Sep 11, 2013

11 Signs That You Are A Hopelessly Romantic Sports Fan

You really can't choose who you love. And when you find "the one", you don't just scram when the going gets tough (or the tough get's going). Having a favorite team or athlete is like falling in love. You just ride the whole gamut of emotions with them. As a tennis fan, I can go from really happy to really frustrated to overflowing with joy to being in the depths of depression in a matter of seconds. 

So this list is for people like me (I know that I'm not the only one) who feverishly support teams and/or athletes that are: (a) going through tough times, (b) headcases, (c) allergic to winning and (d) all of the above. Here's to us crazy ones!

1) You are very rational when it comes to evaluating the competition.
via Tumblr
2) You use your superhuman jinxing abilities to help your fave.

3) But you always end up jinxing them instead.
via img.pandawhale.com
4) This is what you look like before a match.
via Tumblr
5) This is you during a match.
via tribulationsduneformatricedemcdo
via Tumblr
6) This is you after a really good win.
via realitytvgifs
via Tumblr
7) This is you after a very bad loss.

via BuzzFeed
8) This is you the day after a very bad loss.
via BuzzFeed
via Simply Gosling
9) You can relate to this quote from The Matrix Reloaded: "Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness." 
via hallowedtodeath
10) But you still have nothing but love for your fave.
via heygifcom
11) And you will continue to believe in them no matter what.
via glamour.com

via Tumblr

Aug 23, 2013

The "Must" List: Fact Is Stranger Than Fiction

*Yep. She's finally on Twitter. You can now follow and unfollow her, Hitler

*Buzzfeed did a superb piece on the person behind the biggest security leak in US history, Private Bradley Manning, who now prefers to be called Chelsea Manning. The article paints an intriguing portrait of a conflicted person who only believed in doing what is best for his country.

*Fantastic piece from the New York Times on tennis rebel, Li Na, and her fight against the super controlling Big Brother that is the Chinese government. 

*While I was really pulling for Ryan Gosling to be the next Batman, Ben Affleck, contrary to what many are saying online, is actually NOT a bad choice. Affleck is now rivalling Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and his buddy, Matt Damon, when it comes to having the most enviable roles in Hollywood. Affleck is also set to star in the movie adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel, Gone Girl.

*Katie Nolan is your new sports BFF. She's witty and knows how to poke fun at herself and other people. I am now looking forward to her No Filter episodes on Fox Sports and Pardon the Contradiction. Really, look her up.

*Michael Beschloss is a must follow on Twitter for history buffs.

*These are nice problems to have: 17 Problems Only Book Lovers Will Understand. Another problem that many people would also love to have is to be too attractive to hold public office.

*Another long read recommendation: The Rock 'n' Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero. The following parts really resonated with me:
As we walked past all the oblivious college students, their whole lives ahead of them, I thought about how astonishingly few people do what Everman did. What happened to him was so brutal, seeing success pass him by — twice. But he didn’t let that misfortune define him. Of all the guys I knew through my years in rock, a precious few made it huge. Good for them. Most never came close. Some never managed to get past the failure of the dream, but it seems pretty clear that Everman did. When I told his former bandmates what he’d been up to, they all seemed genuinely thrilled with what he did with his life — and surely a little relieved.
As we made our way along what Columbia calls College Walk, I asked Everman what it was like to be a student after all he had been through. Everman smiled dryly. “It’s anonymous. Just the way I like it.” I suggested that his unique résumé might make him just about the coolest college professor of all time. “No way, man,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t have the patience. I’ll probably just be a bartender somewhere.”

Aug 8, 2013

The "Must" List: Horror Roll

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.


*I seriously cannot stop watching this video. Nice to know that the Manning family has a great sense of humor.


*Horror roll: embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (also known by his sexting name, Carlos Danger) doesn't know how to quit; NY Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, is the guy at the party no one wants; the Napoles family, through their counsel, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, threatens Rappler with a poorly written demand letter and Bikram yoga founder is accused of rape, sexual harassment and racism.


*Tennis players dominate Forbes list of the highest paid female athletes. The WTA is indeed the leading women's sporting organization in the world.


*Want to encourage more people to read? A little creativity can go a long way.


*Forehand Policy's resident mascot, Ryan Gosling, is in the shortlist to play Batman in Man of Steel 2


*Roger Federer, who is celebrating his birthday today, could be ranked as low as #7 by the time the US Open starts later this month. 


*Probably the greatest power couple of all time.


*Cristiano Ronaldo has been on a charm offensive lately. I honestly have no snark on this. Keep it up, dude.


*Andy Murray and Jennifer Lawrence continue to be adorable.


*Filipino marketing executive Jonathan Yabut is Apprentice Asia's first winner. Highly successful Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes definitely hired the right person for the job. 


*Diplomacy 101

*Political trolling 101 

Jul 8, 2013

Wimbleweird


Wimbleweird. Wimblegeddon. Wimble-done. These were just some of the puns that were  used by die hard and casual tennis fans alike to describe the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships. Who could blame them, really, after the tournament lost former champion Rafael Nadal in the first day (!) of the tournament? Who would have thought that Nadal would go out in straight sets to 135th-ranked Steve Darcis? Who also would have thought that Roger Federer would follow him out of Wimbledon by the third day of the tournament, losing to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky? The leading women were also not exempt themselves as Victoria Azarenka (retiring due to a knee injury sustained while in the competition), Maria Sharapova (losing to young ace Michelle Larcher De Brito), Ana Ivanovic (bowing out to former Junior Wimbledon champ Eugenie Bouchard), Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic were all out of the competition by the time Federer and his orange-soled shoes said their goodbye. 

