I know she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I honestly enjoy Beth Celis’ work. She always plays the role of the ditz in her columns, but she also writes about a lot of things other writers just ignore; for example, she was the only writer who kept tabs on Rudy Distrito regularly over the last 5 years.

Today she writes about Al-Riyadi coach Fuad Abou Chakra, who’s in Manila to take in some PBA games, look for sports therapists, and potentially work on a program to send young players from Lebanon to the Philippines for training.

Continue reading "Al-Riyadi coach Fuad Abou Chakra visits Manila"

Had a good chuckle when found this in my inbox a couple of days ago. I could understand the confusion on Twitter, but does it still confuse anyone who goes through this site and finds the email address?

Continue reading "My favorite email of the year so far"

Like I said in the previous post, I hadn’t seen enough of Smart Gilas in Dubai, so these are more general thoughts. That said, I was thoroughly impressed with the team’s performance, and like any other Pinoy basketball fan, I am hopeful that this is the start of the team’s steady climb.

Anyway, some of my thoughts, in bullets:

Continue reading "Thoughts on Smart Gilas, after their sensational bronze-winning performance at the Dubai International Basketball Tournament"

I’ve come under a bit of fire over the past week because all I’ve been writing about has been the Kris Aquino-James Yap-Mayen Austria saga. It’s a perfectly valid point; there are so many other things happening in the Philippine sports world apart from that, and I could understand the frustration of people who read this blog. In particular, the Smart Gilas Pilipinas team has done very well in the Dubai International Basketball Tournament, coming home with a bronze medal, and readers are justifiably upset that I haven’t given this any attention.

Here’s my reason: I just haven’t had the time. It’s a reason, and not an excuse.

Continue reading "Kris Aquino, Smart Gilas, and the anatomy of a blog post"

The Cuneta Astrodome was barely half-full, but you wouldn’t know it from the cheers of the audience. I went to the card with two of the biggest boxing nuts among my friends, Alekos Orendain, whom you might remember as the resident reviewer of the HBO 24/7 series on the site, and Alex Tizon, a Pulitzer Prize-winning colleague who “has been punched in the face more often than any of [his] closest friends.” Each of them had to travel halfway across the metropolis on a fine Saturday morning in January just to spend the next several hours watching skinny men pummel each other.

It was no surprise to us, therefore, that the crowd was composed of fellow boxing nuts who, when not screaming at the action in the ring, were busy hooting and hollering at, and pretty much sexually-harassing, the round girls during breaks. Testosterone dripped heavily in the air.

Continue reading "Carlos Tamara rallies for the upset over Brian Viloria; Donnie Nietes, Jimrex Jaca, Jason Pagara win"

All’s well that ends well, I suppose. A chirpy Kris Aquino told the GMA News program Saksi last night that she and James have gotten back together. “Magkasama naman kami ngayon, kaya lang, pina-punish ko pa siya ng konti,” Kris said. She said she decided to get back together because the kids had been looking for James, and added that she has also mended fences with the family of Mayen Austria.



Uh-huh.

Continue reading "Our long national nightmare is over: Kris Aquino and James Yap back together"

A story in the Malaysian publication New Straits Times details the draconian measures that the Malaysian government imposes to weed out material that could be “prejudicial to public order, morality and security” or “alarming to public opinion.” Local printers and distributors in Malaysia take it upon themselves to comply with the government when it comes to international publications, to hilarious results.

Continue reading "Malaysia censors Manny Pacquiao’s nipples"

James Yap finally spoke about the issue surrounding his marriage with Kris Aquino. In a brief chat with Ricky Lo, Yap denied everything. EVERYTHING.

“I’ve never cheated on Kris,” insisted James. “I have never been unfaithful. Ang ganda na ng wife ko, bakit hahanap pa ako ng iba?”

Pressed about the long-buried issue involving one Hope Centeno, James said that what was reported in the media never happened. It was a “campaign of hate” initiated by some people who wanted to hit Dr. Vicki Belo using Kris, then heavy with James Jr. (whom she almost lost), as “weapon.”

Continue reading "Dispatches from Team James, and pictures of Mayen Austria and her cupcakes?"

I know I’m a little late to this, but there were posts about cupcakes that needed to be written. As I’m sure most PBA fans have heard by now, former San Miguel defensive stopper and current Barangay Ginebra assistant coach Art dela Cruz got into a scuffle with two men after their out-of-town game against the Alaska Aces in Batangas last January 9.

According to a report on ABS-CBNNews.com, trouble started after 2 Fil-Ams aboard a Ford Lynx was cut off by a Ginebra team bus. The car chased the bus all the way to the C-5 toll booths, where an altercation occurred.

Continue reading "Barangay Ginebra assistant coach Art dela Cruz, players get into trouble after out-of-town game"

The Philippine Entertainment Portal followed up on the Kris Aquino-James Yap issue that’s tearing this nation apart, with a report digging further into the identity of Mayen Austria, the girl who was the cause of the power couple’s latest spat. Friends of Austria came to her defense, saying that there was nothing going on between James and their friend:

Continue reading "Mayen Austria sends cupcakes to Purefoods players as a ‘marketing strategy’; Ryan ‘The Genius’ Gregorio gets involved"