In the Life of a Frustrated Baller

A minor boo boo..

2005-07-25T21:35:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling miffed today. Had a slight argument with a friend, she’s a girl by the way =p. No biggy when you’re asking what we argued about. But the fact that this is the first time we ever had an argument is quite disturbing. You know that thought that comes to you when you think that everything’s going wonderland and nothing could go wrong? Well guess what happens when you wake up and realize that isn’t exactly true, you start thinking the good times are about to come to a screeching halt. But I'm not going to let myself get dragged into that, I know better than to let the emotions get the best of me. Tomorrow we’ll probably be a new day… hmmm… think positive thoughts…

Burning Rubber

2005-04-28T19:35:00.000+08:00

I'm back on the court! After missing the past couple of weeks because of an injury and because of the regional athletic meet the sports complex was reopened to the public. I was raring to go because I knew I had to catch up on a lot of things. Luckily after a 15-minute warm up I took my first jump shot and it went sswiissshh! straight away!hehe I went on to shoot more for the next hour or so and before I knew it I was getting back into groove again. The only thing that really hasn’t gotten back to my game was my stamina, way down. Back then I can keep running up and down the court for about four or five possessions, now I could barely catch my breath after hitting the first two baskets of the game. A couple more laps at the tracks would probably do wonders.

The perfect getaway

2005-04-23T17:48:00.000+08:00

I went home to my hometown last weekend just to be away from the bustling city life for a while. I headed to the beach that afternoon at around 5:30pm and just let the ambiance take over, the scene was great, all calm and quiet and who wouldn’t feel that way when you have the breezing summer air and the waning sunset at the same time. I had some rare moments too; there was this shipwreck not far along the coastline. The natives there said the ship during a night time journey mistakenly identified a light tower as the port tower which in fact was actually a cellular site so they accidentally navigated to shallow waters, into a sandbar and got stuck. Now that’s something you don’t see every time you go to the beach.

A freaks?

2005-04-18T18:30:00.000+08:00

It just sounded like that.hehe Anyway the whole family went to this place that looks just like a small house on the side of the road, it has a small entrance heading into the main dining area. It has a nice cozy Italian household touch, with matching antiques and lightings and all that, they even have that old round dinner table, the only thing that was missing was the lazy susan on top of it (I figured they intentionally took it off to be less Filipino-ish). The food was good, they serve mostly Italian dishes, you know, cordon bleu, carbonara, fettuccini salads and ofcourse pizza! I had to give up after the carbonara though, I could barely take more because the chicken and the pizza were heavy to the tummy.

I don't mean to advertise the place but if you happen to be in Iloilo City or just passing by, I recommend you check this place out. The place is called Afrique's and they have branches at Brgy. Desamparados at the back of the Jaro Cathedral and another one at Gen. Hughes St. near the Sagrado school. You can't miss the latter, just look for a two-storey ancestral house near the gasoline station or you can just ask the locals I'm pretty sure they know. Bon Apetite!

Rise after every fall

2005-04-05T12:32:00.000+08:00

I suffered a bad fall while I was playing basketball this afternoon. It was bad that I couldn’t stand up after that, my teammates had to help me off the floor. But luckily there was no major bone that got misplaced in my body, just a couple of bruises here and there. I even managed to play a few more games after that but my mobility was obviously impaired coz I couldn’t put much weight on my left leg the reason why I went home rather early.

Then as I got home I was surprised a little kid was playing at the door. Yes I have a younger brother but this one's way too cute, he looks like jack-jack from The Incredibles movie. Anyway, as I walked by him he kept pointing at the basketball that I was holding, and garbled something like ball or bounce (smart kid). So I gave him the ball and he just bounced and chased it around the living room. The kid was, by the way, a family friend’s who stopped over for a visit. So for the rest of the evening I spent time with lil’ jay-ar (her mom says that’s his nickname) until it was his time for a wash and eventually bedtime. He still managed to wave goodbye and goodnight before he left our unofficial playing court. Now about that pain I had earlier… actually I forgot about it a while there. I only realized I’m having a hard time walking straight after I stood up to eat dinner. So I had it iced, updated my blogs, then went straight to bed.

Surviving the blue screen of death!

