CrEfTick.CoM

Boston Red Sox..My Favorite Baseball Club

2006-10-24T14:56:00.000+03:00

Baseball is a game so popular in many nations. It is a game that people in some parts of Asia and most especially in the Americas got crazy about. At first, I was not actually an avid follower of baseball clubs and games ‘coz I got bored watching such kind of sport. The worse thing, competing clubs sometimes don’t even get score in a complete nine innings after at least 2 or 3 hours of standing, throwing, catching and hitting the ball in the field.

But it was not until I watched the game of Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees on what commentators called it September crunch in year 2004. New York is always the better team, while Boston is the underdog squad. Yankees was the American-League East Division leader and the Red Sox was on the verge of being eliminated in that season, hanging for just a game in the wild card race against other losing teams. It was an unexpected situation when I was halted to hold the channel for at least an hour and spent the rest of the night watching the game. I have no idea about the players of each team or about something else these two baseball clubs were up to and the most horrible thing was that I didn’t even know the rules of the game. What I was up to on that time was to discover why I couldn’t love watching a complete baseball game just like how I enjoyed watching a basketball game in the first place. I couldn’t imagine why crowds at the Bronx Ball Park stood at every at-bats of Alex Rodriguez of Yankees or Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox, or at every pitch of Mariano Rivera of NY and Pedro Martinez of the other club. Though the game was not even a Division series or American League series, it was fought hard as if there were no more games to play by tomorrow. Boston won the game and the Red Sox Nation watching in Massachusets celebrated the victory as their team qualified for the Division Series. It’s playoffs time. It wasn’t long enough after I watched the game when I realized that watching a baseball game is not about having a glimpse/clue of who’s going to win or lose when the game is still being played. It is a game without any anticipation. A game that can be won even when a team is under 4 runs or more in the last inning by just a swing of the bat. A game situation that can not be compared to a basketball game with 10 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter with a team leading by 4 points or more, a situation where one already know who’s going to win. Excitement and thrill are always present at every pitch, swing and throw in every inning, feelings that fans enjoy most while watching a baseball game. My fantasy in watching baseball games all started by the Yankees & Red Sox game and my heart was captured by the underdog team, the Boston Red Sox.

Day after I watched the game, I started searching for all the facts and figures to know more about my team and the game. And I didn’t regret choosing the Red Sox as my team. I’ve learned about the club’s history and especially about the failures having a World Series trophy for 86 years after Babe Ruth was traded to their rival team, the Yankees. More to be fascinated about, the Red Sox 2004 roster was not actually a team that can go through the playoffs. But what’s so amazing about this team is that they made it to the World Series, leaving a baseball record of 8 consecutive playoffs victories and the first ever team in baseball history to win the American League Series after dropping 3 consecutive games to their rivals. I couldn’t forget Game 4 of the AL Championship. The turning point of Boston’s losing woes. Hormones ran through my veins while I’m watching the game. Who could forget the home base steal of Roberts to tie the game in the ninth inning and the walk-off homerun of David Ortiz to end the game in passion. Or the ‘Who’s your daddy’ chants to Pedro Martinez by the Bronx crowd in every pitch he delivered, and most especially the blood that ran through Curt Schilling’s sock while on the mound. I could never forget those thrilling moments watching my favorite baseball team as they celebrated their World Series victory over the Cardinals in 2004. Now I know why fans including myself love baseball game so much!

Puzzles....

2006-10-22T09:31:00.000+03:00

Have you ever been caught in a situation starring at your reflection in front of a pale of water remembering all your life's flashbacks starting from the day you've learned to remember something..? Ever experienced gesturing a Mona Lisa's smile by yourself and end up laughing like you're with Mr. Bean to those situations of your life, questioning why they'd only happened to you and not to others.?. These are just but the few questions you might just thought of thinking when you're into a situation you didn't expect to be happening in the first place. It's what they call it nostalgic, wistful, longing, homesickness or what ever they might call it.

It is a funny feeling that this regretful case in point paved a way to evaluate levels of experience reflecting your most desirable events that could happen in your life then comparing them with what you've already experienced. Too many disparities isn't it. At a certain point, you might wish of having an extrasensory perception that could possibly help predict the remaining future events so you would be able to anticipate your actions on them. Others say that one possibility of accessing the future is through dreaming. Dreams don't just happen without any cause and they are just but 'theoretical' experiences that happen in our illusionary world, a database of our past and future 'us'. You can't just have them if you want them instantly. And it is consistent with the reality that one is bound to prove that you're worthy having something. A glimpse of the future you is alterable by your acts of free will and acceptance. Have you ever thought that your perception of the future 'you' can cause your past.?. How confusing this might be, right.. Think of a weighing scale, the one that is commonly used for measuring golds and diamonds, or just think of the weighing scale in the Justice Dept's logo. At the left maybe your past and the future is at the other side. Both sides are affected by the weight layed on each side. The lever in between represents your acts of free will. Without it, there would be no weighing scale, and there would be no past or future you in a brighter sense. You might be puzzled already on what you've become, on who & what you are now and what might be next in line. The real you is something worth discovering, a proof that life is not just about what others see or perceive about you, it's how you comprehend yourself. Stay calm and take full control...

