Thursday, April 23, 2009
FQ cross-post
Several months ago, uncertainty surrounded the staging of the Donaire-Viloria card because of the lack of sponsors, and Solar was forced to postpone the fights. It did turn out to be a good move, and the sponsors must have been happy with the 32.3 rating that the event scored in Mega Manila, despite the absence of Pacman to pull the ratings up. Here's a chart to put the rating in context, against some of the most popular shows and events in the country:
No one expected that the ratings for this event would scratch Pacquiao fight levels; only big events such as the Marimar finale or Angel Locsin's first transformation into Darna ever get into that stratosphere. But the fight, despite numerous commercials and a dead timeslot, managed to draw about as much viewers as GMA's primetime programs, and more than either network's noontime shows. Put it this way: more people cared to watch Donaire and Viloria fight Raul Martinez and Ulises Solis than watch Gerald Anderson fight Jake Cuenca over Kim Chiu.
Read the whole thing over at Fire Quinito.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Fire Quinito
I have a new blog that's all about sports, and it's up now. It's called Fire Quinito, and it's a different, fun look at Pinoy sports.I don't ask for much, even though a lot of you have been reading my blog for years now, so go there. Read it. Bookmark it. Subscribe to the RSS feed. Share it on Facebook.
(Also, as Frances Ellen points out, if all the sports stuff from this blog [which she and most of you skip through anyway] move to that blog, there'll be more girly stuff left on this blog.)
If you're not a sports fan, I'd still highly recommend taking a look at this post about Chris Tiu and Joseph Casio's brewing bromance. And there's this insane story about a star Fil-am basketball player that's all kinds of crazy.
And if you're hooked, check out the ongoing primer on the amateur Philippine Basketball League, which contains, among other things, an anecdote about Melanie Marquez and a discussion of the state of generic drugs in the Philippines.
Labels: basketball, firequinito, sports
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The year in Steve Nash videos
2008 was the year that Steve Nash finally lost the mantle of "Best Point Guard in the World" to Chris Paul, and it saw the demise of the "Seven Seconds or Less" era in Phoenix as well. The team looks like a shell of its former self, and the effect is most apparent in Nash.But 2008 also marked Nash's stake as the funniest NBA player, like, ever. Things started off promisingly this summer with his Stepbrothers spoof alongside Baron Davis:
Then there was this fall campaign for Vitamin Water featuring Nash in an odd series of videos. The first is a take on his awesome Training Day commercial last year. The worm at the 28-second mark made me laugh out loud:
Next on tap is a photo shoot, with Nash channeling his inner Zoolander. "It's like people say, Hey, don't swim with sharks... but I'm faster than sharks, so it's not a big deal."
Finally, there's Nash visiting the Vitamin Water offices to motivate the staff, and does his best David Brent/Michael Scott. "Excuse me, while I'm here... does anybody need an autograph?"
Labels: basketball, sports
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Baby-faced assassin
Awesome line about New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul over at True Hoop:Off the court, Paul is the prince who guest stars on a NPR's precious weekend game show. On the court, he's the nastiest point guard since Gary Payton's prime, and shouldn't be defended without a tetanus shot.
The post then segues into a story about Paul's competitiveness, basically willing his team to win after getting annoyed at a heckling Pacers fan. Fun stuff.
Just last week, True Hoop also had an entry about how Paul basically cheated in a jump ball situation to save the game for his team, and he punked no less than Manu Ginobili.
This all reminds me of that Charles Barkley quote about the NBA's original baby-faced assassin, and the guy to whom Chris Paul is compared by everyone, Isiah Thomas. Thomas was so competitive, Barkley said, that he "would cut your balls off to win."
Too bad everyone knows him now as the guy who ran the Knicks into the ground. And then OD'd on sleeping pills afterwards. And tried to pin the whole mess to his daughter.
He used to be so much more, and here's video to prove it. Check out the putback dunk over Kevin McHale at around the 45-second mark. Man, Zeke was a bad motherfucker.
