Sunday, November 21, 2004
"Federer Express" wknd. shipment?...
If I could only use 1 word to describe this wknd., it'd be "crackin'." Started it off Fri. by playing b-ball at St. Peter's w/ Kevin, Frank and other ballers. After the ballin', we hit up Sandie's in Chinatown. 1st time I'd been there, quite scrumptious fare...had a "Green Onion Beef" dish for the 1st time. We met up w/ Tatsumi and Albert, and they mentioned that an "Artested Development" w/ fans had just occured in Detroit, centering around none other than Indiana's Ron Artest. I'm thankful that I followed my intuition and steered clear fr. drafting the guy in Yahoo! Fantasy B-Ball. He just got suspended for the remainder of the NBA season for his imbecilic shenanigans, and hopefully he'll use that time to reflect on the virtues of self-control...
On Saturday, football / basketball / lifting took over the agenda. Threw the ol' pigskin around at the Lid w/ homies Chong, Chris, Mel, Garett, et al. Pretty fun practice, and fortunately no one got hurt too bad...he, he. At one point I actually felt like Terrell Owens aka "T.O.," stretching out w/ 1 arm to grab the long bomb that Chong sailed almost beyond my reach. =p I felt it hit my palm, juggled it for a split second, then gripped it and pulled it to my chest all in one motion. I then let the momentum propel me ahead for a moment, and I let out a primal "...YEAH!" Touchdown!...
After the 2-hand touch, I had a quick lunch at Uwajimaya, and hit up St. Peter's on King St. again at 2:15pm for b-ball w/ my fellow Pinoy brothers. Our team got on court at 2:30pm, and we didn't relinquish our control until 4:30pm when the volley-ballers took over the court. Our team played like the *gasp* Sonics, as everyone stuck to their strengths and specialties. I splashed 3's and handed out "dimes" [assists] like they were goin' out of style to change bummin' transients the next day, and we ended up winning all the games that afternoon. I attribute it to feelin' quite NASHTY, w/ a slight pinch of R. Allen and P. Stojakovic. I think I'm once again madly addicted to b-ball...hehe. Then I lifted at 24 Fitness for an hour and a half and then had delectable Thai food at SouthCenter, protein laden "Swimming Angel" that my body craved...
And today, the perfect icing topped this wknd.'s proceedings off. Played a tune-up match w/ homie Andy to prep for next wknd.'s "Turkey Shoot" tennis tournament at Bally's in Federal Way. I think I played better than I've ever played, which is exciting. Andy's rated one level above me, and even though I've taken individual sets when we've played, I've never won a best 2 out of 3 match against him. He played brilliant in the 1st set, steamrolling me 6-0, and at that point I thought it'd be his time to shine yet again. In the 2nd set, I just played as if I had nothing to lose, and since I'd just watched my tennis hero Roger Federer display his lethally smooth on-court brilliance against the "Ivan Drago" of the men's prof. tennis Marat Safin, dispatching him in 2 sets, I thought it'd be fun to play like him, emulating his on-court genius. And, by golly, it worked! I won the 2nd set 6-4, and down 4-1 in the 3rd set, I rallied back to tie it at 5-5. We both then held serve and it ended up at 6-all...goin' to a 3rd set tiebreak! Andy rushed out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak, and w/ a calm persistence, whippingly crackin' backhand, and an "Eye of the Tiger" bulldog tenacity, I rallied by to win the tiebreak by the score of 7-5. Definitely a breakthrough match, final tally "0-6 6-4 7-6," and hopefully it'll be another springboard...
If I could only use 1 word to describe this wknd., it'd be "crackin'." Started it off Fri. by playing b-ball at St. Peter's w/ Kevin, Frank and other ballers. After the ballin', we hit up Sandie's in Chinatown. 1st time I'd been there, quite scrumptious fare...had a "Green Onion Beef" dish for the 1st time. We met up w/ Tatsumi and Albert, and they mentioned that an "Artested Development" w/ fans had just occured in Detroit, centering around none other than Indiana's Ron Artest. I'm thankful that I followed my intuition and steered clear fr. drafting the guy in Yahoo! Fantasy B-Ball. He just got suspended for the remainder of the NBA season for his imbecilic shenanigans, and hopefully he'll use that time to reflect on the virtues of self-control...
On Saturday, football / basketball / lifting took over the agenda. Threw the ol' pigskin around at the Lid w/ homies Chong, Chris, Mel, Garett, et al. Pretty fun practice, and fortunately no one got hurt too bad...he, he. At one point I actually felt like Terrell Owens aka "T.O.," stretching out w/ 1 arm to grab the long bomb that Chong sailed almost beyond my reach. =p I felt it hit my palm, juggled it for a split second, then gripped it and pulled it to my chest all in one motion. I then let the momentum propel me ahead for a moment, and I let out a primal "...YEAH!" Touchdown!...
