How to beat China

Method 1: Gamitin ang puso 

Method 2:

Method 2: Gamitin ang ulo 

Kami Man

Magic wishes he hadn't retired early

"Nearing the 20th anniversary of the announcement that he had contracted HIV, Magic Johnson sat down for a one-on-one conversation recently at Loyola Marymount University. [It] pains Johnson to this day that he cut his NBA career short, frankly because he didn't believe it was necessary. "If I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have retired," Johnson said. "But I didn't know that then. And you've just got to go with what happened." At the time, many wrongly perceived that Johnson had contracted AIDs and that he could spread the disease through simple contact. ... "I decided to retire because I didn't want to hurt the game."

Paborito ko dati si Magic Johnson.

Balut and the NBA

Isang blogger sa ESPN si Henry Abbot ng TrueHoop blog ay natalo sa isang pustahan (Blazers pinustahan niya laban sa Suns). Ang pustahan nila, gagawin nung natalo ang guston nung nanalo. Ang naisip nung nanalo ay pakainin sa Henry Abbot ng balut. Eto yung ginawa niyang blogpost sa kanyang pagkain ng balut, may video pa.

Now I'm a fan

I used to watch Alyssa Milano in the sitcom Who's the Boss? then when she grew up, her other works. Now I fond out from Truehoop that there's a basketball team in Italy named Alyssa Milano. If Alyssa Milano is in anyway involved in that team, then they've just gtten another fan.

Arenas in the Philippines

Gilbert Arenas, all star point guard for the Washington Wizards recently visited the Philippines and he had a nice time. So nice in fact that he wrote in his blog that everybody should visit Manila.

"One thing I want to say about Filipinos: they’re very warm people, very good-hearted people. Like, everybody was nice. You know, you meet nice people, but a whole country of nice, genuine, warm-hearted people was unbelievable. These are diehard fans. "

While he was here, he also helped out with Gawad Kalinga and toured some malls.

"You have to look at the Agent Zero posters they had out there. They put me in a cape at one of my last events in Manila. It was at one of their biggest malls and they were predicting it was going to be crowded. I mean, crowded to me is a Saturday afternoon at the mall where you have to wait in line for 10 minutes to pay for your jeans. Their crowded was probably four or five thousand people in the mall. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen crazy fans all over the world. It was like Golden State against the Dallas Mavericks with Game 3 back in Oakland. It was that type of atmosphere in the mall. "

And of course he watched Ateneo vs. La Salle.

"We actually went to a college basketball game together. Their college game would be like if it was Duke and Maryland playing each other and you split the crowd in half, 50-50. One side of their gym was blue and one side of their gym was green and everybody was just yelling."

via TrueHoops

PBA in Action

Read this great article about Rosell Ellis and the PBA via ESPN's TrueHoop blog

"Basketball is the only professional team sport in the Philippines and plays an enormous role in society. A basketball court, along with an outdoor market, a Catholic church, and a municipal hall, is a hallmark of every town plaza in the archipelago. Even against the starkest odds, Filipinos find ways to play the game. They cut, slide, pivot, and leap in flip-flops or bare feet. They attach wire rims to rusty car hoods and lash the homemade backboards onto coconut trees.

PBA players are as famous as movie stars and politicians; in fact, after they retire from playing ball, they often become one or the other. On the surface, Ellis' life as an import in this hoops-obsessed nation is sweet. The Alaska franchise provides Ellis with an apartment, a maid, a car, and a driver. He makes more money in a month than most Filipino families earn in a year. When fans spot him in malls and restaurants, they call him "idol," ask for high fives and autographs, and take photos with him.

Notoriety feels good once you're used to it. Although African Americans have been in the Philippines since some arrived as soldiers in the Philippine-American War at the end of the 19th century, tall black athletes in Manila are still exotic. Upon seeing Ellis, people occasionally act like visitors at a petting zoo. When he wanders through the aisles of one of Manila's labyrinthine flea markets, browsing for pirated DVDs or knockoff designer clothes, people wait for him to turn his back, then run behind him to measure their heights. The boldest among them reach up to feel his hair, an object of endless fascination among straight-haired Filipinos."

Now I wish I did not stop watching PBA games.

UP coach marooned

Una kong nabasa itong balita sa Manila Bulletin, pero mas maganda titulo ng istorya sa Inquirer.

Nasipa si Joe Lipa bilang coach ng UP. Hindi naman natin masisisi ang UP sa pagsipa kay coach Lipa dahil walang ipinanalong laro ang UP ngayon.

Medyo nalungkot lang ako dahil nung pumasok ako sa UP, si Lipa din ang coach noon at kaka-panalo lang ng UP ng championship (kaya alam niyo na kung gaano ako katanda). :)