The getaway cruise to eastern paradise

2006-10-22T08:31:00.000+03:00

It's a sunny day on the eve of the Ramadan Eid Ul-fitr, the sky reveals its majestic masterpiece putting the sun into a cheerful smile and pampered by the silky white clouds background. It's a perfect day in a week long holiday in the middle-east for a desert escapade... Two white honda cars, 10 pinoy good-looking bachelors equipped on their assassin-look eyewears, get on track to the desert road for an unforgettable adventure. We started rolling with anticipated gestures of fun and excitement ready to meet the mystic beach that stretch out from the mirage and unforgiving rage of the desert. With the setting mood of classical OPM hits sang by artists like APO, boyfriends and other pinoy artists known for their extrasensory themes of love, friendship and adventures, we got into the groove and shared our hidden singing talents while tracking into the midst of a very unfamiliar road. We were shouting expressions of happiness!

As we passed through the oil and gas fields, we saw some locals working under the command of the sun. No one would argue they weren't tired, as their sweats running like streams on their faces would acclaim their passion to their homeland. Needless to compare, jobs like this determine the personal strength of people, wherever land they might be. They wouldn't care for themselves as you would see them digging as if golds lie just beneath the sand and it's worth consuming their full-day strength just to have something to put on their pockets…

After an 18-mile road trip, we finally entered the chambers of the ‘Sealine Beach Resort and Hotel’, a very familiar place among locals and expats on the last day of the month of fasting. Unexpected as it is, the place is embedded in a carpet grass canvass with the blue sky background reflecting the calmness of the beach. At last, we’ve found array of trees and inhaled some fresh air blown from the waves of the sea. The place is a very familiar place as our thoughts swim into the sea waves of our homeland. There is really no place like home…

Hours passed by while we indulge ourselves to the place’ festivities, we finally met a totally stranger pet…the camel.. the desert limousine of some locals traveling through the middle-east desolate tracks. At last! We got our first ever authentic photograph of the desert’s most hard-working employee, known for its humidity and heat endurance. The perfect fit for the perfect place. So much to be allured about with eye-popping sceneries of the place, bachelors are still bachelors! Eyes are still eyes that are meant to see what’s meant to be seen in these attractive scenes of the beach. We got our sunglasses to streamline the damaging rays of the sun while we strike through the waves of the beach. Slippers that won’t slip our feet while we pace through the dripping floors of the pool. Nonetheless, we still got the signature attitude that separates men from the boys. Tired and dreadful like the sun, we finally set to the west horizon and end the day in the same mood as it began. Sea waves, sand dunes, and camels… ‘til we meet again

His Airness

2006-10-22T00:38:00.000+03:00

By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Although, a summary of his basketball career and influence on the game inevitably fails to do it's justice, as a phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of fundamental soundness, grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire, Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Now that he already gave up the game he loved most, Jordan is recognized as an icon. Tall, dark and bald, he is the first man of the planet. The former Chicago Bulls guard had the rarest of gifts, the ability to transcend his sport. His fame and skill were intertwined, much as they were in earlier generations for a select few, such as the Babe and Ali. What has made Michael Jordan the First Celebrity of the World is not merely his athletic talent,but also a unique confluence of artistry, dignity and history. Jordan made himself into a megastar. His burning desire to win, his utter refusal to quit, his desire to carry his team to the mountaintop made him a legend in his time. So, for those who looked up on him for his enthusiasm not just an athlete but as a person, I searched for some of his famous quotes for fans (including myself) to ponder on. Here are some of his most popular quotes...

1)You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.
2)I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
3)My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.
4)If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
5)I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me . . . Failure always made me try harder next time.
6)I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.
7)I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.
8)Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.
9)If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.
10)I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.

What's Up!

2006-10-21T23:27:00.000+03:00

It’s so late in the evening when my friend and I decided to sleep in the hotel where two of our officemates are currently staying. For a common reason, we are so excited to browse the net for free, once again. And yes, we sat at the long table ready to stay ‘till daylight, ready to sacrifice just because of boredom. I am so fascinated with the blogs he posted in his profile and this kept me agitated to create mine as well and go back to what I usually do sometimes in my college years, at times when my sickness strikes… buy a beer and stay late at night doing nothing but writing something about anything. This is a part of who I am before as a college pal.

Years have passed and I’m cruising in the gulf coast leaving all I used to be with, missing those noon wake up calls to eat lunch and longing to sit like a king in the sofa set drinking a mug of RP brand beer, the popular redhorse beer! For now, I can only think of it ‘coz I am now at the Gulf. Sitting and chatting from dusk ‘til dawn, a song surprisingly came into my mind and it is just so appropriate that it reflects something that I had gone through at least, to where I am right now. And the song goes like this… '25 years and my life is still, trying to get up that great big hill of hope… For a destination…" Wandering where would be the first stop over of my life’s travel, I got a chance to be in a place which is at the near bottom of my preference list. Without surprise and second thought I grabbed it. And yes, I did! It took me 25 years, just 6 days after my silver anniversary of my birth, to experience living in a place I am not accustomed to. I am just one of the few pearls of the orient sea strayed in the middle of the desert. Some survived the sting of the raging sun and found a well to dwell into. Others maybe here looking for the long lost treasures of the Eastern civilization and fly like Alladin if found. I may not know all the reasons why some flew from the place where they got their mentality, but one thing is I’m sure about and that I am here and I am one step closer to discovering the hidden plan that came along with me at the moment I was conceived. Re-discovering One’s discovery of myself……