...losing, being lost, and having lost someone...

wow.. a loser-post... and using "lose" in three contexts...

Losing the Big One

Watched the second game of the UAAP finals...Live at that... Yes, it was a Thursday, but I managed to get out early from work... My dad similarly had a lame excuse to his boss for him to get out early and get the tix, while my uncle was a bum, so he'd be there in a heartbeat... My aunt gave us 3 upper box b tickets, which were good enough... At least we were there... And no, it wasn't freakishly crowded... They said Araneta didn't sell SRO tickets... We were with my uncle's rotary friend and his sons, all of whom just recently came back to the Philippines after a staying in the US for so long...

Ateneo got all the individual awards, with La Salle getting what we thought were "sympathy awards" just so the La Salle crowd could cheer for something (Head and Shoulders Crucial Stop? FEU should've won that, being that they were responsible for making the Final 4 happen)... Interestingly, Joshua Webb gets named to the all-rookie team, but never got minutes during the crucial La Salle games (I think even vs. UST)... I'm not saying he should have because he was good, I'm saying he should have because he could bring something to the table that Ateneo did not prepare for... Anyway, onto the game:

Rabeh gets called for a questionable first foul on the very first possession, then later on gets called for a defensive foul, which set the tone for either a truly bad officiating game all throughout, or a scripted finals orchestrated by THE MAN himself, Commissioner Chito Narvasa, who during this season headed nothing less of a "fair" league... So La Salle jumps to an early lead, with the outnumbered La Salle crowd getting into a frenzy.. They get to 8 points by 6 minutes left in the first, but they finish that quarter with 10... Rico starts too feisty, as expected, what with Baclao posterizing him at game 1... He finally gets one over Nonoy, an undergoal stab resulting from a face-up drive from the opposite side of the court from where he delivered that stab... Nonoy actually went up for that shot, which made it all the more greatifying for Rico, and he probably said a thing or two before runnng back to their court... From what I saw though, it was Rico and Nkemakolam bumping each other while running down the court... Yet, it resulted to a Rico tech.... Not a double tech... I don't know... People watching TV won't know, as it was TJ Manotoc mainly calling the shots there...

Anyway, jumping to the third, where La Salle made a run to cut a big 15 point lead to 6, Rico gets called for another tech for "flashing the 'dirty finger' at Rabeh"... Again, no one would know... Except probably an honest answer from the guys themselves.. Then JV gets called for his fourth foul, for something that he did at will during the first half, and that's just about where the game ended... James Mangahas didn't try to be half as aggressive to the basket as he was during the July 17 game against UST (which aired a replay earlier) where he attacked at will...Atkins has not lived up to his potential, LA still didn't make his layups, Walsham didn't grow a brain, Ferdinand was all hyped up in the first but lost steam in the 2nd, and just about everyone didn't want to take a shot without their top two scorers...

For their part, Baclao was just a force all throughout the series... Actually, he was, all throughout the season... He deserves to be the MVP because he was just that damn good... Rabeh is too big for anyone in the league to guard, but developing that perimeter game just made him better... Chris Tiu made his shots... Eric Salamat was just as he was, fire off the bench... Yuri Escueta and Ryan Buenafe were students of the Manu Ginobili School of Flopping... The former being butt-ugly which makes him irritating, the latter being in addition to the former's flaws, talks too much trash for his age... True, he might be really good for his age, but man, trash talking with a face like that? Norman Black gets his first championship after years of heartbreaks...

Now, I don't blame the loss to terrible officiating alone.. La Salle didn't help themselves... I mean, sure the first tech on Rico was dubious, but for him to give the refs any reason to have him kicked out of the game? It was an immature act on his part... Ateneo patron seat holders claim he did what he did, Rico himself says he was merely pointing at JV, while almost everyone who watched on TV, and even The Philippine Star article writers claim that the footage proved inconclusive... Whatever the truth was, Rico should've kept his cool and just played the game... JV waxed hot early in the third but was called for his third foul, which caused him to be benched for much of the quarter... The third was the only time in their 4 meetings that I saw JV want the ball so much because he wants to carry his team, but his 2 1st half fouls and a third foul kept him from being the weapon that he was... The refs were too inconsistent... During the first half, La Salle got so many steals and forced a lot of turnovers on really tight defense which was called clean by the refs... However, during crunchtime, those "clean" 1st half defense turned to fouls... Hence, the FT disparity...

Ateneo deserves this year's title, as they did during the 2006 season when we upset them... They fielded the best team in the league, so hands down, they deserved this win... Unlike 2006 though, no upset happened here...

