Category Archives: Typical activites
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Daily dose 001—all about hoops.
September 28 2011- 11:01 am
Mood: Bored
Its only 11am and I’m bored, now I see why we have to go to school– to avoid being sluggish plus we can get our daily allowance. I don’t think this day will become more exciting than it is right now. I have to do 2 essays as required by our Filipino professor and have to review in 3 subjects.
Anyway, as I was browsing the net, I noticed that the NBA lockout is now at its 3rd month, not sure of whats happening there but I think they’ll be back on the first of November. Click HERE to see the details.
Since we’re talking about basketball, the UAAP 73 men’s basketball championships that is scheduled yesterday was moved on October 1 (Saturday) due to the rage of ”Pedring”. I’m really looking forward on how the Blue eagles plan to grab a historical four-peat championship and how the Tamaraws plan to have their first championship since Arwind Santos. As for these two, I go for the tams.
Also, the Smart Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines’ bid for the 2012 London Olympics) came short of reaching their olympic dreams loosing by only 2 points against the Koreans. Click HERE for the game highlights.
Thinkin’ of having another update this evening… that’s all for now.
-Izzy
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Sells 7 Million Copies
CALL of Duty: Black Ops shattered entertainment records this week when it raked in $360 million in its first 24 hours on sale.
The video game’s publisher Activision said the figures made Black Ops the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever, eclipsing Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.
The record was previously held by its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which took $US310 million on its first day a year ago.
Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies in North America and Britain alone on its first day compared to 4.7 million copies for Modern Warfare 2.
“There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year’s five-day global sales record of $US550 million,” Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said.
“The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay.”
Black Ops is the seventh title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since the first version was released in 2003.
The latest instalment takes gamers on a series of Cold War-era military adventures.
It has generated a massive amount of pre-launch publicity after confirming rumours of appearances by zombie Nazis and Cold war personalities such as JFK, Fidel Castro and Richard Nixon.
Yesterday, Cuban authorities complained that a mission in which gamers were tasked with assassinating Castro was “perverse”.
Marketing firm IDC forecasts that 11.7 million copies of Black Ops will be shifted in the United States alone by the end of the year.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/gaming/activision-claims-biggest-entertainment-launch-ever-with-360m-call-of-duty-black-ops-haul/story-e6frfrt9-1225952519430#ixzz151RZzhjK
Stunning End to Regulation Helps Suns Beat Memphis
Richardson scores 5 in 1.1 seconds, Suns beat Grizzlies in 2 OTs
By BOB BAUM AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX November 6, 2010
Jason Richardson scored five of his 38 points in an amazing final 1.1 seconds of regulation and, thanks to a made free throw that Rudy Gay intended to miss, the Phoenix Suns went on to a head-shaking 123-118 double-overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
Steve Nash scored 13 of his 25 points in the overtimes to send Memphis to its third loss in a row but the second-best free throw shooter in NBA history missed one of two to give.
Memphis seemed safely ahead when O.J. Mayo’s two free throws made it 98-94 with 3.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
But Richardson banked in a 3-pointer to make it 98-97 with 1.1 to go, then Steve Nash fouled Gay on an inbounds pass. The referees put 0.4 seconds on the clock.
Gay missed the first free throw and clearly intended to miss the other so time would run out. But it went in and, after a timeout, the ball moved to Phoenix’s frontcourt and Grant Hill lofted a perfect lob to Richardson at the rim. The shot went in to tie it at 99.
Memphis was without head coach Lionel Hollins and assistant Johnny Davis, who were attended the memorial service for former teammate Maurice Lucas.
Richardson’s sixth 3-pointer in 7 attempts put Phoenix ahead for good in the second overtime. Nash followed with a pair of short bank shots and the Suns led 116-110. A rare missed free throw by Nash gave Memphis a shot at tying the game but Gay misfired on a 3-pointer with seven seconds left and Phoenix put it away with free throws.
Marc Gasol scored 26 points on 12 of 13 shooting for Memphis before fouling out with 2½ minutes left in the second overtime. Zach Randolph, back after missing three games with a bruised tailbone, scored 12 on 3 of 11 shooting but grabbed 14 rebounds.
Gay added 26 to set a franchise record of six straight 20-point games to open the season.
O.J. Mayo added 23 points and Mike Conley scored 16 but missed four of six free throws in the overtime.
