Jets Takes Early Vacation

What started out as a promising season ended with a fizzle as the Favre-led New York Jets ran out of fuel at the last stretch of the season.

The Jets were actually on top of their division with an 8-3 slate, which was already double their win total the previous season, but sputtered to lose the remaining 4 of their last 5 games. Their final game loss to the Miami Dolphins officially closed the door for a possible playoffs berth!

There has been a lot of debate as to why the Jets went on a skid and many of them have their fingers pointed at Brett Favre. According to one blog that I read, Favre should not be blamed solely for the dismal performance of the Jets in their last five games since the flaw maybe more on the Jets system itself more than whose quarterbacking. A case in point is the New England situation where Tom Brady was declared out for the season (due to an injury) and was replaced by second string quarterback Matt Cassell. Despite the fact that Cassell has not started a game since being drafted in 2005 he did a superb job in leading the Patriots for the 2008 season. Unfortunately, the 11-5 season that Cassell managed to carve out was not enough to bring them to the playoffs. Yes, the New England system is sound but I don't think it would have worked if Cassell have not played the way he did---successfully filling up the big void left by Brady. I'll give it to the Pats, they know talent when they see one!

Now, I'm a Favre fan and I shifted loyalties when he moved to the Jets, however, statistically speaking, Brett had much to do with the declension of the team. In the last five games, he threw for only 2 touchdowns and gave away 9 interceptions. This kind of stats will not win you games---even if your system is sound! Brett finished the season with 22 TDs and an equal amount of interceptions. Throwing an interception means giving back the ball to the other team and giving them the opportunity to score. It is the accountability of the quarterback. Brett knows this and offers no excuse---bad shoulder and all!

Lola Ayak: In Requiem

It was barely two months ago that my wife and I were in Dingle, Iloilo under the cordial reception of Lola Ayak. At 95 years old, this woman puts real meaning to the simile "as strong as an ox"! So it was a surprise to all of us when we heard that Lola Ayak passed away early morning today. Apparently, Lola Ayak went into a coma late night of the 24th and never recovered.

I remember her fondly because everytime we're in Dingle, she'd always pass me something to eat as if I have a "give me food" neon sign on my forehead! That, and her knack of speaking to me in a barrage of Visayan where all I can understand is, "Noy, @#$%&!" I'm not sure if she notices my glaced eyes during this litany where I could only rhetorically reply, "Opo". For all I know she's asking me if I ate already! Hmmm...come to think of it...those were rather looooong monologues for a question...anyway...

Dingle visits won't be the same without Lola Ayak!

Maria Tinzon: Mother and Beloved Lola---May you rest in peace!

A Christmas Reflection

During the birth of Jesus, God chose some shepherds to first receive the Good News of our Salvation. Why did God choose the poor to be the first to bear witness to the coming of the Messiah? Then I realized that people only remember to call on God during times of difficulty and tend to forget Him when times are good! God chose the poor shepherds because the birth of the Messiah will give them HOPE.

It is only a couple of hours before Christmas and as we busy ourselves with all the last minute preparations, let us pause for a moment and think of what the meaning of Christmas in our lives sans the noche buena feast and the gifts...

From my family to yours---MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Breast Cancer Awareness

"To be forwarned is to be forarmed."

In many aspects of life we have learned to take clues from certain events in the past in order for us to become better prepared when the same situation occurs again in the future. Like during the rainy season when the chances of rain is high, you bring an umbrella; or, knowing that Monday morning traffic is more congested than any other day of the week, you set off earlier than usual. This is the same for breast cancer. Early detection is critical so it is important that the we are aware in terms of the self check procedure. Notice that I mentioned WE and not YOU since---yes my laddie---dudes can be prone to breast cancer too!

I chanced upon this video while web surfing. It is educational and with Olivia Munn teaching us how---definitely entertaining! Go easy now, boy!

Divine Providence

I have written about God's Divine Providence in my blog http://nonoy-1025.blog.friendster.com/2008/05/god-will-provide/ as a testament to my own personal experience. To further expound on God's presence in each of our lives, let me share with you a recent happening in the life of my friend Cora.