Labels: basketball, sports
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Heh
Just a couple of hours after the last post, Purefoods got eliminated from the ongoing Philippine Cup after laying a big fat egg against, ironically, Air 21. It got so ugly that during a timeout midway through 4th quarter, James Yap got into a shouting match against Purefoods assistant coach Koy Banal, after Banal chewed out Yap for a missed defensive assignment. Yap then threw a towel at Banal, who had to be restrained by the other guys on the bench from going at Yap.Yeah, it was as bad as it sounds. At that point, the team was down by something like 20 points, and Yap had been carrying the team, scoring
Now, I never root against any of my favorite teams, and there was no excuse for what Yap did, but I hope this is the last straw against the Purefoods coaching staff. They're the worst offensive team in the league (something that shouldn't happen with Yap and Kerby Raymundo in the lineup), they don't have any offensive structure, their defensive rotations are lousy, the in-game coaching is horrible, and they never seem to execute off timeouts. The body language by the players are terrible, and everyone looks like they'd rather be someplace else.
Meanwhile, the whole coaching staff is just full of it. Head coach Ryan Gregorio is quick to make excuses, while Banal, the team's "defensive coordinator" has been ineffective all conference. In fact, it was odd that Banal started going at Yap for the missed assignment when Raymundo and Peter June Simon were missing assignments all game long, and the defensive gameplan coming into the game was just horrible.
The whole coaching staff really needs to go. Man, I hope they finally pull the trigger on it. National team coach Yeng Guiao might be available.
Meanwhile, the second conference of the PBA won't be on until March. I need to find something else to get into until then.
UPDATE: GMANews.TV reports that Yap and Banal have patched things up. Gregorio still needs to be fired though. I hope they get Yeng Guiao.
Labels: basketball, purefoods, sports
The year in James Yap videos
As a Purefoods fan, I've learned how to live with James Yap as my team's MVP. Well, lifelong Purefoods fans have had plenty of practice; for starters, we've spent most of our days not just rooting for the Hotdogs, but the Tender Juicy Hotdogs. They renamed the team, but it hasn't gotten marginally better. The team was renamed the Purefoods Chunkee Giants, to promote the company's corned beef brand, and when it was time to go back to promoting hotdogs, management apparently liked the Giants moniker so much that the team is now known as the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants.That wasn't the end of it though. We still had to deal with stupid crap about Alvin Patrimonio (usually from the ignorant, unwashed masses), his being an overpaid crybaby, and his offcourt dealings, like his short-lived showbiz career (and even more short-lived affair with Kris Aquino) and insinuations about Nap Gutierrez being his boyfriend.
So yeah, you kinda let all that crap (Kris, Baby James, Hope, the whole K-Pop metrosexual thing) and concentrate on the basketball. And because I do spend an ungodly amount thinking about things like when the Giants' moronic coach Ryan Gregorio will finally be fired (I did a Google search for 'Ryan Gregorio sucks' and found an article that I wrote for Peyups.com four years ago) and wondering whether backup point guard Chico Lanete is mildly retarded (especially after he airballs another fadeaway 3-pointer with 18 seconds left on the shot clock, the 294th of his career).
Anyway.
The first video was a from a game against Red Bull last conference, as James Yap hits a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key with 0.7 seconds to go:
I remember watching this at my old apartment while my housemate Urk was having dinner. Even he let out a yell when Yap hit the shot. And because of the awesomeness of YouTube, here's a fan video of the play:
It's been an infamous year for Yap. He was in the middle of the controversy during the Philippine Cup finals against Sta. Lucia for being suspended for a game in the Finals after smacking Joseph Yeo in the face. Although, to be fair to Yap, wouldn't you like a chance to smack that smug look off Yeo's face too? Purefoods lost the game wherein Yap was suspended, and ultimately lost the series in seven games.