What They’re Wearing: John Wall’s ‘Gold Rush’ kicks
What They’re Wearing: John Wall’s ‘Gold Rush’ kicks
By Dan Devine
John Wall(notes) is making his Madison Square Garden debut tonight as his Washington Wizards take on the
New York Knicks, and he’s rocking something special for the occasion — the new “Gold Rush” edition of his Reebok Zig Slash signature shoe.
Here’s a quick rundown on the Gold Rush from the fine folks at Sole Collector:
The shoe features a metallic gold synthetic base, with black working the mesh underlay, medial mudguard and Vector logo. Finishing things off is an instinct blue Zig sole and metallic gold outsole.
According to the Foot Locker Unlocked blog, the Madison Square Garden Foot Locker store on 34th Street in New York “will be selling 12 pairs of the super limited shoe” tomorrow afternoon. Sole Collector says “each shoe is individually numbered to 12, [with] a special commemorative patch sewn on the inside of the tongue,” and is packaged in “a gold-detailed black lockbox, which comes with a key and numbered keychain,” for storage.
They’re a little flashy for my taste (then again, I mostly wear Chucks), but hey, if you’re in Manhattan, you like fighting over rare items and you love shoes that look kind of like Oscars surfing, y’know, get on that.
Hit the jump for some pre-staged, off-court shots of the Gold Rush:
Lebron wows the nation
LeBron James has redefined himself with his widely anticipated, and nonetheless, shocking decision to join the Miami Heat. In years to come, he promises to play less like Michael Jordan and perform more like an open-floor version of Magic Johnson, as he creates plays for Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
He has chosen to play basketball of the highest level, and to do so at the personal expense of rejecting the larger markets of New York and Chicago. Most of all, he has signaled that he is no longer seeking to be universally popular. He is not going to be all things to all people anymore.
He turned a lot of people against him by showcasing his choice to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, situated less than an hour north of his hometown of Akron. The way he announced his decision is going to be more important to many people than his reasons for moving to Miami. Those reasons are understandable; some will call them laudable.
But this threatens to go down as a case of What You Say vs. How You Say It. How he said it drowned out the meaning of his words. If he was going to divorce himself from the fans who viewed him as one of their own, as a savior to their depressed region, then wasn’t there a less painful way to do so? His former fans will make the argument that James was so concerned with the pursuit of his celebrity that he ran them over with this self-empowering TV special. A lot of people will be cheering against him now.
“Our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier,” wrote team owner Dan Gilbert in a bitter open letter to Cavs fans Thursday night, in which he referred to James as “narcissistic, self-promotional” and “cowardly.”
“This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown ‘chosen one’ sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn … But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called ‘curse’ on Cleveland, Ohio.
“The self-declared former ‘King’ will be taking the ‘curse’ with him down south. And until he does ‘right’ by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.”
James surely turned many in his hometown against him. But other fans around the country can be reclaimed by simply winning in a big way. The amazing revival of Kobe Bryant‘s popularity had everything to do with triumphing in the last two NBA Finals, and James has now set himself up to do the same on terms that cannot be considered selfish. He has chosen to score fewer points, to adapt his MVP style of play, to accept not being the No. 1 player on his team every night and to leave money on the table by accepting a five-year deal (worth at least $30 million less than he would have earned in Cleveland) in which he’ll share Miami’s cap space with Wade and Bosh.
James repeatedly said that he wasn’t looking to leave Cleveland, but then he belied those statements when he began to discuss the NBA’s leading partnerships of the last 30 years. He worked his way through a number of championship teams while pointing out that Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, that Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson, that Isiah Thomas had Joe Dumars and on and on. “You become a superstar individually, but you become a champion with a team and I understand that,” he said. “I understand the history of the game.”
In other words, he never was supplied with a star in his prime. After seven years in Cleveland he was lured to Miami by the promise of playing with talented teammates. The natural concerns that he and Wade will struggle to play together are of no concern to him, James insisted.
“The only thing that may change is the points per game,” said James. “The way you see me and D-Wade approach the game every night and have that never-say-die attitude will not change. We don’t have to have the pressure of scoring 30 every night or shooting a high percentage or logging long minutes and worrying about our team suffering because of that. The way we approach the game — the same demeanor, the same grit, the same swagger to our game will not change, and that’s the same thing with Chris also.”
