in international competition are becoming a team, determining each players role on the team, and becoming familiar with the style of international basketball. It takes time to build a team and many of the other national teams that we will face have the advantage of having played together for years. Also, the international basketball style is different than the NBA style and what many of our players are used to. The games are shorter than NBA games, and the passion of the players and their fans can make games electrifying.

Rick: How fun is it to be at the helm of USA Basketball?

Jerry Colangelo: I’ve enjoyed my experiences with USA Basketball, it has been tremendously rewarding. It was rewarding in 2006-08 when I served as Managing Director of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team and had the opportunity to start and build a men’s national team program. It was gratifying to rebuild the men’s national team and see USA teams capture gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and the 2008 Olympics. I also take a great deal of satisfaction in seeing NBA stars once again really wanting to be part of the national team program, taking pride in representing their country, and in our teams doing so many positive things on the court for the sport of basketball and off the court as well.

Now that I have been elected Chairman of the 2009-12 USA Basketball Board of Directors, I’m enjoying having the opportunity to be involved with all of the USA Basketball teams, men’s and women’s teams at the national, collegiate and developmental levels. Our women’s program is remarkable. Our women are ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA, they’ve won 63 of their last 64 games in major international competitions, and they’ve won an amazing four consecutive Olympic gold medals. USA Basketball has a tremendously successful tradition for its men’s and women’s teams and I’m looking forward to working with USA Basketball’s CEO/Executive Director Jim Tooley, his staff, and all of the coaches and players who will play for USA Basketball teams over the next couple of years and continuing to build on those successes.

Rick: Can you tell us what is so far your most memorable moment in your tenure with USA Basketball?

Jerry Colangelo: There honestly have been many. Obviously defeating Spain in that great gold medal game in Beijing at the Olympics was very memorable. So was seeing the joy on the faces of our players and coaches who had put in three summers of work. Recapturing the Olympic gold for the United States was incredible rewarding experience, but so too was seeing our program build over the three years and finish up by playing a beautiful game. Also seeing the USA men and women teams win Olympic gold is quite an achievement. All of the players involved not only played basketball at a very high level, but they respected the game and represented themselves and their country in an exemplary manner and I’m very proud of that. There are also a lot of other special memories - our numerous interactions with members of the U.S. Armed Forces, the many great people we meet during our travels. As I said, I have a lot of great memories from the past four years and I’m sure we’re going to have many more.

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Thanks to USA Basketball's Craig Miller!

Save the Gate (of the old Yankee Stadium)

It's a lonely and uphill fight but Michael Hagan (who emailed me for help on this) isn't giving up the fight. The gate could be like the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village. And besides, the site of the old stadium will be turned into a public park so why not save it?

The New Jersey Nets ain't got the dubious record just yet but today's loss presents a new low.

The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami heat today 99-89. Okay, that's hardly news although the record for futility, if the Nets do break it, will be bad news all over should it happen.

But here's even gagging sad stuff -- Miami thrice beat the Nets this season under three different head coaches.

Early in the season, November 14, 2009 to be exact, they lost 81-80 in Miami under Lawrence Frank. Then three months later, on February 17, the Heat beat the Nets on their home floor 87-84 this time under head coach Kiki Vandeweghe. The today, March 22 (US time), the lost under John Loyer, Vandeweghe's assistant who manned the bench with the boss in California to tend to an ailing mom.

The Nets final game of the year is on April 14. Vandeweghe will be back then. But think of this, if the two teams played when Tom Barrise was interim coach and the Nets lost then that's a B-I-N-G with an "O" for zero. What a new low. Maybe they oughta let Rod Thorn coach that game.

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Additional reading:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5020813

Damned find. Fifty bucks, you say?

Here's something for English football fans and if you did like the book and film The Damned United. The Nottingham Forest FC Brian Clough Years 1975-1993 Official Memorabilia Pack is available at the fourth floor of the National Bookstore Super Branch in Cubao. For only PhP50 bucks! Yep, for real. Fifty smackers. The sad thing though is they have three copies left. You gotta sift for it in the back. It filled with replicas of magazines, programmes, fanzines, match day tickets and other stuff that's golden for a football fan. Other books -- Kevin Keegan, Roy Keane, George Best, Man United, Glasgow Rangers, and Liverpool FC ranging from PhP50-75!