But no, Yap's craziest moment came during a brawl against Talk N Text during the last conference. He wasn't involved in the initial altercation, but he gave a sucker kick to Talk N Text's import Terrence Leather, which led to Leather chasing Yap all over the court:
Good thing he wasn't caught, because Leather was just about ready to take his head off. Leather got ejected, and Yap escaped with a mere technical foul.
It wasn't all bad though, because just recently, Yap had a highlight for the ages during their first game against Air 21 in the current Philippine Cup. Purefoods was down by three with the ball, and Kerby Raymundo had just missed a shot in the dying seconds. So Yap beat Arwind Santos for the offensive rebound, chased the ball to the corner, tiptoed the baseline and the sideline, and launched a turnaround, fadeaway three-pointer from behind the backboard to tie the game.
Read that paragraph again.
Yeah, it's as awesome as it sounds:
Labels: basketball, purefoods, sports, video
Monday, December 08, 2008
Wala lang, ulit
The finals of the Philippine Collegiate Championship between Ateneo and La Salle has been sloppy. La Salle's leading late in the fourth, and if they win, this would be the first time they beat Ateneo this season in five tries. The highlight of the game? Sharon Yu's doing sideline reporting again.(Tapos wala lang, ipo-post ko lang ulit yung picture niya.)
Earlier, Letran won against San Beda in the battle for third, which was nice, and almost makes up for the one-point heartbreaker against Ateneo the other day.
Labels: babes, basketball, sports
Golden Boy
Bad Left Hook takes a close look at Oscar de la Hoya's career:When Oscar was 11 fights in, he took on Denmark's Jimmy Bredahl for the WBO junior lightweight title, and he kicked his ass. Two fights later, he got rid of tough Mexican Jorge Paez in two rounds, winning a lightweight title. John Avila, John John Molina, Rafael Ruelas -- they all fell to the young de la Hoya. These were good fighters.
Genaro Hernandez suffered his first loss at the hands of Oscar in 1995, retiring after six rounds. Hernandez's only other career loss came to Money Mayweather, who never lost to anybody he fought. Jesse James Leija was another '95 victim.
When he fought Julio Cesar Chavez in 1996, Chavez was 34 years old and had a history of wars that probably made him feel older. Oscar, perhaps in an attempt to become the new idol of the Mexican fight fans, took him on and destroyed him. It never sat well with a lot of Mexican fans, and neither did their 1998 rematch, when Oscar beat him again.
Between the two Chavez fights, he took the undefeated record of Miguel Angel Gonzalez, beat Hall of Famer Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, dumped David Kamau in two rounds, stomped Hector "Macho" Camacho over 12 rounds, and knocked out Wilfredo Rivera.
This is the period of Oscar's career that most interests me, because these days, you'd almost think he didn't do all of these things. You just read the name of some great fighters. Whitaker made the Hall of Fame in 2007. Chavez will as soon as he hits the ballot. There is real substance to the guys Oscar was beating in the 1990s.
It's easy to forget how invincible Oscar used to be; prior to that dancefest against Trinidad, he was 31-0. I think everyone who ever followed boxing, however, knows that Oscar jumped the shark in the Quartey fight.
(I still remember the fallout from that fight, which happened back during freshman year in college. All my buddies who are into boxing think Quartey got jobbed.)
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Superstar
Pac-man beat De La Hoya from pillar to post, and the whole world was watching:
There were the mainstream sports publications:
- ESPN
- Sports Illustrated
- Yahoo Sports
- Fox Sports
- Sky Sports
- Deadspin
- The Sporting News
- AOL FanHouse
The big papers:
- LA Times
- USA Today
- (UPDATE) The Guardian UK
- New York Times
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Seattle Post-Inteligencer
- San Francisco Chronicle
- Boston Globe
And dispatches from odd places:
- The Daily Nation (Kenya)
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Of course, the world is atwitter as well:
And even MC Hammer is tweeting the action!
