The unruly crowd started to get to the nerves of the players. The loud cheers and shouts was deafening, The Phoenix Suns has just came from a 22 point deficit and tied the game with just seconds left.
Paul Westphal anchored the Suns to one of the best game ever in the history of the NBA. Having played as a Celtic and after being traded to the Suns it was the perfect time to extract revenge to the team who traded him and Paul did just that. After a dismal output in the first half he rallied his team to overcome a great deficit. He refused to let go and he wants everyone to know that they won’t quit without giving the mighty Celtics a fight.
The aging team of John Havlicek, Jojo White and Paul Silas is clearly spent the three players are above 30’s and they were clearly out gun and out run by the young and athletic Suns.
The game 5 battle was full of controversies after Paul Silas called a costly timeout in regulation when there was no timeout left. Referee Richie Powers just let the clock go and the no call could have been converted in free throws to Phoenix.
The first Overtime was a thriller when John Havlicek drove to the basket leans his body thinking someone would bump for a foul but surprisingly found himself open it was 5 seconds left in the ball game. The Celtics first option was Jojo White then Dave Cowens but when both players were covered John went to the ball and drove a leaning shot and when he was all open and swoosh. The ball went in and the crowd erupted.
The Celtics crowd celebrated and one fan attacked referee Richie Powers but in the moment of the celebration Rick Barry who serves as an analyst pointed out that there is still 2 seconds left on the clock the referee agreed with Rick and all players were recalled in the court. The Suns had only a second to win the game and realizing that they have to inbound the ball from the other side with no time out left and a precarious 1 point lead by Boston, Paul Westphal called a strategic timeout which resulted to a technical foul and Jojo White calmly sank the free-throw. The Suns can now inbound Half-court and can now have a bigger chance in tying the game. During the inbound Garfield Heard shot a miraculous turn-around jumper from the top of the key and the Suns once again tied the ball game.
Paul Westphal had to dig deep on his arsenal when the Suns are down by 6 points he anchored a late surged and almost steal the ball to tie the ball game. In the end the Celtics won the ball game 128-126. The championship was already won in that game as the Suns couldn’t find their grove back and the Celtics grab their 13th championship.

It was a game for the ages a game that everyone thought it ended in the first half and turned to a triple overtime thriller. Eight players from that game went on to become notable coaches in the NBA with Pat Riley, Don Nelson, Dave Cowens, Paul Silas, Paul Westphal, Garfield Heard, Dick Van Arsdale and John Wetzel.
Would we ever see a game like that? We never knew… maybe this year would be a 1976 repeat…

Reputation in wiki means an opinion of the public towards a person, a group or an organization.
“Sugar” Shane Mosley defies father time and dominates the granite chin Antonio Margarito. Mosley was a 4-1 underdog coming into the fight. The fight that was supposed to be Margarito’s coming out party to solidify his hold in the welterweight division after disposing Miguel Cotto, but Mosley changed the script and went for his speed taking over the fight from round 1 till Margarito dropped helplessly in the canvass in round 9 and his corner and the referee stopped the fight.
The feared Margarito is now exposed his granite chin went soft after Mosley’s pressure punching erased Margarito’s constant smile while being hit and replacing it with a bewildered look and a frustrated fighter who knows sooner or later the fight will eventually stop.
The fight psychologically has already been won before it even started. Antonio Margarito was founded to have an illegally hand wrap and have to be re wrap three times before the fight started. The officials found an illegal substance on Margarito’s wrap which hardens the wrap like a plaster it is basically similar to what they called plaster in Paris. It helps to increase Margarito’s punching power with cement like hand which could clearly damage a fighter’s physical attributes.
Margarito was clearly frustrated it was like taking away his power and now his reputation is on the line.
Mosley had to dump his father in exchange for Hopkins trainer was all worth it. He was a different fighter out there. His speed was tremendous and his defense was so good. Margarito has some moments but on the eight round Margarito tasted the canvas and Mosley went for the kill in the ninth.
Margarito has lost a lot on that fight. He lost his belt, his mega payday with either Pacquiao or Hatton and most of all his reputation at hand.
The cloud of doubt is starting to cover Margarito’s framed body and questions are starting to appear… Did he illegally use that substance on his bouts with Cotto and Cintron? Those things are merely passing but to the purist those things are never forgotten…
Trust and reputation is basically the same… it takes a lot of time to build but takes only a second to destroy it.

