The 2011 NBA Champs

The top feel-good-moment of the decade just happened – Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks just won their first ever NBA Championship title.

This feat strengthens the claim of Coach Rick Carlisle that Dirk Nowitzki is among the top 10 NBA Greats of all time, Nowitzki being the second best Power Forward of all time, just next to Tim Duncan and overtaking Karl Malone and Charles Barkley.

Jason Kidd, on the brink of retiring and after his 17 years of journey and two defeats in the NBA Finals, finally owns a ring. Who said there was no more gas left in his tank?

Jason Terry gets to keep his Larry O’Brien trophy tattoo on his right muscle, thanks to his brilliant performance in Games 5 and 6, just when the team needs him most. At the age of 33, there is no stopping The Jet from taking off.

Shawn Marion who was a journey man after being traded by the Phoenix Suns and prior to being a Maverick, got his groove back, offensively and defensively, helping Dallas win it all. He did a great job defending LeBron and Wade.

Tyson Chandler, who made this once soft Mavericks team into a tough, defensive team, deserves the honor of being the second Most Valuable Player of the team. Where would the team be defensively without his presence?

Juan Jose Barea, the wonder kid from Puerto Rico, can now be considered a hero in his native country. The team went 3-0 after assuming the starting position. His penetration, 3pt shooting and passing were priceless. Now I understand why Andrew Bynum hit him hard on his rib cage part.

Coach Rick Carlisle, who was the real architect of the 2004 World Champions Detroit Pistons team, gets now the credit that is long overdue – he is one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA. This victory just proves that off the charts.

And to the rest of the Dallas Mavericks team. 2011 was really their time. It was written all over the deserts in Texas, this year was Dallas Mavericks’ year. And hell yeah they deserve it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Champions of the World this 2011 are the Dallas Mavericks.

And now, let’s go to this year’s runner-ups – the Miami Heat.

What went wrong? Nothing went wrong. In fact, they even exceeded the expectations. Many of us did not expect them to reach the NBA Finals. But they did anyway. Let’s just put it like this – The Dallas Mavericks team was just better than the Miami Heat team. A team is better than the Big Three any time of the day. I just cannot understand why LeBron James, who was phenomenal in the first three rounds, checked out or shrinked (call it whatever you want) in the NBA Finals. Why did he not assert his self like what all time greats usually do? If I have to blame someone, I would have to blame LeBron. We all know he is the best player in the league right now, but what he just showed us in the Finals made me think twice about it. Anyway, I’m still thinking if the “greatest player” comment of Pippen had to do something with LeBron’s disappointing performance in the Finals.

The bottom line is, I’m happy Dirk and Kidd finally won a ring.

P.S. After almost two decades of watching NBA, I finally predicted a series completely accurate. My Mia-Dal-Mia-Dal-Dal-Dal prediction was right on target.

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To Be 'Practical' In This Country

First posted in my Friendster blog in 2008

Like any other law student, I and my classmates settled on a drinking spree after our final examinations. We promised to ourselves not to talk about the very difficult examinations for it will only ruin the night. And the plan went well. And so, we started emptying the bottles of beers and vodkas. Almost everyone then was drunk except for me for I really hate the taste of alcohols. While drunk, all then started to talk about things they would not usually talk about with much honesty when they are not under the influence of alcohol. The topic – what would we want to be after becoming lawyers, that simple yet very stimulating. Well, there are some issues I need to clear out before I go on with my story. First, we are not sure if we will really become lawyers. It is a tough profession and it is tougher to become one. Second, the philosophies and the ideologies that will be narrated later, which perhaps some of them you will find insulting, are not taught by our dear school. Now, I can proceed with the story. I just hope some of my classmates would not be able to read this because I am sure they would know that they were the ones I am talking about. Pasensya na mga pare.

It started with, “Pare, ano ba gusto mong gawin ‘pag abogado ka na?”Well, everyone waited for his turn to answer this intriguing question. One voluntarily began the answering saying he would want to be in the academe and would imitate the style of teaching of his favourite law professors. Such a noble answer. Our country needs people whose line of thinking is similar to that of my classmate. But it is really easier said than done. Another, without hesitation, bragged that he would want to work as legal counsel in institutions where money is not a problem. I found his answer lacking with something. Maybe because he prioritized money first than service. Then I took my turn in answering the question. I humbly said that I want to change our country. Being a lawyer is in a good position to effect change. A change that would affect not just a province but the whole nation. After hearing my answer which they did not expect at all, everyone started to rebut it. My seatmate rebutted it with a sinister smile, my other seatmate made his with an utter silence, another classmate rebutted it with a couple of questions, “How would you do that if you are just no one? You need power and fame to materialize that dream. How then would you get hold of those two?” But I threw back a question to him, “Do we really need power and fame to effect change in our country?” One classmate intervened and addressed his remark to me, “Pare, maging praktikal ka.” I thought for a while what he meant when he said that, but he nevertheless explained his confusing remark which was to my surprise. He said that to be practical in this country, one has to conform to the norm. The norm for him is that power can only be acquired when one does things which I consider dirty, and fame when one successfully done those things. It has long been observed in this country that to acquire power, one must team up with another who is already in power, to accept easy-money, to possess guns and goons, to instil fear amongst peoples, to tolerate violations of law, and to do other more things which should not really be done. Doing these, one is also crowned with fame. These are the ways one can acquire power and fame here in country. This is the norm which my classmate is talking about. These are the things I consider dirty. But this is really the norm here in country. How sad.

