Long Teng Cup, AZKALS next target

The Philippine AZKALS will be heading towards Taiwan for this years LONG TENG CUP, a four nation tournament in which the Philippines has not won yet. With the experience that the team have gained over the past year, hopes are high that they would be able to win it all.

The Azkals will be playing five international matches in 11 days starting in Sept. 30 when they face Hong Kong in Taiwan. They will also play Chinese-Taipei on October 2 and Macau on October 4.
With a full complement of players, including those based in Europe, the Azkals play an international friendly in Singapore on October 7, before returning home for a date against Nepal on October 11 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The LONG TENG CUP will be aired live locally over at Studio 23 and BALLS. Game schedule below:

September 30
Philippines vs HongKong 4:30 p.m. (Studio 23)

October 2
Philippines vs Chinese Taipei 7 p.m. (Studio 23)

October 4
Philippines vs Macau 3pm(Kick off @ 4:30pm) on Studio 23

Sports: 2011 NBA Championship: A DejaVu from 2006

Call it dejavu with a twist. This year’s 2011 NBA season is not deprived of plots and subplots as Miami vs Dallas will surely be barnburner. This is a rematch of an epic 2006 finals wherein Miami down 0-2 bounced back and won 4 straight games to capture their first Larry O’Brien trophy.

There are a lot of things to look out for this year’s NBA finals since a lot are at stake.

Miami – Is this the year where they start their reign as Kings of American Basketball? Will the experiment work? James, Wade and Bosh
Will they fulfil their promise of winning multiple championships together?
Will Eric Spoelstra win his 1st ever championship ring as a head coach?

Dallas – Is this the year where Dirk Nowitzki, Jsaon Kidd, Shawn Marion, and the rest of the Dallas mavericks win their 1st ring?
Is Tyson Chandler the missing link that they have been waiting for?
Will Rick Carlisle finally win his 1st championship ring as head coach?

A lot are at stake and pressures are high. Which team will step up to the plate and claim this year’s championship? Hold on to your seats as this will be one exciting series.

Dirk is on mission and you can see it in his eyes, though I can’t help but root for Eric Spoelstra who is Half-Filipino. Plus the fact that it’s the trio of Lebron, Wade and Bosh. So as for my thoughts as to who will win it?

Hate to say it but Dallas in 6.

Here is the game schedule:

US TV coverage by ABC

Game 1: Mavs @ Heat - Tue 5/31 9:00p ET
Game 2: Mavs @ Heat - Thu 6/02 9:00p ET
Game 3: Heat @ Mavs - Sun 6/05 8:00p ET
Game 4: Heat @ Mavs - Tue 6/07 9:00p ET
*Game 5: Heat @ Mavs – Thu 6/09 9:00p ET
*Game 6: Mavs @ Heat – Sun 6/12 8:00p ET
*Game 7: Mavs @ Heat – Tue 6/14 9:00p ET

* If necessary


Philippine Free TV Coverage ABS-CBN Channel 2

Game 1: Mavs @ Heat - Wed 6/01 9:00am
Game 2: Mavs @ Heat - Fri 6/03 9:00am
Game 3: Heat @ Mavs - Mon 6/06 8:00am
Game 4: Heat @ Mavs - Wed 6/08 9:00am
*Game 5: Heat @ Mavs – Fri 6/09 9:00am
*Game 6: Mavs @ Heat – Mon 6/13 8:00am
*Game 7: Mavs @ Heat – Wed 6/15 9:00am

* If necessary

Sports: Manny Pacquiao shuts out Shane Mosley

Manny Pacquiao scored a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley after a sell out crowd of 16, 412 at the MGM grand garden in Las Vegas Nevada last May 7, 2011. Almost all of them ended up disappointed not because of Manny but with Sugar Shane Mosley. He never put up a fight after getting rocked and dropped at the 3rd round. The look in his eyes were already a tell tale sign that he will try as much as possible to move away from the power punch and avoid getting KO'd for the first time in his career. Shane Mosley was able to recover and used his leg power and bicycled instead all the way to the 12th round except maybe for the "knockdown" that Mosley was credited for during the 10th round. In fact it was more of a push rather than a knockdown, though Kenny Bayless admitted after the fight that he mistakenly called it as a knockdown and apologized to Freddie Roach and Manny, but then again after that KO Manny was so angered that he tried to bulldoze his way to Mosley and knock his senses out, but then again, Mosley was back pedalling too fast for Pacquiao to catch.

