BOOM BOOM BAUTISTA AND DONNIE NIETES WIN! CONGRATULATIONS!

Bautista's Road to Redemption

Filipino boxer, Boom Boom Bautista defeated Eden "Anestecista" Marquez of Mexico via a second round technical knock out in Waterfront Hotel, Cebu last night to retain his WBO Intercontinental Superbantamweight Championship. Referee Bruce McTavish stopped the fight at 1:08 of the second round when it became apparent Marquez was anesthetized by Boom Boom's powerful punches.

However, in the first round Bautista started slowly and it was Marquez who pressed for action and stalked the Filipino fighter relentlessly.

"I wanted to first feel how strong he was in the first round. My corner wanted me to be careful. I knew he had the power, and I didn't know his style," Bautista said to Philboxing.com on why he started slow.

Second round was a different story though initiallyMarquez was still the aggressive warrior. By 2:26 of the round a couple of rights by Boom Boom pushed the Mexican back and Bautista smelled blood and began his offensive. Then a massive left hook, with 1:50 left in the clock, stunned the Mexican and fell on the canvas. Boom Boom threw more flurries and Marquez's second knockdown was enough for the referee to stop the fight.

Donnie Nietes brutally stopped his Nicaraguan opponent Eddy Castro 2:49 of the second round to defend his WBO Miniflyweight Championship, not bad for a former janitor of ALA gym where he nows boxes.

I love Nietes' power and his Constrictor (he carries his snake with him whenever he fights).

Update on CALDERON vs CAZARES
11:53 am MST - Calderon retains title -fight stopped due to a cut.

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY DIRECTOR PILOTS VOLTRON LIVE ACTION VERSION

Your one ugly robot dear. You need a makeover!

You read correctly and I'm not kidding. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Max Makowski is reportedly given the director's job for the Voltron Live Action film according to website LatinoReview.com. Voltron is a 1980s cartoon based on Japanese anime GoLion and Dairugger XV produced by Toei Animation and Bandai. New Regency originally planned to do the movie version but it dropped the project and the rights was picked up by Relativity Media.

The website also noted that Makowski is writing and directing a film based on the Japanese movie Shinobi. He also rewriting big screen versions of other movies which is not remotely interesting to us. If you want to know what are those click the link: Latinoreview.

So far this is a proof of the boundless creativity Hollywood still has. When asked for a reaction Voltron purportedly said "Fabulous!", and he doesn't mean the rapper.

Tonight:

WBO Night of Champions


Boom Boom Bautista vs Eden Marquez. Please support our boxers. Fabulous.

BLEACH CREATOR: NO TO LIVE ACTION FILM

Bleach creator, Tite Kubo dismissed plans of turning Bleach into a live-action film in his interview with Los Angeles Times. He said:

"If it were possible to do 'Bleach' as a live-action movie, I wouldn't have drawn the manga. I want to draw something that can only be done as a manga."

In the same interview, he also recounted how he came up with Bleach:

"Bleach" began when Kubo drew a picture of the girl who would become Rukia Kuchiki, the Soul Reaper who helps Ichigo realize his powers. "The first time I first drew Rukia, she was not wearing the black kimono that is her costume now," he recalls. "She was wearing a high school uniform, but it was black, and she was carrying a nasty-looking sword with a huge blade. That's when I knew she was going to be a Soul Reaper." When asked about the process of creating his popular manga, Kubo explained, "Sometimes, I have ideas for the characters' appearances, sometimes for their personalities. The first time I drew Chad's face, I thought, 'He's Mexican,' so I start creating a story around him. Once you get the characters set, then the story kind of moves on by itself. The key thing is that I come to love the characters, as if they were real."

the Captains and Vice-captains

Yeah, the depth of character development is astonishing - just look at the thirteen captains - their personalities are very different and it shows every time they assemble. I love it when captains mess with each other.

Bleach isn't all action. There's love.

Even Battle-hardened Captains tell a joke!
I hope you like this bro. No news yet on D-Gray Man.

By the way Kubo-san made the right decision. Look what happened to Goku in Dragonball movie version.

IRANIAN CENTER HAMED HADADI SIGNED BY THE GRIZZLIES

Iranian national team center Hamed Hadadi was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies! In the Olympics, Hadadi performed well (by his standards) averaging 16.6 points and 11.2 rebounds but his best skill is shot blocking -2.6 a game. He blocked Yao Ming twice and Yi once during the FIBA Diamond Bowl against China prior to the Olympics.

Credits

China reminded Iran who the Kings of Asian Basketball are in the Diamond Bowl winning big. But to be honest, Hadadi played well though he didn't get to finish the game because of an injury.

Realistically, he would likely stay on the bench if he plays slow. Other NBA centers like Dwight Howard or Emeka Okafor would definitely give him a warm welcome - an in-your-face slam. I'm being straightforward, once some players in the NBA see a weak center or a slow one he is an instant prey.

PACQUIAO VS DE LA HOYA FIGHT IS SET ON DECEMBER 6

Manny Pacquiao - The Pound for Pound King according to The Ring Magazine

the most credible boxing magazine

Manny Pacquiao, in a statement to Philboxing.com, said he agreed in principle to accept the December 6 fight against Oscar De La Hoya despite the latter's height and heft advantage. Details of the Pacquiao - De La Hoya match up will be disclosed tomorrow.

