Just hours after Ateneo captured the 2008 UAAP Men’s Basketball Championshipm on a rainy, raucous Thursday evening, this blogger scribbled some notes in the serene company of a notebook computer. I enjoyed the silence after having to endure the maddening scene inside the Araneta Coliseum for game 2 of the Finals.

When spectators plopped into their seats, they noticed the disparity in attendance. The coliseum was predominantly blue. Ateneans, understandably, grabbed more tickets in anticipation of their team’s UAAP triumph. Inhaling the sights and sounds of the pre-game cheers and warm-ups, it felt like a royal coronation was about to unfold. Read the rest of this entry »

So is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all time?

I suppose there are two safe answers. Yes and no.

Dangle a 36-year old Olympic record before a go-getting 23-year old swimming scud missile from Baltimore, Maryland and you get a riveting nine-day odyssey. Phelps tried to deflect early pressure by saying it was primarily the media, which wanted him to break the record Mark Spitz set in 1972. It was media hype, not personal ambition, according to Phelps. It was, however, clear upon his first taste of Beijing gold that the super shark wanted more. He wanted it all. Eight gold medals for 8 events. This means Phelps wasn’t just aiming for domination. He wasn’t just going for intimidation. Here was an athlete ambitious enough to target perfection in an ultra-competitive field. Read the rest of this entry »

When Junthy “The Hitman” Valenzuela first changed his PBA address from Red Bull to Ginebra, the man was obviously disoriented. Can’t blame the guy, really. He was a Red Bull lifer.

It seemed Junthy was born and bred to play unpredictable, physical, mano y mano “Barako Basketball.” He played for Red Bull in the PBL and, along with Lordy Tugade, Davonn Harp, Bernard Tanpua, Kerby Raymundo and Jimwell Torion, took the express lane to the PBA by directly joining Red Bull’s maiden line-up for the 2000 PBA Season. Read the rest of this entry »

Was that a comeback performance by Garnett or what? 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 14 rebounds, and contributing 3 steals to the team total 18 (a Finals record). His defense was sweet, too, you could see KG barking to his teammates on defense late when the game was almost under wraps. But now that he’s got his ring, I still sense something lacking.

He’s an enigma: During the celebrations, you could hear him scream at the crowd in his usual intense way and curse emphatically (the microphone was picking up a few cuss words here and there) but then he would start to break down, trying to fight back tears. I almost cringed while watching his post-game interview, seeing sticky saliva every time he opened his mouth (was he that dehydrated from crying?). An earlier awkward moment (about 5 minutes left in the 4th) was when he was called on a foul trying to block Lamar Odom’s shot, and he just made that silly face with his tongue out, slightly feeling embarrassed that he was still so pumped up knowing the championship was already theirs. I don’t know, I guess it’s just proof that he’s so new to this kind of NBA success that he couldn’t help but be giddy and vulnerable. He was back to being The Kid, and that’s not really a bad thing.

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