Ball point...

...is a good point!
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by PAM


Yeah, last week was a difficult week.  The bulk of work was tremendous... and my family lost one important member. :(  But, amid all that, I had to stay smiling, attentive to those who need our help in the Office, and focused on the many important activities, such as the Baccalaureate Mass.  Such is life in this profession... "smile though your heart is breaking...", or so they say.

The incredible amount of work continues to flow in this week... but, today, I finished one big chunk of it darn heavy workload!  I believe I deserve to celebrate a little... so, I rummaged through my "virtual drawer" of missed football matches.  Of course, the biggest of them all is this:

"Messi is in the box... and he slides it in!  This is intense football!

...and Pepe's extra-curricular is gonna put him in the book."  :)

"(Ronaldo is) Emphatic, accurate, beautifully deadly with his dispatch...

Iniesta spanks it over.... 

...you don't need to love these players, people, but you should marvel at them!  :)

...another emphatic detonation (from Lionel Messi) from the spot... 

...Barcelona invades the Bernabeu!"

I know, how could I, right?  How could I have missed such an important event in the awesome world of football when I'm supposed to be a big football fan, huh?  It's El Clasico, dude, I know!  If you must know, I feel helpless... and hopeless... hopelessly sinking into that quicksand of an extremely boring 'existence'... having missed an FC Barcelona match against Real Madrid CF - that's extreme indeed!  I feel like I'm losing it... sinking deeper, and deeper still, in the 'dark tunnel of unrelenting serious work'!  Surely, there is light at the end of the tunnel, eh?  Oh, boy, there's gotta be, or else, life'll lose its meaning!  'Cause life, or, at least the one I live, is quite 'pointless' if it isn't written with a 'ball-point'. It's difficult to find sense in serving well when you can't even deserve to find a minute from your life of service to mourn your loss. As the old adage goes, "all work and no (ball) play... requires the doctor to be on call?" =) I guess, it's still one's decision... and choice, in fact, to live a healthy balance of serving well and enjoying all the beautiful things that life has to offer.

Therefore, back to this latest edition of El Clasico.  It's one big-scoring match right there... with both the biggest stars of football scoring beautifully.  As usual, Sergio Ramos was thrown out after 'seeing red'.  No big brawl this time, in spite of Pepe's tremendous effort to spark a bloody one, and Dani Alves's willingness to pitch in. :)  But, yeah, I agree with the commentator, this Clasico may have just decided the La Liga title.  With Leo Messi looking like he's getting into the habit of scoring hat-tricks again after his resurrection from his hamstring injury, the nine matches remaining will be big... huge!  And, vacation time is getting closer and closer, too.  Yep, life makes sense again!  :)

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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Ask...

...and it will be given to you.
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by PAM

God answers prayers.  He does... and quickly, too.  Just last night, I was praying for patience and hopefulness to endure the 'extreme boredom' I have been feeling lately.  A few minutes after I said that prayer, he gave me (all of us, Barça fans, actually) this:

Barcelona - Real Madrid Highlights HD 26.10.2013 by FCBHDWorld

El Clásico, baby!  Oy! :)  If that did not give you a reason to pump your fist - with feelings - I don't know what else could.  I saw it LIVE (!) - uhm, well, via cable, actually. :)  

This new edition of Clásico was relatively tamed, but I'm digging how Lionel Messi walked in last to complete the Barça line-up... with some discreet swagger - very, very cool!  And, boy, I love the way Neymar Jr. played his first El Clásico - totally fearless. He gave the Blancos absolutely no respect!  Awesome, awesome!  Fantastico, Braziliano!  Oy!  And that overhead chip by Alexis Sanchez that put the Blaugranes ahead by two goals was totally splendid!  I hope we see more of those in the near and distant future.  I have to say, I enjoyed the diva-ish protests of the 'one and only' football grand diva, Cristiano Ronaldo - the man who introduced "man purse" to the world is absolutely reliable for heavy drama on the pitch. :) But, to be fair, that was a penalty, it should have been called.  Then again, there were penalty-worthy contacts, too, against Barça that were not called.  Whatever, for as long as Victor Valdes denies the diva the limelight with heart-stopping saves, the second-most-expensive Blanco is as good as entertainment. So, carry on! 

Visca, el Barça!  

Boy, it's been forever since I last yelled that... and it feels great!

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Wooing lady luck

And then this afternoon, it was beginning to feel like lady luck have decided to abandon me... I was stuck in heavy, crawling traffic on my way to the Electrical Engineers Oathtaking at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.  But, she changed her mind... looked my way, and smiled.  I made it to the very last part of the Program.  I got to celebrate with our graduates... and it felt like heaven!

Total passing rate:  55/57, #2 Top Performing School in the country
(#1 in the 50 or more Exam takers category) with one in the Top 10.