Last December 7 I received a text message from her asking for the cellphone number of our former Managing Director (whom we worked for when we were regular employees at Jollibee Novaliches). She said that it was important. After giving her the number, I asked what the urgency was about. According to her, her 3 year old son Angelo is in need of a special operation for HYPOSPADIAS, a birth defect of the urethra in the male that involves an abnormally placed urinary meatus(opening) and she needed to borrow money to cover the expenses---Php 23,000 for the operation alone. After hearing this, I was filled with empathy for Cora since I have also felt being at the end of the rope before.

Angelo was born out of wedlock and Cora doesn't have a stable income so to speak. She's into networking and is mostly under the auspices of her family. Since I am not a rich person I can only give her what my shallow pocket can afford, but I really felt for her and I had this nagging urge to give this woman and her son a MERRY Christmas. So I told her that I'll try to raise additional funds by calling out to our former colleagues in Jollibee. "Pray ka lang," I told her. After which I began my text and e-mail brigade for "Operation Angelo".

I did not envision to generate all of the money but our friend Art from Los Angeles seemed to have jumpstarted the whole thing by pledging half of the total amount and the rest just snowballed! By December 9, total pledges amounted to Php 27,000 not including 2 pledges from abroad with undeclared amounts.

I felt Cora's joy when I gave her the good news and what a wonderful feeling it was---the same feeling I had when I felt God by my side during my times of trouble!

Postscript:
As I've mentioned, Cora does not have a steady job and it would truly be a great help if any of you reading this blog can provide her one. I personally feel that what we have provided her was a temporary solution to her financial problem. As a Chinese proberb would say, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a life time."

She's in her early 40's and was formerly our administrative assistant during our Jollibee days. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish college. I know this isn't much of a criteria to get a job for but I need to try anyway. Who knows, God may again intervene. Can't win the lottery jackpot without placing a bet, right?

Too Much Fun Can Hurt!

Early Saturday morning I woke up having a hard time swallowing! It felt like something got stuck in my throat that I couldn't seem to swallow! And the effort of swallowing was painful as if something was tearing in my throat! So I got my flashlight and checked out what's going on inside and to my shock---my tonsils and the surrounding cavity was swollen! No wonder it felt like something was stuck in my throat---I was actually trying to swallong my tonsils! Fearing that the swelling will not let up and eventually get myself choked by my own body part, I asked my brother, Nino, to take me to the FEU hospital in Fairview. I tell you, it was really hard to explain yourself with a swollen tonsils! When did this situation occur? Do you have a cold? Cough? Fever? When the physician finally saw what's wrong I think she said "YIKES!" althought in her most professional doctor's demeanor! What she next asked me really bothered me---"Kinalikot nyo po ba 'yan?" It was a good thing I was having a hard time talking otherwise I could have rattled some choice expletives! Anyway, she prescribed me antibiotics (which cost like gold and which I had an allergic reaction to), painkillers, lozenges and then sent me home.

When I related this to my wife she said that I was actually snoring so hard that night she felt the room shaking. That got me thinking---did I accidentally suck up an insect or something? A cockroack maybe! Then I remembered the good time I had the previous night during an office Christmas party! I totally enjoyed myself with the program that I couldn't stop laughing! I was already feeling the coming of an asthma attack when we were on our way home which fortunately did not materialize. I guess that's probably it. I wouldn't want to dwell too much on what that doctor asked me last! Good thing she was kinda pretty!

Partying the Digitel Way!

I attended the the Christmas party sponsored by Digitel for their clients last December 10, 2008, at the Bar One in Robinson's Galleria. Actually, I'm not a party guy and would usually shy away from such functions but we needed representatives to the affair---duty called and I responded.

