Reader comments: Top 10 national flags you don't want to draw.

Three years ago, I listed the top ten toughest flags to draw. And it is one of the top posts on this blog, and has seen plenty of comments. So let's have another ten! But first, some replies to the comments.

2011 yearender: Gabi ng Parangal, local sports edition

2011 came and went like Asiong Salonga killing the bad guys then being killed himself (OOPS SPOILER ALERT!) so let's end the year with a completely irrelevant conclusion of the already-stated premise with some awards they had not come up with -- so yes, no team, player of the year and that shit. This time let's go on local sporting events. Ten categories of pure unadulterated sporting achievements.

Game of the Year: UAAP 2nd round of Ateneo vs Adamson.
It's a tough choice between 2nd round of Ateneo vs Adamson and the UFL Cup semifinal between Kaya and Loyola Meralco, but I had to give it to the Ateneo-Adamson game, solely because more people know the Ateneo Blue Eagles exist than the Loyola Meralco Sparks.

Series of the year: 2011 PBA Governors Cup Finals.
It's like the 2011 NBA Finals: Everybody picked the Heat to win; in this case, everyone picked Talk 'N Text to win, but Chot Reyes happened. Close second was the Philippines vs Sri Lanka series for World Cup qualifying.

Game Nobody Knew Happened of the Year: UFL Cup Semifinal, Loyola Meralco vs Kaya
The 3,000-man girl strong Rizal Stadium got wet with delight when Papa Phil scored a hat-trick.

The Kerby Raymundo Award for Best Quote of the Year: Ato Agustin
For saying, in Chot Reyes' face, that he's gay.

We Did Something but the Press Didn't Care Award: Smart Gilas
The long shots went to the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championship. That's like a Southeast Asian team making it to the AFC Asian Cup, without hosting it.

We Did Nothing but the Press Cared Award: Azkals U-23
Let's face it: Two networks had parallel coverages on a team that finished dead last.

We Should've Joined WilTime Big Time Award: Philippine national dragon boat team
Not to rain on their parade or anything, but did the international dragon boat championship even made it to the sports page of Tampa newspapers?

The Graham Lim Award for Incompetence: The PSC and POC
For screwing up, yet again, the country's already screwed up sports program, if it exists.

The Sporting Event of the Year: Smart All-Star Weekend
Kobe Bryant live in the flesh. It's like David Beckham live in the flesh, in 1998, not 2011. And oh, don't forget Kobe had 2011 MVP Derrick Rose, and the 2012 MVP Kevin Durant in tow.

Bastardization of the Year: Smart Araneta Coliseum
"Araneta Coliseum" is a smart name. The new name smells like the Dunkin Donuts Center, or the EnergySolutions Arena.

Xmas coast to coast opening day hoops!

Some say the NBA should just ditch the first 2 months or so of the regular season since nobody except for hardcore basketball fans care on what happens in the early games. Well... don't people ignore the first part of any season of any league? Unless it's the UAAP and its ilk since there are only 14 games to go around.

So thanks to the lockout, it finally happened. The NBA starts its season on Christmas. By the end of the season, the players are dog tired... then it's the Olympics. So while we wait for the abbreviated season to breeze through us like a back-to-back-to-back, let me give you the Top 10 stories we'd have to look forward to this coming new year of hoops, that doesn't include player movement.

10. The rise and fall of the Spurs
The Spurs rose to the top at the now much-discussed 1999 season, when they won the title in 50 regular season games. Phil Jackson, who was tending in garden, shouted blasphemy just as he shouted the same thing when Barry Bonds broke the home run record. Heck some say it started with their elimination by the Teddy Bears last season; I say it started when Tony Parker screwed Brent Barry's wife.

9. Timberwolves: Barangay tagay of the NBA?
Not on the sense that Kahn has instilled a never-say-die attitude on the northernmost team in the league. It's just that Kahn has a point guard fetish. Maybe he's following Jong Uichico's philosophy of hauling guards (not necessarily points) just as fantasy owners haul big men like Lindsay Lohan hauls girls that look like dudes.

8. Fan backlash?
It's a long shot, but what's a longer shot are teams painting "Thank you fans on their hard courts just as the NHL did when they robbed Canadians of their national sport.

7. The fall and rise of the New York Knicks
While the Spurs were able to sustain into pseudo-dynasty their pseduoasterisked 1999 championship, their Finals opponents at that time weren't able to replicate the feat. I blame Isiah.

6. Swan song for Stern?
Fans show their David Stern love every draft when they enthusiastically boo him just like Bieber fans squee when they see the name "Bieber" on their tickets. Fans accused his regime of fixing games, favoring bigger market teams, favoring the LA Lakers, favoring the LA Clippers, and just being the overall suckjob that he did. Stern saw the expansion of the game into a full-fledged global sport, made the league big in China (although this will be tested with Yao's retitement) and by giving the Miami Heat the 2006 title to piss of Mark Cuban.

5. Rise up, Clipper Nation!
Clipper Nation. It's like the TNT Tropa. The Ube Republic. Women who watched the Azkals because of the football. It doesn't exist. Will it exist now? Would we see the rise of Lob Angeles after decades of neglect?

4. Mavs' title defense
The Mavs are of the unlikeliest NBA champions in a long time. They're also most underrated defending champion since the 1999 Chicago Bulls. Well, if you'd exclude the 1999 Bulls, you'd probably have to go back to the 1995-96 Rockets since Michael Jordan will cream the opposition, although the Rockets may have been highly-rated to be the West's representatives in 1996. Aside from those two, you've got to ask the elders on what was the most under-rated title retention campaign in the NBA.

3. Last hurrah for Tinseltown hoops?
Would this be the last time the Lakers would be seen as a legitimate title threat? Kobe's not getting any younger, their starting five is not as deep as last season's, and the Clips just arseraped them in two preseason games... well that's not the first time that happened.

2. Would the players really get tired?
Let's face it, basketball is not baseball. In baseball, the ratio between doing something productive and throwing up is 9:1. In basketball, you'd only throw up when you want to piss Metta World Peace off.

1. Miami Heat: 2012 NBA asterisked champs?
Let's face it. If they win, some people will cry blasphemy. Phil Jackson skipped the season after the lockout; and while he's not as young as Santa Claus, will he come back next year to correct on what could be the wrongest thing ever done to basketball? Aside from the Decision?

And now... let's jinx the upcoming season!

Per division rankings:
PAC: 4. LAC, 5. LAL, 8. PHX, 12. GSW, 14. SAC
SW: 2. DAL, 3. MEM, 6. SA, 10. HOU, 15. NO
NW: 1. OKC, 7. DEN, 9. POR, 11. UTA, 13. MIN
CEN: 2. CHI, 7. IND, 9. MIL, 10. DET, 15. CLE
SE: 1. MIA, 4. ATL, 6. ORL, 12. WSH, 14. CHA
ATL: 3. BOS, 5. NY, 8. NJ, 11. PHI, 13. TOR

Playoff forecast:
West: OKC def. PHX, LAC def. LAL, DAL def. DEN, MEM def. SA, OKC def. LAC, MEM def. DAL, OKC def. MEM
East: MIA def. NJ, NY def. ATL, CHI def. IND, BOS def. ORL, MIA def. NY, CHI def. BOS, MIA def. CHI
Finals: MIA def. OKC

Week 2 Top 10: Dominance, and exceptions

A week of college basketball has passed and we're treated, for the most part, a rather predictable slate of results, except for a couple of games. So we have a somewhat predictable Top 10 this week, except for a couple of teams.

#1: Ateneo Blue Eagles
This week results: Defeated NU 86-62 and UE 73-61
In a normal week, a game against NU should be easy and against UE to be tough; this year, it's the other way around. But for the defending champs, it's just like the old days when they had an easy game against the Dawgs and had not-so-blowout win over the Warriors. Don't put the blame solely on Parks: Mbe has shown no improvement.

#2: Adamson Falcons
This week's result: Defeated UST 81-71
Adamson gave UST a dose of reality when they gave the Tigers their first loss of the season. While the Falcons did it on both ends of the court, you'd have to give credit to their offense as they surpassed the 80-point barrier. The boys from San Marcelino can shoot from anywhere from UST's side of the court.

#3: San Beda Red Lions
This week's results: Defeated Arellano 92-67 and CSB 79-78
You can say all day that Frankie Lim is a bad on-game coach. He and staff deserve credit for their full-court defense against the Blazers that ultimately wasted enough time to deny CSB a decent crack at the basket. Traditionally an NCAA team belongs to the top 2 but CSB put up a good fight, hence the Lions, that massacred the hapless Chiefs earlier in the week, go to #3.

#4: San Sebastian Stags
This week's results: Defeated Letran 71-62
What was supposedly the real big bad rivalry of the NCAA was a bummer. The Stags led from start to finish, and Kevin Alas fouling out sealed the fate for the short-handed Knights. Kevin's dad Louie should really find a big man now or else the Intramuros faithful would go impatient.

#5: FEU Tamaraws
This week's results: Defeated UE 66-47 and NU 62-59
Last year's finalists had the same opponents this week, although they had contrasting wins. FEU bounced back from a colder-than-ice-cold start against UE to blow them out convincingly, while they had to muster all of their energies to push off NU at the final play of the game.