Batch 2013 passing rate:  54/54... yep, 100%!  :)

Later in the evening, I heard Mass with a person I admire, respect and love.  She celebrated her 80th birthday with her family and friends by thanking God and hosting a delightfully sumptuous dinner... in the historic Manila Hotel no less.  She did not accept gifts... she simply requested her well-wishers to express their generosity instead with the children she supports in a shelter.  I kept wondering where she gets her energy at her age... she gets it from dedicating every kJ of energy she has in helping the needy.  

Last night, I prayed for patience and hopefulness... I received those, and so much more today: inspiration, joy, excitement, exhilaration, and the warmth of friendship.  

So, yep... 'ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you'.  It's as simple as that... it's as mysterious as that.   

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Saturday photo

Dear adrenalin rush... hurry, hurry come to me! :)

Now I know why I have been feeling 'blue'... it's been 'forever' since I last saw something like this on my TV screen:

"Road to the Final"... my kind of road!
Woot woot! :)

Yep, I'm an "adrenalin rush junkie"!  I need some fist-pumping, nerve-wracking, scream worthy excitement to fuel my 'run' in this 'marathon', more popularly known as 'life'. :)  Right now, I'm 'running' on a 'boring' stretch of 'gray concrete' with nothing around me but uninhabited space... no sign of 'life' - just the non-breathing concrete against my worn out 'running shoes', colliding steadily in a fatally boring rhythm that makes me want to stop running altogether and just lie down and be lost in this gray nothingness.  And all I see in front of me is still a loooooong stretch of sickeningly gray concrete.  Oh, boy!  When will it end?  In other words, all I do these days is work, work, work... and more work! It's like getting stuck in an extremely boring one-dimensional world.  Very depressing!  :(

So, I wait... for this road to branch out somewhere, an opportunity to change course - to a more 'scenic run', like the "Road to the Final".  In the meantime, I'll keep running... but I will keep gazing at the 'sky' where UEFA Champions League's "Road to the Final" smiles a beautiful smile... just a little refreshment, an imagined consolation just because no one is generous enough to give any. Expectations... stratospheric expectations, that's all that everyone shoves in front of me. And, while I've ran steadily fast in this race on this sad, sad concrete, always shooting for the stars... and even when, I believe, I've won some big ones, the expectations get steeper... and steeper still. Oy, oy, oy!

Oh, and, uhm, btw, El Clásico is on at Camp Nou in a few minutes. There ya go, that's more than an 'imagined' consolation right there! That's a breathing awesomeness on green turf - worlds apart from the emptiness of this gray concrete!  Uhm, ahem, I expect 'bloodshed', do ya? ;)  Bring it!  Go, Barça!  :)

 

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Oh, Lord, please give me the patience and hopefulness to endure this 'extreme boredom' and incredible exhaustion.  I hope that these amount to something good in the end.  Amen. 

***

Yoohoo... football?

No reply.... Huh, basketball? Come in, basketball....
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by PAM

I think I might be juggling just about too many things these days.  It's either that, or I haven't really gotten 'my groove' back after 'slowing down' for a few months. How do I know?  Well, because I missed this - the first El Clásico of the La Liga 2012-2013 season... 

...and I'm only writing about it, three days after the fact!  Right, right, and right again, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off, with the Los Blancos looking to chip the 8-point lead of the Blaugranas who now sit on top of the Primera División Table of La Liga with Atlético Madrid - ouch, for Los Blancos!  The current La Liga title holders, Los Blancos, are currently in #5 but, of course, that doesn't put a dent on José Mourinho's Jupiter-esque ego... at least, from his outward posturing in his press conferences.

Anyway, it would've been awesome to have seen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi exchange fire power in Camp Nou live, but the match aired in Manila at 2:30 in the morning of Monday... and I had to work early in the morning.  The main men of Barça and Los Blancos brought the 'surprisingly calm' match to a 2-2 draw... keeping Barça's lead at 8 points.  Crissy looked in the zone, opening the display of goal-making mastery between the two closest rivals in this generation of football greats with a powerful kick that Victor Valdes had no hope of stopping... and then closing it, too, with another fine finishing despite injured shoulder.  But it has to be said, Barça's incredible "little magician" kicked the best goal of the match via that blistering free kick that made Spain's #1, Iker Casillas, looking less than the best goalkeeper in the world that he is... but it's Messi - awesomeness in its purest form.

 As for individual supremacy on the pitch this season, right now, Leo and Crissy share the lead with Radamel Falcao of Atlético Madrid in the Pichichi top goal scorer race with eight goals each. Leo won the award last year, and Crissy the year before. So, this season is going to be tough... and with Falcao making it a three-man race... well, it looks like I need to work hard to make my sked open up for some La Liga time.