This is the link to Pacquiao's official statement - Philboxing.com.

So the BOX OFFICE KING MEETS THE POUND FOR POUND KING. The courageous ODLH (avoided Margarito for "patriotic" reasons) said he will be avenging Mexico (according to Philboxing)

De La Hoya stressed he’d love to pay Pacquiao back, big time, for his wrecking of a roster of Mexican fighters including legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik “El Terrible” Morales.

Brave man indeed like Bravo! As in Commander Bravo!

Who would have thought that Pacquiao-De La Hoya would come to fruition? Unbelievable.

DREAM TEAM VS REDEEM TEAM

In this ongoing raging debate around sports websites between the Dream Team versus the Redeem Team, I pick the Dream Team.

Why? First, David Robinson, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing would totally dominate the paint against Dwight Howard and might even put the young guy in foul trouble. Plus, Karl Malone would bully any Redeem Team forward down there (body wise he would be too much for Chris Bosh). The overpowering physical presence the Redeem Team enjoy over International teams won't work here.

Next, Chris Mullin, Larry Bird, and John Stockton would shoot the lights out at three. Coach Chuck Daly would simply employ the zone (assuming its FIBA rules) and watch the Redeem Team throw bricks all over the place (like what they did against Spain effectively allowing the Europeans to come back) - to think FIBA three according to a balding ESPN.com (there are many of them) expert is a "joke of a three point line". The Dream Team shot better in 1992 from the three - 40%.

The deciding factor Micheal Jordan - 1992 - he was on his prime. He was unstoppable - I bet not even Kobe could defend him besides Scottie Pippen would clamp the LA star on defense.

Besides, the Dream team could actually shoot the ball anywhere and when you have John Stockton as point guard even the pressure defense put by Redeem Team guards won't work on him...Its a hands down win by the Dream Team. Defense? John Stockton is the all-time steals leader in the NBA so defense/offense, he is a huge asset.


When push comes to shove, Michael Jordan is more than capable of carrying his team the entire fourth quarter like what he did against the Phoenix Suns in '93 Final. No TEAM has ever stopped Michael Jordan in his prime. The bigger the risk the better MJ plays - and that's a well-known fact.

Well, this is my humble opinion and in no way meant to disrespect the Redeem Team. However, discussing the Dream Team versus the Redeem Team is a fun exercise, at least for sports fan like me.

HUNTER X HUNTER MANGA RESTARTS THIS OCTOBER

Gon - the most relaxed anime character I've seen next to Yu Asakura

One of my brother's favorite manga, Hunter X Hunter will restart this October. It's about time.

An upcoming issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine will reportedly announce that Yoshihiro Togashi will restart his Hunter X Hunter shōnen action manga in this year's 45th issue on October 6. Togashi is well-known for halting and restarting his manga for months at a time. Coincidentally, his longest break from the manga — 20 months — ended on October 6, 2007.
For Full Story

Besides creating Hunter x Hunter, Togashi-san also drew Yu Yu Hakusho (Ghostfighter).

FIRST DRAGONBALL MOVIE TRAILER

Adult and Chibi (small child) Goku
Wikipedia

First Dragonball movie trailer is set to air on October 17. It stars some white dude playing Woku (White Goku) with sprinkling of token Asian people. For details read below:

ComingSoon.net has learned that 20th Century Fox will debut the first trailer for Dragonball in theaters on October 17 with the studio's video game adaptation Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg. We'll have to wait and see whether Fox will release the trailer online earlier that week. Opening on April 10, Dragonball is written/directed by James Wong and stars Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Emmy Rossum, Eriko Tamura, Joon Park, Chow Yun-Fat, Texas Battle, Randall Duk Kim and Ernie Hudson.

Source

creative people at Philboxing.com

There's no stopping Woku now. Even he is happy!

PHILIPPINE DIVERS: UNDISCIPLINED?

Eight pounds overweight

Source

Some experts have been saying since time immemorial that the biggest problem in Philippine sports isn't budget but athletes' total lack of discipline and initiative. This report corroborates their statement if the Chinese coach is to be believed.

While Joseph was upbeat in assessing the future for swimming, he came down hard on diving. He spared divers Sheila Mae Perez and Ryan Fabriga, who both bombed out in Beijing, and vented his ire on Chinese coach Zhang Deju.

It was Zhang who lashed out at Perez and Fabriga before the Olympics for their “lack of discipline.” Zhang called Perez “hard-headed” and castigated Fabriga for reporting eight pounds over his diving weight.

Perez and Zhang disagreed on the extent of difficulty to undertake in the three-meter springboard. She wound up 23rd of 30. Fabriga appeared too chunky for comfort and finished 28th of 30 in the 10-meter platform.

Joseph said Zhang’s disparaging pre-competition comments, widely ventilated in media, demoralized and devastated the Filipino divers. He described Zhang’s tirade as “below the belt.”
Source

Most posters however agreed with the Chinese coach.

There's nothing wrong in admonishing your athlete for being overweight. This is the Olympics and not some backyard sportsfest Mr. Joseph! Divers need to be slim to reduce splash. If that's the message you want to send our swimmers and divers, then your Olympic dream will remain as such ... a dream!