#6: Lyceum Pirates
This week's results: Defeated Mapua 76-73, Arellano 84-74
Lyceum coach Bonnie Tan has a system, and if they'd face any NCAA team not directly named after a saint, they have a decent chance of winning. All of their games aside from San Beda and San Sebastian were either wins or a competitive loss (against EAC, of all teams).

#7: De La Salle Green Archers
This week's result: Defeated UP 79-67
The gremlins expectedly won against UP. So that means they're #7 because I hate them with deep passion (LOL). However, you gotta look at coach Dindo Pumaren if he can carry this team to the Finals. Is it time to bring back Bigote?

#8: JRU Heavy Bombers
This week's result: Defeated Mapua 70-69
Surprisingly, the teams on the JRU-Mapua game entered the game with only one win from either side. Unsurprisingly, it ended close, and unsurprisingly, Mapua let go a huge lead.

#9: CSB Blazers
This week's result: Defeated by San Beda 78-79
Only eight teams won this week, so that means I'd have to add 2 teams that lost this week: one of them is the B-team of Taft. The Blazers now have swagger. I dunno if it's the coach (Richard del Rosario) or their fans wearing La Salle shirts, but any CSB game from here on out should not be taken lightly.

#10: Mapua Cardinals
This week's results: Defeated by Lyceum 76-73 and JRU 70-69
How can a winless team get in the top ten? In a week where only eight teams won, you gotta let a losing team get in. It's as if I'd let UE, UST or even NU get this last spot. So I just spent 3/4 of the paragraph justifying this entry so I should just stop.

The trash heap:
#11: UST Growling Tigers: Sorta good offense, defense needs adjustments.
#12: NU Bulldogs: Hey Mbe, Sy is paying big bucks for your scholarship and other amenities (such as escalators on your school) you gotta improve your game somehow.
#13: UP Fighing Maroons: You sorta expect them to lose against La Salle, at least they did not lose by twenty.
#14: Letran Knights: This looks like last season where they'd beat all teams that won't make it to the Final Four, and lose all games against Final Four-bound teams.
#15: UE Red Warriors: You can't really call this team shallow, when their bench and starters are practically the same in quality.
#16: Arellano Chiefs: Sudan Daniel was not the biggest loss in a team this season. It's Isaiah Ciriacruz.

Outside the barrel: (Did not play a game this week)
UPHSD Altas, EAC Generals

Player of the week: Chris Cayabyab of Lyceum
Cayabyab scored 20 points, in 4/9 shooting from beyond the arc, plus 7 rebounds and 5 dimes to lead the Pirates in their win against Mapua.

Games to watch (excluding Monday):
No marquee NCAA games this week, but the UAAP has two must-see games: UP vs. Ateneo, and La Salle vs. NU

See also: Team standings, and magic & tragic numbers -- NCAA, UAAP.

Inaugural Weekly Top 10 of 2011!

Yay! College basketball season is back! And it restores sports sanity: more people watched the Ateneo-La Salle game (~15,000) vs. the Azkals home game (~12,000). So... is Pinoy basketball really dead?

#1: Ateneo Blue Eagles
This week's result: Defeated DLSU 81-72
The Blue Eagles notch this week's #1 with a defeat over La Salle -- presumably, that is a stronger opponent that any of the yet undefeated teams played against this week. Kiefer Ravena trended worldwide for good reason: he was the first UAAP baller to register 23 points in a half since Dylan Ababou did the feat in 2009. Credit the opponent as Kiefer matched up better against the shorter Archers than the burlier Falcons.

#2: San Sebastian Stags
This week's result: Defeated UPHSD 87-60
Can somebody fill me up on this? Did Topex Robinson had already had contact with the Stags prior to his appointment? While his appointment was really sudden, but not really that surprising since it made sense -- Turo Valenzona functioned sorta like Gerald Ford. Wait, who's Gerald Ford... and Turo Valenzona was their head coach???

#3: UST Growling Tigers
This week's results: Defeated NU 73-72 in OT and UE 70-63
Perhaps everyone knew from the get-go that the Tigers can beat this year's Warriors. But the Bulldogs? Wait, who was the blue chip rookie that landed in Espana? Ah, last year's UAAP Juniors' MVP, that's who! And don't forget Jeric Fortuna's shooting. His turnover stats will surely catch up as the tourney wears on.

#4: San Beda Red Lions
This week's result: Defeated Lyceum 89-69
I could've ranked them higher than Baste, but the 20-point win over the guest team was sorta underwhelming when you compare it to the 27-point beat down by the Stags against the Altas. Then again, the Pirates took the Altas' booty. The real battles for San Beda would be against last year's Final Four teams and Letran: those will prove if they are a contender without a Black dude manning the middle.

#5: Letran Knights
This week's result: Defeated Arellano 88-70
Haven't really paid attention to this game even though I watched it, but it seems that Arellano's defenses were too weak -- they let Letran score 88 points even though they put up a respectable 70.

#6: Adamson Falcons
This week's result: Defeated FEU 78-59
Don't let the final score fool you. FEU was at screaming distance (quite farther than a shouting distance), but after FEU let Adamson pull away for good, the Falcons padded the score thanks to useless fouls from the Tams in a desperate bid to get closer. What went wrong for FEU? Despite Garcia, Romeo and Ramos, well... that's it. They're too shallow this year. Adamson, despite their non-stars, function well as a unit.

#7: CSB Blazers
This week's result: Defeated Mapua 70-67
Ah, the upset of the week. People have been screaming silently about the newly beefed up B-team of Taft, but it seems it is actually bearing fruit right now. Makes you wonder if the 400-strong CSB crowd (with some wearing "LA SALLE" shirts) smelled something that they'd win that one. Altamirano's outside sniping thwarted a Cardinals comeback to notch CSB's first win against a preceding season's Final Four team since... I dunno. Maybe after the time of Caloy Garcia?

#8: UP Fighting Maroons
This week's result: Defeated UE 69-61, defeated by NU 75-66
Hey... NU defeated UP, so why are they ranked higher? As illogical as this sounds, NU was expected to beat UP, UP was expected to beat UE but NU losing to UST was unexpected. Ah what the heck, let's give them this spot before it takes them 2 years to get back here. Nevertheless, it seems that the expectations last year are happening this year, but I dunno how would their supporters feel about that.

#9: JRU Heavy Bombers
This week's result: Defeated EAC 76-60
Njei and that other Black guy whose name I can't remember because I barely saw him play leaving was fatal -- that supposedly gimme game against Arellano was wasted. If they lost out to EAC I could imagine people calling for the Aerial Voyager's head. Their lack of ball handlers -- their perennial problem, if I may add -- seems to be their weakness in beating the less heralded teams this year.

#10: NU Bulldogs
This week's results: Defeated by UST 73-72 in OT, defeated UP 75-66.
Bobby Ray Parks scored 31 points in their win vs. UP. That means he's the first player to reach 30 points in this season. Although he shown tendencies in lebroning in the clutch, he can redeem himself if he leads the 'Dogs to victory in their next game. Against the Eagles.

The Trash Heap:
#11. EAC: Hey chicks and wannabe chicks! Jonas Paguia, the former PBB Teen housemate, is apparently better than that ultimate Survivor dude! The NCAA needs tix! Save the trees!
#12. Lyceum: Are the Pirates "over their quota"? Their game against Arellano would be another "can-win" for them. The others? Not so much.
#13. DLSU: Wait, why are the Archers aren't here? Answer: They lost this week.
#14. FEU: See above.
#15. Arellano: Need to strengthen their defense, particularly against penetrations (Nene Pimentel loves that word) and rampaging big men.
#16. UE: This will be a loooooooong season for the Defense Minister.
#17. Mapua: What went wrong with the Cards? I thought they netted a big man?
#18. UPHSD: See UE, above, replaced "Defense Minister" with "whomever their new coach is".

Player of the Week: Jeric Fortuna (UST) -- I considered several other people, but only Jeric Fortuna had stellar performances on all (if applicable) games this week. Ravena scored a big fat egg on his debut, and Parks also had a "meh" debut. Among the NCAA guys no one was stellar enough: in Baste, both Abueva and Pascual shared scoring duties and in the CSB-Mapua game, the lone competitive NCAA game of the week outside the Lyceum-EAC game, Jan Tan had the game high 15 points: not exactly player of the week material.

Games to see this week:
July 20 @Filoil: SSC-R vs. CSJL -- No NCAA rivalry is truer than this one.
July 21 @Araneta: ADMU vs. NU -- Parks vs. Ravena... and Slaughter.
July 24 @Philsports: UST vs. AdU -- Potential playoffs matchup?

Note: An earlier version said that Kiefer Ravena set a 2-year record when he scored 30 points in the Ateneo-La Salle game. That was wrong -- Ravena tied the record on most points in a half.

Where David Stern is the star player happens: Top 10 stories of the 2011 NBA Playoffs 1st Round

This may have been the best first round of the NBA Playoffs ever, and to think no series went to seven games. But what should be more surprising is that the series that we expected to suck generated the most drama while those just deserve a "meh" reaction.

