Crimson Crux

Okay, for those unacquainted with the college basketball scene in the Philippines, here’s a primer: there are two major leagues, the UAAP and the NCAA.

A discussion on which is the better league is better left with sports blogs, but it’s oft-mentioned that of the two, the UAAP is the “glamour league”, having two ‘well-endowed’ schools (Ateneo and La Salle) in its ranks. The NCAA, on the other hand, enjoys a richer tradition, having been founded earlier. The University of the Philippines, my alma mater, competes in the UAAP.

Now, a very intriguing proposition has been plastered on the sports pages these past days. As part of the upcoming UP Centennial celebration, the State U is pushing for a unified super-league.

Craziness? Perhaps. An impossibility? Nope. According to news reports, member schools like the idea of a combined UAAP-NCAA. However, these same schools doubt whether the merger can be pulled off. A couple of problems looming on the hardcourt horizon:
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Just a few hours ago, Manny Pacquiao unleashed what I believe to have been his finest form in dealing Mexican boxing hero Erik Morales the worst drubbing of his storied career.

The Pacman scored three knockdowns, the first of which came in the second round and followed by a vicious duo in the third, en route to a third round stoppage of the fight at the 2:57 mark.

Here are some pics of the three knockdowns (all courtesy of ABS-CBN/Solar Sports):

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The Philippines’ own Ronato “Ronnie” Alcano defeated Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 17 racks to 11, to win this year’s World Pool Championship held in Manila, Philippines.

Alcano displayed superb and dominating cue artistry that drew exuberant reactions from the hometown crowd and impressed the match commentators. One foreign commentator remarked that if they were to make a highlight reel of Ronnie’s beautiful shots, it’d be an hour long.

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Congratulations to the San Beda Red Lions for clinching this year’s NCAA men’s basketball championship! The roaring lions from Mendiola held their ground against the PCU Dolphins to eke out a 68-67 win in Game 3. SBC thus ended the 28-year title drought in the 82nd Season of the NCAA.

What made the game memorable was that San Beda was ahead by 20 big points early in the fourth quarter. Believe it or not, with 24.8 seconds left, PCU had cut it to just 1 point! As I wrote in Basketball Exchange Philippines, the Red Lions “survived what could’ve been one of the greatest comebacks in the annals of Philippine basketball.” Definitely, one of the best games I’ve watched. Ever.

Now, you might be wondering why the heck I’m posting about SBC when I’m a diehard UP Diliman alumnus. (Go Fighting Maroons!) Well, I’ve been rooting for the Red Lions since childhood because my dad’s a proud Bedan. Umpa Umpa Beda Beda Fight Fight Fight!

*That cool image is courtesy of Kenneth Pangilinan’s Photonski gallery.

People love to have favorites, and maybe more importantly, like to attach themselves to a “group”. Both of these yearnings fuse with regard to people’s fascination with sports teams. And having been born into a basketball-crazy family in a basketball-crazy country, I’m afflicted with this wonderful curse called “frenzied basketball team loyalty”.

People who know me also know the usual suspects — I’m a Purefoods fan in the national league of the Philippines, a Chicago Bulls loyalist in the NBA, and an avid supporter of the UP Fighting Maroons in the collegiate league. But how about in the other basketball leagues, let’s say, the defunct MBA?

For that and more, I guide you to my article on Basketball Exchange Philippines. And if you’re a hoops fanatic like me, do share your own favorite teams in the article’s feedback section!

I know this isn’t about tech, but I just had to post this one. My favorite team in the PBA since childhood, the Purefoods Chunkee Giants, has just won the championship! [Whoops it up in front of the laptop.] This is the first title for the Giants (formerly the TJ Hotdogs) in four frikkin’ years. The long wait was worth it!

You can read more in my entry on Basketball Exchange Philippines.

That might sound cruel as Oscar Larios is quite a nice guy, but that’s what really happened. There were some scares, but for the most part the Philippine (and world) boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao dominated the battle.

Manny wasn’t able to KO Larios, but he did send the Mexican twice to the canvas, in the 7th and 12th rounds. After being stunned by Larios’ furious flurry of punches in the 3rd, the Pacman managed to recover and pummel his foe with countless, hard-hitting blows that seemingly came from nowhere. Pedro Fernandez of Ring Talk has a good round-by-round narration of the fight.

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Yours truly is now blogging at Basketball Exchange, your online resource on everything basketball — NBA, PBA, UAAP, NCAA, videos, and video games.

My rookie entry was about the NBA Playoffs, and I’ll do my best to regularly share my thoughts on the ongoing cage wars. Hats off to Gary Mercado for putting up the site. Thanks for the invite, sir!

No, this isn’t about everyone’s favorite game, but rather more stuff on Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Erik Morales last weekend.

A good round-by-round commentary of the classical battle can be found here.

Boxing circles on the Net have been furiously discussing Pacman’s dismantling of El Terrible. Pacquiao fans are exuberant, boxing analysts are changing sides, and many more are singing dirges for Morales and his stellar career. Another round of great quotes from the Web:

“There is nothing like Manny Pacquiao in all of professional sports…Here in America, you could combine Lance Armstrong, Peyton Manning, LeBron James, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen and 50 Cent into one person and you still wouldn’t have what the Philippines have in their number one all-time super-star Manny Pacquiao.” — Tom Thompson

(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty images)

Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao for a masterful conquest of El Terrible! You did the nation proud. Manny became the first boxer to send Erik Morales to the canvas; the latter lost for the first time in thirteen years via TKO.

Watch the video of the final knockdown here.

Some memorable quotes about the fight:

“I could see he (Erik Morales) was having problems taking my punches. I had no problem taking his. He never hurt me.” — The Pacman

“A telling moment came in the ninth, when Morales, clearly tired, did the unthinkable: The consummate warrior backpedaled away from Pacquiao, which drew boos from the crowd.” — Michael Rosenthal

“In that crucible of the seventh, the Morales Era in boxing began to wane into history…When a hard combination slammed into Morales face, his nose was broken, his eyes blackened. The Pilipino continued his domination with rights and lefts in the eighth, almost beyond reason, Morales made one last attempt to reverse Pacquiao’s tidal wave domination.” — Patrick Kehoe

“They say that there [are] literally thousands of islands that make up the Philippines. Well, when Manny Pacquiao’s hand was raised in victory over Erik Morales, the earth might have moved a bit with all those Filipinos jumping up and down.” — Pedro Fernandez

Still, hats off to a brave stand from Morales. I won’t forget the moment he embraced Manny, terribly battered but still smiling. What a class act of a pugilist.