Want to go to watch the World Cup in South Africa?

Click on the poster for more details!

Interview with the man behind Soccer Fiesta -- Rely San Agustin, one of my best buds, fellow Atenean and former football player. Goalkeeper for the first Blue Booters UAAP champion team of 1996. We were also officemates at Solar Sports.

Rick: How long did you play football for Ateneo? Did you win championships on every level?

Rely San Agustin: I played 13 years for Ateneo. I started in Grade 4 all the way until College. I even played a fifth year in college just to defend the crown. I actually won championships in grade and high school, however, the most coveted title for me was the UAAP Men's Football crown in 1996 when we beat DLSU 2-1 in the Finals. It was the first collegiate football championship for Ateneo in 28 years. That was priceless!

Rick: What was it like to be the very first recipient of the Moro Lorenzo Award? Do you put that in a nice shelf at home? If so, what prominent awards are there?

Rely San Agustin: Very honored. Seeing the likes of Moro Lorenzo, Baby Dalupan, and Vic Sison in that room to hand out the award to me was a thrill. The award is displayed in my old room at my mom's place. Something I'm very proud to up to this day. That year -- 1996 00 was a very good year for me as an athlete. I also received the Best Goalkeeper Award for 1996 & 97. I also have a lot of medals including the bronze medal we won during the 1996 Asean University Games in Brunei.

Rick: Did you play club football? For what teams?

Rely San Agustin: I played for Loyola FC in the defunct MPFL (Manila Premier Football League) in 1997. I also played for Kaya FC and Agila FC in some first division tournaments. I was also a part of the national team in 1997. I'm still a part of Loyola FC up to this day.

Rick: Have you always been involved in sports? In a work capacity as well?

Rely San Agustin: Sports is my life especially football. I was able to feed on this passion when I worked for Nike Philippines from 1998-2005 and Solar Sports from 2006-2009. Both dream jobs for me.

Rick: You've gone solo now with your sports consultancy. Is it something you advise others in doing? DIY?

Rely San Agustin: Yup, I Put up "Real Sports Authority" just last months. It's a sports marketing consultancy and events management company. It fulfills my dream of actually having my own business and at the same time continuing something that I love. Of course, I encourage everyone to do their own thing. If it's something they are passionate about then the possibilities are endless. All of us can make things happen.

Rick: Tell us about the Soccer Fiesta.

Rely San Agustin: RSA is staging Soccer Fiesta 2010 to build awareness for the coming 2010 World Cup in South Africa and to get more people into the sport of football.

This will be at the SM Malls on April 10-11 (MAll of Asia), April 17-18 (Mega Mall), and May 1-2 at the Block of SM City North EDSA. It is open to all football enthusiasts as well as newcomers of all ages. There will be fun activities the whole day: interactive gaming, foosball competition, and skills challenges. There will be lots of prizes that will be given away including a chance to win an all expenses paid trip to watch the actual World Cup Finals! You get the opportunity to do that when you participate in the Castrol Skills Challenge (for 18 years old and above). To register and know more about the event, log on to www.soccerfiesta2010.multiply.com. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE!

The Lion and the Rooster: On the road to South Africa

Even as Ian Watmore quit England's Football Association as its chief over the slowness of the organizing body to adopt change, the matter will hardly unsettle the national team a few months away from the World Cup.

Interestingly, aside from manager Fabio Capello, there are four other Italians on the England staff. There's Franco Baldini who once played for Bologna in Italy and served as Director for Football Operations of AS Roma. He is the General Manager for England. There's Assistant Manager Italo Galbiati, former Internazionale player and a long-time Capello asisstant. There's goalkeeper coach Franco Tancredi, former AS Roma goalkeeper and international player. And lastly, there's strength and conditioning coach Massimo Neri.

