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On open letter to my friend:
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My friend N just got her heart broken.
She was 24.
She thinks her life has ended, but i beg to disagree. I want her to know that life is just beginning, that her 'supposed' boyfriend could never be the center of her universe. How can I let her realize that she's too good for him? I have told her that a dozen times, but she just wouldn't listen! (stubbornness - one of her endearing qualities)
I want her to be happy. N, you don't need a guy to be content, let alone happy. Others find single blessedness wonderful. Still others would just pick any guy, any random guy from the streets, and assume they're happy. Please don't be the latter.
Take this time to sort out your priorities. Smell the roses on the other side of the riverbanks. Learn a new sport. Meet new people.
Life doesn't have to end now for you. Think of it as a commercial after a long first act, or the halftime show of an Ateneo-LaSalle game. Sure, you're just raring to go to the next level, but imagine if there were no pitstops. You'll run out of gas, out of steam. Your efficiency rate will go down. Your supply of metaphors will run out (hehe). You won't be ready for the next step.
What should you prepare for? Well, think about the plans we talked about that you wanted done by 2006. Roll up your sleeves and get at it, then. I'm with you a hundred percent. And cheer up, ok?
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
La Salle is Number Two!
From 4th place, La Salle jumped the gun on two hapless and clueless teams to secure the other coveted twice-to-beat advantage in the UAAP Final Four. La Salle blasted Ateneo 72-55 last Thursday, Sep 15 and then beat UE yesterday in their replay match 79-67.
The game, which should not have taken place at all, was a very important game not just to UE and DLSU, but also with Ateneo. Ateneo can be relegated to fourth with a La Salle win, and 3rd if UE triumphs. With it's loss last Thursday however, ADMU's hold on the other twice-to-beat slot has already slipped from their grasp.
The controversial game, with the UAAP board overturning the Technical Committee's decision in handing the 2nd round win to DLSU last Sep 1, seemed to have "conspiracy" written all over it. La Salle has never gained the board's favor since forever. For those who were not aware on what happened, here it is in a nutshell:
After Arellano’s basket (giving the UE Red Warriors a 2 point lead with 1.8 seconds left in regulation), the UE gallery goes wild and celebrates prematurely. JV Casio, La Salle’s marvelous shooter, quickly inbounds the ball and rifles a pass to Joseph Yeo, whose desperation shot is off. By this time the UE crowd is in near-rabid mode, and debris rains on the court. Everyone thinks the game is over.
But DLSU coach Franz Pumaren insists he called a timeout. Commissioner Joe Lipa confers with the table officials and decides that a timeout had in fact been called, and that there were still 1.8 seconds left in the game.
This was enough time for DLSU to set up a play and Cholo Villanueva's jumper all but did that, sending the game into overtime. We all know what happened in overtime.
There are certain points that irritate me in this situation. 1. The Technical Committee already decided in La Salle's favor. What is the use of the TC if it will always be overturned by the UAAP board. 2. The TC are composed of individuals who have knowledge in basketball, the board are not. 3. La Salle is always the target in board decisions, with 5 schools voting for a replay (Ateneo, NU, UST, FEU, UP).
Ok, the win vindicated whatever conspiracy was set up. But triumphs are attained in the hardcourt, not in their airconditioned boardrooms. Why must La Salle always go thru the eye of a needle to just prove their excellence? Sure beats me?
The game, which should not have taken place at all, was a very important game not just to UE and DLSU, but also with Ateneo. Ateneo can be relegated to fourth with a La Salle win, and 3rd if UE triumphs. With it's loss last Thursday however, ADMU's hold on the other twice-to-beat slot has already slipped from their grasp.
The controversial game, with the UAAP board overturning the Technical Committee's decision in handing the 2nd round win to DLSU last Sep 1, seemed to have "conspiracy" written all over it. La Salle has never gained the board's favor since forever. For those who were not aware on what happened, here it is in a nutshell:
After Arellano’s basket (giving the UE Red Warriors a 2 point lead with 1.8 seconds left in regulation), the UE gallery goes wild and celebrates prematurely. JV Casio, La Salle’s marvelous shooter, quickly inbounds the ball and rifles a pass to Joseph Yeo, whose desperation shot is off. By this time the UE crowd is in near-rabid mode, and debris rains on the court. Everyone thinks the game is over.