At one point, I thought my classmate was right. Oh so right. But on a second thought, he was wrong. Oh so wrong. Contradicting? Let me explain. He is right when he said that it was the norm. But he was wrong when he said that to be practical, one must do those things. The meaning of the word ‘practical’ seems to be corrupted already. Well, it has been the product of the political evolution here in our country. Many believe that to be practical is to really be like that. Some even think worse. But it should not be. We should not tolerate this erring perception. We should fix it now. So what must a practical person do? Go back to the basics. Be good at all times, be fair to everyone, and let the rule of law govern the people. Sounds cliché already? How about corrupting again the word ‘practical’? But this time, for the better. Say, to be practical is to have a line of thinking which is to effect change in our country, a change that would not just affect a certain place but the whole nation, where money is no important, and power and fame are not necessary. Sounds better? It sure does.

And so I say to you, “Pare, maging praktikal ka!”

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Atheist: "I saw the face of God"

This is a story taken from the homily of Bishop Ongtioco sometime in 2009.

There was a reporter who is an atheist. He was assigned to cover a remote place where relief goods are being distributed. A number of people waited in line to receive their own relief goods. Among the people who were waiting for their turn was a six year old boy. Every time he was nearing to receive his own, he is pushed out from the line by older people which forced him to go to the end of the line and to wait for his turn again. This happened several times. And so it was no surprised that he was the last one to receive his. Unfortunately, what was then left for him was a banana. Nevertheless, he received it with a smile and thanked the person who gave it to him. He then rushed to a place where two children, looking very hungry, were seated --one was five and the other was three. They are his younger siblings. He peeled then broke the banana in half and gave one half to his younger sibling and the other to the youngest. Oblivious to his surroundings, as he was being watched by the reporter all those times, he licked the banana peel left on his hand just to satisfy his hunger.

The atheist reporter broke in tears and said, “I saw the face of God.”

Moral Lesson:

It is us who introduce God to others. Think about it. So, what are you going to do now?

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My Favorite Superheroes

When we talk of superheroes, many would pick Superman, Spiderman or Batman as their favorite simply because all of them can do the impossible, the unthinkable, the unimaginable. Mine can do exactly the same, but no, he cannot fly, nor can he swing from one building to another, and no, she cannot fly too, nor does she wear sexy outfit when she is in action. They are just ordinary people who happen to possess extraordinary powers unlike those of Superman and company.

He is a lawyer in the province who does not run any business but was able to produce a lawyer, has two sons taking up medicine, another taking up law, another is in college, and the youngest is in an exclusive school in Quezon City.

One time he had to travel on a bus for nine hours from Ilocos to Manila then transfer in a van to travel again for seven hours to Camarines just to attend a hearing. And then he had to endure the same duration of time on the road going back to Ilocos. He had to do this once a week for several months. There were times when he had to undergo this long trip only to find out, upon arriving in Camarines, that the hearing was postponed to a later date.

He accepts cases from as far as Cagayan Valley and Isabela, and he also has cases in La Union, Pangasinan, and Laguna. And so it frequently happens after attending hearing in Cagayan, he goes straight to Isabela, then to Manila to meet his clients from Laguna. He also has to wake up as early as four in the morning to avoid being late in his hearing in La Union or Pangasinan.

When at home, he works from morning until midnight making pleadings, reading law books and deciding cases, then he has to type those pleadings and decisions all by himself.

Normally, the load carried by one gets lighter as he grows older, but his gets heavier as time goes by. At the age of 53, he should be earning money for his retirement, but still he has to work like a horse to earn good money. He has never complained though. His happiness is for all his children getting good education and top-notch profession. In fact, he is suffering from a stress-related skin disease but that does not stop him from making a living.

Nevertheless, he still spends quality time with his family – he gets to cook good food for everyone, goes to the beach or have a road trip with his whole family, tailor-repairs polos and jeans of his kids, gets to sing once in a while in the videoke, and watch basketball with his boys.

Maybe he possesses the strength of Superman, Spiderman and Batman all combined.

She is a full-time housewife. Imagine how difficult it is to take care of six children – five boys and one girl.

When she wakes up in the morning, she has to decide the amount of food to be served for the whole day making sure no one will complain. She goes to the market all by herself, and usually when she returns, she realizes she forgot something and so she goes back to the market again to buy that thing.

She sees to it that all bills and tuition fees are paid, and if not, she always takes the blame. She also always gets messages via cell phone from her children asking I need money or I need this and that, and so she goes to the bank to send money, rain or shine. And when house helpers decide to go home, it is her obligation to go to the remotest places in the province to look for their replacements.

One time, when she was taking care of her sick child in the hospital, and her other children were at home without money to spend for their merienda, the moment she received a text message asking for merienda, she went home, delivered merienda to them, then went back to the hospital right after.

At the age of 53, she should already be sitting pretty, her children should have been serving her, but still, she loves what she does. The fact that all of her children are seeking further studies, she is more than happy to serve them until they finish it.

Despite her flaws and shortcomings, she is very much loved, knowing that her duty is indispensible to everyone.

Wonderwoman might need a word from her on how to become a “real” wonder woman.

They sacrifice everything for their children. All the money they earn goes to their children. Almost nothing is left for them, for their future. But their children are all aware of these sacrifices. And so when everyone will turn their backs on them, their children can assure them that they can count on them. And they are hopeful that they will be their parents’ future.

He is my father and she is my mother. Sorry Superman, sorry Wonderwoman, but my favorite superheroes are my parents.

The world would be a better place if all the parents in the world are their children’s favorite superheroes. So that, we, their children, will grow up idolizing them, and we will someday become superheroes, ourselves, the ones whom our future children idolize.

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