Class is permanent

“Ronaldo and Zidane prove class is permanent” – this is the headline displayed today at http://www.fifaworldcup2006.com/. Very appropriate indeed. Two legends heading into the twilights of their magnificent football careers.

Ronaldo plays for Brazil. Zinedine Zidane plays for France. They are two of the greatest footballers ever, combining to win 6 FIFA World Player of the Year awards and 3 World Cups. They have met before in the 1998 World Cup Finals, with Zidane scoring twice to lead France over Brazil. It was Ronaldo’s turn 4 years later to hoist the World Cup trophy, as he led Brazil in 2002. The two rivals have become good friends then, as teammates in Spanish club Real Madrid, and as goodwill ambassadors for the United Nations, even appearing in some UN ads and playing in "Matches Against Poverty."

Before the start of this year’s once-every-four-years World Cup, Ronaldo had been criticized for being overweight and unfit, and many have questioned his inclusion in the Brazil starting 11. Zidane, on the other hand, has made it clear that after the competition, he would be retiring from the sport, ending one of the greatest footballing careers ever. It seems inevitable that this would be the last time these two will be performing in the world’s biggest football stage.

Yesterday, Ronaldo and Zidane proved that they still have it. They may not be as quick, as strong, and as agile as their former selves, but they could still perform. Brazil took on Ghana. France took on Spain. Ronaldo and Zidane both scored as they led their teams to victories.

For Ronaldo, it was making his critics eat their own words, as he scored for the third time this year and broke the record for the most World Cup goals ever with his 15th. For Zidane, it was simpler – extending his career for at least one more match. For both, it was proving to everyone not to count them out yet.

They may be older now and it may be true that there are emerging superstars around them. Brazil has Ronaldinho, the current FIFA World Player of the Year, while France has the younger Thierry Henry. Interestingly, Ronaldinho and Henry led their respective European clubs, Barcelona and Arsenal, to the UEFA Champions League Finals this year. The two could be heirs to Ronaldo and Zidane’s thrones, but for now, they still are overshadowed by their legendary compatriots. They have proven that class is indeed permanent.

And what do those two victories mean?

As the cliché goes, “a match made in heaven.” The wins resulted in a quarterfinal meeting between Brazil and France. The storyline couldn’t be better than this. It was Brazil versus France once more. Ronaldo versus Zidane one last time. The only sad thing is that one has two lose.

Then again, they already are proven winners. And they will always be remembered as such.

Billionaire Philanthropists

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie once said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”

I'm glad those words did not fall on deaf ears. I was ecstatic when I heard on TV that a billionaire has promised to give away a huge amount of money to charity. I immediately went online to get the details, and here is what I gathered from different sources.

Warren Edward Buffett, the second richest man in the world, announced that he will be donating 85% of his $44 billion worth of common stock from his company, most of which would be going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

This single largest monetary donation in history has united the world's two richest people in a bid to fight disease, reduce poverty and improve education.

The roughly $30.7 billion donation doubles the Gates Foundation's size to $60 billion, five times larger than any other U.S. charitable group and larger than the gross domestic product of Kuwait.

Buffett told reporters that his decisions to give such a significant amount to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is due to his friend Bill Gates’ decision recently to step back from his responsibilities at Microsoft to focus more on the foundation.

Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, recently announced plans to retire from Microsoft in 2008 to focus his attention on philanthropy. Many analysts and people in general view the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be the world's most respectable charitable foundation due to Bill Gates' involvement and how critical he is about where money is spent and who it is given to.

Time Magazine last year named the Gates couple, together with Bono of U2 its "Persons of the Year" for 2005, citing their charitable and philanthropic pursuits.

I've heard some who fear that Bill Gates might be the next anti-Christ, and even claim that this partnership between the world's two richest men is part of a bigger conspiracy. I can't really comment on this. I just wonder why people tend to find the negative out of something positive.

Nevertheless, these developments are truly inspiring. Imagine if all the other 689 billionaires (in US dollars) would duplicate this, even just a tiny portion of their immense wealth?

That would simply be incredible - the total alleviation of poverty.

10 signs that you're getting older

Here are 10 things that makes you realize you’re getting older (based on my own experience!)