Manny Pacquiao, disappointed as well said during one of the post fight interviews that he was expecting Mosley to fight toe to toe for at least 5 of the 12 rounds. But none of those expectations happened and the result was a marathon instead of a boxing match.

Shane Mosley after this fight should consider retirement since he clearly showed that he no longer has it. Freddie Roach sums it up best when he said that "Shane did not try to win the fight, He tried to survive, and when you get to that point in boxing, it's time to retire"

All in all it was an okay fight to say the least not because Manny did not knock Shane Mosley out, (a fight that we all get accustomed to) but because Mosley was thinking of not getting knocked out.

Well at least Paris Hilton said that the fight was amazing, really?

Go figure :)

Sports: Azkals to play at Rizal Memorial Sports Coliseum

Finally! A home game within reach of spectators from the metro. Azkals will be playing their home game against Sri Lanka for the first leg of the Asian qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup on July 3, 2011.

After the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) made an inspection of the century old stadium, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) announced that the Azkals will be playing at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

In line with that San Miguel Corp. has promised that they will help fund the renovation of the coliseums grandstand seats and score board. Also part of the assistance and grant is the repainting, construction of additional locker rooms and media center which is estimated to cost more than a million pesos.

This is a very welcoming news to all football fans in general and not just Azkals since this would only mean that there would be more football games that will be held in the historic coliseum. Also it will be within an arms reach of football afficionados from Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Sports: Who will win this year's NBA championship?

The NBA 2010-2011 regular season is winding down and as the playoffs get closer the positioning battle for the TOP 8 teams and those that are in the 9th and 10th spot are tightening up. Questions are abound as to who will be this years NBA champions? Here are some of my takes on who are the legitimate contenders vying for the coveted Larry O’ Brien trophy.

Chicago – the team is smoking hot, but do they have what it takes to win it all?
Celtics – Experience will be a factor, but will their weary and veteran legs keep up with the likes of those with the HEAT and Chicago?
Heat – The Superfriends were on a rollercoaster ride all season albeit a bumpy ride, expectations are high for this team since joining forces together last off season. Is this the year for them to win their first ring as a trio? And a start of what could be multiple championships together?

How about in the west?

Spurs - Are they for real? I should say that they have a legitimate chance barring any setback or injuries with their own big three (Duncan, Ginobili and Parker).
Oklahoma – A very interesting team to watch, they might have an outside chance to crash the western conference party? but I'm sure that this is not yet the year for them.
Lakers – They have been on a roll since the all-star break, winning 13 out of 14 games. Will Kobe and company step it up a notch during the postseason and try to win their 3rd straight championship? And give Phil Jackson his 12th championship ring?

Well for now, its’ everybody's ballgame and as for your guess who wins this years cup? Your guess is as good as mine folks.

Yahoo Fantasy League... a real thriller

The NBA regular season is almost over and things are heating up within our FANTASY League. I am included in 3 yahoo fantasy league with some of my officemates and it is one sure hell of a fun game. In our first league, I am currently at the top spot out of 13 players and some of the guys are starting to creep in and wanted to take over the top spot and not only that, the guys had placed a small prize to whoever becomes the league champion. I am sure that the number 2 and number 3 guys are already thinking of strategies to topple me from the TOP, hopefully with my current pool of players, i would still maintain the No.1 spot and barring any injuries for my players...I can finally lay claim to being NUMERO UNO...