Capello has a reputation for winning a domestic title with every team he's ever managed: Milan, Roma, Juventus, and Real Madrid. His 9-1 record as England Manager has every team not enthusiastic about playing his side. But how about that -- an Italian leading England back to glory. It's payback time for the help in Salerno and Naples.

His England predecessor, Steve McLaren, was booted after the Three Lions were humiliated by Croatia at Wembley Stadium 3-2 that saw them out of Euro 2008. In the return bout under Capello two years later, England claimed an emphatic win 5-1 over the Adriatic country. In their World Cup qualifiers, England scored 26 goals while giving up only 6. That's 13 more goals for against second placer Ukraine.

The World Cup in South Africa will be played during their winter months and this will help the northern European countries such as England. Many of their players have been playing and placing well in European competition since the last World Cup in Germany. Some are in top form such as Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard. Keeper David James isn't exactly the best and he'll be 40 years of age by the time the games in SA begin.

There are questions in the midfield though with David Beckham and Aaron Lennon out. Steven Gerrard isn't in top form and that jeopardizes the triangle in the middle with Lampard and Gareth Barry that has worked well.

Whatever starting eleven Capello employs will be good enough to compete with anyone. But should one of the main players be injured then there lies a potential problem. Keeping Rooney on the pitch is crucial. Remember how things turned out for England after he was sent off against Portugal in the last World Cup.

Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves recently returned to action but Alex Ferguson dashed his dreams by saying that he should prepare more for the League than South Africa. But Capello is still holding out that Wayne Bridge will return after leaving owing to the John Terry affair (literally).

Nevertheless, England is still a favored team to win the World Cup with 5-1 chance as oddsmakers say.

For their southern neighbors France, they are a contrast from old rival England.

They have a manager -- Raymond Domenech -- who is pilloried nationally. Strange as it may sound, the team is supposed to be united in its goal of winning the World Cup but Les Bleus are far from a happy bunch. After the polarizing Domenech, there's the team's remaining icon in Thierry Henry who received divine inspiration from Diego Maradona to enable his team to qualify for South Africa. Henry hasn't played well for Barcelona this year but still looks to receive good minutes more so since Karim Benzema has not proved successful in his move from Lyon to Real Madrid. And this team didn't even top their Group Qualifiers; that honor went to Serbia.

The team's line-up nevertheless remains the envy of many teams as they are deep and talented. The heir to Zizou is in the talented feet of Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff who should complement the wondrous Franck Ribery who would like to move to Spain after three years in the Bundesliga after the World Cup.

If Zidane rediscovered his touch in Germany, can France reprise that in South Africa with the sainted Patrick Vieira? So far with Manchester City, he showed that he can if only for a half against Sunderland this past week. Dominating is the word. He believes that in a few more matches he'll be in great form. That however is assuming his 33-year old legs don't give out on him soon.

The world will be treated to France's #1 in Hugo Lloris, Lyon's 23 year old keeper who does a fantastic job week in and out tending the net even after the departure of the seven-time Franch champion's regular from Benzema to Juninho. Even displaced keeper Gregory Coupet agrees that Lloris is incredible at the net. So good that even clubs like Manchester United think that he'd be a great replacement for Edwin Van der Sar when he hangs it up at the end of this campaign.

Luckily for France, they have been seeded in Group A along with the host country, Uruguay and Mexico. But if Domenech has been doing his homework, he should further work on his team's fitness what with their veteran players. They will be playing in Bloemfontain in high altitude play. In they watched the Confed Cup, Team USA upset mighty Spain there 2-nil as the Americans left the European champs huffing and puffing.

But that's Domenech. Who knows?

If they do advance, can you say an early meeting between England and France in the knockout stages.

Who says you can't go home again?

Ren Ren Ritualo, Doug Kramer, and Wesley Gonzales are back with their first PBA ballclub -- Air21 Express. Mike Cortez, Carlo Sharma, and Rich Alvarez join them as well. Interesting crew they got over there. Methinks Wynne Arboleda will re-join the team soon.

Brothers up in arms

Ranidel and Yancy de Ocampo, former teammates and now on opposing teams, guard one another. Ginebra San Miguel beat Talk 'N Text 95-90 in the nightcap of the Fiesta Conference Opening Day. photo by Arvin Lim.