This is me pinching myself, because I still couldn't quite believe it.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Wala lang
Was watching the Philippine Collegiate Championship tournament game between Letran and FEU earlier, and I just wanted to share that (former La Salle and current Solar Sports) sideline reporter Sharon Yu totally floats my boat.
Also, Letran won! Up next for the Knights are the big bad Ateneo Blue Eagles (minus Chris Tiu) in the Final Four.
Labels: babes, basketball, sports
Monday, November 24, 2008
Give us this day
Ran into this banner for the upcoming Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight over at Pinoy Exchange. It leads to this microsite by Nike, which looks awesome (but is ultimately pointless). I wish they sold posters of this.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Phelps
Of course, after breaking Mark Spitz's Olympic medal record, this SI cover had to happen. This is sort of like Jordan doing Dr. J's signature dunk from the free throw line.Two things though:
1. Chains on the medals look a hell of a lot cooler than those stupid ribbons.
2. Phelps may have won one more medal, but he's still got nothing on Spitz's pornstache.
Labels: beijing olympics, michael phelps, sports
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Pop teams
I'm, like, the biggest Purefoods fan, but even I'm surprised about the results of this survey from the Social Weather Station: Purefoods and Ginebra tie as most popular in PBA.According to the article, while Ginebra is still the most popular team in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, Purefoods is way ahead in the Visayas and in Mindanao.
A lot of it might be because Purefoods' top gun, James Yap, is from Escalante, Negros Occidental, and played high school ball in Iloilo, but two other key players on the team are hardcourt legends from their early days in the south as well. Starting point guard Roger Yap was a star in the tough Cebuano commercial basketball before his "Samboy Lim 2000" days with Shark in the PBL, while Peter June Simon was Davao basketball's favorite son, starring for the University of Mindanao before becoming the top gun for the Davao Eagles in the MBA, winning Discovery of the Year honors during his rookie season.
Labels: basketball, purefoods, sports
Saturday, August 09, 2008
08-09-08
I'm still having trouble sleeping. I've been glued to the television for most of the evening (and most of the morning too). Earlier, I was switching from the Air 21 massacre of Ginebra in the PBA Finals, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, and Dalja's Spring (heh). The Olympics program was great, and the lighting of the torch was particularly awesome, but I missed Team Philippines on the oval because I was channel-surfing, and the nations came out in Mandarin alphabetical order, and Solar cut in and out of the program really awkwardly (both on CS/RPN and on Solar Sports). It was also odd that they used the Australian feed for the broadcast, when the American NBC feed would probably have been better. I mean, the announcer didn't even know who Manu Ginobili or Dirk Nowitzki was.There was bad news elsewhere in the world this evening, with Georgia and Russia moving closer to war. I hope they both stand down. Guess 08-08-08 isn't such a lucky day after all.
Just a few moments ago I was watching a re-run of a pre-Olympic friendly between defending Olympic basketball champions Argentina and Asian champions Iran. It was interesting because while Iran lost, they weren't completely overmatched. In fact, it wasn't until late in the third quarter until Argentina finally put them away. Granted, Argentina was probably taking it easy since the game wasn't very meaningful, but still, Iran looked like they belonged in the same court as the Olympic champions who started five NBA players. It's significant because we beat Iran in the Jones Cup last year (and narrowly lost to them in the Fiba-Asia championships because of a controversial call).
Labels: basketball, beijing olympics, insomnia, sports, television
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Agent Zero
Gilbert Arenas just got back from his trip around the world and blogged about it. The title of his post-- Everybody should visit Manila:You have to look at the Agent Zero posters they had out there. They put me in a cape at one of my last events in Manila. It was at one of their biggest malls and they were predicting it was going to be crowded. I mean, crowded to me is a Saturday afternoon at the mall where you have to wait in line for 10 minutes to pay for your jeans. Their crowded was probably four or five thousand people in the mall. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen crazy fans all over the world. It was like Golden State against the Dallas Mavericks with Game 3 back in Oakland. It was that type of atmosphere in the mall.