It was 13 months ago when Alonzo Mourning suffered a leg injury tearing his patella tendon and quadriceps muscle in his right leg. Mourning had a lot of setbacks then but at 38 years old he knew that was the last game of his career. This time it’s now over, Alonzo was at peace with himself although he is now perfectly fine, Zo made it official announcing his retirement calling it quits and will now concentrate on being a father for his two wonderful kids and a husband to his supportive wife.

After being diagnosed in 2000 a rare kidney disease he was in and out of the league and when his condition went sour he underwent a transplant in 2003 and was retired until 2005. He thought about being retired for good but his desire to be back and conquer his own demons, Zo work harder than ever and was instrumental on Miami’s first ever championship.
Drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, Mourning was traded to the Heat and helped Miami on a 6 consecutive playoffs appearance and eventually won the NBA title with Shaquille and Wade.
Alonzo’s resiliency kept him from a career ending disease if not for his vastly faith he would have crumbled down the very first day his doctor diagnosed him.
From his book “Resilience: Faith, Focus and Triumph with Dan Wetzel” Alonzo said “God puts you in situations to test your faith, and it can only grow stronger as you overcome these hurdles. From faith comes resilience. Faith makes things possible. But as I would learn, it doesn’t make them easy…”
Coming back hasn’t been easy for Zo. From a starting center to bench player then to backup, Mourning has accepted his fate. He gave his everything every time his coaches tap him. Being a 7th All star player doesn’t guarantee anything even with only 6 percent body fat and a 300 pounds bench press couldn’t guarantee you’re healthy. Mourning has ended his career but it’s just the beginning of more things to come. His countless community works and institutions will now be Zo’s focus of course washing dishes, cleaning the house and taking out of the trash will now be his daily routine.
Zo is excited and happy of his new life. He had conquered disease and won a championship and most of all a family who stands by him in anyway.
Will miss you Zo…

The fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton has just ended. The fight that never even started yet, ended with a huge disbelief and frustration as both parties disagreed with the purse split and both parties are pulling the plug off.
Manny Pacquiao refused to sign the upgraded 52-48 revenue split and Ricky Hatton
Won’t even budge they knew the fight was important and they knew they could earn much more than they could imagine but pride always get the best out of everything… both parties have legit arguments on why they are the best and deserved the amount they expected it’s like flipping a coin with both sides having the same face.
Everyone is playing hard ball and no one is taking the bait.
With the fight stalled Ricky Hatton is eyeing a rematch with Mayweather Jr. and had an informal agreement with Golden Boy Oscar DelaHoya. Ricky is also interested in fighting the winner between Juan Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez. Manny in the mean time is likely to fight Cotto or Margarito and could lure a mega fight with Mayweather in other words both fighters have vast options way ahead of them. If the fight doesn’t materialize then why force the issue?
We can never control fate and if things don’t work the way we wanted them to be then maybe it’s not the best for us. Hatton and Pacquiao will have to travel different roads again and maybe their paths will cross until both fighters end up in a dead end and will settle their differences once and for all.
Maybe Pacquiao has to finish their unfinished business with Marquez for the 3rd time or maybe Hatton has to beat and avenged his only loss to Mayweather. I don’t want to be a hypocrite I love to see both pugilists fight this May but if that doesn’t materialized then maybe there are still bigger wars to fought to. The fight has just been scratch but I think the battle has just begun. It’s inevitable both fighters are tailor made for each other. They are like soul mates sooner or later this fight will happen… I knew it would… now that’s what we called faith. If you believe it will happen… it will happen.
Fingers cross…..