What became clear from James’ televised interview is that he, Wade and Bosh had shared conversations in which each talked of the burdens of carrying a team on his own, as each has tried to do to ultimately disappointing results in Cleveland, Miami and Toronto, respectively, over the last few years. The downside of this new AAU era is that these rival players are friends in a way that Magic, Larry and Isiah never could have been in their day. The upside is that James, Wade and Bosh have shown that they — as friends — are more concerned with winning than with their individual stats or with boasting the biggest salary.
Two other conclusions can be drawn. One is that this partnership was in the works years ago when all three agreed to shortened contracts enabling them to become free agents simultaneously, in the final summer before the anticipated 2011 lockout and the likelihood of smaller, shorter contracts. It may not have seemed likely a few years ago, but it surely was a goal.
The other conclusion is that Heat president Pat Riley dominated this free-agent market. He was better networked and a much more informed and charismatic recruiter than any of his rivals, and that’s why he won at their expense.
So where does this leave Miami? James and Wade have insisted that Erik Spoelstra will remain as coach with Riley continuing to serve as his highly demanding mentor. Much of Spoelstra’s success next season will be determined by Miami’s ability over the remaining summer to fill out the roster with role players on veteran minimum contracts. Now that forward Michael Beasley‘s $5 million salary has reportedly been moved to Minnesota for a second-round pick in a move to clear further cap space, the Heat could have additional funds to pursue the following in addition to their three stars and point guard Mario Chalmers — a starting center, two backup big men, a backup small forward and at least two guards, one of whom may need to start at the point. All of this to fill out the rotation, with at least two more players needed for the end of the bench. The quality of these acquisitions is almost impossible to predict because the Heat will have to wait and see which players are left unsigned through the end of the month.
Until we know more about the rest of the team, the Heat cannot be rated ahead of the Eastern champion Celtics or conference finalists Magic. But within a year or two, this surely will be a championship contender with the promise of a long run at the top.
Five things to know about the DSi XL
What do you do when you’ve conquered the world? Try conquering it again, I guess.
Such is the position that Nintendo finds itself in, at least if the world you’re talking about is that of the portable gaming scene. Despite hitting shelves back in 2004, the Nintendo DS system is still totally dominating the handheld market, even managing to set a U.S. sales record with a stunning 11.2 million units sold in 2009.
But rather than sit back and bask in their success, Nintendo is moving forward by releasing the fourth iteration of the DS, the DSi XL, on March 28. Not sure what the new system is all about? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Yes, it’s much, much bigger.
Much. This is the heaviest, longest, and widest DS to date. Specifically, the DSi XL boasts twin 4.2 inch screens — 93% larger than the DS Lite and a fair share bigger than the DSi. It also packs a standard stylus alongside a fat new stylus roughly the size of a pen. See for yourself in this handy size comparison pic.
2. That goes for the battery, too.
This might be the most overlooked new feature. The supersized battery means you don’t have to charge it up as often, reportedly lasting between 13 and 17 hours on the lowest brightness setting. That’s a significant boost over the DSi’s 9 to 14 hour range. Unless you’re flying halfway around the world, chances are the DSi XL will be a dependable travel companion.
3. It’s pre-loaded with games.
Although we’re not sure they all deserve to be called “games.” Two of them are Brain Age spinoffs: one for Arts and Letters, another focusing on Math. The others? A Photo Clock (which lets you turn any picture into a timekeeper), a browser, and the Flipnote animation studio. It’s not exactly Mario Kart, but hey, free stuff is free stuff.
4. It will play all your DS titles.
Besides, you’re not going to waste time with the pre-installed software for long. The DSi XL supports all 1,000 or so DS games released over the past six years. And since it’s still technically a DSi system, you can also download DSiWare titles.
5. It doesn’t really fit in your pocket.
One of the selling points of any portable game system is, well, its portability. By most accounts, the DSi XL is a little too bulky to tote around in your front pocket. It’s not as unwieldy as an iPad, but it’s hardly as portable as your iPhone…or your standard DSi.
Via http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/five-things-to-know-about-the-dsi-xl/1395084
What was the story with Tiger’s Buddhism bracelet?
At the end of Sunday night’s Golf Channel interview with Tiger Woods, interviewer Kelly Tilghman made note of the bracelet Woods wore on his left wrist. From the official transcript:
KT: I noticed you’re wearing a bracelet, can we see it?
TW: Yeah.
KT: What does it mean?
TW: It’s Buddhist, it’s for protection and strength and I certainly need that.
KT: When did you start wearing it?
TW: Before I went into treatment.
KT: Will you be wearing it during the Masters?