But DLSU coach Franz Pumaren insists he called a timeout. Commissioner Joe Lipa confers with the table officials and decides that a timeout had in fact been called, and that there were still 1.8 seconds left in the game.
This was enough time for DLSU to set up a play and Cholo Villanueva's jumper all but did that, sending the game into overtime. We all know what happened in overtime.
There are certain points that irritate me in this situation. 1. The Technical Committee already decided in La Salle's favor. What is the use of the TC if it will always be overturned by the UAAP board. 2. The TC are composed of individuals who have knowledge in basketball, the board are not. 3. La Salle is always the target in board decisions, with 5 schools voting for a replay (Ateneo, NU, UST, FEU, UP).
Ok, the win vindicated whatever conspiracy was set up. But triumphs are attained in the hardcourt, not in their airconditioned boardrooms. Why must La Salle always go thru the eye of a needle to just prove their excellence? Sure beats me?
Archers Continue Mastery Over Eagles
The Blue Eagles team that clawed the Tams on Sunday clearly didn’t show up. Instead, what arrived was the old Ateneo quintet that lost to the defending champions by 18 points way back in the season opener.
De La Salle continued to hold its fort and let the guards do the punishing assault from start to finish as the Green Archers repeated over their archrivals 72-55, to maintain pace for a twice-to-beat incentive in the 68th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the packed Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Archers called on their platoon of small men to do the damage inside and outside, from shooting threes and pull-up jumpers to making plays underneath the basket. Ty Tang and Ryan Araña led all scorers with 18 points apiece and JV Casio added 13 to preside over the Archers’ searing attack in the pivotal third period.
The backcourt did their work from compiling steals to forcing turnovers but the entire Green Archers took turns hauling in points after every Ateneo turnover. The Blue Eagles turned it over 23 times, which the Archers translated into 30 points.
“We came out really aggressive from the start,” said Coach Franz Pumaren. “We really came prepared for this game and siguro, with the advantage of having worked with (Ateneo) Coach Norman (Black) in the past, we already knew what’s in store for us coming into the game.”
The Archers, who also blasted the Eagles 78-60 in the first round, indeed got off to an aggressive start, racing to an auspicious 11-2 tear but the Eagles caught up immediately to keep within striking distance—distance that few knew would last only till the first half.
If Tang’s jumper that made it 2-0 and Japeth Aguilar’s two missed freethrows were a sign of things to come in the first quarter, similar omens were also in handy when both teams took the floor in the second half. LA Tenorio, who tore apart the Tams’ defense with 25 points in Ateneo’s 66-63 win, made a bad pass off the inbound play before Junjun Cabatu buried a side jumper, one of the many turnover points that the Archers used in breaking the game wide open.
The game slowly—and more painfully for Ateneo’s legions of fans—turned into that first-round rout in similar fashion with the Eagles unable to find their rhythm, find the open shots and find the right person. Macky Escalona and Aguilar had five errors each and the entire Ateneo offense managed only three triples, half of what the Archers buried from rainbow territory. The Eagles also missed 16 of 26 freethrows.
While the defending champions connected from beyond the arc, not a few were surprised with the Archers’ exposing of Ateneo’s interior defense. La Salle was outrebounded only by five but the crucial portions of the first half would all point to Araña’s numerous penetrations underneath, outmaneuvering Doug Kramer, JC Intal, Martin Quimson and the 6-foot-7 Aguilar every time for an easy twinner.
The win moved the Archers to 9-4 with one game left, that much-maligned replay game against UE this Sunday serving as the final piece of the puzzle that would complete the Final 4 pairings.
Ateneo finished the elimination round at 10-4 and another win by the Archers would create a three-way tie for second place but the Taft crew, by virtue of its superior quotient, would automatically take the no. 2 slot and the twice-to-beat advantage that goes with it. Ateneo and UE then battle it out to determine who gets the no. 3 and no. 4 positions.
A loss by the Archers however, would drop them to the fourth slot and earn them a Final 4 matchup with no. 1 FEU, which closed out the eliminations with a 12-2 record. UE then takes the no. 2 seed and would face no. 3 Ateneo, with the Red Warriors needing only to win once to advance to the finals.
The game was only deadlocked twice and for the last time was knotted at 27-all on Barracoso’s side-stepping layup early in the second period. The Eagles kept it close until the end of the quarter on Intal’s three-pointer, 23 seconds left before half-time.