2005-04-05T12:24:00.000+08:00

I like cleaning up; Aside from the usual daily routine, my PC inherits that habit too. In fact I run cleanup utilities everyday at startup and before shutdown. And that’s not just it, I have more than 5 cleanup utilities installed so you could just imagine how squeaky clean this big chunk of hardware is. But this morning things got a little off hand, I was searching for stray .dll files (critical files needed to run certain WinXP applications) that were taking up space in my hard drive. These stray .dll files were supposed to be remnants of previous uninstalled applications but unfortunately there are circumstances when Windows fails to cleanup its own mess. So as my cleanup program showed a list of suspected stray and unused files, I accidentally deleted a critical file still in use. But I was thinking “hey I have the Windows XP CD so if I deleted a windows-dependent file I could always copy it from there anytime, easy.” Or I thought it was. So I chose to let the program “archive all” (not delete) and move the files to a single compressed folder where it will be taking up lesser space like the Recycle Bin. Just as I suspected, after the deletion Windows prompted me to insert the Windows XP CD because I accidentally deleted an important system file. And then it happened, what every PC user feared, before I could reach for my Windows CD, the blue screen! Meaning Windows crashed, Arggh! Fast forward, a couple of hours later after I ran a couple of disc diagnostics and attempting to recopy the system files from the CD without luck, I decided to run it on safe mode, which should have been any PC user’s first instinct after a Windows failure. So I cringed from the boot screen to the log on screen while crossing my fingers and impatiently waited. As I began to peek through my narrowing eyelids I noticed that all my startup programs were loaded, almost there… and then… No blue screen!! Phew! I ran that utility program right away and restored all the previously archived files, I was safe for now but I'm never going to be too careless with those Windows directory files again.

Sometimes paying too much attention to detail could be troublesome; start with the simple steps then build up to the more complicated ones, its much easier that was. =)

Holy sh*t this team reeks...

2004-09-02T15:12:00.000+08:00

Outraged over the ineffectiveness of my current team I have decided to leave the group and move ahead of them. With the school intramurals approaching soon I expect them to at least carry a significant amount of pressure coming into the opener this weekend.

I have been participating in the practices for the past two weeks and what I’ve observed for the most part is that I have noticed nothing much that would make this group worthy to be called a team. Every time they’re on the court all I see is a bunch of bloated egos that thrives on dazzling the crowd and posing for the cameras which is not surprising that most of them can’t play defense. What irks me the most is their inability to focus on the upcoming games when it counts. Often I hear them talk about how good they would look in their new La Salle-inspired uniforms, or where to pig out and get together after the games. Illustrative of the attitude they have on as well as off the court, those statements really blew my lid off! Poof!

If these guys think they could just give up on winning and forget they’re representing our college department, they’d better be not serious coz for once if it weren’t for us, the students, they wouldn’t be sporting those new uniforms. Our departmental fees and sports fees say that you play for the name on the front of your jerseys that says CAS and not for the one at the back that reads “one big showboat”.

As for me, I will go back to my usual thrice a week, two-hour routine at the ISC, back to the place where competition, camaraderie, and new acquaintances meet. I learned my A-game there, I learned from the amateurs to the coaches still playing the game they also love. There I can also freely belt out my frustrations because the basket there doesn’t talk back to me when I do something wrong.

Overlooking the Kid at the games

2004-09-02T15:10:00.000+08:00

Lebron James is probably the youngest among the crop of talents in the USA basketball team, yet this kid phenom is able to triumph over the pressure and hype that has brought him in Athens. I remember he was benched often during the preliminaries because coach Larry Brown said he wasn’t “ripe” enough to be on the court, yet every time he was given the opportunity he gladly steps up and contributes to the team. He may have lapses on defense but when you see his stats, he is playing a significantly mature game than before. Heck, he’s even playing much better than Melo. He takes timely shots now, going 5/6 against Australia? Not bad. He also somehow extended his range, I saw him drop the first 3pt shot of the team during last three games, a category that has been the team’s trauma throughout the competition. His stats may well improve though their chance of winning the gold is impossible, I’m more thrilled about what this renewed sense of maturity and development can do to his game next season, I mean this kid is arguably the most talented player in the NBA today, we could just sit and wait untill the highlight reels (and the wins) keep coming in for King James.

USA Men's Basketball: Bronze or Nothing

2004-09-02T15:07:00.000+08:00

Not gold, not even silver. After Manu Ginobili and the Argentineans trounced USA yesterday, the US men’s team would have to settle for a bronze medal if they want a bit of consolation. They became the first USA men’s basketball team to lose grip of the gold medal after the US started sending professional players to the games in 1988. Their next primary objective? Beat Lithuania in the medal round this Sunday. It would be interesting to see how they will adjust to the more experienced Lithuanians and their fluid style of play after they were beaten in the eliminations. Will we see Startbury make 31 points again like he did against Spain? Will my boy LeBron James take center court this time and help the helpless Americans get past the humiliation? For sure, Melo also knows he can make an impact so he’s itching for playing time, but alas, he has been given the “Darko treatment” with Emeka and Amare too. Hey, coach brown, where’s the love yo?!

