Crucial Game 4 Between Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers: Celtics Gaining Momentum

It was Los Angeles Laker's chance to even the series at 2-2. Everything was within reach. They were looking good in the early goings of the game. Homecourt advantage, 24-point lead in the first half. But Boston Celtics was all fired up and played like men possessed inside the basketball court with the entire Staples Center cheering against them in Game 4 of the Best of 7 Series of the NBA Championships. The Lakers lost a whooping 24-point lead in a very historic and tragic fashion. It was the biggest comeback ever made by any team in NBA Finals history. Seeing the 24-point lead erased by the Boston Celtics in a wink of an eye, people at the Staples Center were shocked, stunned. The cheering L.A. crowd fell into a horrifying silence!

Interestingly, Kobe Bryant, this year's Most Valuable Player, wasn't able to carry the team with only 17 points. He made only 6 out of 19 attempts (32%). Bryant walked out of the playing court with still 3 seconds remaining while Lakers were making their final shot. What an act from a MVP, huh! I think it was an act of real frustration.

However, the Lakers are looking on to play better in game 5 and promised to bounce back. Game 5 shall be played again at the Staples Center. Unfortunately, no NBA team have ever came back from a 1-3 deficit. Certainly, Laker's back is on the wall. This is one of the things that L.A. Lakers will have to hurdle.

P.S.
Lermz, I know how sad Andy was with the Lakers down, 1-3 now! Hope they are going to make it in Game 5.

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Philippines Invaded the World, Spectacular Wins by Bautista, Banal, Morales, & Peñalosa!

Big-time boxing fights were witnessed by Filipinos today, April 6, 2007, at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City. Dubbed "Invasion: Philippines versus The World", the bout showcased our most promising Filipino boxing fighters in the persons of Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista (WBO Intercontinental Junior Featherweight Champion), AJ “Bazooka” Banal (Junior Bantamweight Champion), Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales (WBO Oriental Junior Featherweight King), all three fought in the undercard (they all trace their roots from Bohol, Philippines).

The main event featured Gerry Peñalosa’s first title defense (WBO Bantamweight Champion) against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand. Peñalosa retains his title via technical knockout. It wasn't easy to see from first round that our Filipino fighter got the upper hand. Vorapin's face was a bloody mess! This prevented referee Gino Rodriguez to continue the bout because the Thai boxer can no longer trade punches with still 29 seconds remaining in Round 8.

Our boxers have once again made all the Filipinos proud by their spectacular wins. We have seen for real world champions showing their tenacity and arsenal all throughout the fight.

Interestingly, the 15-year old international singing sensation Charice Pempengco sang the Lupang Hinirang with her powerful voice. I think she performed better than any other singers, wink!

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PBA Smart Fiesta Conference 2008 Opens Today

I have always been a big basketball fanatic. I always make it a point that I am updated with the latest news and updates in this sport- team standings, schedule of games, player statistics, etc.

Today, March 29, the Philippine Basketball Association's (PBA) SMART Fiesta Conference 2008 kicks off at Panabo City, Davao del Norte with Coca-Cola Tigers and Talk 'N Text squaring off in road game for the first win this conference. The 2 teams will be parading their respective imports. All ten (10) teams are allowed to acquire one non-FIlipino (import) of unlimited height as reinforcement. The worst two performers in the elimination round of the previous conference, The Coca-Cola Tigers and the Welcoat Dragons, will also be allowed to acquire another import but with a height limit of 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m).

I will be off from blogging 6:30PM- 9:00PM tomorrow because the opening ceremonies for this conference will be featuring my team at the Araneta Coliseum. They will be going up against Red Bull Barako. I hope the Barangay Ginebra Kings will fare very well this conference minus Mark Macapagal :-( They had Rahshon Turner sign up to reinforce the team. The 6-foot-7-center will boost Ginebra's frontline that includes former MVP Eric Menk, Rafi Reevis, Billy Mamaril and Victor Pablo. The 2007 Filipino Conference was a major disappointment for the team because they weren't spared from injuries. They weren't able to defend their crown because Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk were hounded by injuries and missed a number of games. To make matters worst, Rudy Hatfield decided not to renew his contract with the team due to some personal reasons.

It’s funny to think how a mere basketball game could immensely affect one’s emotion. True, I love watching the sport especially so when my fave team is on the run. You just don’t know how happy I am when my team wins. It’s like you wanna throw out a real big party! And how heart breaking it is when they lose. I admit that it’s the only show I prefer to watch if you would let me choose one though I am also trying to enjoy watching other shows apart from watching basketball. Right! You could say I am a fanatic, a proud Ginebra fan at that, hehe. I always have erratic heartbeats whenever I watch their games without a single miss, huh! I am one of the million Ginebra-fans who keeps cheering and egging them on to always keep that never-say-die spirit.

Last year, I got the chance to meet some of the Gin's star players. It was fun, promise, hehehehe. The stars came down just to take some pose with ordinary people like us.

Here's some proofs, wink!

With Billy Mamaril

With Ronald "The Fearless" Tubid

With Jay Jay "The Fast" Helterbrand

With Eric Menk (OK lang kahit di sya nakatingin sa cam, hehe)

Si Johnny "The Flying A" Abarrientos yan! (Smile pa rin kahit malabo, hahaha!)

Ginebra- Red Bull:

Quarter Scores: 25-27, 47-41, 69-63, 82-89 (loser, huhuhu!)

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Juan Manuel Marquez, Robbed of Victory?

After Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Marquez via split decision during the epic and sensational Pacquiao-Marquez 2: Unfinished Business fight on March 16, Marquez' camps contested the results and even questioned the system of judge selection. While Pacquiao camps were so ecstatic for the win to mind the lamenting Marquez camps, some sports analyst were also discontented on the bout's outcome. Many sports writers who scored the bout at ring side had the outcome separated by a point, or a draw just like the first Pacquiao-Marquez fight in 2004. This goes to show how tightly-contested the fight was.