Lenlohonolo Ledwaba was looking for a tune-up bout before unifying the Super Bantamweight title… After defending his belt for the 6th time they were looking for a good match and when everyone was ducking Ledwaba, Manny Pacquiao filled in for that position in a very short notice.
The Ricky Hatton- Manny Pacquiao light welterweight matchup went into a halt after both parties argued in revenue split. Manny wants the lion share of the deal offering Ricky a 60-40 split in which Hatton declined and stick to the proposed 50-50 deal.
Ricky Hatton insists on that deal since he brings the cash on their proposed fight. With thousands of British fans flocking in Vegas and not to mention the millions of money in Pay per view sales in England and in the US. But Hatton could only generate money if his fighting a top caliber fighter. We all know how low the outcome of his last two fights against Malignaggi and Lazcano let’s face it people are more interested if Ricky is fighting class A fighters rather than those patsies and Manny is the only logical fighter who could bring him that pay per view sales more than he imagine. No one is paying to see Hatton doing a rematch against Mayweather, the fight wasn’t even close or competitive so to say.
Greed can be such a drastic word to say something to Manny it’s not about money in the first place. How can Manny be so greedy? With all his foundations, donations and giving much much more to his country men can be attributed to greed?
It’s more like Aretha Franklin singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T… Manny truly deserves the respect. He has been doing what it takes to be on top. Fighting quality fighters and risking his life in every fight in every career decision he makes. What I’m trying to say is the road to glory wasn’t a bed of roses for Manny. He started from the lowest of low and climbs every step, every path that he has to face in order to be on top.
Ricky Hatton is nowhere in the league of Manny. The 60-40 deal shows that Manny is the pound per pound king and he deserves the lion share because he has work for the respect that he truly deserved. Manny has a lot of options with Cotto and Margarito waiting on the other end not to mention the retired Mayweather. This is Hatton’s chance and if he says his at par with Manny then he must be hallucinating.
The fight can only be done if he swallow down his pride and accept what is being offered.
May 2 is still months to go and the way things are going looks like Manny is switching dancing partner.
Lenlohonolo Ledwaba only went 6 rounds… Manny was victorious eventhough there wasn’t any ample time to prepare. Money wasn’t the issue back then and it’s still not the issue now. All Manny wants is to gain the acknowledgement and respect and to be on top of the world. We always say what is fair is fair and when we say about getting the lions share there isn’t any objection about it. Manny deserves it and in the back of Ricky Hatton I know he knows it.

Von Wafer got the loose ball and run towards the other end of the court with Kobe Bryant his former teammate on his back. Von beat Bryant and went for a stunning dunk…

Averaging 32 points per game, grabbing 10 rebounds and more than 7 assists, looks good enough in paper but Vakeaton Quamar Wafer otherwise known as Von Wafer was never known until his junior year when he was invited to play in Arkansas Wings on summer.
Von’s basketball career has always been like that. People never quite get an impression out of him. After playing 2 years college ball, Von entered the draft and experts never thought anyone would draft an untested and raw player but the Lakers drafted the young guard even though no one invited him to any summer camps or workouts.
His limited playing time got him waived and instead played in the developmental league.
He has signed two 10-day contracts, being waived and signed again, traded and now doing his best to prolong his struggling career.
Von work his jumper, improved his defense and try to bring his “A” game everytime coaches gave him a green light. At 23 Von has gone to a lot of teams and scrimmages and for years he has improvised his game and became a solid backup point guard or a shooting guard.
His Mo-hawk hair made him standout from the rest, a testament of his newly and improved personality. Houston Rockets signed Von after the Rockets depleted roster succumbed to injuries.
Coach Adelman saw a bright and future point guard in Wafer and gave him the confidence in which Von reciprocate it so dearly.