Another comment:
DISCIPLINE ! it is not in the pinoy's athlete vocabulary..that is why we always lose..athletes need to be discipline not pampered ..if a foreign coach castigates our athletes our local coaches always come to the defense of our athletes..why?

Sheila Perez - Good luck in the future I hope you know what you're doing

It is better not to get a coach if an athlete thinks, he or she is better than him! Tsk. For years, I've read newspaper accounts of talented Filipino athletes fighting with their coaches esp. if the latter ask for higher standards. How unfortunate.

We are not just dealing with a simple coach here but a world-class one - Zhang trained China's first diving gold medalist Gao Min in the 1980s. He knows what it takes to win - too bad the athletes don't get it. If the coach is pushing an athlete hard, he probably sees a potential winner. Tsk.

CHINA OWNS THE UNITED STATES

To show, its public that their nation still dominate, American networks NBC.com, ESPN.COM and others began ranking countries by total medals instead of sorting it by gold medals deviating from generally accepted international standard (like Kyoto Protocol). Fox, which wished it thought of it first, followed days later to prove that it isn't anti-American and a true-blue patriot (along with the routine sex ads on comment sections). Thankfully, the rest of the world (including my country's) news and sports news organizations refused to follow it and presented the truth as it is.

It prompted one very disgusted response:

Has it come to this? Is the USA really so desperate to avoid accepting defeat gracefully, that we have to start inventing our own medal tables in order to find a way to claim we're still the best? What an immature nation we are. From Yahoo.com


Here's the BBC

Much has been made of the Great Britain team's lofty position in third place in the official Olympics medals table.

That is based on the number of gold medals, with the number of silver and bronze medals only counting when two countries have the same number of golds.

Maybe with this in mind, and half an eye on China, media in the US have been publishing a table of total medals won, regardless of colour, and that puts the US top.

Meanwhile, American media accuse Chinese media of not presenting the news accurately, slanting it to suit their needs effectively fooling their own people.

Enough with the double standards!

Final Medal Tally

China 51 Golds 21 Silvers 28Bronzes 100 Total
United States 36 Golds 38 Silvers 36 Bronzes 110 Total

Gold is the standard at the Olympic games esp to a powerful nation like USA (for us a bronze would be enough realistically speaking). For example, Phelps won also 8 medals in 2004 but wasn't as celebrated as he is now for he only won 6 golds and two bronzes then. Now its different - he still won 8 medals all of it gold. To say otherwise is baloney.

WESLEY SO POWERS COUNTRY TO THIRD PLACE AND OTHER GREAT NEWS

The Philippine Under-16 Chess Team scored a total of 27 points after ten rounds at the World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad held in Turkey and was good enough for third place. The team is composed of Wesley So, Haridas Pascua, Alcon John Datu and Jan Emmanuel Garcia.

India, the defending champion, won on a tiebreak against second place Russia. Both teams have 28 1/2 points. The Philippines earlier scored a 3-1 victory over the fancied Russians in the seventh round of the tournament.

Filipino prodigy Grandmaster Wesley So was the top scorer among the Board One players with 8 wins, two draws and no losses beating Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan (7 pts.) and Aleksandr Shimanov of Russia (7.5 pts.). This gold medal winning effort will provide a much needed analgesic for our wounded sports pride after a disastrous Beijing Summer Olympics.

Source

Congratulations! Wow, this is truly a great news.

Please vote for Manny in Askmen.com

Filipino boxing superstar and current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has been officially nominated to the 'Top 49 Most Influential Men' of 2008 organized by AskMen.com.

The contest, now on its 3rd year and parades some of the world's most notable names like US Presidential candidate Barack Obama, Apple's Steve Jobs, actor-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, musician Paul McCartney and athlete Kobe Bryant as this year's nominees, determines the winner by online voting through AskMen.com's website.

Source: Philboxing

Follow this link:http://www.askmen.com/specials/2008_top_49/vote/3/" rel="nofollow">
and please ignore the rest...lol. No registration required.

THANK YOU BEIJING!

Bye - thank you for the great event

7:22 pm Thank you for the sporting memories! I will treasure it. See you in London!

Next stop, World Cup qualifying!

Team USA won the gold in basketball as predicted. Many at ESPN.com panicked hehe esp when the gap fell to two points. More on this later, there is still the closing ceremonies.

DISASTER OLYMPICS

"Watch out SEA Games! I'm a National and SEA Games record holder". Some clown on TV. Still happy despite the devastating loss. My impression is he doesn't care. Source

The Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco said all the members of the 15-man Philippine contingent made a performance “we all can be proud of” despite their failure to win a single medal in the XXIX Olympic Games here. “They did all the best they could and I think they deserve all the gratitude of the Filipino people even though they did not win any medal,” Cojuangco said to Philstar.

source: Yahoo

its scary when we celebrate failure.. that means its okay to fail ..better luck next time next olympics please.. if that is the kind of officials ..then we will not really improve ..we will continue to be the laughing stock of our neighbors.. no accountability ..failing to rectify previous mistakes..other countries have step up their training..while for us its okay to fail as long as you did you r best you make our country proud..that kind of mentality will not lead us to sports excellence..

A comment below the article

From Quinito Henson:

Tañamor’s exit was a shame. His Ghana opponent Manyo Plange was not scouted. Tañamor struggled in making the weight. He foolishly hoped to score points with body punches. If Tañamor was an eyesore in the ring, his cornermen were worse off. Tañamor was a sorry excuse for a fighter. Retirement is his only option.