Some had it in favor of Pacquiao because they saw his aggressiveness in throwing punches at and following Marquez around the ring. History backs up that judges favor more the aggressor and in this fight, Pacquiao showed more aggressiveness than Marquez. The hard-hitting blows he threw had knocked Marquez down in third round. Had it not been for the round- saving ring of the bell, Pacquiao could have finished the fight with a technical knock out.

But Marquez stood his ground. He made it difficult for Pacquiao when he gave him a nasty cut in the eye that made him staggering inside the ring. He showed to everyone that he has the heart of a real fighter even after he got a nasty cut near his right eye in the seventh round. Marquez also got the final damage as he landed more punches than his opponent. He landed 172 punches, or 34% of his total compared to Pacquiao's 25%. Pacquiao threw more jabs, and Marquez landed more power shots.

People lamenting and complaining on the result of the fight, in my opinion, is hurting the boxing sport. Bob Arum was right. We should live with the decision and accept that Pacquiao deserves the hard-earned title. Sure, Marquez was as aggressive as Pacquiao but he is not too strong for Pacquiao to handle. Marquez always brings out the best in Pacquaio and it is a fact that we have to live with. I also agree with Freddie Roach when he said that it could have gone either way. Marquez has the style that will always make Pacquiao look so bad after a fight. Marquez left Pacquiao bloody with 17 stitches after the fight.

Now, the big question lies: Is the business really over and done with? Will Pacquiao agree on a rematch? Well, I think, this is a very nice and interesting point of contention.

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Pacquiao-Marquez 2: Unfinished Business Earned A Narrow Split Decision In Favor of Pacquiao!

Filipinos around the world have all the reasons to celebrate. Manny Pacquiao is the new WBC Super Featherweight Champion! This match-up is four years in the making and it is worth all the wait. Indeed, Paquiao lived up to his moniker, Mexican Killer. Pacquiao eked out a narrow and controversial split decision claiming Marquez' title. Judges had it 115-112 for Marquez, 115-112 for Pacquiao and 114-113 for Pacquiao. DHB scored it 114-113 in favor of Marquez . It was a tightly-fought bout where both Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez battled for national pride and honor.

Seeing these two wonderfully, evenly matched boxing icons squaring off in the boxing arena is worth every minute. Such a classic encounter! Juan Manuel Marquez is a clinical fighter who calculates his every move. He landed more punches than Manny Pacquiao did but the latter was able to counter it and knocked down the former in the third round. This round was very explosive. Pacquiao seemed to have been shaken a bit but hanged on, unleashing more heart-pounding blows. He didn't show any signs of complacency. Outstanding action round after round drew blood and heart-stopping moments. It was in the seventh round when both boxers clashed heads again that gave Marquez a nasty cut. Marquez persevered. It's some kind of a deja vu when images of the 2 great fighters kept flashing back when they met in Pacquiao-Marquez 1.Both boxers refused to back down. But only one shall be declared victorious. Aggressiveness and intense desire gave Pacquiao the edge thereby getting the nods of 2/3 judges. He did it again with flying colors!

Pacquiao won a major world title in his third weight division, the only Asian boxer who did it so far, and he intends to take on a fourth when he moves up to 135 pounds for his next fight against David Diaz, the WBC Lightweight Champion who won on today's undercard.

To Manny, you made the Filipino nation proud one more time

Congratulations!

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Pacquiao-Marquez 2: Unfinished Business!

March 16, 2008- This day will be like a holiday here in the Philippines just like other Pacquiao fights in the past. It is expected that there will be some kind of lull from the usual Filipino daily activities and a ceasefire from all warring groups (even for just a few hours) because Filipinos will be united once more as we will all be rooting for our country's pride, Manny Pacquiao. This is the most awaited event not only for boxing aficionados around the world but for the entire Filipinos as well especially for Manny Pacquiao's kababayans here in General Santos City. The long anticipated bout dubbed as Pacquiao-Marquez 2 "Unfinished Business" shall take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

It can be recalled that Pacquiao-Marquez 1 drew blood in 2004. I was able to watch this fight live on TV. I had been a witness how Manny Pacquiao fought with all his might giving powerful blows to Juan Manuel Marquez that made him hit the canvass three (3) times in the first round. This wasn't declared by the judges as knockdowns. Eventually, Marquez fought back in the next 11 rounds that earned him a split draw against our own boxing icon. I was deeply moved by Pacquiao's effort to win that time. He even had blood coming out from the punches given to him by Marquez, but he didn't gave up and fought like a true hero, giving pride to the Filipino nation.

Pacquiao wants to redeem himself in this fight. Sweet revenge is within reach. He is known to be a knock-out expert based on record and he is given the moniker Mexican Killer after winning over Mexican great boxers Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Oscar Larios. I am pretty sure he can claim victory in this fight because he endured long and rigorous training under the wings of his trainer, Freddie Roach.

Marquez said that Pacquiao is no Mexican Killer because he has yet to claim victory over him. He wants to prove his worth as Dinamita in the boxing arena. He offers this fight to all the people in Mexico.

So much is at stake in this fight. More than the fortunes that Pacquiao and Marquez could extract from this bout, national pride and honor for both the Philippines and Mexico will be held most high.

I am betting on Pacquiao because he is a Filipino like me who takes pride in bringing our race known into the world of boxing. Win or lose, I am betting on him because he has a heart of a world-class champion and of course we hailed from the same city, General Santos, not only famous for being the country's Tuna Capital but also the Home of True Champions!

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