After Shane Battier hit the go ahead basket from beyond the arc the Rockets are looking into a sterling upset. Von Wafer scored a career high 23 points in place of the injured Mcgrady. Their defense hold Bryant to 8-23 shooting with Battier and Wafer chasing down the reigning MVP. With 23 seconds left Kobe went to work and put a dagger with a wild three to end the game.
It was a loosing effort for the Rockets but Von felt vindicated… The years of hardwork have just paid off and what better way to showcase his ware with the world’s greatest player.
Kobe tapped Von after the game and praise Von for his sweet shooting. Kobe said “He’s always been a streaky shooter and he played well. I told him I was proud of the way you’ve been playing.”… When fans went out and the empty chairs covered with wrappers and popcorns scattered around the arena the day has come to an end. Von knew there would be more memorable nights like this…he has waited for such a long time and now it’s his time… it’s wafer time.

The Alpha male always runs the show as the king of the herd. Males will always be on a look out for any other possibility of replacing the alpha male status of the so called leader
Once exposed his invincibility fades and soon another ruler emerged.
The defending champion Boston Celtics escapes a slim 6-point lead against the home team Toronto Raptors for some it was just a regular season game but for the Celtics it was a desperate measure to stop the profuse bleeding.
Boston cruise its way with wins after wins posting a 19-game winning streak but when the Celtics met last year’s runner up the Los Angeles Lakers in Christmas day, the Celtics for the first time faltered in the last 2 minutes of the game and Kobe and company went for the kill.
After the heartbreaking loss to the Lakers, Boston lost again against the struggling Golden State Warriors. After 10 games the Celtics went 3-10 losing to lowly New York, Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, Golden State, Portland and to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The defending champions are now exposed and everyone is feasting on them. Winning championships is a great experienced but defending a championship is a much rewarding feat since teams are preparing and watching every move, every mistake and every step you take.
Boston clearly lacks the sized and power in the middle. James Posey is a tall and a very good defender who provides the leadership when the starters are not on the floor. PJ Brown has the height and intensity with decent midrange shooting and a very good low-post defender and loosing two vital players who in any way contributed to the Celtic’s success means a lot now to the team. There is no doubt that the Celtics can defend and has a wide array of offense but with KG and Perkins on the bench there isn’t much resistance with 6’9” Powe and Davis. Pau and Bynum was unstoppable during those stretch when KG and Perkins are not on the floor.
With All-star weekend coming up next month Danny Ainge should find a quality free-agent to help his starters during those stretches since almost all players on their roster is untradeable. Stephon Marburry could provide a good backup to their young and dynamic point guard Rajon Rondo. But the question would be if the Knicks would release their problematic guard and how would Marburry accept the role as a backup. I think the Celtics should do everything to sign the quality veteran Joe Smith from the Thunders. Joe is a very good defender who has a very good work ethic and has a mid range jumper. He has a little more of everything and his veteran leadership could clearly help Boston’s second stringers.
The Celtics are far from over and with 30-9 standing they are still the Alpha male in the NBA herd of superstars. While many teams are looking for their opportunity the battle is yet to be won. They will just have to settle down and look for their strengths rather than focus on their weaknesses. The Celtics will be back but they will have to gather themselves as early as now because there are hungry and willing predators waiting on the outside watching and waiting.

It was Manny Pacquiao’s victory party when a quiet Edmund “Enting” Ignacio was standing nervously in front of some of the Philippines socialite circles.

It was 14 years ago when a thin and light-footed Enting fought at the 106 lb. division he was up against a new comer in boxing. Having a record with 1 win and 1 loss Edmund is confident that he will bring the two-fight experienced against an untested boxer from General Santos. But as the fight progresses Enting couldn’t find its range as his lanky opponent scored points by points on his guard. Edmund survive their four-round encounter and was in awe as the fighter known as Kid Kulafu was dominating him with ease. The young fighter was later known as Pacman and went on to dominate the world.
Edmund went downhill after their encounter while Manny went on winning battles.
Having a dismal record of only 8 wins with 24 losses and 1 draw Edmund hanged up his gloves while he is still in one piece. Edmund and Manny both experienced strings of failures but unfortunately for Edmund he was not that fortunate…
His many losses against his wins made him rethink of his career luckily he was able to save up and build up a small bakery in return.