TW: Absolutely.
KT: For the rest of your life?
TW: Absolutely.
(View the interview in its entirety here at The Golf Channel.)
The bracelet itself isn’t the big deal; you can pick one of those up at the mall for five bucks (Amazon hashundreds of “Buddhist bracelets” for those who want to be like Tiger.) It’s what the bracelet represents — the idea of remembering one’s “core values” — that makes it significant.
Certainly, it’s not uncommon for people embroiled in scandal to suddenly wrap themselves in religion as a way of deflecting criticism. Prisoners and politicians alike often turn to religion when their worldly deeds come crashing down around them. So it’s understandable to view Woods’ embracing of Buddhism, Sunday and at his Feb. 19 press conference, as a cynical ploy for sympathy.
Thing is, Woods publicly professed his connection to Buddhism long before the scandal broke. In a May 2008 Reuters interview shortly after the birth of his second child, Woods noted that he adhered to tenets of Buddhism such as meditation:
“I practice meditation — that is something that I do, that my mum [sic] taught me over the years. We also have a thing we do every year, where 
we go to temple together,” he said. “In the Buddhist religion you have to work for it yourself, internally, in order to achieve anything in life and set up the next life. It is all about what you do and you get out of it what you put into it. So you are going to have to work your butt off in every aspect of your life.”
And as he admitted Sunday, he’s got plenty of work ahead.
Also, the conspiracy-minded — or those with too much time on their hands — will note that Woods doesn’t have a wedding ring on, and will surely scream that it’s the sign of marital apocalypse. Not so, at least not based on that alone. Tiger never wears his wedding ring on the golf course, and as the photo at right shows, he apparently doesn’t wear it when he’s out with his family, either.
That photo is from last year’s Cal-Stanford game, taken just days before the news of his initial affair broke. Tiger got roundly booed at that game, but it was because he was a Stanford alum, not for any other reason. No, the really bad news for Tiger was still a few days away. Hopefully, for the sake of his family and his golf game, the worst days are now behind him.
Gilbert Arenas Gun Incident: Three Things for Gilbert to Think About
Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards is in serious trouble. In case you haven’t heard, Arenas was recently accused of pulling a gun out on his teammate, Javaris Crittenton, in an incident that is virtually unprecedented in NBA history. I hope that Gilbert didn’t do this, but if he did, his career might come to an end. Here are three quick things for Gilbert (and the rest of us) to think about:
1) You are never too big to fail: In the event that Gilbert Arenas did indeed pull that gun out on his teammate, it is likely due to some kind of arrogance. Some athletes get to the point where the money and the power come so easily that they truly believe that they can’t ever come down. Tiger Woods may have also been a victim of such arrogance, and now we are watching his position as America’s golden boy slowly dismantle itself. Let’s hope that Arenas isn’t possessed by the same demon of overconfidence.
2) Every year, some black male athlete is made into public enemy No. 1: Whether you are talking about Tiger Woods, Ron Artest, Lattrell Sprewell, Barry Bonds, Randy Moss or Michael Vick, there is usually at least one black male athlete every year who is thrust out to America as public enemy No. 1. The man is not judged by his talent and work ethic; instead, he is maligned for having “poor character” in a nation that doesn’t understand that it has a history of seeing black men as being less than human and less intelligent than the rest of the country. It looks like Arenas might be the next one on the list, so it’ll be interesting to see the judgmental commentary that follows.
3) David Stern runs a tight ship: While Gilbert Arenas may have been getting “gangsta” by pulling that gun out on Javaris Crittenton, Arenas will never be nearly as “gangsta” as NBA commissioner David Stern. David Stern runs one of the tightest ships in all of sports, and I personally feel that he goes out of his way to constrain the players in a way that sickens me. The point is, though, that David Stern will never allow any one player to derail his quest to make the NBA into a global super power, so don’t be surprised if Gilbert Arenas finds himself on the sidelines very soon. This kind of behavior is simply not going to be tolerated, and on this point, I would be in complete agreement with the commissioner.
I wish Gilbert Arenas the best, and I hope he didn’t pull the gun out on his teammate. If he did, there is going to be hell to pay, and there’s nothing he can do about it.
Via: http://www.bvonsports.com/2010/01/02/gilbert-arenas-gun-incident/
Wazzup w/ Woods?