Ferguson has Rafa seeing Red (and other stuff on a Monday morning)

So it is done, Manchester United equalised their head-to-head match-ups with Liverpool this season with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford. The win whether I agree that Antonio Valencia dived to get the penalty for Wayne Rooney or not puts them atop the English Premier League that is clearly a three-team race. Arsenal and Chelsea are in contention and if you ask me, it's good for the league.

It is sad to see Liverpool powerless to stop the Red Devils in their march for a 19th English title; one that will break an 18-all tie between the two clubs. What is even more damning is that the Merseysiders have not won the domestic title in two decades while United have vaulted to the top.

Is this similar to the Boston Red Sox winning two titles in the last several years and finally ridding themselves of whatever hexes and jinxes that were supposedly in place against the New York Yankees? Definitely. Now the two clubs compete as equals and baseball is better for that.

As for Liverpool... it is one thing to be a contender and it is another to be a club in disarray. And let's not mince words about them for they are seriously in deep shit with troubles on and off the pitch. It's a lost season with only the Europa consolation silverware still available. But that's how it is. Next season should be wholly different. No Reds fan can accept anything less. Rebuild that team now beginning with the manager. I have refrained from taking shots once more at Rafa Benitez in the last couple of months because I threw up my hands in surrender.

Every manager has a feud with a player but Benitez seems to have an awful lot of them -- Peter Crouch, Ryan Babel, and Albert Riera are but a few. The cast at United has been the same for years while for LFC, the only ones who have been there since their 2007 Champions League finals appearance are Stevie G, Carra, and Pepe Reina.

Oh, well. At least Barcelona beat Real Zaragoza 4-2 with a hat trick coming from Lionel Messi. And Bordeaux went ahead of surprising Montepllier on goal difference (56 points apiece atop the French Ligue 1) after beating Lille 3-1 at home. Yoann Gourcuff fan here! He scored Bordeaux's third goal to complete the rout.

Bleachers' Brew #201 A Year in Hades

This column appears in the Monday March 22, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.

A Year in Hades

by rick olivares

One more murder. By the numbers, it was far grislier than anything done by Tony Soprano. It was a home mangling by Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors. Bosh, an All-Star and Olympian with the American Redeem Team, played his 500^th game for the Canadian club, scored 36 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. The 100-90 win leveled his team’s standing to 34-34 as held fast to eighth place in the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference Playoff picture.

Their victim, the New Jersey Nets, shot 40% from the field (33-83) but tried to keep the game close until midway through the 3^rd Quarter when the visiting team established control over the match.

The Nets now stand at 7-62 with 13 games to play. Thirteen -- is that number ominous -- to be able to match or surpass the dubious 9-73 record of the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. Incidentally, the number “9” is supposed to be a lucky number and yet it is now their goal as they are 48 games behind the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers who tote a 55-15 record and 27 behind Toronto that is still in danger of getting piped by Chicago for the last bus to the NBA’s second season. In their final 13 games, New Jersey will play three teams with sub-.500 records – Washington, Detroit, and Indiana. Unfortunately, everyone has a better record than the Nets.

However as dire as it may look, the Nets might want to look at the latter day 9-73 Sixers that share some similarities and contrasts to the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets despite the generational gap.

The 1972-73 76ers finished at 9-73 (.110). Their opponents scored 116.2 points per game while the Sixers put up 104.1. They were coached by Roy Rubin (4-47) before he was axed in favor of Kevin Loughery who as player-coach finished 5-26. The team still had Hal Greer who was on the downside of his career and benched by Rubin for unknown reasons, Fred Carter, Tom Van Arsdale, and Loughery but that was it. Bill Bridges and Leroy Ellis played center for Philadelphia. Bridges and Ellis who? Exactomundo. That’s what New York’s Willis Reed, Boston’s John Havlicek, Baltimore’s Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, and Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thought.

In the previous year, the Sixers lost coach Jack Ramsey, guard Archie Clark and forward Billy Cunningham who both scored over 20 points per game as well as Luke Jackson. That team went 30-52.