After years of not seeing Manny, Edmund is excited and a bit hesitant; 14 years is such a long period of time and maybe Manny with all the fans and faces he encounters everyday could easily forget him. When both fighters saw each other Manny right then and there shook Edmund’s hands and the two fighters exchange greetings. Edmund was excited to share about his bakery business and ended their conversation by a firm handshake.

We never forget our first kiss, our first date and even our first love and neither would Manny forget his first professional fight. Edmund would forever cherish his bout with Manny and inspite of his unlucky career he is still fortunate to be Manny’s first.

May 2 would be a blockbuster affair as Britain’s best boxer Ricky Hatton will square off with pound per pound king Manny Pacquiao. The opposing stance between an Orthodox and a Southpaw will end with a more bloodied and drastic moments in boxing. There are no excuses this time and certainly no mismatch and it’s a tossed coin between them.
Let’s look at the tale of the tape and notable fights and try to assist who’s the better boxer in paper.
Tale of the tape:
Manny Pacquiao
Age: 30
Height: 5’61/2”
Reach: 67”
Record: 48 (36 KO) – 3-2
Stance: Southpaw
Ricky Hatton
Age: 30
Height: 5’71/2”
Reach: 65”
Record: 45 (35 KO) -1
Stance: Orthodox
Basically the same age with only 1 inch height difference but Manny has a 2 inch advantage in terms of reach so that equates the height. With almost an identical record the tale of the tape is more or less competitive with neither one of them enjoying a lead.
Notable fights:
Ricky Hatton: With only one defeat on his record, Hatton have fought a number of quality opponents. Moving up in weight isn’t a good idea for Ricky as he was knockout against former pound per pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in round 10. He was widely known after a grueling battle against the legendary Kostya Tsyzu wherein he won in the 11th round. Hatton mainly fought on his homeland winning most of his fights with unknown fighters. He stepped up to the challenge and fought notable fighters with the likes of Jose Luis Castillo, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Paul Malignaggi. Although Ricky has fought mostly on the light welterweight division moving up with the big guns in welterweight is certainly not his forte. He is the king of light welterweights and if Manny wants to stay in his division then he has to pay his due.
Manny Pacquiao: Known as the Mexecutioner after defeating three future hall of famers in boxing beating Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez all in their prime. Manny has fought mainly on quality fighters but his most notable fight would be his 3 fight division hopping last year fighting Marquez in a rematch for the superfeatherweight division then jumping to lightweight to claim the WBC title against David Diaz and fighting Oscar De La Hoya as a welterweight on their December dream fight clash. Moving down to 140 would be best for Manny and fighting Hatton is the logical thing to do. They both have good fan base and a fight between them could generate a lot of money and most of all it could solidify their claim to greatness
Although Manny has the edge in notable fights but we also have to remember that most of his fights are below the superfeatherweight limit. His fights above 130lbs. are only with Diaz and De La Hoya compared to Hatton who is a 140lb. mainstay. Though there isn’t any mismatch between Manny but Hatton with his pressure punching can surely land better shots than Oscar. Manny will have to double his preparation this time.

With still months to go and no papers have been signed yet anything can still happen. But no matter who and where they fight it’s inevitable that sooner or soonest time they will eventually clash. The two pound per pound best with the world watching, the winner takes it all.