1. when the clothes you bought just last Christmas do not fit anymore (this probably has something more to do with weight rather than age)
2. when people prefer to call you kuya or sir
3. when you use the calculator more often instead of doing all the math in your head (you’d blame your deteriorating memory on beer)
4. when drinking all night doesn't sound so fun anymore (and when you do drink, everyone seems to talk about anything related to work and jobhunting)
5. when you play golf or badminton more instead of basketball (people think badminton is a sissy game - no offense, I play it too, and believe me, it’s tougher than you think)
6. when you do play basketball and the kids you used to beat all the time before now run circles around you (I don’t jump as high or run as fast as before. Your mind thinks you could do it but your body doesn’t)
7. when you idolize NBA players who are much younger than you are (you look up to LeBron James and the other high school phenoms)
8. when you’re the only one among all the cousins in your entire family who isn’t married and doesn’t have kids (among all the first cousins in my father’s side, I’m the only one unmarried and without kids)
9. when you and your nephew are both freshmen students in school (just to clarify, he’s a freshman undergrad student, I’m a freshman law student, but you get the same green sheet when you enroll at SU)
10. when you now believe in the saying that “age doesn’t matter”

The number "10"

10 is my favorite number. I'd like to think of it this way: 10 stands for perfection (as in 10/10), something one should aspire for. Since I'm into computers and everything digital, 10 also symbolizes the language of computers called binary digits or bits for short (remember the cool Matrix graphics?) consisting only of 1's and 0's. In addition, each digit in number 10 is the exact opposite. 1 is the opposite of 0. On and off. Yes and no. Positive and negative. Good and bad.

a wicked week for sports

It has been a bad week for sports - nope, I'm not a part of any of it (although I'd like to think I am - in spirit), but as a die-hard sports fanatic, the past week sucked!

NBA FINALS

First and foremost, the team I have been rooting for the past 4 years lost in the NBA Finals. Yup, I'm a big-time Mavs fan! An amazing 2-0 start in the best-of-seven series for the championship ended up with an equally and heartbreaking game six victory on the road by the Miami Heat. Although the Mavs had homecourt advantage, many made them the underdogs. Even 6 out of 10 Dallas journalists predicted a Heat victory (talk about loyalty!). But I was confident the Mavs would win it all, even at the start of the season last November. I predicted the NBA champs (I give out my prediction after each All-Star break) for the past three seasons (2003-Spurs, 2004-Pistons, 2005-Spurs) but that streak failed this year. By the way, I may root for a team, but it doesn't necessarily follow that I predict them to win. This may sound weird but I'm just being realistic. (There are just times when you want a team to win but know that they don't stand a chance) Interestingly, it was only in 2004 wherein the team I rooted for was also the team I predicted to win. It would have been the second time this year. Here's a simple table to illustrate what I mean:

year --- predicted champs --- my team --- eventual champs
2003 -------Spurs---------------- Mavs------- Spurs
2004 -------Pistons --------------Pistons ----- Pistons
2005 -------Spurs --------------- Mavs ------- Spurs
2006 -------Mavs ----------------Mavs ------- Heat

As you can clearly see, the only time I did not root for the Mavs was in 2004. That was the time they had that crazy incompatible lineup (with Walker and Jamison). Then compare the second and fourth columns, as I said, it's only this year that my prediction was incorrect. Blame it on D. Wade.

The Mavs were 2-up in the series and led by 13 points midway through the 4th quarter of game 3. It looked like it would be 3-0 and ready for a sweep, but the Flash just started to "heat" up. No offense to Shaq (who showed glimpses of Superman in the Pistons series - nearly coinciding with the release of the movie "Superman Returns"), Dwyane (that's a "w" before the "y") Wade carried the entire Miami team. Fall 7 times, stand up 8. He is definitely the MVP worthy of MJ comparisons. He was just amazing. Unstoppable. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Wade fan, I just don't like the Heat as a team, mainly because of the old veterans (aka has-beens) who signed for a minimum contract just to have a chance to win a ring.

That come-from-behind Heat victory in game 3 was the turning point of the series. At that time, I already felt the Mavs were in trouble. A disheartening loss like that easily shifted the series' momentum in favor of the veteran Heat squad. And for that, I was correct. The Heat's vast experience (led by Shaq, Payton, and Zo) proved to be the difference.

As for the Mavs, it's not the end of the world. The experience they gained will be valuable as they make another run next year. I'm just a bit worried though because I feel like this WAS their chance. It just got away.

NOTE: That's an old photo of the Mavs. Michael Finley isn't a part of them anymore. Ironically, he's with the team the Mavs defeated in the West Semis - the Spurs.

US OPEN

Next was the U.S. Open Golf Championship. I idolize Tiger Woods (who else?) but unfortunately for him it was his first tournament back after the passing away of his dad, who was a big part of him not only as a father, but a teacher. The world's number 1 golfer just struggled at the extremely tough Winged Foot Course in New York. It was the first time I could recall him missing a cut in a major championship.

Even worse was the fact that sentimental choice Colin Montgomerie (perhaps the best golfer not able to win a major championship) choked at the last hole to ruin his chances (shades of Jean Van De Velde's meltdown at the British Open several years ago). But then again, at least it wasn't Phil Mickelson who won.