And how about them Solar Sports, giving us the games nobody wants to watch. Hey at least in the Conference Semis, they have no choice but to show something, considering there are fewer games to dump into NBA Premium, where nobody watches happens.
#10. The Heat ain't crying yet
You know, this is the undercard in one of those Pacquiao fights were Chino and Quinito just greet everyone, with Quinito kissing the ass of Ambassador Danding.

#9. KD dominating the Nuggets
Ever since Melo left, they've been stripped off the Thuggets monicker and still suck.

#8. Thorny Rose?
Fact: The only game the Pacers won, D-Rose did not achieve game-high in scoring.

#7. Unbounded Tyson Chandler
Tyson Chandler might be the missing piece in the Mavs championship puzzle -- a dominating big man. But would he be enough? The Mavs weren't able to stop David Stern the Blazers in their game 4 comeback, so that's one problem they should solve -- against the Lakeshow.

#6. End of the road for the Spurs?
Big question: Is it time for the Spurs to take drastic measures? Sell Duncan? Tank next season to get the #1 pick? Spank Richard Jefferson until training camp? Make sure Tony and Eva get back together again?

#5. Chris Paul: First Round MVP?
It's as if Pido was coaching the Hornets, with his three Ps philosophy: Puso, Pass the ball to Paul. Too bad Emeka thought he was still in Charlotte, and Kobe thought the Finals came in April.

#4. Swept away by Leprechauns.
Baseball has the Red Sox and the Yankees, but the basketball version was anticlimatic. Melo and STAT succumbed to injuries, and MSG wanted to bring Balkman back (nah). At least it's not Isiah.

#3. "Damn Kobe"
That phrase trended in Twitter. In situations where Pau Gasol is thinking of SOFT pillows, Lamar is thinking of Kim Kardashian and not Khloe, and when Andrew Bynum should've been paying for his hospital bills, Kobe does something.

#2. Memphis won, and then some.
The Grizzlies made a lot of firsts: such as making sure "Z" does not only mean "Zydrunas Ilgauskas." Now the franchise is in uncharted territory, and somehow, Mike Conley is earning every cent of his salary... well maybe still not.

#1. Orlando Magic: Disappointment of the season?
It doesn't help when your coach threw himself under the bus and lived to tell about it.

Postscript: It's interesting how the Conference Semis matchups look like. While not advocating for reseeding as it is done in the (NHL) Stanley Cup Playoffs, the massive regular season push by the Spurs and Bulls gave us a couple of interesting matchups: Mavs vs. Lakers and Celtics vs. Heat. The demotion of the Lakers to the #2 seed, and the Bulls causing the Celtics and Heat meet one round earlier than expected can make a pretty bland Conference Finals before things pick up once more in the NBA Finals, assuming David Stern does not screw up things.

Week 7 Top 10: The Turning Point

Four more games left per team in the UAAP season, while God knows how many are left in the NCAA tourney. UP is gone, Perps is waiting eagerly for their turn, and maroon teams have been winless so far. And it's mid-late-August already.

Also, as much as possible, I'm restricting these "weekly top 10" on their records for the week, not their overall record. Because you know, it's the Weekly Top 10.

(BTW, if you're looking for the nifty graphics I previously used, the program I'm using got corrupted so the template was lost. Wahaha. So I got lazy making a new one. Instead, let's just use some photo remotely related to the title. Like the one at the top.)


#10. CSB Blazers
2-6, 1-0 this week (defeated UPHSD 79-70)
If Jojo Lastimosa was nicknamed "Jolas", so should Carlo Lastimosa be nicknamed "Colas"? CSB is an easy team to beat. Stop Colas, and you'd win. How do you stop Colas? Let some bigger guy guard him.

#9. NU Bulldogs
4-6, 1-1 this week (lost to Ateneo 69-49, defeated UP 61-59)
I've heard the ending of the UP-NU game was mighty awesome. If someone can narrate to us what really happened, we'd be completely grateful.

#8. Letran Knights
3-6, 1-1 this week (defeated EAC 88-65, lost to JRU 76-60)
Letran can be described as one roster spot away from being at least a playoff contender. They need big men. Since Mark Andaya left the team, the Knights have had difficulties with teams with tall lineups. They have to find centers and power forwards for them to advance further.

#7. De La Salle Green Archers
6-4, 1-1 this week (defeated UP 84-63, lost to Ateneo 74-57)
You know what was the turning point in their loss against Ateneo? Ferdinand entering the game. That's when Ateneo stepped on the clutch and their import started making shooting the lights out. Hey at least Ferdinand can be like Malabes, he can run away to Indonesia once his playing years are maxed out by La Salle.

#6. Arellano Chiefs
4-5, 1-0 this week (defeated Mapua 61-54)
The Chiefs are on the rebound, thanks to Leo Isaac's coaching. Beating Mapua was a step forward if they want to qualify in the semis.

#5. UE Red Warriors
3-7, 1-0 this week (defeated Adamson 71-63)
Like Arellano, all is not lost for the Warriors team. All they have to do is... well, win games. If they can beat Adamson, and they, and I mean everyone not named Paul Lee, step up, then they can catch up on the Final 4. The Warriors have a strong guard combo in Lee and Martinez Chongson has to figure out ways on how to exploit this.

#4. JRU Heavy Bombers
7-2, 2-0 this week (defeated Mapua 61-54 and Letran 76-60)
The Bombsquad is on the loose, and only the two top NCAA teams can beat them now, now that Meneses now can win games yet setting probably a record number of turnovers. If you win yet blowout your opponent with 30+ turnovers/game, that's something. Only that it won't work with SBC and SSC. If Meneses wants the twice to bear advantage, he has to prevent these turnovers.

#3. FEU Tamaraws
9-1, 1-0 this week (defeated UST 76-67)
After a bad loss from Adamson, the Tams made sure the Tigers won't come back. FEU's semifinal stint is in the bag, and the twice to beat looking good, it's the winning in the semis -- something Capacio has yet to do -- would take them to the next level.

#2. Ateneo Blue Eagles
8-2, 2-0 this week (defeated NU 69-49 and La Salle 74-57)
Two blowout wins and they're #2? Seriously, what are you sniffing? Haven't you seen how they made the Bulldogs look like puppies, and the Archers look like... what's the junior equivalent of an Archer? Toddler Archer?

#1. San Beda Red Lions
8-0, 1-0 this week (defeated San Sebastian 88-76)
Why they heck they are #1? They're undefeated. And they make the then undefeated Stags look like drunk guys on a stag party. Sudan Daniel can match up with anyone thrown at him, and they successfully shut down Calvin "The Spitfire" Abueva with their interior defense thanks to the Semarad brothers.

Player of the week: Kirk Long (Ateneo). Did you know that Kirk Long's real name is Jeffrey, and his birthday is indefinite?
Runner-up: Referees at the UP-NU game. These guys deprived us of what could've been the longest basketball game in history. Weeee.

Scrub of the week: Rolly Manlapaz. Can someone scream "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SHOOTING FORWARD" to this guy. Thank you.
Runner-up: Ferdinand (La Salle). 0 points vs. Ateneo. I wonder why Pumaren is still putting him on the floor.

Week 5 Top 10: Mid-term Grades

Or as I call it, prelims since we didn't call them as mid-terms. So whatever.

Wait, most NCAA teams still have 2 more games left before they end their first round. The UAAP teams, who started 2 weeks later, are already finished. Perhaps the NCAA guys want to extend their season so that they can play their playoffs on weekends... at sembreak, when everyone is too drunk to watch games.


1. FEU Tamaraws (7-0, defeated UST 65-57)
If the Tams are so good, they have a choice: sweep the eliminations and wait for a month before playing in the virtual best-of-5 finals with them up 1-0, or lose so thay they won't be rusty but still pulverize the #4 team. That is, if they're that good.

2. San Beda Red Lions (6-0, defeated Arellano 92-57)
One way to train in a run-and-gun game is to practice those circus shots once the transition defense catches up. The Lions have mastered this perfectly and there is no stopping them, even if you make the shot.

3. San Sebastian Stags (6-0, defeated CSB 75-74)
The Stags almost had it coming. This sets up for an exciting 1st round finale vs. San Beda if they both continue undefeated.

4. Ateneo Blue Eagles (5-2, defeated UP 78-53 and UE 80-73)
Ateneo ended the 1st round with a bang. As expected since they're up against the two tailenders. The next games against Adamson and La Salle are virtual playoffs for #2. The Eagles must know their go-to guy in close situations to prevent what happened in the first La Salle game.

5. Adamson Falcons (5-2, defeated UE 69-56 and La Salle 70-68)
Finally, a breakthrough for Adamson as they had finally found ways to win close games. Now if they can do it again, and defeat Ateneo, they'll be in their first twice-to-beat advantage in history. The weakest link: the point guard position.

6. Mapua Cardinals (5-2, defeated EAC 82-68)
The Cardinals' two losses came from San Beda and Baste. Like Adamson, they'd have to beat the top 2 teams in their league to have a fighting chance of securing their first twice to beat advantage. Their next game vs. JRU will be the measuring stick if they can beat the other teams.

7. La Salle Green Archers (4-3, defeated by Adamson 70-68)
La Salle's MVPs: Ferdinand and Joshua "The Special One" Webb. The haterz love you lots.