Even more shameful was Tañamor’s apparently nonchalant attitude after losing. The two-time Olympian, who was booted out of the national team for the 2006 Asian Games for disciplinary reasons, appeared to be unaffected by the setback, like he couldn’t care less.

Trap shooter Eric Ang, the oldest in the delegation at 37, looked like a novice in finishing dead last of 35 contenders. He compiled scores of 19-24-22-21-20 to post a 106 total compared to Czech gold medalist David Kostelecky’s 146. National Shooting Association of the Philippines president Art Macapagal, who witnessed the bungle, said Ang was out of rhythm in missing the cutoff for six finalists by 13 birds.

Divers Sheila Mae Perez and Ryan Fabriga didn’t get along with their Chinese coach Zhang Deju who’d been on the job for eight years. Perez disagreed with Zhang on the degree of difficulty to undertake in her maneuvers while Fabriga was chastised for reporting eight pounds over his diving weight. The relationship between Zhang and the divers was far from healthy and it showed in their performance. (So what good came out when you disagreed with your coach?-mine)

Perez was lambasted for a dreadfully huge splash in her second effort, a backward 2 1/2 tucked somersault in the three-meter springboard. She scored 251.15 points to finish 23rd of 30 and was outshone by two Malaysians. The qualifying mark was 373.9 points. Fabriga was last among 30 contenders in the 10-meter platform event.

Long jumpers Henry Dagmil and Marestella Torres were a disappointment. Dagmil registered only one legitimate jump at 7.54 meters, way below his record of 7.99 and the top qualifying mark of 8.27 to advance to the semifinals. His last two attempts were scratched because of infractions, a clear indication of lack of focus.

Torres blamed the crack of the starting gun in the 200-meter race on a nearby track for blunting her concentration in her first jump. She also claimed a leg injury. Her first leap of 4.27 meters was a far cry from her record of 6.63. Despite the supposed injury, Torres jumped to 5.94 in her second try and 6.17 in her third. Unfortunately, the top qualifying mark was 6.87. She wound up 34th of 41. (Is this the first time you heard this? -mine)


The only Olympic athletes I'm proud of are Tshomlee Go and Marie Antoinette Rivero. They refused to settle for any thing less than a gold. They worked really hard (spent six months in Korea to prepare for the Games). Their training is whole year round. Unfortunately, Go got cheated and Rivero was totally outclassed. But I'm still proud of them.

However, I'm disgusted with athletes who go to the Olympics to establish National records (do that in some National Meet) then laugh it off as if it was nothing. The Olympics is the worst place to do that for it means you are not serious. The benchmark is very, very low. These athletes were already defeated even before their foot touched Beijing. Don't get me wrong I mean no disrespect but with this attitude will you not get angry?

The usual headlines after a disastrous sporting debacle are now back. Words like overhaul, drawing board, and back to square one are fashionable again. YAWN.

Congratulations to Willy Wang!

Willy Wang’s gold medal victory in Friday’s taolu competition at the Olympic Sports Center touched off a memorable celebration among the very few Filipinos who cared for the sport of wushu here, according to a delegation official.

TAEKWONDO JIN KICKS REFEREE

the infamous kick

Yesterday, Angel Matos of Cuba kicked Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat out of frustration for what the former thought was a bad call.

full video of the incident

Matos was winning 3-2, with 1:02 in the second round, when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. He was sitting awaiting medical attention when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

"He was too strict," Gonzalez said, referring to the decision to disqualify Matos. Afterward, he charged the match was fixed, accusing the Kazakhs of offering him money.

"This is a strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games. The sanctions are the following and are effective immediately: Lifetime ban of the coach and athlete in all championships sanctioned by the (World Taekwondo Federation) and at the same time, all records of this athlete at the Beijing Games will immediately be erased," said the announcer, reading a WTF release.

Source

Attention, Mr. Jacques Rogge - International Olympic Committee president - are you reading this? What a shame! What are you going to do about it? Stop picking on the little guys. I'll be really shocked if TKD is still in the Olympics come 2016 with all scandals it brought to be Games.

Steven Lopez, a recipient of controversial calls in the past, got a dose of his own medicine.

With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid even the slightest shock of controversy.

On Friday, it was struck by lightning.

In a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the 80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader, Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) for intimidation and gross mismanagement of the sport’s rules and oversight.

“When (poor judging) happens to you, you’re told to shut up and not say anything because of what will happen to you, or what will happen to the sport,” Perez said. “If this is truly what taekwondo is about, maybe taekwondo shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Maybe they should fix it.”

For Full Story

How convenient. Fix the scoring maybe scoring protests will lessen.

The US taekwondo team protested to no avail, although member countries of the World Taekwondo Federation had earlier signed a document pledging not to make a protest, US team leader Herb Perez said.

"We feel if we force the World Taekwondo Federation to raise their standards then this would be a better Olympic sport. It should be fair for all athletes," Perez said.

"There is a chance that I will be sanctioned, but I'm not concerned about myself," Perez said.

Source

If Perez's assertion is true, then it's plain and simple intimidation. Tsk. The WTF officials had all the time in the world to fine tune their scoring system but didn't make one. The officials are to blame if TKD gets eliminated as an Olympic sport not the athletes.