Then, the Archers continued what they did in that 11-2 binge in the first period.
Casio and Tang accounted for 15 of La Salle’s 19 points in the third quarter, shooting triples and draining wide-open jumpers. By the end of the period, the Archers were comfortably up 60-46.
The Eagles never threatened and could only close to within 10 points, on Intal’s back-to-back drives to the basket. Escalona’s split at the stripe again pushed the Eagles to within 11, 62-51 but Rico Maierhoffer made a slam dunk, Araña completed a fastbreak layup and Tang buried another jumper that made it 68-51, 4:54 to play.
Intal led the Eagles with 15 points and Tenorio added 10.
NOTES: La Salle now owns a 25-11 win-loss record against Ateneo in head-to-head meetings in the elimination round. With a sweep of the Blue Eagles in this year’s eliminations, the Archers now have eight elimination-round sweep of their archrivals (’90, ’91, ’92, ’95, ’97, ’98, ’01 and ’05). The Eagles have swept the Archers only once (’03)….Last night’s 16 missed freethrows were the Eagles’ most since missing 14 against FEU in the second round….Ateneo was only whistled for 11 fouls, their fewest for the season….The Eagles only had five assists, also their fewest this season….Tenorio finished with only one assist (his season-low) and was 0-for-6 in three-point territory….La Salle turned the ball over just 12 times, a season-low….Joseph Yeo finished with four points on 1-for-12 FGs. He also had six rebounds and four assists. One of his missed field goals was a botched layup attempt in the first quarter, when he was fouled by Intal while running on a fastbreak. He missed the layup, raised his arms over the fallen Intal, then signaled to the crowd that he was fouled….Araña, who also had 17 pts in that 30-point rout over Adamson, was whistled for a technical foul, 21 seconds left in the game, for dancing while holding the ball in front of the La Salle bench. His act, which fell into the category of taunting, drew mixed reactions from both camps….In an interesting sequence in the second quarter, Araña made three consecutive layups underneath the basket….The jumpball was timed exactly at 4pm with thousands of supporters, alumni and fans already in their seats despite a heavy downpour before the game. The crowd also didn’t mind that the match was played on a Thursday, the first occasion in recent years that an elimination game between the two archrivals was played on a weekday.
http://www.ubelt.com/ub/uaap/mbb/story.aspx?id=987
De La Salle continued to hold its fort and let the guards do the punishing assault from start to finish as the Green Archers repeated over their archrivals 72-55, to maintain pace for a twice-to-beat incentive in the 68th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the packed Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Archers called on their platoon of small men to do the damage inside and outside, from shooting threes and pull-up jumpers to making plays underneath the basket. Ty Tang and Ryan Araña led all scorers with 18 points apiece and JV Casio added 13 to preside over the Archers’ searing attack in the pivotal third period.
The backcourt did their work from compiling steals to forcing turnovers but the entire Green Archers took turns hauling in points after every Ateneo turnover. The Blue Eagles turned it over 23 times, which the Archers translated into 30 points.
“We came out really aggressive from the start,” said Coach Franz Pumaren. “We really came prepared for this game and siguro, with the advantage of having worked with (Ateneo) Coach Norman (Black) in the past, we already knew what’s in store for us coming into the game.”
The Archers, who also blasted the Eagles 78-60 in the first round, indeed got off to an aggressive start, racing to an auspicious 11-2 tear but the Eagles caught up immediately to keep within striking distance—distance that few knew would last only till the first half.
If Tang’s jumper that made it 2-0 and Japeth Aguilar’s two missed freethrows were a sign of things to come in the first quarter, similar omens were also in handy when both teams took the floor in the second half. LA Tenorio, who tore apart the Tams’ defense with 25 points in Ateneo’s 66-63 win, made a bad pass off the inbound play before Junjun Cabatu buried a side jumper, one of the many turnover points that the Archers used in breaking the game wide open.
The game slowly—and more painfully for Ateneo’s legions of fans—turned into that first-round rout in similar fashion with the Eagles unable to find their rhythm, find the open shots and find the right person. Macky Escalona and Aguilar had five errors each and the entire Ateneo offense managed only three triples, half of what the Archers buried from rainbow territory. The Eagles also missed 16 of 26 freethrows.