8. Letran Knights (2-4, defeated CSB 70-54)
Aside from Letran winning, the other important thing that happened during their game was the Studio 23 debut of courtside reporter Myka Basco. ABS-CBN sure knows how to please their core audience. Now Letran has to devise ways of scoring to please their own core audience, since offense sells tickets.

9. NU Bulldogs (3-4, defeated UP 70-66)
Either the Bulldogs are a super awesome team, or UP is extremely crappy that's why they lost that 20-point plus lead. And I said UP would win.

By the way, Mike Silungan used to play for the interbarangay in our place as an import. My uncle's scouting report: loves to shoot, hates everything else. Yeah, instead of NU I discussed about UP.

10. EAC Generals (2-4, defeated by UPHSD 78-66)
The Generals seem to have found their shooting touch, beating Perps and CSB a week ago. Now if they manage to beat the likes of Arellano and Letran they can have a respectable finish.

Top ten toughest national flags to draw

Remember as a kid when you drew our national flag? Red, white and blue with a sun shining through, with three little stars at the tips of the triangle? Ain't that easy? If you're a Libyan kid, unless you're green-color blind, drawing the national flag is as easy as getting a piece of green art paper.

Most other European and African nations have tricolors, flags with three colors either arranged horizontally or vertically (or even diagonally).

But some national flags are a chore to draw. If you are a kid in of these countries, it must've been next to impossible to draw your own flag. What makes the flag special is that it is simple enough for children to draw, for the kids find a connection between their lives and their flags.

And as expected, flags with coat of arms (seals) are one of the hardest to draw, so I'll exclude them. This list will be too easy to create, if that's the case.

(Flags c/o Wikimedia Commons.)

10. Flag of Krygyzstan

This flag only has two colors, but drawing the sun might be a chore. You'd have the draw 40 wavy rays. Hey at least we only eight to draw. This is worse than the Uruguayan and Argentinian flags that have flags with a sun with plenty of rays.

9. Flag of Sri Lanka

This is not that hard, once you perfect on how to draw the silhouette of a dragon. The flag of Bhutan is harder - the dragon is more intricate, but you can screw that up anyway easily.

8. Flag of Brunei

The central emblem, if you can call it an 'emblem" is a composite image composed of many parts. Another Southeast Asian country, Cambodia, has a flag that is harder to draw, since you'd have to draw the Angkor Wat correctly but seriously, we mastered drawing castles when we were kids so it's not that hard to draw with practice.

7. Flag of Swaziland
This flag has five colors. Essentially a flag of stripes, the flag got hard to draw once you're into the shield and the spears. Kenya has a similar flag but the shield and spears are easier drawn than the more complicated flag of Swaziland.

6. Flag of the United States

Hey, I thought this was easy? If you thought Krygyzstan's flag had 40 wavy rays, try drawing 50 little stars, cramped inside a blue box. And don't forget the 13 red and white stripes.

5. Flag of Brazil

See those tiny stars at the circle on the Brazilian flag below the equator? Those are constellations and you gotta draw them right to prevent screw-ups. And yes, even constellations having meanings, too. And don't forget the text on the equator.

4. Flag of Mozambique

If there is a coolest flag ever, this has to be it. A flag with an AK-47? Guess they didn't use M16s. Ever tried drawing one? And you'd have to draw it on top of a book, which is on top of a gold star on a triangle... you get the drift.

3. Flag of Croatia

Hey, this is just a tricolor and a checkerboard. Try drawing those icons on top of the checkerboard. And yeah, with all of the hues and stuff, this flag has not three, but nine colors. (Note: The thumbnail is reduced from 1,000 pixels, unlike the rest of the pictures here, to further... uh... "illustrate" the point.)

2. Flag of Turkemistan
Hey, this is just a green flag with a a crescent, stars and a red band on the left. See those cute drawings on the red band? Those are five carpet designs. Mastering one of those designs could take a week or two. Master five and a kid will go crazy. (Just as Croatia's the picture is not reduced in size so you can see the pretty carpet designs.)

1. Flag of Belarus 

You thought this is simple, eh? Try drawing the Belarussian decorative pattern.

Week 3 Top 10: Tams are not 5-0

For some reason, our friends from Inboundpass screwed up, saying the FEU Tamaraws are now 5-0. Yeah, even I screw up, tons of times. But no one visits this blog so it's OK.

On with the show.

But first, a minor problem. (Hey I thought you said "On with the show"? What's up with this?)

The NCAA has nine teams. They play four times a week. That means, only eight teams play, and at least one team is having a week off. That is, if a team plays twice a week, or a gameday is suspended, then the whole schedule is thrown into chaos.

Why is this important? In making a "top 10," at least 5 teams per league (NCAA and UAAP) must win in a week. In the current scheme of things, a maximum four teams can win per week, that means I have to give a spot for an NCAA team that lost. But if all games in a week were blowouts then I'd get someone from the UAAP, and that usually means I'd get a losing team too. So it's hard. And it sucks. But that's life. Screw you ABS-CBN. And Boom Gonzalez. Yeah, I really have to say that.

1. FEU Tamaraws (4-0, defeated UE 91-81, and UP 94-70)
The Tamaraws had a scare on the third quarter on their game against archrivals UE, with Paul Lee reliving last year's semifinals with outrageous treys, but the Tams held on for the win, and made UP join UE at the cellar with a drubbing.

2. San Beda (4-0, defeated Letran 77-60)
Bedans must be God-like for Louie Alas to remark "Parehas lang kayong tao" during one of his time outs. San Beda's PBA-caliber frontline fuels their run-and-gun game. Grab the boards, throw the outlet pass and score. It pays also to work on those circus shots in practice once the transition defense gets in the way.

3. La Salle (3-1, defeated Ateneo 66-63)
You know Ateneo is in trouble when Kirk "ZOMG did I just hit that" Long and Emann "ZOMG I'm still in Team A" Monfort is out of the game. Marata scored when needed, and Ferdinand made it exciting for the neutrals.

4. San Sebastian (4-0, defeated Mapua 68-49)
Haven't seen the game, but Baste must've been so good it made the floods in Intramuros that day felt a little deeper.

5. JRU (4-1, defeated CSB 74-65)
The Heavy Bombers struck off the third undefeated team in the NCAA. Richard del Rosario is not happy.

6. Ateneo (2-2, defeated by La Salle 66-63)
I daresay La Salle scored a chamba on that one. Too bad chambas do count. Ateneo needs a go-to-guy or else they'll see Justin Chua shooting Hail Mary's from the 50-yard line in order to send a game into OT.

7. Adamson (3-1, defeated UST 75-71)
For some reason, Leo Austria must not know the names of his players (he calls his point guard as "point guard") but either way it worked as they safely inbounded the ball against UST during the dying seconds to secure a morale-boosting win.

8. NU (2-2, defeated UE 70-63)
The 'Dogs are out and, with cash coming from your nearest SM mall, the 'Dogs are out to erase the stigma that they are the bonus team.

9. UST (2-2, defeated UP in OT 87-81, defeated by Adamson 75-71)
Pido must've spent a lot of time drilling Jeric Fortuna into a marksman, but it'll take more than that for UST to surpass their season quota of 2 wins.

10. UP (0-4, defeated by UST in OT 87-81, and by FEU 94-70)
So what the heck is a winless team doing in here? Hey at least they almost won one game, unlike the other beaten teams (with wins or otherwise) this week.

The queue:
11. Arellano (2-3, defeated UPHSD 86-67): Why are they not in the Top 10? Because they beat a team that still has to win something?
12. CSB (1-1, defeated by JRU 74-65): Among the losers, they had the bMaest point differential.
13. Mapua (2-2, defeated by San Sebastian 68-49): At least they were beaten by an unbeaten team.
14. Letran (1-3, defeated by San Beda 77-60): Ditto, but the loss should've been more pathetic than Mapua's.
15. UE (0-4, defeated by FEU 91-81, and by NU 70-63): Something is wrong at Recto, and it's not just the black market of falsified documents.
16. UPHSD (0-5, defeated by Arellano 86-67): Maybe they should allow Ynion to score more. At least they won when they did that.
17. EAC (0-3, DNP this week): Hey at least Perps sorta gave their opponents a fight, unlike the Generals.

Meet me halfway: NBA Playoffs mid-point

It's the Conference Finals and you know what that means: We are past two rounds of the playoffs and are at the halfway point. So what better way to celebrate than by having a totally random Top 10 list? Thanks, Dave.

#10: Brandon Jennings
So why did not get into college and why did he have bad stats in Europe???

#9: Suns shining brightly
This the Suns' best chance since like forever. Suns-Celtics to relive the Greatest Game Ever Played?

#8: What do they put in the water in Denver?
First, the head coach got cancer, then the assistan has kidney stones. Now the Nuggz are eliminated. Chauncey is pissed.

#7: D-Wade needs help
Maybe he can sign some Dolphins linebackers to scare the hell out of the opponent when he drives to the basket.

#6: Mavs first round woes
Hollinger was right. Mavs suck. LeBron we need you.

#5: The Truth: When we're healthy, we'd win
Thw Truth certainly speaks the truth. Just like when he said he twitched his knee in the 2008 Finals. The Celtics trainer must give puppy kibbles to the players to make them healthy.

#4: Magic's "Fo, fo..."
Once thing's sure: the Magic won't go 16-0 in the playoffs with an arse-raping against the Celtics.