I was stunned.
They made me feel like an NBA star.
Any NBA players out there: If you’re having a bad day, or you’re having a bad career, go to Manila. They’ll bring your spirits up, trust me.
Tons of the usual Gil craziness there too. Wasn't able to catch but I did see him on TV during the Ateneo-La Salle game. I love his Hibachi shoes. Sana magkapera ako para makabili.
Labels: basketball, sports
Monday, July 07, 2008
Federer-Nadal
I don't follow tennis as much as I used to, but I did end up staying up until 4 in the morning to finish the epic Nadal-Federer match. I remember staying late last year to watch their match-up as well. I'm a Nadal guy, mostly because I don't find Federer particularly interesting. He is an awesome tennis player though, and his enormous talent is best appreciated when a pretender like Nadal goes after his throne. Last year's final was heartbreaking for Nadal, and it looked like it was going to go the same way in this year's match. Nadal had Federer on the ropes a bunch of times, but it seemed like everytime he was in trouble, Federer would come up with a big play to turn back Nadal. It felt somehow incredible when Nadal finally won.Which reminds me of a conversation with a former colleague a couple of years ago. I had noticed a magazine on her desk featuring the two stars, and I asked her whom she was for, Federer or Nadal. And she answered, "Both." Which drove me crazy. How can she say both? You can't say both. I mean, you have to pick a side, right?
So how about you, Federer or Nadal? And don't say both.
(At the very least, you oughta be rooting against Federer because of that stupid post-match outfit.)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Winning Maroons
Nice 86-72 win by the UP Fighting Maroons over the NU Bulldogs. With the opening day victory under new head coach Aboy Castro, the team already eclipsed last year's 0-14 record.Some notes:
-- The frontcourt rotation isn't nearly as bad as everyone expected. It's still nowhere near the level of the elite teams, but it's been adequate so far. The line's still undersized, but it's very skilled and surprisingly deep, and the starting center Magi Sison looks like he'll be a PBA player down the line. I don't know if they'll still be adequate against the berret teams, but of the whole league, I think only Ateneo has the size to punish our big guys in the paint. We'll see.
-- The full-court trap was surprisingly effective because the backcourt was surprisingly quick and athletic. The announcers never mentioned this, but Paul Sorongon was perfect as the disruptive, long, and pesky guard at the top of the trap.
-- Pleased with the development of Martin Reyes. He's got enough size to play the 3-spot, and he can shoot over smaller guards. If he can shoot well enough over the course of the season, he'll be the team's most important scorer.
-- On the other hand, its sad to see that Migs de Asis' game has atrophied. He used to be better than Reyes, but lack of size and athleticism looks like it has rendered him ineffective. He can still be a deadly shooter off the bench playing spot minutes, but that's about it for him.
-- Mark Lopez has good length and athleticism, and he can play multiple positions. I can't help but feel like he should be much, much better than he actually is. He looks like a star. Hopefully he'll play like one too.
-- UP didn't even shoot that well from the outside but still won going away. The defense was excellent though, forcing lots of turnovers that led to easy baskets.
-- UP's new courtside reporter is former child star Patricia Ann Roque.
-- It's cool to see UP assistant coach Jerry Codinera wearing maroon.
Labels: basketball, sports, up fighting maroons
Monday, June 23, 2008
Euro 2008
I caught the tail end of the Euro Cup 2008 match between the Netherlands and Russia this morning. It actually took me quite a while to figure out which teams were playing, because (and this is one of my biggest problems with football coverage) they never show the scoreboard. I quickly figured out that the Dutch were in orange (William of Orange was Dutch, right?) but it wasn't until they showed a graphic of someone named Pavl Yuchenko that I assumed the other team was Russia. They finally showed the scoreboard around 20 minutes after I started watching.Apart from not showing the scoreboard, they also never show the time remaining. This is a problem, you see, I'd usually catch an English Premiere League match, and think, Hey, it's Chelsea versus Liverpool, this shouldd be good, only for the match to end all of a sudden because there had only been two minutes to go when I started tuning in, and then they'd finally show the score and it was a great game with many spectacular goals which you wouldn't see because they never show replays either.