After the 2-hand touch, I had a quick lunch at Uwajimaya, and hit up St. Peter's on King St. again at 2:15pm for b-ball w/ my fellow Pinoy brothers. Our team got on court at 2:30pm, and we didn't relinquish our control until 4:30pm when the volley-ballers took over the court. Our team played like the *gasp* Sonics, as everyone stuck to their strengths and specialties. I splashed 3's and handed out "dimes" [assists] like they were goin' out of style to change bummin' transients the next day, and we ended up winning all the games that afternoon. I attribute it to feelin' quite NASHTY, w/ a slight pinch of R. Allen and P. Stojakovic. I think I'm once again madly addicted to b-ball...hehe. Then I lifted at 24 Fitness for an hour and a half and then had delectable Thai food at SouthCenter, protein laden "Swimming Angel" that my body craved...
And today, the perfect icing topped this wknd.'s proceedings off. Played a tune-up match w/ homie Andy to prep for next wknd.'s "Turkey Shoot" tennis tournament at Bally's in Federal Way. I think I played better than I've ever played, which is exciting. Andy's rated one level above me, and even though I've taken individual sets when we've played, I've never won a best 2 out of 3 match against him. He played brilliant in the 1st set, steamrolling me 6-0, and at that point I thought it'd be his time to shine yet again. In the 2nd set, I just played as if I had nothing to lose, and since I'd just watched my tennis hero Roger Federer display his lethally smooth on-court brilliance against the "Ivan Drago" of the men's prof. tennis Marat Safin, dispatching him in 2 sets, I thought it'd be fun to play like him, emulating his on-court genius. And, by golly, it worked! I won the 2nd set 6-4, and down 4-1 in the 3rd set, I rallied back to tie it at 5-5. We both then held serve and it ended up at 6-all...goin' to a 3rd set tiebreak! Andy rushed out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak, and w/ a calm persistence, whippingly crackin' backhand, and an "Eye of the Tiger" bulldog tenacity, I rallied by to win the tiebreak by the score of 7-5. Definitely a breakthrough match, final tally "0-6 6-4 7-6," and hopefully it'll be another springboard...
Monday, November 15, 2004
Lightin' up the "Key"...
Last night for 3 quarters I had the "privilege" of watching the Sonics live at the Key Arena hardwood. They started off the contest solidly, jumping out to a 16-6 lead on an open court Ridnour alley-oop feed to Allen for an emphatic dunk. But then the Grizzlies roared back, torching the Sonics for 100 points by the end of the 3rd quarter, up by 21 points. At that point, I left the Key fully convinced of a Sonic defeat...
I get home, click on SportsCenter, and I'm incredulous at the Sonic final tally...Memphis 113 - Seattle 118! Turns out the Sonics, sparked by Allen's 11 points in the final 5 mins., outscored the Grizzlies 34-13 in the 4th to pull out their 6th straight win...
The team's definitely on a roll right now, and hopefully it's the start of something special. And even though I'm tempted, I think right now I'm not quite ready to use the term "renaissance" in classifying this '04 Sonic campaign. Late Dec. at the earliest...
Last night for 3 quarters I had the "privilege" of watching the Sonics live at the Key Arena hardwood. They started off the contest solidly, jumping out to a 16-6 lead on an open court Ridnour alley-oop feed to Allen for an emphatic dunk. But then the Grizzlies roared back, torching the Sonics for 100 points by the end of the 3rd quarter, up by 21 points. At that point, I left the Key fully convinced of a Sonic defeat...
I get home, click on SportsCenter, and I'm incredulous at the Sonic final tally...Memphis 113 - Seattle 118! Turns out the Sonics, sparked by Allen's 11 points in the final 5 mins., outscored the Grizzlies 34-13 in the 4th to pull out their 6th straight win...
The team's definitely on a roll right now, and hopefully it's the start of something special. And even though I'm tempted, I think right now I'm not quite ready to use the term "renaissance" in classifying this '04 Sonic campaign. Late Dec. at the earliest...
Friday, November 05, 2004
Sydney or the "Bush"...
That's Australian for "all or nothing." As of Nov. 3, for the US / World it's 4 additional years of nothing...
[*Ray]
Great flick! J. Foxx did a 4-star job in his portrayal of the jazz / R&B visionary...
That's Australian for "all or nothing." As of Nov. 3, for the US / World it's 4 additional years of nothing...
[*Ray]
Great flick! J. Foxx did a 4-star job in his portrayal of the jazz / R&B visionary...