#3: LeBron loses, again
Lakers fanboys the world over got so happy when the Celtics eliminated the Cavs in the semifinal for the second year running. Despite legit backup, LeBron failed to lead his team back at least to the Conference Finals. They did even better in 2007 when they had Boobie Gibson as their starting PG.

#2: Thunder made impact.
Kevin Durant had a baptism of fire, but he responded like a a priest becoming a bishop: like a time-tested pro. He and the Thunder, which never made any major moves, made sue the Lakers won't get in easy.

#1: Teh Playoffs were boring.
Like seriously, sweeps in the Conference Semifinals, blowouts by the Orlando Magic, then they got blew out. Even Lakers games are predictable even it went the last shot: they'd still win.

Like seriously, hockey's better. #8 vs. #7 in the Conference Finals? Red Wings eliminated? And Hossa still in the playoffs only to cry at the end? This year's Stanley Cup Playoffs is epic.

2009 yearender: Top 10 local sports stories

Local sports had their own fair share of shining moments this year: epic (I love that word) upsets, dominating performances, comebacks deserving of a Guinness, and sheer stupidity worth watching a YouTube over and over again.

#10: Lady Archers are the volley queens
Thanks to the Shakey's V-League, everyone now cares about the UAAP's women's volleyball championship. La Salle dispatched Adamson in 4 sets (the last set with a scoreline of 25-13), and FEU returned the favor with a dissimilar 4-set win over UST. MVP Manilla Santos and Rookie of the Year Melissa Gohing faced off with best setter May Morada, all-around dependable girl Rachel Anne Daquis, and upcoming star Cherry Vivas. Game 1 went the distance with FEU winning. But La Salle came out with a dominating performance in Game 2 to force a winner-take-all Game 3. Inside an overflowing and newly-renamed Filoil Flying V Arena, the Lady Archers outlasted the Lady Tamaraws, who had to play with Daquis riding the bench to hand La Salle their fifth women's volley title.

#9: Seventh heaven for Pac-Man
Manny Pacquiao ended the 2009 leg of his "North American tour" with an 11th round knockout of Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. Cotto wasn't even punching in the latter stages of the fight, and Kenny Bayless took pity on the Puerto Rican. Twitter even had a "#cottosface" hash tag to celebrate the momentous event. Even Cotto's mom wouldn't like #cottosface.

#8: Uber epic Green fail
Ah, the usual palusots of people: many veterans left so we have a crappy team. That argument only holds water if there are no replacements, or "rookies" (for some reason, I don't like using that word in an amateur, or in this case, collegiate, context. Use freshmen, sophomore and the like instead.) that came in. And with DLSU's awesome recruiting capabilities, even PBA teams would turn green with envy, you can't count out DLSU in any season. But alas, one of their recruits came back to the loving arms of his father (pardon the pun), and while the remaining recruits weren't bad (in fact they were, as expected, impressive), the vets who remained had such crappy performances supporters were wondering what Franz Pumaren was thinking when he placed those "vets" in pivotal minutes. And with the last game vs. NU where DLSU could've
forged a playoff vs. UST and/or Adamson for the last playoff berth, the Green Archers proved to everyone that they were not worthy of a playoff spot. At least for this year.

#7: Bella Swan would proud of the Tigresses
The Tigresses made the Shakey's V-League their playground by sweeping all two championships given by the league. UST won the 1st conference on 3 sets, with the 2 winning sets via a 3 sets to none scoreline, beating the San Sebastian Lady Stags. On the 2nd conference, the Tigresses didn't give the Lady Falcons a chance, sweeping the series 2-0 on identical 3-1 scores. Rhea Dimaculangan, Mary Jean Balse and Aiza Maizo made UST an unstoppable force in the V-League, now with the leagie-high 5 championships.

#6: MVP for the Ages
PLDT head honcho Manny V. Pangilinan, which also makes him team owner of the Talk 'N Text PBA team, had a banner year in sports, with the only disappointment coming from the Red and White school near the Palace. In the PBA, the Tropang Texters, relied on, ironically a Lasallian, Mark Cardona to carry the cudgels for the team. Cardona had a monster semifinal series against San Miguel, in which he capped off a three-pointer to seal the deal, and the defensive rebound as insurance to put the Texters in the Finals. Facing the Aces, which lead 3-2, Cardona scored game high on points for the rest of the way to avenge the then Phone Pals' loss against the Aces in the 2007 Fiesta Conference. Cardona's exploits gave him his first pro Finals MVP award.

#5: Sheer Blue dominance
If this Ateneo team failed to win it all this year, it would've been the epic disappointment of the decade, the epic upset for the team that would've done the feat, and MVP, in the words of the immortal Green (Over)Mind, MVP would've plucked Pat Riley out of retirement to coach Ateneo next season. What did the Blue Eagles is probably the most formidable starting line-up in the latter half of the decade: Al-Hussaini, Baclao, Buenafe, Reyes and Tiu, plus sixth man Salamat, who'd be a starter in any other collegiate team in the country.

#4: The return of the Beermen
Like Ateneo, San Miguel is a team built to win championships. However, with the fickle nature of the PBA playoffs (virtually ALL teams participate, leading to upsets), San Miguel has won only once in the two-conference era, despite finishing within the top three after the elimination round in five occasions. However, they did finish #1 in the 2009 Fiesta Conference, and had a relatively easy semifinal series against the Burger King Whoppers, coached by old adversary Yeng Guiao. Facing sister team Barangay Ginebra, and I won't imply cooking happened, the Beermen showed that their latest championship was a well-deserved one, winning the last two games being behind 2-3 in the series, and the seventh game was a dominating performance, even Ginebra fans stayed for the awarding ceremonies.

#3: Bata and Django weave their magic
The World Cup of Pool arrives at Asia, and the Philippines has been a constant host of WPA events. Pinoys flocked to cheer to their two teams, Philippines "A" of Ronnie Alcano and Dennis Orcollo, and Philippines "B" of Efren Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante. In the end, only one Philippine team remained, and Bata and Django summed it up: they weren't playing for themselves, they played for the country. And they won to the delight of the fans who stayed late at night to watch the final.

#2: The fall of the team from the West Coast
What do Sudan Daniel, Rome dela Rosa, and Ginno Soliman have in common, aside from playing for San Beda? They all came from the city of Angels -- no, not Angeles City, but from Los Angeles, California. The home of the Lakers and Kobe. And they fell to the Central Luzon Combine called the San Sebastian Golden Stags, and a Canadian by the name of Jonathan Semira.

#1: Pac-Man demolishes a white dude
There's something about white guys and boxing. The Klitschko brothers are the only white boxers that had been universally recognized as heavyweight champions since God knows when. In the lower divisions, Hispanics, Blacks and Asians dominate the field. Americans had fared badly -- white Americans have been searching for the "Great White Hope." The Brits produced one, by the name of Ricky Hatton. And knowing the rowdy nature of British fans, Hatton acquired a massive fanbase. And with Pinoys not left behind, they all rallied behind the country's "National Fist". Americans were reduced to mere spectators as two foreigners slugged it out in boxing's capital -- Las Vegas. Too bad the preview shows on HBO were longer -- the fight lasted a mere 6 minutes in boxing time.

Decadender: 10 greatest Pinoy college hoops playoff games

Ah, the decade of the 2000s (2000 to 2009), included the tail end of the second millennium (2000 -- the new millennium actually began on 2001, unless Jesus was born at year 0) brought Pinoy college hoops to new heights: the revival of the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry, with FEU and UST figuring in the mix, epic Letran-PCU battles, the resurrection of San Beda's basketball program, and suspensions due to forged documents. The old decade ended with a glimmer of hope -- an impending expansion of the oldest collegiate league, and UE on the verge of winning it all, well, they're always on the verge of winning it all so...

#10: Game 2 of the 2005 UAAP Finals: FEU 73, La Salle 71
There was one reason why Arwind Santos didn't go pro in 2005: to avenge what happened to the Tams in 2004. Arwind got his wish when the FEU and La Salle met again in a rematch the year before: only this time, FEU now has to counter the exploits of Joseph Yeo.

In this season, FEU, La Salle and Ateneo were the top 3 teams, but only two teams will advance to the Finals: FEU was beaten by Ateneo at the tail end of the eliminations but that wasn't enough as they left the Blues and the Greens behind. The arch-rivals faced each other in a playoff for the second seed, and La Salle maintained their mastery over the school from Katipunan with a blowout win. The Archers ended the Eagles' misery with another blowout at the semifinals to forge a Finals rematch with the Tamaraws, who were taken to the limit by the UE Red Warriors.

Game 1 ended with the heroics of Arwind Santos in the final minutes; This was also the game where Lasallians would rather forget(?) when Manny Salgado hit Arwind at the back of his head, then ran away screaming like a little girl .Arwind again saved the team in Game 2, also in the final play to deny the Green Archers a win in the Finals series. The next day, the La Salle scandal was exposed in the papers. No, it was not the sex scandal.