ITS HOLLYWOOD MYTH PULVERIZING TIME!

They don't want you to see this on a Hollywood flick. Hahaha...But now you'll see.

GOOOOOOOOL!!!

1:58 pm Argentina successfully defended its Olympic title defeating Nigeria 1-0 at the Bird Nest today, August 23, 2008. Angel Di Maria scored the winning goal on the 58th minute.

The match was more exciting than most World Cup championship matches I've ever seen with plenty of open play and counter attacks. The big difference was Messi whose runs troubled the Nigerians. It was his through ball to Di Maria that led to the winning goal

The match was terrific and congratulations Argentina: 2008 men's Olympic football champion!!!


Running Blog
1:21 pm I'm watching Argentina vs Nigeria the men's Olympic football final. Angel Di Maria scored for ARG on the 58th minute.


Tonight: 7:00 pm Boxing finals

ADDENDUM

2:58 pm Team USA won last night dumping Argentina 101-81 though the later gave them a huge scare. Ginobili got hurt, left the game and never came back. The Americans built a 21-point lead in the first quarter. Becoming complacent, the Redeem Team tried to showboat (calling Mr.Rogge) but their alley op passes went pffft. The Argentinians, unawed and unafraid, went to a zone defense and started to become physical. Team USA responded by throwing bricks like they were in a construction site even insisting on some highlight plays but thankfully went awry. Their huge lead was cut to six. Their b987 WERE being squeezed tightly even Coach K was clueless on what's going on. Then, the ref called a foul on Anthony who restored US pride by halftime with nine point lead.

The mighty Americans thought the game would be over by second quarter but the Argentinians keep hanging on. As usual, their talent and physical power overwhelmed the South Americans. Carmelo " The Brat" Anthony came in looking for a fight but thankfully got restrained by Jason Kidd. He got embarrassed several times by Scola. Great job Mr.Kidd! Now, there's no question USA IS NOW THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION!!! The world order was restored.

Another Espn writer plays the race card to get the hits.

Don't use sports to press racial and political agendas. It's disgusting! As far as I'm whether black or white the world wants Team USA then to be beaten because of their arrogance. The world hated their arrogance. This 2008 Team USA is more gracious than their past counterparts. Before the 2004 Olympics, Carmelo Anthony guaranteed the US is going to win the gold medal - many basketball fans were appalled at his arrogance and total lack of respect to his opponents. I was happy that team got beaten esp. by Puerto Rico. Serves them right!

This is the "bonus medal" an exasperated sports fan from Philboxing.com gave to some sports officials of a certain Christian country in Asia. I don't recall any that fits that description but if you add Christian in name only I know one.

With the U.S. victory, many sports fans in the country were happy (Team USA basketball only - the only thing that mattered to Filipino fans - not swimming) relieving them of the pain of another painful Olympics. For the third Olympics in a row, the country laid an egg in the games.

Recah Trinidad:

Anyway, with the early successive fall and failure of RP athletes, there came text messages wondering what Peping Cojuangco, the No. 1 Filipino official who’s a special guest here, was up to?

Last Monday, Cojuangco was seen with two lovely teeners, said to be his grandchildren, during the USA-Germany basketball match.

Wearing the official Philippine shirt, Cojuangco was observed enjoying every minute of the action, even making kuyakoy—the lullaby rocking of the foreleg—at courtside.

LET THE FINGERPOINTING BEGIN!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/080822
http://www.philboxing.com
http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20080821-155929/If-Phelps-devoured-the-Olympics-what-did-Peping-do

MORE OLYMPIC NEWS: BIGGEST UPSET, TKD SCANDALS, MORE BOLT RANTS

TKD WTF

As usual Taekwondo stirs up fresh round of scoring controversies. This is not the case of losing jins whining but it has become commonplace. When a sport turns athletes into whiners most of the time - the sport must have a huge problem.

Taekwondo kicked up a storm of complaints against referees and judges at the Olympic Games on Wednesday as Canadian Ivett Gonda claimed she was robbed after losing her opening match.

"Everyone is saying it's unfair. I got ripped. Everyone is saying I got ripped," said the 22-year-old, fifth in Athens four years ago, after going down 2-0 to Sweden's Hanna Zajc in the women's -49kg flyweight.

"I could crawl up and cry like a baby but I am trying to be strong. I guess this wasn't meant to be, I guess God has other ideas for me.

"The reason for no points was they didn't see it," she said after her protest was rejected. "All I can do is laugh or cry about it. I prefer to laugh."

Protests against referees and judges have been part of the taekwondo competition since the Korean-born martial art made its Olympic debut in 2000.

Zajc faced misfortune in her second match after beating Gonda.

Her coach Chago Rodriguez said the Swede landed hits that didn't score.

"We were disappointed with that."

European champion and world number-five Levent Tuncat of Germany also questioned the judges after losing to Afghanistan's Rohullah Nikpai 4-3 in his first -58kg bout.

"For me it felt that I might have scored some more points," he sighed.

The fresh flare-up in refereeing controversy is a slap in the face of World Taekwondo Federation president Choue Chung-Won. He has insisted fair officiating is imperative for taekwondo to be retained as an Olympic sport.

"I will not hesitate to impose whatever is necessary, should you disgrace taekwondo or the WTF in any way," Choue told a meeting of referees here on Monday.