The 2008-09 Nets finished with a 34-48 record good for third in the Atlantic Division. They had two 20-point scorers in Devin Harris and Vince Carter yet they scored 98.1 ppg while surrendering 100.5 ppg. Guess the danger signs were already there.

In the Sixers’ ill-fated season, the team’s leading scorer was local boy Fred Carter who later coached the team before becoming a successful ESPN analyst.

The Nets before the start of the 2009-10 season had a high-scoring guard named Vince Carter.

Six seasons before the 9-win year, Philadelphia posted the most number of victories by an NBA team at that point with 68. That team, led by Wilt Chamberlain, won the NBA title.

Six years ago for the Nets, they had their string of consecutive NBA Finals appearances snapped by eventual champion Detroit in the second round. That was their last with the core of Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, and Kerry Kittles. In 2001-02, the Nets set their franchise record for most wins with 52 victories and a Finals appearance where they lost to the LA Lakers.

In ’72-’73, the Sixers had two head coaches – Roy Rubin and Kevin Loughery.

In ’09-’10, the Nets have had two head coaches – Lawrence Frank and Kiki Vandeweghe. Tom Barisse was an interim coach for two games between the two.

In 1972, Rubin came from Long Island University where he had 11 successful seasons as head coach but no professional basketball experience. He was fired 51 matches into the campaign.

Frank’s coaching resume began as an assistant coach in the University of Tennessee under Kevin O’Neill before he moved over as a staff assistant in Marquette. In the NBA, he served as an assistant coach to Brian Hill in the Vancouver Grizzlies before he joined Byron Scott in the sidelines in New Jersey. At the start of Frank’s head coaching tenure with the Nets, he set the record for the most consecutive wins by a rookie coach with 13. But in a cruel twist of fate, Frank ended his career in the Garden State with 17-straight loses.

In the 58^th game of their season, Philly held a 95-87 lead against Boston entering the fourth quarter, but the Celtics behind Dave Cowens and John Havlicek came back to win 123-115. Recalled Rubin of his time in Philly, “No one wanted to lose against us. The opposition probably played harder against us than against better teams."

In New Jersey, they own cross-rivals New York and even picked up a road win against the Boston Celtics.

The Sixers drew a dreadful 4,461 fans to the Spectrum in ’72-’73. In this season of futility, the Nets still draw 13,000 fans who are flagellating themselves in the quiet-as-a-tomb Izod Center with Holy Week less than two weeks away.

Whether or not the Nets stave off the dubious record of the most number of losses by an NBA team, they should also take heart at the fate of those ’72-’73 Sixers.

For the 1973-74 season, they had the Number One over-all pick in Illinois State’s Doug Collins. They also selected Virginia Polytechnic’s Allen Bristow and picked up bruising forward-center Steve Mix. Collins would later coach the Chicago and Detroit while Bristow would be the first-ever coach of the expansion Charlotte Hornets. The Sixers won 25 games that campaign and would go on to add pieces to their championship puzzle over the next couple of seasons particularly the high-flying Julius Erving who led the (New York) Nets to two ABA titles in the league’s final three years. And four years after that all-time low of ’72-‘73, Philadelphia was playing in the NBA Finals.

“We were all sent to Hades that year,” said Fred Carter as he reminisced about ’72-’73 on ESPN.

Yes, but for others like the promising former Dallas Maverick Devin Harris, former Orlando Magic guard Courtney Lee, and the Chinese enigma and top pick of the Milwaukee Bucks Yi Jianlian, they got sent to New Jersey.

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Read this interesting piece from the New York Times that semi-inspired writing this column.

You ask, "Why write about the Nets?" I like the Nets too! Ouch! Yep, I'm flagellating myself too. I lived in New Jersey as well and though I later moved to New York, I rooted for the Nets not the Knicks (but I remain a staunch fan of the Chicago Bulls). When I did go to watch their home games at the Meadowlands, I wore a J-Kidd jersey. Not every team that I root for is popular like the Yankees. I love the NY Islanders and enjoyed the pride and solitude in wearing their team apparel in a sea of Rangers fans. I root for not so popular tennis players like James Blake and previous to him, Todd Martin. Although I am a fan of Liverpool, I also enjoy watching teams like Hull City and West Ham.