But will Ateneo really feel they won their title having won it at the expense of their rival's depleted lineup (no JV means no win, add a no Rico at that, and you get a bunch of players dressed in La Salle jerseys) and freakishly poor officiating?

Philippine Collegiate Championship must be a league to watch... I hope rumors are true that BTV will be coming back to Sky Cable...

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"Pasong Tamo Extension" (For the Big Ass TV) and Mexicali

Friday, I went out early to have my dentist appointment, search the net for Philppine Folk songs, go to Sta Lucia, and accompany Che to get her big ass TV from Sanyo... So I picked her up at her office at around 3.30 or 4PM, both of us having no idea where Pasong Tamo was... She mentioned Mantrade as the Sanyo person's instruction, but since she didn't know where it was, she asked people in her office where Pasong Tamo was... Her officemate said we should take Buendia and we'll see a Mcdo somewhere, and we should turn left there... We hit traffic at the end of Buendia, then at some Arnaiz Ave, where Wal Mart was, then some more when we made a wrong turn (due to the stupid Sanyo person's instructions), and finally to cross Mantrade.. Yes, from Ayala, we opted to go through Buendia and circle through all that traffic, only to reach Mantrade, which was 2 turns away from where we came from... A left, and a right at EDSA, and we're there... Stupid Sanyo person can't make it freakin clear. For whatever reason, I don't know. I'm thinking they're bots living in the Sanyo office and shuts down after work hours, and don't really get the chance to look out their windows or office to see what's near... Heck, one of the people even said "Don Bosco Makati? Opo, katabi po namin yan"... I tell you, the distance from Don Bosco Makati to their office is like from UST to Mr. Kebab. Or for people bound for the other side, it's like from UST to Quiapo Church 3 times over...

Upon getting to their office, we were informed that the TV wasn't there yet, due to a miscommunication by the organizers and Sanyo... We're left with no TV, less gas, less time, and uber-frustration... I wasn't able to get back to my office, Che rushed something at theirs, so from what, 6PM I was to wait for her until nth O'clock... With less options for company and in dire need of one, I texted Issa who owed me a Red Ribbon cake and incidentally just got her salary... I said I was just gonna eat a "light snack" because Che was hungry but couldn't grab a bite before getting back to her office because freakin traffic wasted about an hour and a half of our time.. Our light snack turned out to be a burito from Mexicali, an order of jalapeño quesadillas, and bottomless iced tea... I paid for half of the quesadillas and my iced tea... The result = after 5 iced tea refills (Issa had 3, I think, just because they were filling up her glass even if it was barely drank from), 1 quesadilla, and 1 regular burito, I couldn't burp... Heck, I couldn't even fart...

I walked with Issa as she browsed through the closing ukay near Rufino, and walked with her to her terminal (which is not near, I tell you), and walked back to Che's office to wait for her... And boy was it a wait... Good thing my best bud didn't fail me... LED blinking and all, he stayed with me and we Diner Dashed till Che came down before midnight...=P

Oh, an hour of sitting along the steps of the building, I was able to burp already, and as soon as I got to the car, I was able to fart all those gas that remained... wahahahaha....

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Losing people

A friend said it was over for him and her... I'm relieved, as I will finally be rid of emo messages... I mean, I can deal with emo stuff, just not with a guy like him...

As for her, I'm happy that she might be happy... "I'm good" is actually a fine answer... At least she's smiling.=)

(In my own small world, I know you know who you are. I just kept your names.)

Tita Violet, Uncle Jun's wife, just lost her dad earlier today... Fondly called "Kabise", he suffered a heart attack this morning and died at the hospital... With all the teasing I got from my cousins about Tita Violet's nieces since we were kids, there were moments (2nd-3rd year high school) when things started to get serious with me and one of the nieces that I was actually paying my respects to him as if he was my own grandfather... He was a fun-loving guy, never really got THAT close to him, but nonetheless, he was part of the big family that gathers whenever an event happens at Uncle Jun's place... And by our book, anyone who we eat with, drink with, or celebrate with, is always a part of the family...

Life's too short...

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On Ranting

I would love to blog-rant, but it has been a cause of countless bashing and counter-bashing... Hence, I simply have to say what I said for Che's blog:

anything and everything is all up to you and whatever you decide on doing.

additionally, there is no perfect time for anything, just a time that you will decide that you want to jump in and do it... there is no time that you will be happy or contented, just a time that you will be contented, a time that you will be happy.

un lang.