I need to check out the next El Clásico sked, and mark my calendar accordingly. :)

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A menacing growl to ruffle feathers

Speaking of clásico in sports, let me mention something extremely important in this part of the planet while we're at it.  The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers are looking to stop the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles from claiming a 5-peat in tomorrow's second match of the best-of-three series in the 75th UAAP Men's Basketball Championship.  The Eagles have a one-game win advantage to spring from after holding off the Tigers in an exciting 83-78 first match last weekend... but the 'wounded' Tigers are looking ready to tear down the score board with big shots to go even, and bring the duel to a third game.  Uhm-hmmm... looks like the Smart-Araneta Coliseum will be a roaring 'jungle' of gold and blue tomorrow.  

Let's enjoy the match... but let's keep the spirit of sportsmanship alive and well, people. So, while my color is gold and white... may the best squad win!  

Go, USTe, Go USTe!  Raar....

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Yep, I just turned in my very first basketball-related post when I thought I was ready to write about golf after watching Bubba Watson win the right to wear the green jacket in Augusta, Georgia last season, and after seeing the highlights of the Ryder Cup just a couple of days ago where Europe beat USA with an epic comeback. I'm sure my students are snickering behind my back after witnessing my resistance to acknowledge basketball as a "beautiful game", too. Nope, not giving in just yet. I maintain that basketball can be exciting... but "beautiful"?  Nah. :)  And yet, yeah, I just started using a "Basketball" tag in my blog!  Oh, well... there's always a first, ya know! ;)

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

Defeated, but not toppled...

...from the seat of greatness - Barça's latest story at Camp Nou.
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by PAM


And so, Real Madrid CF finally prevailed, handing FC Barcelona their first defeat in El Clásico in 8 La Liga meetings (the second in 15 matches overall since December 2008) via a 2-1 victory last Saturday (early morning of Sunday in this part of the world)... in Camp Nou, no less!  José Mourinho is at the doorstep of
Mourinho's Los Blancos, finally tasting victory
over Guardiola's Barça in La Liga.unprecedented personal glory: winning the respective leagues of four different European countries where football is almost a religion (in Portugal, in England, in Italy, and now, soon in Spain).  Not bad for a manager who didn't play the game professionally!  His Madrid men, one of the most expensive assembly of some of footie world's best players presently, finally fulfilled their team's promise in what must be the decider in this year's contest for the Spanish La Liga Primera Division title, with all due respect to their next opponents.  With Los Blancos seven points clear above Blaugranes, with only four more games to play, Pep Guardiola and his captain, Carles Puyol and another key player, Andrés Iniesta, the "other" little genius of the Catalan side no less, may have, in effect, conceded the title to their biggest rival in their respective post-match interviews.  While not conceding greatness, as they insisted that they have dominated the match - not a completely unfounded claim either, considering how exhausted this overworked team is this season - they have congratulated their rivals and vowed to their loyal fans that Barça's continuous quest for higher level of greatness this season... and beyond this season, does not end after the final whistle was blown in the last El Clásico at Camp Nou.  Naturally, culés all over the world have no doubt about that... in fact, even when the scoreboard showed that Barça was not on top, no culé would concede greatness to Madrid... only this last Clásico, maybe.  

Visca, El Barça!!!

A classic win in an El Clásico.
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


And so, after all the nerve-wracking anticipation that almost induced a nervous breakdown in me, the first El Clásico of the current Spanish La Liga season finally unfolded at Estadio de Santiago Bernebéu. Real Madrid CF went into the Clásico with a 15-match winning streak and was the slight favorite over the seemingly out-of-form and winning-fatigued FC Barcelona... then again, most of those opinions came from Madridistas and those who are "bored" of the Catalans genius on the pitch. The two giants in the beautiful world of football marched to the center of the Madrid pitch... and, as the referee blew his whistle to get the highly-anticipated duel underway, millions of hearts went racing as adrenalin surged and rest at the summit of excitement! I'm still recovering from the heap of football awesomeness... so let me just post this as I savor the moment:

I join the cules all around the globe in rejoicing over this sweetest of victories, Real Madrid CF 1 - 3 FC Barcelona. Oy! Groovy, oy!

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A fast goal and playing catch-up...

It was a classic "come-from-behind" away victory as the Blaugranes saw Karim Benzema slot the fastest goal in the history of Spanish La
Karim Benzema, slotting the fastest goal in
La Liga history.Liga on the 23rd second via a say-what??? mistake by Victor Valdes. VV kicked the ball to Angel Di Maria (huh??? I know, right?!), who attempted a cross to Karim Benzema, but it was foiled by Sergio Busquets with a kick. The ball was effectively deflected to Mesut Ozil's direction. MO took a shot that got deflected once again by the incredible Busquets - bless him - but, only for the ball to find Benzema, who was a few feet away from the Barça goal. The Frenchman quickly slotted the ball in while Gerard Piqué was still positioning himself in front of the goal and VV still processing what he just did in his head, putting Los Blancos in front. Stunning I must say! Needless to say, the fast moves and the resulting goal thrilled the Madridistas (and most football fans) to the ceiling of enjoyment. Barça's captain, Carles Puyol, called his team to settle down and signaled them to stay focused on the game amidst the Madrid excitement.