A Damned Book and A Damned Film redux

There's that line from a Noel Coward song that lives forever, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun." When I hear the line, I think of the advertising agency and the late Brian Clough.

If I'm up to speed in English football history it's with Liverpool and Arsenal. David Peace's novel, The Damned Utd, as lent to me by CK Chua, is an introduction to the man who denied my Liverpool a win in the FA Cup. The book is a fictionalized account of true events (sort of like Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm) on Brian Clough's doomed 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United.

If you're not a fan of football, go watch the excellent film adaptation by director Tom Hopper (John Adams and Elizabeth I), who did an excellent job in recreating 1970's Britain. Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own came to mind. So if you liked that then you shouldn't miss out on this. And if you love the game of football, go read David Peace's excellent excellent book. It's the sort of book that became a best-seller simply by word-of-mouth.

The DVD has excellent Special Features: The Making of The Damned United, Football in theSeventies featurette, and actor Michael Sheen's recreation of Brian Clough. I don't think they produced a lot of copies of the DVD locally as I hardly see it. The damned sales girls at Odyssey or even Astrovision look at me as if I asked someone at a book store if they stocked HP Lovecraft's Necronomicon (the book of the dead that is bleeping creepy). I see some VCDs around but not much. Go to the bigger outlets. I think they have one DVD left at Odyssey Gateway. Make sure you write down the title because they thought that I said, "Dumb United." Now we all know that it's those jokers in Old Trafford but that is clearly not the case here.

For football fans, if you're into these sort of books, pick up Alex Flynn's The Glorious Game. The story of the Arsenal era under Arsene Wenger. They've got that on sale at National Bookstore for a cheap cheap price. Get it while it lasts. They've also got George Best's autobiography.

Talking bread? So is there candy called Goldenballs?

Beckham & Cheese. Bread Talk.

Saturday Short Stuff

In a comic book convention in New York, the line to get an autograph by Neil Gaiman was real long so I put it off for another time. After all, I keep going to these conventions anyways. You ask me what's the best -- San Diego, hands down. That is The Event. Someone asked me who was the first author I ever got to sign a book. Nick Joaquin, of course! A whole bunch of books too. Who else? Tom Clancy. As for comic book stuff the first ever was Todd McFarlane in LA. Then Whilce Portacio, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Ross, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, JG Jones, Stan Lee, Howard Chaykin, Joe Quesada, and a whole lot more. I used to get lots of them until a friend told me that it was better to get a picture taken with them. Maybe he's right. But from time to time, a sig will suffice. Pic below with fellow Ateneans Amanda, Nicole, Hub and Honey chilling out and waiting for people to scream to let us know that The Man is here.

So I wasn't able to get my Neil Gaiman autograph until last Thursday. My fave Gaiman books -- Good Omens, American Gods, and The Graveyard Book. Comics-wise The Books of Magic, Children's Crusade, Stardust, The Last Temptation of Alice, and Sandman #50 "Ramadan." Stardust has been my favorite and I still have all the original stuff as they came out. I love it too for Charles Vess' artwork. I've been a fan since I saw his stuff in Epic Illustrated and that Asgard story, The Raven Banner.

A CD arrived from northern Europe. From Swedish band, Koi. Limited edition of their debut album In Tomorrow Hid Yesterday. Heavily influenced by Radiohead and Opeth. At times reminds me of the forlorn musings of Sigur Ros. Not great but I will pay attention to the band and see how they progress.

Have been bedridden coz I'm on painkillers. Not able to write so I spent the day watching DVDs. Similarly-themed movies -- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Lost In Translation, and Up in the Air. I should pull out my discs of Garden State and Juno. Am writing some of my thoughts on all of them. They sort of tie up together neatly. And since I watched them, I brought out my Death Cab for Cutie CDs to play. Mood music. When I hear DCfC's "Transatlanticism" it takes me back to wandering around the boardwalk in Coney Island on a weekday in August. But I'll get down to writing that maybe next week. Gotta get back in circulation.