Hanging On

2004-09-02T15:03:00.000+08:00

Luckily I'm still practicing with the team but the regular basketball practice has lately made me rather fatigued. The coach’s new system requires us to outrun the opponent because of our significant lack in size and bulk so apparently he wants us to boost our fatigue levels a couple of notches higher to maintain our speed and intensity throughout the game. That together with discipline and tireless hard work will be our advantages when playing against the much taller and bigger opponents.

I'm hope I could make the final cut, I have been working on both my strength and weakness, my jump shot and my ball handling respectively. I shoot before practice, I shoot during practice, and I shoot after practice, but I still have to find the range beyond the 3pt line. My dribble needs some work as well. I still find it rather difficult to efficiently execute the pivot and the jump hop, both skills needed to gain separation from a defender in order to get a good look at the basket. In fact, I am not really a good one on one player; I’d rather pull up for a shot when the ball ends up in my hands. But with the improved ball handling I can take my man off the dribble, break a full court press and and/or create scoring opportunities for my teammates and myself.

I don’t mind waking up at 5am for workouts, sprinting, stretching, taking pain relievers, or playing with a sick stomach anymore because the thought of improving, being better, being the best, is emphatically stimulating.

Foul… Foul… Foul!

2004-08-12T12:57:00.000+08:00

In the essence of equality, I say I was being cheated out of my essays. It would have been an easy 85 out of 100 in Ancient Political Theories, only to crumble right from the start because of my short and undeviating paragraph(s). I know a thing or two about Plato, I knew that he was a geek, I mean a Greek. I knew that his real name was Aristocles, I also knew that when he said, “Man from birth is pregnant of the truth” he meant that we don’t have to be such numb nuts and be totally clueless about the world but instead use our brain and willpower to achieve a greater understanding of the biosphere around us… well since I practically answered all the ancient questions that our professor gave us, why did she still flunk me? Did my short and concise answers not satisfy her expectations? I read the instructions carefully, I'm not blind nor do I have poor eyesight, I clearly remember it read: ANSWER AS BRIEFLY AND ACURATELY AS YOU CAN… Oh well, next time around I’ll run the whole page for you Madame.

The Fan

2004-08-11T18:27:00.000+08:00

In case some of you still don’t know, I am a dedicated basketball fan. I follow the regular season in any way I can, on magazines, on TV, on the Internet. Now since it’s the preseason, I'm going back to work again. Watching summer camp games, monitoring the free agency, watching for activity around the league, trades, free agent signings, the NBA draft. I hope I'll see Kobe in an orange prison jumpsuit soon.

Revamped Bulls

I am a true blue Chicago Bulls fan; I don’t care if you say they are a legitimate losing team, screw that idea coz I still believe in them. I watch them year in and year out even after the post-Jordan era. I watched them on TV, I watched with excitement and hope when Elton Brand got drafted and won the ROTY award, I watched Jamal Crawford pour 50pts against Vinsanity and the Raptors, I watched Dalibor Bagaric make 10pts in a row during garbage time against the Lakers, in other words I watched them when they won and I watched them when they sucked and I'll still watch them even if the Bobcats will beat them by one point on Okafor’s game-saving block on Tyson Chandler (that’s as far as Charlotte will go to get a win).

Since the NBA draft, the Bulls made significant changes in their lineup. They added first round picks from the draft, Ben Gordon (move over Okafor and Howard), Luol Deng (Read: Grant Hill w/o the bum knee) and Deng’s college teammate Chris Duhon. But they also traded their scoring leader Jamal Crawford to the Knicks just when he was showing that he was capable or exploding (re: the 50pt game) and sputtering the next game (14pts on 5/17 shooting or 29.4% from the field). In return they get a bunch of players whining for playing time and whose contracts are about to expire next season, with that said the Bulls will be able to offer big contracts to big “soft” men Curry and Chandler, whose contracts expire next season.
The only significant player they got in the trade was four-time Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time All-Star Dikembe Mutombo. But he’s already 38, his knees are catching up, he’s been limited to 65 games last season and he’s not the intimidating man mountain that he used to be.

I heard from the rumor mill that he might get traded before the season begins, I think its possible that the Bulls will trade him along with Eddie Robinson and Paul Shirley (who?!) to the Kings for sharp-shooting Peja Stojakovic and one other veteran player preferably a backup center who could last longer than Eddy Curry on the floor when he’s already getting owned by Greg Ostertag.