WORLD CUP

Third on the list is the still on-going FIFA World Cup at Germany, although this is not totally a disaster. Brazil, without any doubt the favorites to repeat, was unimpressive in their first two games - a 1-0 win over Croatia and a 2-0 win over Australia. The Samba boys didn't show the finesse and flair they are known for, and the intimidating attacking quartet of superstars Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano, and Ronaldo never clicked. They clearly were underperforming, even prompting a Brazilian journalist to call Ronaldo a "wobbling heavyweight".

The good thing was that the Brazilians improved in their 3rd outing against Japan, 4-1, but not after conceding the first goal. Proving everyone wrong, Ronaldo, on his 4th World Cup, showed flashes of his 2002 Golden-boot-winning form as he scored 2 goals, tying the record for most goals in the World Cup with 14. One more goal and he would be the leading goal-scorer in the tournament's history.

In the end, at least the Brazilians are still in, through to the last 16. And I believe we have yet to see the "real" dominant Brazil team. It may not be that wicked after all. Lookout everyone!

and one last shot... The New York Knicks just fired celebrated coach Larry Brown (in the process losing millions). Another episode in the Knicks' never-ending moves. If there's an award for the most unstable team, they'd surely win. And who would replace the former coach of the year? Isiah Thomas, who had stepped down from an executive position. Maybe he's just trying to "pull out a Riley." Get this: the Knicks are nowhere close to the Heat.

Summer of '06

Dang! Summer's over... just like that. Time has flown really fast.

Although I had classes, this eight week summer "vacation" was one of the most fun in recent memory.

For starters, I went to Boracay twice this summer, the first one during the last week of March and the second one just this May. Both times, my companions and I brought our own vehicles up to Caticlan, so I got to drive in several new provinces. Although it was not my first time to Bora, we had to get a map of the island of Panay. The unfamiliarity of the place made the trip more fun.

The second time was a little bit of a hassle as we went there just as typhoon "Caloy" struck the island-paradise. The fun part was that there were about 20 of us relatives. However, because of the delay in our trip, I had to go home ahead of the rest. I was just in Boracay for less than 10 waking hours.

My cousins from Manila spent their entire vacation in Dumaguete so there were a lot of activities, such as "beach-resort hopping" - a term I want to describe as being at several resorts in a single day. Among the beaches and/or resorts we visited (the entire summer) include Bahura (several times), Pura Vida, El Dorado, Private Residence, Cangmating, Martesan and Atlantis. I worked the past summer so there were some activities which I failed to take part in, such as trips to Lake Balinsasayaw and Sand Bar, as well as Dolphin Watching.

We always ate out. We were always (this is an understatement) at Bethel during hot afternoons. We'd stay there for hours talking and consuming Halo-halo or Cookie Monster. Other favorite food places are Chin Loong, Cafe Antonio, and Hayahay. As usual, there was the food festival at the boulevard during the Santa Cruzan, and we were often there too.

Speaking of Santa Cruzan, the city tourism sent me a letter to be one of the escorts for the sagalas during the parade. I never showed up.

I also went to Cebu a couple of times. At Shangri-la Beach Resort in Mandaue, we went jetskiing. Also, I watched the NBA Legends game held at Mandaue City. I saw former NBA stars Dennis Rodman, Calvin Murphy, Darryl Dawkins, Sidney Moncrief and Alex English in action against the San Miguel Legends led by Allan Caidic. Of course they played a lot slower, but still you know that when they were at the peak of their careers, they were the world's best. And there were also NBDL players who were super athletic, showcasing their aerial artistry with a barrage of high-flying dunks. Best of all, I got the Worm's autograph after the game. I was able to get to him cause I was wearing a Bulls shirt and cap (I'm a big fan of the 1990s Bulls team). I was amazed at how big and muscular he was and I wasn't able to react right away and have my picture taken with him.

That night, we went to Vudu at Crossroads. We were at the VIP lounge and to our astonishment, this huge guy wearing what looked like pyjamas came in. You got it, it was Rodman himself. There were only about 10 people in the lounge that night and yet, I didn't have the guts to get a picture. He was, after all, known as the Badboy, and he loves that reputation. I didn't want to leave the bar with a broken camera.

Now back to Dumaguete. Since we're on the topic of bars, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, most likely you'd find my cousins and I either at Hayahay, El Camino, or Payag. It seemed like we never missed a Reggae Wednesday at Hayahay. We were also at the Ragga De Mayo Concert by Junior Kilat led by Pinoy Big Brother finalist Budoy and local band Enchi (by the way, they have music videos on Myx already) since two of my cousins, as part of SUHS batch 1996, were the organizers.

Sports has also been a part of the summer. Specifically badminton and basketball - not golf this time. We usually play at Erco or the Court at Hypermart. The good thing was that many of us cousins, and even titos (and now titas) play badminton too.