For Full Story

The IOC SHOULD NOT HESITATE TO REMOVE THIS SPORT ANYMORE! The sport's governing body had eight years to come up with more transparent and credible scoring but nothing ever changed. Time to take the boot TKD - along with Boxing. The IOC should concentrate on these important matters and not to petty things like this:

IOC President Jacques Rogge criticizes Usain Bolt

IOC president Jacques Rogge criticized Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt on Thursday for showing a lack of respect to other competitors after his record-breaking gold-medal performances in the 100 and 200 meters.

Mr. Rogge, if you have the guts tell that to the United States Men's Basketball team. We will see a lot of showboating tonight against Argentina esp. if they beat them big. Warn LeBron, Carmelo and Wade. You can't do it, can you? I thought so. Come to think of it I think it was the NBA-powered US Team that brought showboating to the Olympics (esp. the 2000 team - the most egotistical ever.)

BIGGEST UPSET

Japan scored the BIGGEST Olympic upset yesterday beating the United States 3-1 in the Softball Grand Finals held in Fengtai Softball Field. From the Olympic site the best and objective portal for Olympic news:

Japan put the first run of the game on the board in the third inning. Karino Ayumi beat out a ground ball hit deep to shortstop, allowing Mishina Masumi to score from third base. It was the first earned run given up by any of the Team USA pitchers in the tournament.

The second earned run came when Japan's center fielder Yamada Eri dropped one of Cat Osterman's pitches over the center field fence to lead off the fourth inning.

The United States got one run back in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff batter Crystl Bustos connected with a Ueno Yukiko pitch and pumped it into the right center field stands. The homerun was Bustos's sixth of the Games and the 14th in her Olympic career, both Olympic records.

But the wheels came off for the US team in the top of the seventh inning. Two errors, including one on a play at the plate by relief pitcher Monica Abbott, enabled Hirose Megu to score Japan's third run and end the United State's domination of the sport at the Olympics.

Ueno, who pitched 21 innings over two games Wednesday to get Japan into the gold medal games, picked up the victory after losing to Team USA the previous day. She pitched all seven innings, giving up one run, five hits and two walks. She struck out four batters to win her fifth game of the tournament.

Ueno Yukiko tormented the Americans again at the 2005 World Cup, she defeated the U.S. 3-1 in the gold medal game. Source: NBC

Umedeto! Bye Softball. Nice seein' ya.

Don't get me wrong - the Americans dominated this tournament like what they did in Greece. Japan's victory was a fluke. The Americans beat them twice in the tournament. In Athens, USA scored 58 runs against opponents 1. In this year's Olympic tournament, USA scored 58 gave up 5. There's no parity in this sport yet and it shouldn't return from the Games soon - that's almost 6 runs a game!

Venezuela	WIN	11-0
Austraia	WIN	3-0
Canada	WIN	8-1
Japan	WIN	7-0
Chinese Taipei	WIN	7-0
Netherlands	WIN	8-0
China	WIN	9-0
Japan	WIN	4-1
Japan	LOSS	1-4

See the pounding USA gave its opponents?

There are other sports with much better parity than softball and they deserve to be in the Olympics.

You may ask why Badminton is an Olympic sport. Pure and simple - it is the second most popular in the world based on number of national federations. It has parity. No country has come to dominate it. The matches are high quality. Can you honestly say it for Softball? Are 11-0, 8-0, 9-0 and 7-0 games competitive? Good riddance.

The IOC prioritizes the World not any single country.

As one person in Espn.com commented:

It's not the Olympics' job to boost America's ego.

COCKY BOLT RANT

Usain Bolt - "cocky" (like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Stephon Marbury, Dwayne Wade...blah blah blah)

From ESPN.com

Comments 1-15
Comment from rpsboyz - the usual cocky Jamaicans rant

Has anyone else noticed how cocky and arrogant the Jamaica runners are when they win a race? Talk about poor winners.

Reply from AlMan4242

rpsboyz, the Jamaicans are just as cocky and arrogant AFTER they win a race as the Americans are BEFORE they lose a race.
OWNED.

Notice LeBron James' face everytime he makes a powerful dunk at the game against Australia last night? Enough of the double standards! By the way it only makes LBJ older than he actually is!

Who wouldn't be happy right? This must be the first time Jamaica could compete with the United States on level ground and they are winning. For years, they have to put up with steroid powered athletes coming from the U.S. Now it is their time to shine, so to speak.

Comments section reveal what people are really thinking since their identity are concealed. There are more anti-Bolt comments (amidst the array of sex ads) in Foxports.com

"Is it just me or does Usain Bolt look just like T.O. He has that same annoying swagger and one-upmanship. He is also completely classless and it is a shame that he broke the great Johnson's record. The record should belong to someone with class. Bolt is the opposite of what the olympics are about. The olympics are about the joy of competition, it is not right to show up your fellow athletes."


"christiano get real jumping around like an #### and posing in front of the record time gee .phelps was involved in seven world records and 1 olympic record and not once did he act like bolt. Pumping the fist ,slapping the chest,raising the one all in class but bolt just showed me the true meaning of a M_O_N_K_E_Y" jtdf - poster

Another Bolt is monkey comment from Fox Sports members. These internet toughies are disgusting.