#9: Game 1 of the 2003 UAAP semifinals: La Salle 76, Ateneo 72
Everyone from Ateneo and La Salle in 2003 wanted an Ateneo-La Salle finals (but they'll answer you that they'll take any opponent, but deep down inside, they craved for it.), but Arwind Santos and FEU had other plans. And they along with UE tied with Ateneo for first; La Salle had their worst season in Final Four history -- bad enough for a 7-7 record and a #4 seed. Ateneo got the #1 seed, FEU defeated UE in the playoff for #2, and the Ateneo-La Salle Finals would have to wait. Hey, at least there'll be an Ateneo-La Salle semifinals.

Unlike in 2001 (see #7), LA Tenorio is now a seasoned UAAP veteran, and La Salle was in a "rebuilding" mode. Despite being in a rebuilding mode, La Salle surprised everybody with a spirited semifinals, until it got too spirited in which LA Tenorio punched Jerwin Gaco at his side, and Ryan Arana was in his usual wasted self. Ejections and twenty real-time minutes later, the game resumed and La Salle forced a Game 2. With Tenorio and Arana suspended, Ateneo won to face FEU in the Finals, and series that they will lose.

#8: Game 1 of the 2000 NCAA Finals: CSB 66, San Sebastian 64
2000 was the Green Year: La Salle won the men's and women's UAAP basketball championships, and CSB qualified for the NCAA Finals for the first time in their history, and only in their second year in the league, under probation.

CSB was led by he triumvirate of Mark Magsumbol, Sunday Salvacion and Jondan Salvador, Baste had Christian Coronel and Mark Macapagal. The Stags led in the early going, but CSB cashed in at the second half in what appeared to be an easy win over last year's #1 seed (unceremoniously booted out by fourth-seeded Letran Knights in the semifinals). SSC-R prevented a rout when CSB started throwing the ball like hell, and the Stags led 64-61. But Al Magpayo, the NCAA Rookie of the Year, scored on a 3-point play off a Macapagal foul to tie the game 64-all. With forty seconds left, and the Stags gave away the possession. Magsumbol drove from the weak side, and scored on another lay-up. Coronel raced towards the other side to force OT, but was thwarted to hand CSB game 1 of the series. CSB blew out the Stags in Game 2 to clinch their still only NCAA championship for the school.

#7: Game 3 of the 2001 UAAP Finals: La Salle 74, Ateneo 68
La Salle are the three-time defending champions. They faced two different opponents in three years, and they vanquished them all. Ateneo was in a 13-year championship drought, and coach Joe Lipa's job hangs in the balance. Ateneo gave La Salle a scare in Game 1, but Ateneo broke through with a Game 2 win thanks to a Magnum Membrere trey that Ren-Ren Ritualo wasn't able to answer at the other end to force Game 3.

In Game 3, it was the tale of two players: Carlo Sharma scoring 22 points, and 11 points in the payoff period that negated rookie LA Tenorio's 30 points -- yes, 30 points for a rookie in Game 3 -- to give La Salle the third four-peat in the UAAP.

#6: Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP Finals: Ateneo 73, UST 72
Despite the Ateneans' constant downplaying of their chances for the 2006 season, the Blue Eagles suffered only two defeats during the abbreviated elimination round thanks to La Salle's suspension: an inconsequential game against UE, and an overtime loss against their Finals opponents UST. Thomasians were just giddy to be in the Finals, having to go through three games to get there.

Ateneo and UST played a see-saw game all throughout, and again it hinged on the final possession of the game for each team: Ateneo lead by one point when Jervy Cruz had a tough time entering Ateneo's interior defense. He kicked out the ball to Allan Evangelista, who was covered well by Doug Kramer himself. The UST captain sank a fadeaway jumper to put UST up by one, but there was still a fraction of a second remaining.

Norman Black then devised what could've been the most exhilarating play of the decade. Macky Escalona inbounded the ball, Chris Tiu set a pick to separate Japs Cuan and Doug Kramer from each other, and Escalona gave the ball to Kramer for a wide-open lay-up to give Ateneo a 1-0 series lead.

#5: Game 1 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals: Letran 65, PCU 64
Letran wanted a back-t0-back title run, after a masterful conquest of San Sebastian a season earlier. However, two of the newest schools in the league, PCU and UPHSD finished tied for first. Letran had to settle for a semifinal meeting with PCU, having to win twice. They could've finished easily in the top 2 but hot-headed Ronjay Enrile was suspended for choking a San Sebastian player in eliminations.

On this game, Letran and PCU forged what could've been college basketball's epic rivalry of the decade, only that PCU's juniors teams did something silly and wasted a perfect opportunity to lay the foundations of a collegiate basketball powerhouse team. In one of the first semifinal games in years to be played at the Araneta Coliseum, the Dolphins and the Knights contested every possession like its their last. It all boiled down to the final possession of the game, with the Knights of the offensive and down by two points. Jonathan Aldave, one of the pieces of Letran's balanced attack of the decade, let go a three-pointer at the final buzzer. It went in, and Letran extended the series to a deciding game at the Rizal Memorial, where they were upended by the Dolphins in OT, with Enrile back in the lineup, on their way to their only NCAA championship.

#4: Game 3 of the 2004 UAAP Finals: La Salle 68, FEU 65
Ateneo-La Salle rivalry? FEU and La Salle also revived their own rivalry (a rivalry one side rather downplays) in the 2000s. FEU and La Salle peaked at the middle of the decade, with two consecutive Finals match-ups. In the first, FEU and La Salle needed the full three games to arrive at a conclusion.

Game 3 was what the scalpers wanted, an epic game to end the season. It all had the ingredients of a rivalry: teams that hate each other, Anton Montinola, and rich people behaving badly. And yes, an epic game to boot, too. FEU were the defending champions, and La Salle just came from a "rebuilding" season to qualify for the Finals anew. The Tams had Arwind Santos and Denok Miranda. The Lasallians already lost Ren-Ren Ritualo and Mike Cortez to the pros. But they still had Mark Cardona, Joseph Yeo and from "their" farm team at Mendiola, JV Casio. Arwind had his usual game, but the vaulted La Salle offense kept them in the running. It all came down to La Salle's last possession with game tied at 68-all. JV Casio shot a three-pointer over an outstretched hands of an FEU defender. It went in. FEU sued for time, and on their last possession, Denok Miranda missed on a desperation drive to the hoop. The teams were still scrambling for the rebound when the horn sounded, and the Archers won anew.

Of course, due to the Benitez/Gatchalian scandal (that sounded nasty), La Salle had to surrender their championship. To the FEU Tamaraws. But still, Arwind held off his pro debut for another season because of this (see #10).

#3: Game 3 of the 2006 NCAA Finals: San Beda 68, PCU 67
Bill Velasco said, he had never seen a multitude of grown men cry, until this. San Beda was on a 28-year championship drought. Last time they were champions, martial law ruled the land. Coming into the mix in the middle of 2005 after SBC had a 0-6 start, Koy Banal led the Lions to a two-game winning streak, only to be halted by Letran in 2005. Banal didn't waver, and the Red Lions picked up the Ekwelizer from Africa: Sam Ekwe. Sam Ekwe gave matchup problems to all teams except one: the PCU Dolphins, who have a brigade of big guys not afraid to mix it up down low.

The first two games of the Finals were actually blowouts: San Beda blew out PCU in Game 1, and PCU prevented an early celebration with an ever bigger blowout in Game 2. Game 3 was seeming like an imminent crowning of the Red Lions: the Dolphins were down by 15 points at the start of the fourth quarter. The Dolphins had arguably the better roster: Gabby Espinas, Rob Sanz, Beau Belga and Jason Castro (all 4 played in the pros), but San Beda had the Ekwelizer. PCU, egged by their token contingent of fans, cut the lead to one in the final minute. San Beda turned over the ball. This was looking like the dreaded 1991 Finals versus Mapua, that shot by Benny Cheng Bedans would rather want to forget. Jason Castro had the ball, and he didn't know what to do with it, but to run out the clock and attempt at the last half-second. Castro was well covered. He passed on to Belga, who was just inside the arc -- he released the ball, missed, Yousif Aljamal grabbed the rebound, and 28 years of frustration was over. But grown men still had to cry.

#2: Game 3 of the 2006 UAAP Finals: UST 76, Ateneo 74 in OT
After an epic Game 1 and a downer of a Game 2, no one really knew how Game 3 would be like. Many people expected Ateneo to be back with a vengeance after a weak Game 2. It would be a fitting end for the collegiate careers of Macky Escalona and JC Intal, who had played second fiddle to Ateneo's 2002 championship. UST fans were just all giddy to be even playing in theGame 3 of the Finals.

So the stage was set. First quarter was close; in the second quarter, Ateneo threatened to pull away. The Tigers growled their back to the game in the second half. Down by just 5, the Tiger cause suffered a set back when rookie center Jervy Cruz fouled out. Atenean Macky Escalona was playing the game of his life, finishing the game with a game-high 28 points. In the final minute, Anthony Espiritu scored a trey, then Mark Canlas scored on a put-back. Intal missed on the other hand as the horn sounded to force overtime.

In overtime, neither team pulled away. With the score tied, Intal missed anew. Players from both teams grabbed the rebound, necessitating for a jump ball -- in this case, the possession arrow was used, and it pointed to UST. Eric Salamat fouled the former UAAP juniors MVP June Cortez; Cortez scored the first FT, missed the second intentionally. Ateneo got the rebound but they weren't able to dribble the ball near their court, causing a half-court heave. The coliseum gasped -- it missed. The Tigers are back on top.

