Boy, it was a busy Easter weekend for news, wasn’t it? Heathens who didn’t take the time to reflect for their sins (or who couldn’t book a trip to Boracay) and were stuck on Facebook all weekend have heard the flap over Manny Pangilinan’s commencement speeches. Pangilinan was actually invited to speak at two graduation ceremonies for the Ateneo de Manila University, one for the School of Science & Engineering and the School of Management, and another for the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Continue reading "Manny Pangilinan quits Ateneo over graduation speech flap, but Chris Tiu doesn’t know how to quit him"

Last night, I decided to go out with friends instead of staying home to watch PBA action. I figured, “Hey, it’s just one night, what could possibly happen?”

Well, shit happened.

I turned to the replay of the Talk N Text walkout on BTV as I stumbled into my house past midnight, with the team already in the dugout. I read updates on Twitter over what happened, and, had an angry, drunken rant on Twitter about the issue.

Continue reading "The Talk N Text walkout"

The worst moment of my basketball fandom came in September 1994, in an NCAA championship game at the oven-hot Rizal Memorial Coliseum. I was in sixth grade then, and I was with my classmates rooting for the Letran Knights, who were defending their championship against their arch-enemy San Sebastian Stags. We went there expecting to win like we did the year before, but Baste started to pull away late in the 4th quarter behind the exploits of their high-flying swingmen, (the overage) Jesse Bardaje and Rodney Santos.

Watching your team lose was bad enough, but it was what happened after that really made it bad. With the game out of reach, the San Sebastian crowd decided to collectively, sarcastically, start rooting for Letran. Those fuckers just wanted to rub it in, so they started chanting “Go, Letran! Go, go Letran!” and cheering whenever the Knights made a meaningless basket.

Continue reading "“Poging Baste, Haba...”: San Sebastian dethrones San Beda"

In 1993, the powerhouse defending champions San Miguel faced perennial All-Filipino contenders Coney Island (nee Purefoods) in the finals of that year’s homegrown-only tournament. The Beermen were heavy favorites after making a trade for Allan Caidic in the offseason, reuniting the Triggerman with his former national team buddies, Samboy Lim and Hector Calma. The star-studded San Miguel backcourt was rounded out by the reigning Most Valuable Player in the league, Ato Agustin. The two teams’ matchup was a repeat of the previous year’s finals, a series that was capped by 32 points from Agustin in the deciding seventh game.

Rookie coach Chot Reyes was at the helm of Coney Island, which was making its sixth straight All-Filipino appearance. Everyone knew about the frontcourt of Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codinera, but their backcourt wasn’t too shabby either, with Glenn Capacio, Boy Cabahug, and Dindo Pumaren. Curiously, Reyes acquired an eclectic mix of players in the offseason; rookies Dwight Lago, Benny Cheng, Olsen Racela, and Freddie Abuda were drafted to provide hustle and energy, but Reyes also recruited a couple of grizzled veterans: Caidic’s old enforcer from Presto, Abe King, and a rugged guard from Alaska, Frankie Lim.

Continue reading "Ato Agustin, Frankie Lim, and the NCAA Finals"

I didn't catch the beating that the San Beda gave Jose Rizal University yesterday, but I can't imagine Adolf Hitler being too pleased, if we go by his (hilarious) reaction from the Heavy Bombers loss to the Red Lions in game 3 of the NCAA finals last year.

Continue reading "San Beda demolishes JRU, Hitler probably throws another fit"

As expected, Burger King made Japeth Aguilar the first overall pick in the 2009 PBA Draft. While the top picks went as planned, there were a handful of surprises, with a huge WTF moment with Alaska’s pick of Michael Burtscher. I’m guessing Rafe Bartholomew will now light himself on fire. Dude, how’s that tan coming along? My suggestion for your new Pinoy name: Rafael Baldemor. Parang bold star, diba?

Continue reading "2009 PBA Draft Results"

Noli Eala’s twitter account is mostly harmless, containing updates on his activities as executive director of the country’s national basketball program. Tonight, however, he posted this very interesting tweet: “Some UAAP refs don't deserve to officiate there. They are weak in fundamentals, outdated in interpretation and clearly out of shape.”

Continue reading "Noli Eala now using Twitter to push his agenda"

It's a really busy day at my real workplace, but here are some things I wanted to pass along:

Continue reading "Friday bullets"

Photo courtesy of Ubelt.com

The 85th edition of the NCAA opened with a bang last Saturday, kicking off the college basketball season. Defending champion San Beda dominated Mapua in the first game, 85-52, while last year's runner-up JRU staved off Letran in the second, 65-62. In the third game that wasn't televised, San Sebastian welcomed their new mentor Ato Agustin with an impressive 76-64 victory over Perpetual Help.

Continue reading "NCAA opening impressions: San Beda rules, JRU escapes, San Sebastian promises"