I saw Phelps pump his fist in his team's victory over France at a relay - I didn't think he was cocky (the American was ecstatic after a close win). Why is Bolt being singled out now? Is it because of the race thing again or he tends to threaten Phelps dominance of the spotlight in the US press? (C'mon you think Phelps saved the Olympics? Cycling saved the Games for the British. Other countries concentrate on their own winners! It saved the Olympics for them. Get real.)

Only in America where Phelps and Bolt are being compared to each other! lol

Bolt doing his usual thing. UNBELIEVABLE. Another day another World Record. Congratulations!

If Bolt is an American, I'm sure none of the cocky rant would come out - some fans will even justify it as normal celebration like what Team USA is doing - dunking and making faces afterwards. It is a fundamental rule in Basketball that after making a spectacular, monstrous dunk it is imperative the dunker should contort his face like he smelled someone else's fungi-infested foot or like he is about to cry

Hypocrites.

ESCALANTE MASSACRE: NOT JUST NINOY

This is a video of the forgotten victims of Martial Law.

No to communism! No to oppression! Anyone who advocates these causes betray what our ancestors hoped for us - to live in a FREE COUNTRY!!! Democracy Rules!!! Thank you for the people who made it possible for us to live in a free society (at least on paper). We have to make Democracy work. Other forms of governance ARE NOT an option.

RIVERMAYA TO PERFORM AT ASIA SONG FESTIVAL

source: rivermaya.net

Philippine band Rivermaya is among the ten main performers at this year's Asia Song Festival (to be held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Oct.3-5, 2008 in South Korea). Other performers are Fahrenheit, TVXQ, Girls Generation, and Agnes Monica.

October 3 Performers
SHINee, 2AM, U-KISS (Korea), Berryz Kobo (Japan), Yoga Lin (Taiwan), Jocie Guo Mei Mei (Singapore), BX (Mongolia), PECK (Thailand), and Rynn Lim (Malaysia).

October 4th concert performers:
TVXQ / DBSK, Girls' Generation, Seung-Hun Shin, SS501 (Korea), W-inds, Anna Tsuchiya (Japan), Anson Hu (China), Fahrenheit (Taiwan), Karen Mok (Hong Kong), ICE (Thailand), Ho Quynh Huong (Vietnam), Rivermaya (Philippines), and Agnes Monica (Indonesia).

TAEKWONDO SHOULD BE DROPPED FROM THE OLYMPICS

Even a direct hit doesn't score ask Marie Antoinette Rivero
source: Wikipedia

The sport's scoring is so subjective a direct hit doesn't score. I don't understand this. In 2004 Athens Olympics, Marie Antoinette Rivero hit her Greek opponent in the head for all the people to see. But the judges, who must be blind, failed to see it or must have favored the hometown girl. She should've won that match. Nobody understands the scoring in this "sport". The athletes are under the mercy of judges whose objectivity sometimes don't inspire confidence. The International Olympic Committee is looking towards removing this shady sport from the Games. Here's a report from CBC:

Taekwondo may be in jeopardy of elimination from the Olympics after the Games of 2012, but the sport’s federation is confident it will remain on the agenda.

The 2012 Games in London won’t feature baseball or softball, and it is expected the number of core Olympic sports will drop to 25 by the 2020 Games.

Taekwondo is considered at risk of being cut because of inconsistent judging and a confusing scoring system, while golf, rugby and karate are all seeking Olympic inclusion.

According to a this report one more scandal is enough to throw Taekwondo in the dustbin:

Squeaky-clean referees and a wide open field at the Beijing Olympics will secure taekwondo's place on the Games' roster, officials hope.

Taekwondo survived a vote in 2005 to be retained for the 2012 Games in London and faces another test in 2009 when International Olympic Committee (IOC) members cast ballots for the 2016 Games.

A repeat of the sometimes shambolic scenes at Athens in 2004 where refereeing decisions caused crowds to jeer results and angry coaches to invade matches may prove lethal for the sport.

If I had my way it should have never been part of the Olympics anyway. The "sport's" governing body World Taekwondo Federation (WTF very aptly named. This is the reaction of participants after placing a clean kick which doesn't get to score. Only in TKD.) says it is cleaning up its act to make way for more transparent scoring.

(Check this news item for more TKD scandal.)

TOO LATE. TIME TO GET THE AXE!!! I think the TKD jins are only asking for objective and consistent scoring so their dedication and hardwork will pay off. Is that too much to ask?

Ivett Gonda of Port Moody, B.C., a medal hopeful in taekwondo, lost her first bout at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, a result her coach says was affected by unfair judging.

She was defeated 2-0 by Hanna Zajc of Sweden in the 49-kilogram class and was eliminated from the tournament.

Gonda and her coach Shin Lim were puzzled by the judging, claiming that the Canadian wasn't receiving points she deserved.

Lim suggested that Chinese judge Lei Zhao may have been stingy with points for Gonda because she would have faced a Chinese athlete in the next round.

"I can't say for sure but she made a point but (didn't receive) a point," said Lim. "Must be the machine's broken, I don't know. Other coaches were surprised. It's not only coming from me emotionally."

In taekwondo, there is a judge at each corner of the mat. Points are awarded for kicks to the chest and kicks to the head. Three of the four judges need to agree that contact has been made and push an electronic button for a point to be awarded.

"I don't know why they weren't pressing it today," said Gonda. Source

There you go IOC. I guess it is just TOO MUCH TO ASK lol.