It feels like the coverage is punishing you for having the audacity to tune in late and/or to not pay much attention for the match. What, you haven't spent the past ninety minutes rapt in attention to a bunch of white guys running around? Why, you don't deserve to know how this match is going! I can imagine my television turning its nose up on me.
They never show the score, or the time, but they keep cutting to shots of pale, pudgy, and hairy shirtless Russian dudes in the stands. So at least there's that.
It did turn out to be a great match. Russia had been leading for a while and had been looking dominant but the Netherlands scored a goal in the 86-minute mark to force extra time. Russia kept the pressure though and they finally came through with two goals in the second extra period. They had been attacking throughout the match, and the Dutch goalkeeper looked exhausted. Of course, this all just led to more gratuitous shots of the barechested Russian fans.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Boy that escalated quickly
I mean, that really got out of hand fast. I was waiting for Eddie House to stab Sasha Vujacic with a trident.The most incredible thing about the whole series for me is how Phil Jackson has been asleep on the wheel the whole time, leaving guys like Farmar, Radmanovic, and Vujacic too long, failing to get Kobe the ball in better position, looking like he's thinking about his reservations at STK after the game. It's completely perplexing, because we've been watching the guy for more than ten years now, and he's been the best coach in the league, bar none, over that period. Now he looks like he just stopped caring.
As Simmons asked:
Is anyone else starting to wonder if Jackson coaches the Lakers just because they pay him a ton of money and he's dating the owner's daughter and that's it? I mean, he can't LIKE most of these guys, right? He sure doesn't seem like he's enjoying these games, that's for sure. Do you think he goes home after every Lakers game, pours himself a glass of wine, lights up a Cuban, watches one of the old Bulls games from the '90s and just fights back tears for an hour or so thinking about how much he hates coaching Kobe? You wouldn't rule it out, right?
Labels: basketball, nba finals 2008, sports
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Classic games
A couple of hours ago, while preparing a paper for grad school, I got sucked in to the classic game playing on BTV. It was the first game of the 1997 NBA Finals, between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. I couldn't remember the game's finish (or why it's on as a classic), so I ended up watching the whole thing. The game was tied with about 30 seconds remaining after Michael Jordan missed a free throw. The Jazz went to a pick-and-roll, but the Bulls defended it well forcing a contested 25-footer from John Stockton with the shot clock running down. The ball hit the back rim for a long rebound, but in the scramble for the loose ball, a foul was called on Dennis Rodman. Karl Malone went to the line for free throws and missed both. The Bulls rebounded the ball, called timeout, and got the ball to Jordan, who sank a twenty-footer at the buzzer for the win.By now, you've probably guessed that this was the infamous The mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays game. The story goes that prior to Malone's important free throws, Scottie Pippen went to him and whispered those words, which caused the Jazz forward to miss.
I was just about to turn in when the titles rolled and BTV was showing another classic game. I wanted to check out what game it was when Marv Albert narrated a montage of the events of the same Finals series. The clip featured the Jordan game-winner and the Bulls going up 2-0, and two home wins by the Jazz highlighted by Stockton's heroics including a steal off Jordan to tie the series. At this point, I still couldn't remember which game this was, until the camera cut to a shot of Jordan entering the arena, followed by Albert reporting that there was a lot of concern in the Chicago camp, not just because Utah had the momentum, but because Jordan had been under the weather for the past 24 hours.
This was the flu game.
So here I am, typing away while the game is on. The Bulls are getting killed in the first quarter with Jordan struggling and taking an early trip to the bench, but I suspect that they'll be alright. I think I'll stay up to finish this one. It's not like I have to go to work tomorrow.
Labels: basketball, sports