Being the #1 paid athlete for many survey, I think its just right to say that Tiger Woods is one of the most successful man…
But since he got involved in this scandal, I think that Its just right for companies to pull out their supports and sponsorships on him…I really feel sorry for the man, I used to look up on him…
The Tiger Woods brand will bounce back
By CHRIS LEHOURITES, AP Sports Writer
LONDON (AP)—Tiger Woods can still salvage his tarnished image around the world despite the scandal that has forced him to take an indefinite break from golf, according to several global brand experts.
In Europe, where people are traditionally more liberal when it comes to social attitudes, the scandal has hurt the American, but his power to sell is not beyond repair. In countries where cultural taboos about infidelity are greater, it may take a little longer for the world’s No. 1 golfer to recover, but the consensus is that it will happen.
“He may never achieve those peaks again that he’s done, but he will be a significant sportsman and a significant figure in the world of golf in a few years’ time. I have no doubt about it,” said Simon Middleton, a British brand consultant. “Nobody just writes people off like that.”
//
In the last two weeks, Woods was involved in a minor car accident, acknowledged adultery, announced an indefinite leave from his sport and was dropped by a major sponsor. All of that, the experts say, will have an effect on what he can persuade the public to buy.
“People will struggle to look at him as a role model to represent good business decisions,” said Julian Stubbs, a global branding expert in Stockholm. “His marketability will definitely change.”
Woods’ squeaky clean image from continent to continent has been tarnished since he crashed his car outside his Florida home late last month. That came shortly after an American tabloid published a report saying Woods was having an affair with New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel.
Since then, the number of reports of alleged infidelities has increased significantly, and Woods—who has yet to speak publicly—finally admitted to cheating on his Swedish wife of five years, Elin Nordegren. The couple have two young children.
Zeng Zhaohui, a Chinese branding expert, said people in China will likely get over the negative publicity and again focus on his ability as an athlete.
“Chinese people are becoming more open toward this kind of scandal,” Zeng said. “People will like him again if he plays well.”
Stubbs, who said Woods’ wife has become the “shining star” of the saga in Sweden, added that Swedes, too, will eventually move on and accept Woods again.
“Swedes as a society are pretty good at forgiving and forgetting,” Stubbs said. “Golf is a significant sport here and I actually think depending on what he decides to do and how he handles it, I think he could recover.
“I don’t think he will ever be quite the same again as a brand, as a marketable brand, but I think he’s capable of recovering.”
Many big-name athletes and leading politicians have overcome the fallout from affairs or alleged affairs, including David Beckham. The former captain of England’s national football team was accused of cheating on pop star wife Victoria in 2004 but nothing was ever proven.
Comparing what has happened to Woods to what may have happened to Beckham in similar circumstances is a moot point, Middleton said.
“It will have probably had a similar impact, we’d have been similarly horrified,” Middleton said, but also noted that the 34-year-old Beckham is closer to the end of his career than the 33-year-old Woods. “The career of elite footballers is shorter inevitably … and I think therefore the recovery might have been more challenging were it Beckham.”
Stubbs compared the Woods scandal to the drug allegations that surrounded supermodel Kate Moss in 2005.
“The first six months was probably awful for her,” Stubbs said. “But she actually came back, in many respects, stronger, earning more money the following year because it actually added a little bit of an edge to her brand.”
Like Beckham and Moss, Woods is a huge name and a major personality around the world. But that can create other problems in more conservative countries, where adultery is treated as a major crime rather than mere “transgressions,” as Woods put it in one of his statements.
“The value difference is a factor, but it’s not a very big issue here,” Zeng said. “I believe the scandal won’t be a lethal blow.”
Stubbs said Japan may be the first place to embrace Woods when the scandal starts to ebb.
“They’ll still see him as a golfer first,” Stubbs said. “I don’t think the scandal will have quite had the edge it’s had in Western Europe, America, Sweden.”
But Risa Tanaka, the managing editor of branding magazine Senden Kaigi, said it would take Woods a long time to recover in Japan.
“Tiger’s value as a commercial icon has plunged, because companies don’t like scandals, especially one of that magnitude,” Tanaka said. “It would be very difficult for Tiger to recover from the negative image in Japan after the scandal that disturbed many women, who are the main consumption power in this country.”
Maybe Woods would be better off if he had been born in Europe instead of the United States.
“I think if he were a European golfer … the perspective would be different,” Middleton said. “He would be admonished, but I don’t think his brand would be in such dire straits as it is now.”
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and AP researcher Xi Yue in Beijing contributed to this report.