2008 has been a good year for sports and sports betting with the emergence of new superstars and breaking of old records all in all it was quite a run.
The Green Machines
Boston Celtics made a historic run against the Los Angeles Lakers gunning for their 17th Championship on their great franchise. A Cinderella run after a dismal 2006-07 season having a record of 24-58, second-worst in the NBA, including an 18-game losing streak but after acquiring Kevin Garnet and Ray Allen on a trade to Minnesota and Seattle respectively the Celtics soared high starting a 26-3 record and ended in a 66-19 record win. It was an uphill climb against the eight-seeded Atlanta Hawks on their first matchup in the Playoffs and went to seven games against Cleveland. The Celtics crush the Lakers in just 6 games in their finals battle. Though the Lakers were leading most of the games but towards the end the Celtics always come back with the win. After 22 years the Celtics had won their 17th NBA championship a truly deserving win for a seemingly down franchise that overcomes adversity and went on to win with their big hearts and strong willed.
8-8-8 fever
The Beijing Olympics opened in August 8, 2008 and American Michael Fred Phelps went on to become one of the greatest Olympian in history as he surpassed fellow American Mark Spitz having won 8 medals the most in any Olympian and breaking 7 world records. Spitz held the record with 7 medals for 36 years until Phelps changed history. It was indeed an 8-8-8 fever with Phelps breaking records with his 8 gold medals.
The fall of the ALA boys
The once undefeated AJ Banal tasted defeat through the hands of unheralded Rafael Concepcion many thought AJ will breezed off a win against a smaller foe but as the fight progresses AJ loss steam and suffered a TKO loss against Concepcion. Z Gorres road to redemption was cut short after a heart breaking decision loss to Montiel, Gorres was awarded a split draw against cocky Vic Darchinyan who floored Gorres for about 3 times in the fight. Though he escapes with a draw but people and boxing observers saw it for Vic with a wide margin. Vic Darchinyan went on to fight for the IBF title which he easily won via knockout and trash reigning WBC champion Christian Mijares in a unification bout. The last ALA boy was Rey “Boomboom” Bautista who everyone thought is already ripe for a title crack again after failing to answer the mandatory count in round one against hard hitting Ponce De Leon in the boxing world cup. But to everyone’s dismay “Boomboom” failed again and this time against a class B journey man in Heriberto Ruiz. Rey has many flaws but still too young to retire. He needs a major change to get back in championship form. The ALA boys who everyone thought would follow the footsteps of Manny Pacquiao failed on their respective assignments. The dream is there for the taking the question would be how much they want it? Will 2009 be a better year for the famed ALA boys? …Will see.
The MMA kings
We all thought Kimbo Slice would dominate MMA this year but it turns out to be all hype. He was slowly self-destructing as opponents exposing his capability to fight. His fight with unknown Seth Petruzelli was a testament of who the real Kimbo is.
Brock Lesnar who shifted from wrestling to American football found his home in UFC. Winning a championship belt is a rewarding accomplishment but winning it against a legendary fighter is a different thing. Brock took Randy Couture’s UFC belt in an amazing fashion. Kimbo should try his luck in UFC if he wants redemption and fighting against Brock would be much much rewarding for him but then again we don’t want it to over hype coz we all know what happens next.
Pacman doing an Armstrong feat
Henry Armstrong fought in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions all at once and become champion in those divisions the feat was never duplicated especially in this era were a growing number of champions are made with different organizations built. But Manny Pacquiao has changed history fighting Juan Manuel Marquez as a superfeather weight, fought David Diaz as a lightweight and fought Golden boy Oscar De La Hoya as a Welterweight though the Marquez fight was a close one and could go either way but his manner in dismantling Diaz and Oscar was a tactical display of the once one sided warrior from the Philippines. Manny Pacquiao has showed tremendous determination especially against a bigger foe in Oscar. 2008 was Manny’s year and with bigger fights coming this 2009 against Ricky Hatton or Mayweather Jr. we would witness another classic fights in the making.

2008 was quite a good year for sports and could set up a much bigger and brighter future with records to break and titles to earn. It’s nice to reminisce on all the things that happened. But we all have to move on and face a brighter 2009 with a smile.
2008 what a year that was….