Before #1: The rest
Before I give out the #1, lemme show other notable games of the decade, from earliest to the latest:
Fourth-seed playoff of the 2001 UAAP playoffs (NU 108, UE 102 in 2OT): NU qualifies for their still only UAAP Final Four apperance with an upset against UE.
Game of the 2001 UAAP Finals (Ateneo 76, La Salle 72)
Game 1 of the 2002 UAAP Finals (Ateneo 72, La Salle 70): Fonacier blocked Cardona twice.
Game 1 of the 2002 NCAA Finals (SSC-R 79, CSB 78): Baste finally beats CSB in the Finals. They'll later complete their conquest of the Blazers with a blowout Game 2 win.
Game 2 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals (UPHDS 58, San Beda 56): Jerome Paterno misses a gimme lay-up at the dying seconds to give Perps the Finals appearance.
Game 2 of the 2004 NCAA semifinals (PCU 85, Letran 80 in OT): With Ronjay Enrile back, the Knights weren't able to complete the improbable when he missed pressure FTs in the final minutes of OT.
Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (Ateneo 76, Adamson 73): With the Eagles up by four, Ken Bono completes a three-point play. Chris Tiu turned the ball over, and Patrick Cabahug had the chance to win the game for the Falcons, but missed. Tiu sealed the game with insurance FTs.
Second-seed playoff of the 2007 UAAP playoffs (La Salle 70, Ateneo 69): La Salle virtually seals their Finals appearance when Ateneo shot a two-pointer rather than a trey as time expired.
Game 1 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (UST 79, UE 75): June Cortez's three point play put the game away for the Red Warriors.
Game 2 of the 2006 UAAP semifinals (UST 82, UE 71): Another three point play, this time from Jojo Duncil, puts UST up for good; Marcy Arellano's drive to the basket cuts the lead to 1, UST turns the ball over, and Jorel Canizares misses a medium-range jumper.
Game 1 of the 2007 UAAP Finals (La Salle 64, UE 63): Despite Mark Borboran scoring a trey to tie the score, Rico Maierhofer sealed the game with a free-throw (Borboron missed a last-second trey at the dying seconds) to give DLSU a 1-0 series lead.
Game 1 of the 2008 NCAA semifinals (JRU 63, Letran 61): RJ Jazul turned the ball over for like three times costing CSJL the win.
Game 2 of the 2008 NCAA Finals (JRU 62, San Beda 60): This was the game where Jayson Nocom's jumpers were automatic.
Game 1 of the 2009 NCAA Finals (SSC-R 72, San Beda 68 in 2OT): The game where Bedans thought Calvin Abueva used performance-enhancing drugs.

#1: Game 2 of the 2002 UAAP semifinals: Ateneo 72, UE 70
You've probably still had nightmares or daydream this. Ateneo just came off the heels of preventing La Salle a 14-0 sweep, thereby giving the playoffs its usual #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 format. Ateneo was seeded #3, and they had to win twice over UE led by guys such as Ronald Tubid, James Yap, Paul Artadi, Arnold Booker and a budding KG Canaleta. Ateneo also had a stellar cast: Enrico Villanueva, LA Tenorio, Rich Alvarez, Larry Fonacier and coached by Joel Banal.

The game was hotly contested. In the fourth quarter, it was tied 70-all in the last 7.8 seconds when Artadi turned over the ball. Tenorio raced towards the other end, but Yap (who hadn't met the Atenean Kris Aquino) , who was (and still is) not known for his defense, covered Tenorio. Tenorio found Gec Chia, the intrams star that Joe Lipa didn't use that much in 2001, shook off Ronald Tubid, and released the ball over the outstretched arms of Olan Omiping. The shot went in and Ateneo booked a Finals rematch with La Salle.

2009 yearender: Top 10 international sports stories

International sports fans had a delight of sporting events and the sports scene didn't let up with highlights worth a second look:

#10: Who thought draws were boring?
As long as Charlize Theron hosts, I can tolerate it.

#9: The curse: Pittsburgh steel one from Kurt Warner as he ALMOST wins one
He won one at St. Louis and he almost led another franchise worth scrambled eggs to the Super Bowl. Too bad the people at Pottsville, Pennsylvania cursed the hapless Cardinals. What better team to beat the Cards: a team from Pennsylvania: BR-7's Pittsburgh Steelers.

#8: Spain barely qualifies, then bamboozles
Spain started the EuroBasket 2009 on a bad way -- losing to Serbia by 9, then had a virtual elimination game against host Poland to even qualify for the quarterfinals. They they had to beat unbeaten France in the QF, which they handily did, and they also won the next two games two, including the rematch with Serbia for the championship, where they blew out the hapless Serbs by 22.

#7: Thank God Tim Tebow's mom did not abort him...
Or else Urban Meyer would have sleepless nights on whether to retire or not. Meyer's probably imitating another champion Florida coach -- Billy Donovan.

#6: Tyler Hansbrough wins one for the curly white dudes
Who said white men can't jump? They still can't, but Tyler doesn't need to jump to bring a home crowd of 70,000 at the Ford Field to cry.

#5: Thrilling finish at San Juan
No USA? No problem -- Brazil, Argentina and Puerto Rico gave a Americas Championship to remember. The Puerto Ricans saw the next generation of hoops players Carlos Arroyo is more than happy to leave behind. Too bad they lost by a measly point, but they qualified anyway to the World Championship so... it's still bad. Spain, China and now Puerto Rico were beaten at the Final of their continental championships. I wonder why SBP insists on bidding for one.

#4: Kobe claims what's his, and lets LBJ gets the consolation prize
"Yo LeBron, get that MVP trophy, I'd rather see Bill Russell give me the golden trophy with a ball about to go to the rim -- just like your shots, they never get in."

#3: This SIX it: FC Barcelona
Purists won't call it a sextuple, but those six shiny trophies are the envy of fans around the world. Especially Manchester United and Real Madrid fans.

#2: If you're not into Canadian football...
Just watch:


#1: Mayweather is back, and then some
I dunno if Juan Manuel Marquez wanted a beatdown of epic proportions, but at least he earned big when he made himself Floyd Mayweather's punching bag.

NBA fortnightly Top 10: Boot up

After the preseason Top 30 (or three Top 10 lists), let's continue the momentum with the fortnightly top 10: It's like the power rankings, only that it comes out every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.

#10: Cleveland Cavaliers (6-3)
LeBron could've a better start to the season; had a 0-2 start (losing to a team not from the United States), and losing to the Bulls. All of their wins were from crappy teams. Good thing they won against the Florida teams. And LBJ had to score an average of 35 points on both games.

#9: Houston Rockets (5-4)
That Lakers game was oh so close but... you know the drill. Trevor Ariza is having a monster season, only that nobody cares anymore. Except for Luis Scola who grabs rebounds like perky schoolkids on a merry-go-round.

#8: Miami Heat (6-2)
The Heat are having a fiery start, with their two losses coming the likes of the Suns and the Cavs. If you thought James scores too much, you haven't seen Wade's stats: two 40-point plus games in the last fortnight. For some reason the Suns defense limited him to a measly 23 points. Dunno how that happened.

#7: Denver Nuggets (7-3)
For some reason I don't like this team. I dunno why. Maybe it's Melo's tats. The last week hasn't been kind to them either with three loses in a span of five days (Heat, Hawks, Bucks). But they bounced back with an arseraping of the Lakers... and you know I had to include this:

Too bad Allein Maliksi had a better dunk at the UAAP NCAA Slam Dunk Contest. Yeah, I wish.

#6: Orlando Magic (7-3)
Either the Magic hate SVG or SVG means "Suck Vig Gime". Yeah, that's poor. Their losses were awful. On the road at Detroit by 5, on the road at OKLAHOMA CITY by a number higher than 20 points (I didn't bother computing) and 9 at home vs. the Cavs. Now I wanna bash those Vince Carter fanboys at PEx, only if PEx is online. LOL

#5: Dallas Mavericks (6-3)
All is well in Mavsland. Kidd is shooting like Renren Ritualo, Dirk's hair is like Whitney Port's locks, Jose Juan Barea is emerging as a dependable fantasy player in a 50-team deep league, and Drew Gooden is on his way to being a realtor for having real estate in like 10 states. The road losses against NoLa and SA are a concern, though.

#4: Los Angeles Lakers (7-2)
So much for having a 20-1 start, eh? Well, there's still a still awesome 19-2 start, and Kobe's gotta be happy that the Lakeshow is doing well with Pau Gasol still fighting ETA extremists in his native Spain. But he's pissed at Ty Lawson. Too bad Sonny Weems is at Canada already perking himself up for the winter.

#3: Atlanta Hawks (7-2)
Despite losing to the #4 team, the Hawks won over the C's. But they were beaten badly by CHARLOTTE. (Yeah, I love using ALL CAPS for emphasis. Must be Twitter since you can't boldface and italicize and stuff.) So ranking these teams are as tough as pudding left at the window under the sun. Jamal Crawford is making himself a serious case for 6th man of the year. Only if they award the thing by fortnights.

