SI Cover - "Thrilla in Manila"

Remember my officemate Jake who always calls me "Howie Mandel" on my January post? Well, he still does and asks me to help him cleanup his laptop with applications that’s making it crawl whenever he open any file or program.

And so I did and recommended that he upgrade his RAM to at least 1GB or better 2GB because he only has 512MB. For two days during my free time, I’d work on his machine and uninstall applications that he doesn’t need or seldom used.

After I’m done, he handed me a paper that I cannot agree not to accept because it’s an SI gift. He ask me what I really want to have and I said “Owning a “Thrilla in Manila” SI cover is an important cover for me to have because we Filipinos are just born a devoted boxing fan.

Not only it’s about the greatest boxing icon, the most significant about it is, it was held here in our country and was refereed by a Filipino in Carlos Padilla. Whenever I watch a game or show in Araneta Coliseum, I would pass by the poster of Ali vs. Frazer fight in 1975.

Today, I’ll be counting three more weeks and this important SI cover will be mine. Thanks again Jake!

Bowling 2008 - Single Game High Score

It was our annual bowling tournament and I haven’t been into the scene for few weeks now so I went there tonight to play. It’s the fifth week of competition and I only played three games out of twelve.

I usually bowl with an average of 150 but never really mastered my game. I always wanted to play but obligations and priorities will always come first for me. Good thing though, nobody have a great game that night so I bag home the single game high scorer award with 194 pins. Six points less than our 200 Club Award which I always wanted to reach so that I can take home a bowling pin as a trophy.

I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer to get my dream but nonetheless I’m proud to take home the yellow smiley squeeze ball prize for bagging the highest single game scorer of the week.

Four more games before championship and more prizes to get. Hope I can get that elusive pin this year...

Merville Siege: Die Another Day

Going back to this picture of the teams that competed during the tournament in Merville Parañaque made me realized that I've been out of the game for the past three years. This was in 2005 and I haven't seen most of these guys since then...

I build a team and named it "Legion of Doom" with a logo of a Darth Vader helmet with an attitude of the legendary tag-team wrestling champion LOD. I got with me my nephew Ken, my cousin Erwin, my brother-in-law JP and his best friend King, my officemate Jun and my best buddy Jeff.

We were unfortunate to get an award but we enjoyed being part of the game and battle with teams who competes internationally, a couple of US marines, ex-militaries, mountaineers and guys from different professions...and kids as well... We’re so disappointed that time because we're still four of us alive in our team and we're looking for just a single opponent to advance to quarter finals but could not find him only to know that we've passed over him and we didn't know that he's the one were looking for and he's just a twelve year old kid. I’ve seen him sitting in one corner so I thought he might be just watching the game…

If only we've studied every team specially their team members, we might have won a trophy... and that's a hint for you guys who are new to the sport!

John Elway - So Good For So Long

My first love for American Football started in 1987 when I was in 4th Grade. My elder brother Jason, who was in high school then, would go home only during weekends who loves to watch sports on TV while he's having a good massage from our dad.

Being an 11 year old kid, I rather watch cartoons which we would fight for the television tuner. My brother, being an athletic teenager, always brought home MVP medals from different sports he joined in his school. He became my idol that whatever he watches, I see to it that I understand what he’s watching, how to score, the name of the plays and the players. That I know which team he cheered for and one great thing I learned from him is that he loves all sports events. And often times, during championships, he support the underdogs except for local pro-basketball (PBA), he and the whole family is a die-hard Jaworski fan who wore jersey 7 for Ginebra San Miguel.

My brother watches the National Football League (NFL) so I started also to watch the games even when he's not around. What caught my attention during his visits was the NFL Denver Broncos Quarterback, John Elway who also wore jersey number 7. Being a novice fan of NFL, I didn’t realized that this guy will be my idol also but not until my senior year in college which he won his first Super Bowl. And repeated the feat the following year and ended his career on top with two rings and an MVP award.

In 2005, I bought his McFarlane’s 12’ figure. For me, he’s one of the greatest QB I’ve seen because I’ve watch him in his "The Drive" season when I was a kid and seen him at the end of his career a decade later.

I can never be happier when I bought an SI 2004 Hall of Fame edition from a local shop entitled: “A Tribute to John Elway, So Good for So Long” which is very similar to my McFarlane collectible.

3 inchIS More

Just got back from a 4 days vacation in Bohol with my family and was surprised by a 3-inch pile of SI magazines on top of my table. The subscriber's name was familiar so I went to his office and thank him for the mags.

This guy is our chief of security and every morning, he'd stand at the yard overseeing the security procedure of his staff. I would open my car window and greet him before proceeding to the north parking area, he then would shout "Howie Mandel!" and for a while I did not bother to check who's this Mandel guy until now.

And so Howie Mandel is a Canadian and the host of the US "Deal or No Deal" tv game show. He may be a fan of the show that's why he kept calling me with that name every morning as a way of making a joke. Anyway, he's a cool guy though many are afraid of his status, I got used to his type coz i'm more comfortable dealing or communicating with people with bold personality even when i was still young...

Thanks again, Jake!

D "First" ISsue

Today, I received the best birthday gift to start the year. I got a Sports Illustrated gift set from mom and bela. I actually saw it at a bookstore in Rockwell and I called mom’s attention and asked her this, “do you know what I want for my birthday?” and then I showed her the book from my back and said, "this!"

And of course, she bought it as expected, Yahoo! What's great about it is it has reprint of the first issue, the very first SI issue dated 08-16-54 included also is a hardbound book entitled "The Best of Sports Illustrated". I guess being a sports fan, you'll have to know also or at least have a copy of this magazine issue... I always wanted to build a room full of sports memorabilia’s like posters, movies, balls, books, coins, jerseys, action figures and also picture frames of SI best covers hanging on the wall...

SI, inspired me, reading stories of athletes is like reading about your life struggles and challenges…You learn from their stories the importance of giving your best all the times, of being humble and thankful to those who made you what you are today, of how to handle defeat and losing, and how to make your family a part of your success…

I love your gift, mom and bela! You’re my inspirations, every single day of my being!

Sports Illustrated

I got and later lost my first Sports Illustrated magazine many years ago but I still remember the images on the cover, its Bird vs. Magic hustling each other to rebound for the basketball. I could have lost it during the time when my family was moving from one apartment to another, or somebody from my household could have thrown it away because it’s an old magazine…

When I was in grade school of the late 80’s, we lived in Quiapo, across our place is my school AMES and about two blocks away is Claro M. Recto Street. Here, I would stroll early in the morning looking for something to do (like video games, my best buddy Andrew, who used to live in Recto beside University of the East would treat me for these games most of the times), something to read or buy at National Book Store and the thing I enjoyed the most, is watching a movie all by myself on weekends or holidays.

On the streets of Recto and Morayta you can find a lot of book stands where some of them are selling magazines as well. From here I saw that SI issue and I think I bought it for 15 pesos. It’s very rare that you find an SI magazine here because the subscription is limited to US and Canada. For years, I would hide my stuffs on one of my old school bag but sad to say, none of my childhood collections survived.

Oh how I wish to have another copy of it and I know now where to find it, I’ll buy it someday…