SUPER HEROES TO REPRESENT COUNTRY

Phelps is NO MATCH in Swimming compared to her. Phelps-who?
Source: pep

Let’s not entrust our athletes with the government. Let’s trust ABS-CBN and GMA-7 instead. For the Olympics, send CAPT. BARBELL for weightlifting; DYESEBEL-swimming; PALOS-track and field/marathon; ASERO-boxing; KUNG-FU KIDS-taekwondo; LASTIKMAN-gymnastics. It's a real DREAM TEAM! (alteration mine)

Source

Lol...If only it was true.

However, the Americans might protest since no amount of STEROIDS, I mean scientific training they give to their athletes will surmount the abilities of our superheroes. Their superheroes are busy waging war on some oil-rich country.

TRASH TALKING AMERICAN GIVEN A HUGE LESSON IN HUMILITY

Know your place, American girl
source: Wikipedia

She thought she was the Team USA of Pole Vaulting and began like a typical American athlete disrespecting her legendary opponent who just happens to be the greatest women pole vaulter of all time. The American was given a huge and humiliating lesson in humility.

Yelena Isinbayeva got the Olympic gold and a world record; American Jenn Stuczynski got the silver and a lesson in humility.

And we now have a new rivalry that should make woman’s pole vaulting fun to watch for many more years to come.

Big poles and big mouths don’t go together. Stuczynski knows that now. Pole vaulting isn’t basketball or boxing. It’s far too graceful of a sport for the kind of trash-talk she doled out before the Beijing Games.

“I hope we do some damage,” she had said, “and, you know, kick some Russian butt.”

Big mistake.

Isinbayeva is Russian but she understands English just fine. The greatest women’s pole vaulter of all time heard Stuczynski’s challenge loud and clear.

“I am not deaf,” she said. “It made me really angry.”

Like any good fight, the public announcer introduced the combatants first. Isinbayeva was presented last and got the crowd’s biggest roar. No mistaking who the Bird’s Nest was rooting for.

Isinbayeva is a bit like those supermodels who supposedly don’t get out of bed for anything less than a very lucrative photo shoot. Only when the bar has reached dizzying heights that most other vaulters can’t clear does Isinbayeva deign to take her first jump.

She’s just that good.

Monday night, her first jump was 4 meters 70 (15 feet, 5 inches). She soared right over. Seven of the 11 other vaulters had already dropped out by that point.

And so up the bar went, and up again. It’s that exquisite turning of the screw that makes pole vaulting so addictive to watch. Who’ll crack first?

Women’s pole vault has only been an Olympic sport since the Sydney Games in 2000. It was an instant crowd pleaser. Almost single-handedly thanks to Isinbayeva, the sport has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Stacy Dragila’s winning height in Sydney was 4.60 (15-1), which Stuczynski and Isinbayeva now sail over that in their sleep.

On Monday night, the last two hangers on dropped out with the bar at 4.80 (15-9), leaving Isi and Stu to fight it out for the gold alone.

The Russian won by KO. She cleared 4.85 (15-11). Stuczynski vaulted no higher than 4.80. Game over.

Almost.

With the whole stadium now eating out of her hand, Isinbayeva wasn’t going to stop there. The crowd had only seen her jump twice—that was all it had taken for her to defend her Olympic crown.

She wanted to give them more … and perhaps rub that American nose just a little deeper in the dirt.

It was showtime. Isinbayeva-time. And that meant a world record.

First, she broke the Olympic record—her own, from Athens four years ago— as an appetizer.

Then, the bar went to a height it’s never been before, 5.05 (16-6 3/4).

She got it on the last of her three tries. She was celebrating even before she had fallen back to earth. She screamed. Clutched her face. Screamed some more. Did a forward somersault. Grabbed a Russian flag from someone in the crowd and set off on a lap of honor.

And that whole time, Stuczynski was made to wait, sitting on a row of plastic chairs, until Isinbayeva had cleared the magic height. It was the 24th time that the Russian had set a world record; she generally likes to eke them out one centimeter at a time.

Isinbayeva tried not to be smug. She had done what she had set out to do: let her vaulting do the talking.

“I just wanted to prove who is the best at the Olympic Games.”

But she couldn’t resist one last little dig

“She must respect me and … know her position,” she said.

“Now she knows it.”

Full Story

I'm glad. She really made the American eat her words hehehe.

Most Americans are such poor sport even the country of Jamaica became a target after Usain Bolt won the 100m with one internet toughie calling him a "monkey" at Foxsports comments section (he looked foolish in his celebrations but that's his right - to enjoy his moment). Bolt's fault? He intruded in the American domain - the 100 m dash. Of course, they wouldn't admit that instead they began citing the guy's celebration as "show boating" conveniently forgetting Team USA basketball players' antics are even worse!

So, Americans don't lose, they are just being cheated. No way - the only reason Jamaica is winning, is simple BALCO - THE STEROID FACTORY - was busted paving the way for more deserving people to win. By the way if the Chinese female gymnasts are really below sixteen (which I also believe might be true judging from the age manipulation they did to their youth basketball team). It is even more humiliating. Besides, the United States could've won but they clumsily bungled their routines. It's their FAULT. Serves them RIGHT!

Double standards. Hypocrisy. Boy, do they have that in abundance!