#2: Phoenix Suns (8-2)
Yet ANOTHER team beaten by L.A. (and I mean the Lakers), and they're ranked higher. WTF is with this ranking? Yeah, but L.A. was almost beaten by the Clips, was beaten by the Mavs (who were ranked lower) and Oklahoma City which is ranked highly in the draft lottery. Still Nash and co. are scoring like crazy. Something that was so successful, Stern and Stu had to screw up the Sunnies when Stoudamire chased the Suns gorilla at the stands.

#1: Boston Celtics (8-2)
So wait, the #2 team beat the #1 team, and now they ranked higher? The C's beat the Cavs and Da Bulls, and the Suns were beaten by L.A. which was ranked lower. In other words, Sheed's having a jolly good time wearing green.

Top 10: 09-10 NBA countdown

Ah the top 10. You can be sure these ten teams would make it past the playoffs, heck even up to the Conference Semifinals, unless something catastrophic happens, like Kobe joining AI in Memphis. Or T-Mac high-fiving Oden at some sauna in Quezon Ave.

In this Top 10 edition, each team is associated with a Disney song. To make us all happy and perky this coming NBA season.

#10: Atlanta Hawks

While Josh Childress is on his way too extended Greek Holiday, the Hawks are at a crossroads. Young bigs, and Mike Bibby who is more famous for making non-aficionados mix him up with Doug Christie (both are white, bald and wear headbands). At least it's not as bad as MSNBC's Contessa Brewer.

#9: Denver Nuggets

Last season was "So Yesterday." But it's a brand new year, and Melo still must have a hangover. Wake up, Melo, the Nuggets are in for a long ride. At least Chauncey thinks he'll have John Elway's powers when he wears his number.

#8: Portland Trail Blazers

The present-day Jail Blazers are "Stranger" at the top. They haven't been there, and they almost went there, but due to tiebreaking complications even David Stern can't explain, they got the #4 seed, which meant a showdown with the T-Mac-less Rockets, which meant the Rockets would advance. Now that they had their baptism of fire, or should I say rocket exhaust, Brandon Roy and Daboy must break away from the "Stranger" label and show the West the will to win.

#7: Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose would've said, "Our Time is Here," and this crew will crack the Boston-Cleveland-Orlando axis at the top. That First Round performance last year wasn't a fluke. If that team started the season with THAT lineup, they could've been battling the big 3 at the top.

#6: Boston Celtics

For the Celtics, there is no yesterday, no tomorrow; only "Tonight." This is perhaps their last time to win a championship with the core of Allen, Garnett and Pierce. Next year will be the beginning of the end, and Rondo might be on the way out. There's no tomorrow for this team. It's tonight or bust.

#5: San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are due for a championship. They alternate with an Eastern Conference team, and last year didn't happen, so Pop got injected in fresh blood so that hoops fans will be bored with "Here We Go Again" gameplan that has endeared the Spurs to the people of San Antonio, and no one else, except perhaps really old guys.

Note: At this point, you're probably looking for "one" team that went way too up the order.

#4: Cleveland Cavaliers

"Don't Forget" what happened last year. LeBron and his pals failed miserably on their quest to make David Stern's eyes transform into dollar signs. Stern must've been oh so pissed. He probably did that to make it appear that the NBA is not fixed. He can always do that this year.

#3: Orlando Magic

Ah, the "Magic" Kingdom, the home of Walt Disney World, Mickey Mouse, Dwight Howard and the half man half amazing half a decade ago Vince Carter. Would Carter destroy the magical fun that is Stan Van Gundy's always constipated but it really is not face? Was Hedo a better fit? Perhaps these questions won't matter as the Magic would shoot more threes than the Grizzlies shoot bricks.

#2: Dallas Mavericks

Lemme put it simply: the Mavs will bring the hoedown throwdown to their opponents.

#1: Los Angeles Lakers

Ah, the honeymoon stage, it's that time you supposedly give up what you've held for yourself for oh so long. Ah who am I kidding. Lamar and Khloe must've brought it on even before they got married. With different partners. Ah, the "Lovebug," Kobe wants to return to Eagle, Colorado.

Middle 10: 09-10 countdown

I promised myself I'd be unbiased as possible when I do this, since the last time I had this, I placed the Lakers so low they made it all the way to Finals only to be arse-raped by the Celtics.

So yes, you won't see the other LA team here. Or the Celts. One hour from now.

#20: New York Knicks
A lot is awesome at New York today. The Yankees are in the postseason, the Mets have a new ballpark, Mike Comrie is now banished from the city, which probably brings down the hotness factor since Hilary Duff isn't always in the city, but the Upper East Side chicks more than compensate the departure of hotness, and Duff even guest starred! And the Knicks? They play on prime real estate, with the Rangers.

#19: Milwaukee Bucks
Bucks are hard to measure. It's a given Michael Redd won't be enough to carry this team around, and they probably need a better coach, but the Playoffs won't be a long shot for this team.

#18: Houston Rockets
Trevor Ariza, you did all of what you did last year for what? To watch more Texans games? You should've went to the Mavs instead, I heard they'll play the All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium. Hmmm. Cowboys Cheerleaders. Fat guys dancing on center court. Ah Trevor, you missed out!

#17: New Orleans Hornets
What's with this team with the centers not feeling the love? Chandler and now Okafor. Even Birdman went to Denver. And if you're into history, even Mourning went to Miami. At least everyone remembered the great PGs of this franchise: Bogues, Davis and Paul. Too bad Chris won't get enough help other than from David West.

#16: Phoenix Suns
What's with Amar'e wanting to spell his name as "Amer'e" Is he pissed Mike D'Antoni stole his apostrophe? I feel bad for Steve Nash, he should've joined Shaq on his way to Cleveland, as if that'll work under the salary cap rules.

#15: Washington Wizards
The Wizards Big 3 never got together in like half a decade already (I'm half-exaggerating). They could've volted in this season but it'll wait with another preseason casualty: this time, it's Antawn "I can't even guard a monoblock chair" Jamison.

#14: Oklahoma City Thunder
It'll be like Bobcats last year: it was so close, yet it was so far. Durant and Westbrook will be chummies for years to come, unless management breaks them up.

#13: Utah Jazz
The Northwest will be hell. It's like snow all day only that it burns through your skin like Russian blizzards. Good thing AK-47's still there. Wait, is he?

#12: Toronto Raptors
Speaking of snow, our perky friends from the North are itching to wreck Toronto for reasons other than the Maple Leafs. This season might be it. Plus, SONNY WEEMS IS NOW A DINOSAUR! WEEEEEEEEEEE!

#11: Philadelphia 76ers
Sixers are a season or two away from a breakthrough: if they let go Elton Brand. In a non-big-3 Eastern Conference, they can be the middle-of-the-pack team no one knows how to tackle.

Later at tip-off time: The top 10.

Bottom 10: NBA 09-10 countdown

College hoops is over, the baseball is about to end, Titans fans are lining up the furnaces to burn their season tickets, and across the state, the Grizzlies thought they can sell tix when they brought A.I. to town. So let's have the annual 30 teams, 29 failures, 1 championship, season preview.

Three hours. Thirty teams, three countdowns, until Boston and Cleveland tips the season off.

#30: Sacramento Kings
It's this simple, can you even point where Sacramento is on the map? Sure, you probably can't point where East Rutherford is but Tyreke Evans + Kevin Martin = ping-pong balls come June.

#29: Minnesota Timberwolves
At least the Twin Cities have the Vikings; too bad they were beaten earlier in the week. Al-Jeff with a busted Achilles tendon + Kevin Love's broken hand (which I had no clue when I drafted him HA HA) = Kurt Rambis clotheslining Brandon Jennings during practice.

#28: New Jersey Nets
Why was Courtney Lee sad when he was traded to the Nets? Because, he'd be in the middle of nowhere. Devin Harris will post AWESOME fantasy numbers, though. The team's future is bright, with Vince Carter out of the way.

#27: Golden State Warriors
The Jail Blazers traveled down the coast, eh? Or maybe it's the Raider Nation freaks who can't buy Raiders tickets and settled for the next best thing: Stephen Jackson's tats.

#26 Los Angeles Clippers
Clippers Curse. ShIt happens. And the hottest Blake in town isn't Blake Griffin, but Blake Lively. And Lively's isn't even in town until the Gossip Girl offseason.

#25 Memphis Grizzlies
It's been a long journey for Allen Iverson. And he didn't expect it to end teaching the finer points of hoops to O.J. Mayo. Like pushing over refs (OK, Mayo didn't do that.)

#24 Detroit Pistons
Ah, how the mighty have fallen. It started with the drafting of one Darko Milicic. If they drafted Melo, they wouldn't have to get Sheed, and they wouldn't have won the title, but they won't suck now. But yeah, I'll take the title, after all it came from the expense of the Lakers.

#23 Miami Heat
Just earlier this season, the Heat and the Pistons were battling for Eastern Conference supremacy. Now, they're battling for SportsCenter airtime. D-Wade is not pleased.

#22 Indiana Pacers
If you're putting a team's early season fortunes to Brandon Rush's shoulders, you know you're screwed.

#21 Charlotte Bobcats
What's with this offseason with several players getting injured in games that don't matter? WTF. Tyson Chandler may be happier in the land of Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis, but was it for the better?

So yes, these ten teams, you won't see them in the postseason, unless they have a blockbuster trade or something to that effect.