But still there's more to rave about than Chris Jefferies possibly seeing more playing time, which is not about to happen soon. The emergence of Kirk Hinrich (pronounced as Hainrik) as one of the top rookies from last year brings together an exciting backcourt combination. Hinrich plays the point, has good court vision, has the pass-first mentality rarely seen in legitimate point guards, can knock down that three straight up top and is an underrated end to end defender, additionally he can also lay the two spot when coach Skiles needs to mix things up.

And get this LeBron and Melo fans; Hinrich is the only rookie from last year to ever record a triple double (11 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists in 48mins against Golden State, while playing cat and mouse with Nick “The Not So Quick” Van Exel). Throw in Ben Gordon in the mix, the standout guard from UConn and top college forward Luol Deng and you have a buncha kids making a formidable backcourt. That’s scary; imagine being chased around by your little siblings around a big room, them pulling your pants and you trying to shake them off. Of course you might do a good job of avoiding them at first but at one point or another you’re bound to not see where you are running and then find yourself gluing together the pieces of your mom's dear china. My point? they're capaple of running down a team given the right attitude and as long as the energy of the young guys stay up. Just like those pesky 'lil kids.

Try again

2004-08-05T14:59:00.000+08:00

We were scheduled to have our second round of tryouts for the basketball varsity yesterday. Coach couldn't make it, but his assistant was there. Heck they said it would be a tryout, it didn’t seem like it.

Fear Factors...
There was one drill called "planting rice" where we have to run to certain points on the court then run back sprinting all the way. It would have been OK if not for those 20 repetitions we did under the blazing heat of the mid day sun. Then we had to do a couple more drills under the heat for the next hour, I almost had sunstroke.

Call it whining, call it chickening out, call it whatever you want but man, that sucks. We are not in the team yet but we had the feeling we have to be tortured before making it. (It's all worth it if we do).
Good thing there were short breaks; too catch some air, to rehydrate. At least those psychos in charge are still apable of doing something humane.

Bust Picks
In the latter part of the tryouts, the top 10 prospects were chosen. The list included the remaining members of the team who also worked out with us. There were these two who just stood around with the assistant and didn’t suit up for the tryouts, they were watching & enjoying the whole reality torture show happening.

When the announcement came up, guess who took the number one spot? Right, the freakin’ player that didn’t suit up, the one that just ate and watched at the sidelines not even shedding a sweat. Now that was really absurd and stupid, I was thinking how the f*ck did he make it to the team?! He didn’t even step on the court. That guy can’t even shoot; I remember during the previous practice sessions he challenged me to a 3pt shootout, I torched him 10-1. Now I’m not saying that I should be the number 1 pick but at least the assistant didn’t make it obvious that he picked him first because they were buddies. The new guys including me ended up from 5th down to 14th. I was ranked 11th, he didn’t even let us play our usual game. Maybe it was because I didn’t sweat enough during the drills? How can he explain the other pick that didn’t? Duh... Damn right it was stupid.

They say we have another practice on Friday, I'll think about it. I hope coach comes around to take charge of the practices. At least he has a better eye for talent than that idiot assistant of his.

Sober..

2004-07-31T16:54:00.000+08:00

I woke up this morning feeling really nauseated. So I picked up that bottle of water under the couch that I was sleeping on last night, downed almost half the contents. That made me feel a 'lil better but I wasn't OK yet so I had to go downstairs to fill up my stomach, which just croaked. I had to get something hot, preferably soup. I went to the canteen just beside the apartment and luckily the cook just placed the soup dish on the counter. I ordered a hot bowl and sipped to my stomach’s content.

Plug In..

This afternoon it’s time to get back online, and plug myself into the realm of the virtual library. I’d like to call it “my daily dose” because I can’t seem to get through the day without even checking ESPN or CNN for the latest news. Oftentimes I drift through the pages that link from one page to another, leading to a chain of information.As I fired up the PC, it went through its own regular routine that I personally programmed using a batch file, the online/offline virus scans, port checks and all that. Then I launched Internet Explorer, as I was about to change the page to my favorite link, an article struck me on MSN. It's a good read, which I think will interest those who like paying attention to the little details of everyday life.

Out of the Blue

2004-07-31T06:42:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through the web last night and i came upon a thought. Since i've been strolling cyberspace almost on a daily basis, why not post my thoughts about the things that i dig up online? That would sound like something new and encouraging for me in the long run. Who knows i might even make it as a freelance writer someday.hehe Thats still a far thought though. Right now i plan to talk about the views on the news that are particularly interestingf for me and also for the interested few out there whose willing to share my views too. So sit back, relax, grab your favorite soda or iced coffee from the fridge while i take you on a tour inside my funny and (more often than not)frustrating experience on cyberspace and my baller life.