While the defending champions connected from beyond the arc, not a few were surprised with the Archers’ exposing of Ateneo’s interior defense. La Salle was outrebounded only by five but the crucial portions of the first half would all point to Araña’s numerous penetrations underneath, outmaneuvering Doug Kramer, JC Intal, Martin Quimson and the 6-foot-7 Aguilar every time for an easy twinner.
The win moved the Archers to 9-4 with one game left, that much-maligned replay game against UE this Sunday serving as the final piece of the puzzle that would complete the Final 4 pairings.
Ateneo finished the elimination round at 10-4 and another win by the Archers would create a three-way tie for second place but the Taft crew, by virtue of its superior quotient, would automatically take the no. 2 slot and the twice-to-beat advantage that goes with it. Ateneo and UE then battle it out to determine who gets the no. 3 and no. 4 positions.
A loss by the Archers however, would drop them to the fourth slot and earn them a Final 4 matchup with no. 1 FEU, which closed out the eliminations with a 12-2 record. UE then takes the no. 2 seed and would face no. 3 Ateneo, with the Red Warriors needing only to win once to advance to the finals.
The game was only deadlocked twice and for the last time was knotted at 27-all on Barracoso’s side-stepping layup early in the second period. The Eagles kept it close until the end of the quarter on Intal’s three-pointer, 23 seconds left before half-time.
Then, the Archers continued what they did in that 11-2 binge in the first period.
Casio and Tang accounted for 15 of La Salle’s 19 points in the third quarter, shooting triples and draining wide-open jumpers. By the end of the period, the Archers were comfortably up 60-46.
The Eagles never threatened and could only close to within 10 points, on Intal’s back-to-back drives to the basket. Escalona’s split at the stripe again pushed the Eagles to within 11, 62-51 but Rico Maierhoffer made a slam dunk, Araña completed a fastbreak layup and Tang buried another jumper that made it 68-51, 4:54 to play.
Intal led the Eagles with 15 points and Tenorio added 10.
NOTES: La Salle now owns a 25-11 win-loss record against Ateneo in head-to-head meetings in the elimination round. With a sweep of the Blue Eagles in this year’s eliminations, the Archers now have eight elimination-round sweep of their archrivals (’90, ’91, ’92, ’95, ’97, ’98, ’01 and ’05). The Eagles have swept the Archers only once (’03)….Last night’s 16 missed freethrows were the Eagles’ most since missing 14 against FEU in the second round….Ateneo was only whistled for 11 fouls, their fewest for the season….The Eagles only had five assists, also their fewest this season….Tenorio finished with only one assist (his season-low) and was 0-for-6 in three-point territory….La Salle turned the ball over just 12 times, a season-low….Joseph Yeo finished with four points on 1-for-12 FGs. He also had six rebounds and four assists. One of his missed field goals was a botched layup attempt in the first quarter, when he was fouled by Intal while running on a fastbreak. He missed the layup, raised his arms over the fallen Intal, then signaled to the crowd that he was fouled….Araña, who also had 17 pts in that 30-point rout over Adamson, was whistled for a technical foul, 21 seconds left in the game, for dancing while holding the ball in front of the La Salle bench. His act, which fell into the category of taunting, drew mixed reactions from both camps….In an interesting sequence in the second quarter, Araña made three consecutive layups underneath the basket….The jumpball was timed exactly at 4pm with thousands of supporters, alumni and fans already in their seats despite a heavy downpour before the game. The crowd also didn’t mind that the match was played on a Thursday, the first occasion in recent years that an elimination game between the two archrivals was played on a weekday.
http://www.ubelt.com/ub/uaap/mbb/story.aspx?id=987
Am back in Japan
My 'vacation' lasted almost eleven months. As of Sept 5, 2005, I'm back, once again, in the land of the rising sun.
I'm leaving my wife and 2 kids now... I don't know when exactly we'll see each other again. Maybe Oct next year? I'm planning on bringing them hear to have a taste of what I usually experience. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Yokohama Sea Paradise, ramen, chahan, 100-yen shops, toys r us, amazon.co.jp, uniqlo, kannai... ano pa ba meron dito?
I'm leaving my wife and 2 kids now... I don't know when exactly we'll see each other again. Maybe Oct next year? I'm planning on bringing them hear to have a taste of what I usually experience. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Yokohama Sea Paradise, ramen, chahan, 100-yen shops, toys r us, amazon.co.jp, uniqlo, kannai... ano pa ba meron dito?
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