Lionel Messi, phenomenal as always no matter the situation, was the first to heed the Catalan captain... and he was not about to be silenced by a stunning goal, history-setting it was notwithstanding. The little genius, in his usual unstoppable form, stole the ball from Sergio Ramos and then flew past Ramos and Xabi Alonso, avoided a blocking Pepe, as he sped and rallied Barça into a response with a kick-on-a-run... only, the tip of Iker Casillas's fingers sent it spinning away to thread-thin safety from the Madrid goal. The wasted chance was matched by
Alexis Sanchez, a classic El Clásico
debut - with an equalizing goal.Cristiano Ronaldo with a lousy miss on the other end of the pitch. :) CR7 decided to finish the cross from Benzema instead of passing to Angel Di Maria who was wide open to make the shot - typical of Ronaldo though. Little did everyone realize that that would define the outcome of the match.

Relentless in his search for an equalizing goal, Messi negotiated a busy Madrid thoroughfare that was intimidatingly lined with four towering defenders. He got through with the ball at his feet, which was not a surprise for any football enthusiast... it's Lionel Messi, hello! The little genius then played Alexis Sanchez, who impressively remained unpurturbed by the mighty task of finishing a Messi assist - not such an easy thing to do, especially on his El Clásico debut. And, clean finish, the Chilean did despite the formidable Iker Casillas of a wall in front of the Madrid goal and two Los Blancos defenders building a fence around him closely as he moved towards the goal! EQUALIZER! Game on!

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Tactical duel - an El Clásico, indeed!

Level in points now, the guests and the hosts, recalibrated their shot
El Maestro, Xavi, a classic 600th appearance in
Blaugrana shirt - punctuated by a goal.and defense artilleries as they get ready to get deeper into the duel... why not, afterall, it's an El Clásico! In the second half, the men returned on the pitch with renewed vigor. Xavi, who was on his 600th appearance in the Blaugrana shirt, with some sheer determination and a little bit of luck, blasted an off-balanced kick from 30 yards out. Marcelo's toes deflected the ball, an occurence that distracted Casillas into clearing the shot, diving in the wrong side, failing to clear the shot as it happened... therefore, 1-2, in favor of Barça! Ah, classic!

A few exchanges of chance por chance between the giants, great defensive plays by Puyol, some shows of dazzling brilliance in the second-half from Don Andres Iniesta... and some CR7 for-crying-out-loud misses later, Barça "volted in". They took tiki-taka to high gear... and then, in one of those vintage
Cesc Fàbregas, debuting in La Liga El Clásico
with a goal... and a nice haircut - finally. :)Barça moments, Dani Alves, Messi and, the now-well-groomed Cesc Fàbregas sped to the front in a wide triangle, with Alves carrying the ball on the right wing from a Messi pass while Messi and Fàbregas sped in front of the Madrid goal to position themselves for a finish - a perfect puzzle for Casillas to figure out! Both Messi and Fàbregas appeared ready to receive an Alves cross, and drive a cushion goal in to finish Madrid for good. In a decisive stroke, Alves flicked a pretty cross to the farther away Fàbregas who had lesser challenge from the Los Blancos defense, at Casillas's far post. Fàbregas then resurrected himself from silence in the first-half and surged purposely forward for a diving header that sent the ball home before Casillas could take his eyes completely off the speeding Messi in front of him and concentrate on the attacking Cesc! GOAL!!! What an absolutely brilliant play! 1-3 - Barça surged farther up, and Madrid could only stare upward defeatedly!

Los Blancos, the "Special One" and the Madridistas were effectively silenced by that piece of brilliance... just because the Bernabéu Club didn't have an answer to that - even in their best form... and in their own backyard, too. And so, the Catalans went home - classic victory in tow! :)

5 + 6 + 10 (+ 8)... Barça Stalwarts = classic awesomeness!

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Victory comes to those who respect the power of teamwork...


Pep Guardiola, come on!Congratulations to you, Pep Guardiola and your valiant men, for giving the world yet another brilliant football - a remarkable testament to the beauty of teamwork, focus, hardwork, consistency, and unwavering faith in one's team principles! Once again, you and your men have proven that tactical and technical brilliance can only translate to victory when it is anchored on teamwork - a lesson, not just for footballers and football fans, but for everyone! Thank you for that wonderful victory and the classic display of football beauty - we loved it! All the very best in your next matches.

Visca, El Barça!!!

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Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.
Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks!

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