I was with two other officemates, Emil and Jimmy, and we had a nice time socializing. We were able to rub elbows with a couple of Digitel big wigs like Mr. Daniel Teng (Chief Executive Advisor), who got on the microphone and serenaded the crowd with his rendition of "Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko", a song he specifically chose to represent Digitel's commitment to it's business partners! Mr. Teng is a Malaysian and the crowd was very appreciative of his effort to sing a Tagalog song as shown by the hollering applause he got after! There was also Mr. Dinky Liwanag (Vice President for Corporate Sales and Marketing) who awed us with his charming candor! And of course, we were also able to meet some beautiful ladies...wait...before I continue, let me just quantify that I was an Art Studies graduate and it is but natural for me to be attrracted to beauty in an unadulterated and innocent way---except when I met my wife whom I married and had 6 equally beautiful kids with! That being said, let me continue (whew! that was a life saver!)...where was I...ahh...meeting beautiful ladies...well one of which was the host and RX 93 deejay, Gelli Victor, who was so gracious enough to have my picture taken with her and give me an opportunity to add another friend in my Facebook account! I was a big RX fan during my seminary days---my GRUNDGE YEARS(musically, that is) I call it---and it's rather nice meeting someone from the station. A very pretty one at that! You know the talk about deejays being...well, all voice but not much..this is proof to the contrary! Anyway, I almost got burned meeting her as she called on our group to participate in a game! Good thing Emil got introduced to her first and she eventually egged him to join! Emil won that game and got a 6 month subscription to Town and Country magazine! Again, I was hoping to win in the raffle but the hope was again in vain! The 6 months subscription to FHM would have been acceptable!

The food was also great but I had to restrain myself from eating too much less I want another stomach ache bug me all night! All in all it had been a very enjoyable night! Many thanks to Ms. Charms who was a very gracious host and who made sure that our gastronomical needs were satisfied!

Note to self: Need to invest on a 10 mega pixel camera to capture better quality pictures---my camera phone sucks in low light environment!

Gelli and Me (had to take off my glasses to avoid flash reflection!)

We caught up with the pretty models before we left---pretty eh?

Emil winning the DIGITEL spelling contest!

Our host for the night---Ms. Charms!

The Incredible Tim

If there's a name in our household most frequently hollered to---that would be TIM!

Turning 3 years old this December 23, this child is a real dynamo! I tell you, sitting still is not his strong point! He would always be running around, jumping, shouting, and occassionally sneaking in a sucker punch from his Ate Colleen(poor Colleen can only cry when this happens).

Looking after him can sometimes be very frustrating you just can't help but shout! The thing is, if you don't hear his usual riot he's got to be doing something nasty like showering himself with baby powder or emptying a newly bought cologne! Naturally, when I got home today, and my wife told me Tim did something again I was not surprised at all!

The event was captured by Chesca on her camera and I almost wet my pants when I saw these pictures! I have witnessed Tim climb up a stack of monoblock chairs---but not this kind of high! I'm sure his lolo and lola will flip out when they see these shots!

Viva Pac Man!

If I were a betting man I would have wagered that the Pacquiao vs. De la Yoya bout would last the distance! With the Pac Man at a disadvantage in terms of size and arm lenght he would not be able to catch the Golden Boy with his trademark straight left and will definitely stay out of a rope side slug fest; De la Hoya on the other hand, is an aged fighter and will not waste energy throwing low percentage punches. Well, I would have been right with my assessment of Oscar but dead wrong with that of Manny!

Speed proved to be Manny's edge as he continuously landed straight lefts on the face of De la Hoya and sliding away to negate any counters by thrown his way! Manny's was very dynamic all through out the fight making him a hard target for Oscar! He was the epitomy of Muhammad Ali's boxing mantra, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" After 8 rounds, De la Hoya was PRETTY NO MORE! His face was puffy red and his left eye almost swollen shut! Nacho Beristain, Oscar's trainer, can no longer bear the beating being taken by his ward and called it quits before the 9th round began.

I knew of the decision even before the "live" telecast was shown on TV! My aunt was listening over the radio (which is apparently the "more live" telecast) and announced that the fight was being stopped for reasons she just couldn't seem to understand. Then came the flurry of text messages to confirm that, indeed, The Pambansang Kamao has won!

I still watched the "live" telecast just to witness what really transpired. According to the radio account of my aunt, Manny got staggered on the 6th round and needed to knock out De la Hoya to win! After watching the bout I can now confirm that my aunt is not a reliable boxing commentator!

Well, I'm not going to feel sorry for the Golden Boy! He's had his run and what a good run it was! He defeated seventeen world champions and has won ten world titles in six different weight classes---this is a testament of his greatness! Besides, he just pocketed a boat load of cash---what's to fuss about?

The whole Philippines has been in the state of elation since mid-day---so I guess it's time for me to do my own victory dance! Viva Pac Man!