I enjoyed this delightfully kooky Christmas video from the PBA:

Continue reading "Merry Christmas everyone!"

It was Rafe Bartholomew who emailed me this morning about this story by Filipino-American boxing writer (and friend of the blog) Dennis ‘D Source’ Guillermo on some beef between Freddie Roach and everyone’s favorite sports writer, Quinito Henson. In his December 20 article in the Philippine Star, Henson quotes Roach directly as saying that if the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley pushes through, the Filipino champion’s camp would push for drug testing, citing previous allegations against Mosley on steroid use:

“It won’t be an easy fight for Manny,” said Roach who arrived here to celebrate Pacquiao’s 32nd birthday and was scheduled to leave Manila for Los Angeles last night. “I think he’s a tougher opponent than (Andre) Berto or (Juan Manuel) Marquez. He can punch with either hand. But if the fight pushes through, I’ll insist on a drug test. He’s been known to take steroids and it shows in his body.”

Roach, however, denies ever saying those words. In an interview with Lem Satterfield of Boxing Scene, he goes ahead and basically calls Henson a liar:

“That's a lie. I never said that. We turned that [drug testing] down once ourselves, so I would have to be a hypocrite to have said that,” said Roach. “So some Filipino writer has written that I had said that, but that’s not true. So I never said that. The thing is that I think that we’re taking the fight that would bring the most money to the table, and that's what the deciding factor will be.”

Continue reading "Freddie Roach calls bullshit on Quinito Henson over Mosley drug testing report"

Rafe Bartholomew is finally back to writing about basketball (maybe because Glee is on hiatus) with a post on Free Darko about the legendary Crispa Redmanizers. If you’ve been reading his blog, you might remember his story about finding an album full of Crispa pictures at a tiangge in Tiendesitas. For the new post, he consulted with the eminent message board historian of the PBA, Jay P. Mercado, to give context to the photos.

While we’re at it, you might want to check out Rey Joble’s piece on GMANews.TV a few weeks back about the Redmanizers’ 1980 All-Filipino conference run, when they almost ended the conference undefeated. They dropped one game, to rival Toyota, en route to winning the championship.

Here’s how it ends, not with bang, but with a whimper: Indonesia beat the Philippine national football team on 2-0 aggregate goals in the semifinals of the 2010 Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup, ending the latter’s miracle run in the tournament. The Azkals displayed every bit of the grit and heart that has made them the darlings of our basketball-crazy country these past two weeks, but in the end Indonesia’s edge in talent, experience, and home field was too much to overcome for the Philippine side.

Continue reading "Midnight tolls for the Cinderella Azkals"

Filipinos are naturally short, which is why we should forget our unrequited love for the tall man’s game of basketball, and instead focus our resources of football, where we can be more competitive internationally. It’s a common refrain that has grown louder with the recent success of the Philippine national football team in the ongoing Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup. Traditionally the doormats of the competition, the Azkals’ 2-0 victory over defending champion Vietnam has galvanized the Filipino sports fan base with dreams of more international football glory.

On its face, the argument for football over basketball seems sound. It’s easy to imagine the graceful Pinoy athlete gliding through the pitch to dominate the beautiful game. Watching tiny Pinoy hoopsters soaring above the rim over foreign 7-footers, however, is much harder to fathom.

The numbers, however, tell a different story.

Continue reading "Why we need to love football"