By the second week, things seemed back to normal. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Britain's Great Hope), David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro were still in. So were Serena Williams (the heavy favorite to win), Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na

As the top seeds, Djokovic and Serena were now the overwhelming favorites to win. Djokovic stuck to the script and defeated a resurgent del Potro in an epic semifinal to forge a date with Murray, who many is expecting to finally extinguish the ghost of Fred Perry after 77 years. Murray's campaign last year, while so close, still ended in tears and heartbreak.  

Serena, on the other hand, bowed to the grass loving German Sabine Lisicki. Unfortunately for Serena, Lisicki's main specialty since 2009 has been to upset the current Roland Garros champion at Wimbledon.  When the dust finally settled on the women's side, Lisicki and quirky Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (she of the comedic serve and hilarious practice swings in between points) were the only ones left. Thus, the Ladies Final featured two players that have never won a Grand Slam trophy before. In the end, it was second time Wimbledon finalist Bartoli who hoisted the trophy after Lisicki was rattled by a severe case of stage fright.

On the men's side, destiny seemed to be smiling on Murray's side. He almost never made it to the finals after being pushed to the brink by Fernando Verdasco (he of the perfectly gelled hair that never moves) in the quarterfinals and Polish up-and-comer Jerzy Janowicz in the semis. 

The whole Murray-Djokovic final was, sorry for the word, dreadful in the sense that there were lots of looooong rallies and not a lot of taking chances and hitting winners from both sides. Djokovic seemed not himself as he was missing a lot on his favored backhand down the line shots. I guess losing last year's final endeared Murray to a lot of hometown fans since one can feel how immensely invested they were in every Murray point. (In the past, Britons seemed to cheer for Murray out of duty because they had no other British guy to cheer for.) Fans were totally behind him, even cheering belatedly (and mistakenly) for points that did not go their countryman's way. You can also feel how Murray was soaking all the love and adoration in as he seemed very positive and happy to be out there. Murray finally defeats Djokovic after a dramatic final game (which, if Djokovic had won, could've led to a momentum shift) to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years. Tears of joy and goosebumps everywhere! 

In the end, this year's Wimbledon was a tournament for dreamers and believers. A tournament that will be remembered for the crazy ones who believed that they could defeat the Rafas, Rogers, Serenas and Marias of the world. It showed that everyone, no matter what their rank is or no matter the amount of struggle that they had to endure in the past, has an equal chance at Grand Slam glory. So, yeah, I think this video somewhat sums up this year's Wimbledon perfectly:



Jun 23, 2013

The "Must" List: Girls On Fire Edition

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.


*I've watched this video about 789594 times already and it still makes me cry every time. Lea Salonga's performance of "Still Hurting" is haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.

*Oh yeah. Hillary Clinton is finally on Twitter. Her profile is genius:
"Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD..." Obviously, this would not be possible without the guys from Texts from Hillary, who also got a shout out from Madam herself. 

*You want a tennis cat fight? We'll give you a tennis cat fight. Our pre-Wimbledon off-court main event is Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova and Round 1 has just started. The sad thing is this would probably end in another Pova shellacking should they meet for the Wimbledon final in two weeks time. (Pova hasn't beaten Serena in 9 years.)

*On a lighter note, let's check out what our favorite female tennis players wore at the WTA's pre-Wimbledon party. Fortunately, Ana Ivanovic, a perennial fashion hit and miss, dressed according to her beauty and wasn't a victim of a fashion fail. 

*Good girl gone bad? Read this intriguing story of why a seemingly straight and honest agent betrayed the US Homeland Security for a notorious Mexican drug cartel. After Homeland and The Americans, this is another theme worth exploring on tv. 

*I think any sports fan can relate to Patricia Lee's piece from Grantland's NBA Shootaround:
With the clock winding down and the Heat amassing what seemed like an insurmountable lead, I found myself negotiating with the basketball gods, or the devil, whichever would work. I promise I won’t curse at Tony Parker again if you just let the Spurs take this one. I promise I won’t make fun of Manu’s bald spot again if you just gift him with another 3. I promise I’ll stop questioning Pop’s coaching decisions and clock management if you just make this last possession count. I promise, I promise …
In the end, it was no use, of course.
There’s no way to avoid destiny, no way to make Danny Green score, no way to help Tim Duncan make that hook shot that he must’ve made a billion times. There’s no way to stop a hot-handed Shane Battier, no way to combat a ready King James, no way to turn the tide just because you feel like the team you’re rooting for deserves to lift the trophy.
...
It’s a strange feeling when the player you love most from your alma mater is playing against the player you’ve watched and loved your whole life. When one makes a 3, the other gets a dagger to the heart. When one misses a hook shot, the other is one step closer to the ultimate goal. It’s not winning or losing, not happiness or sadness. It’s a mélange of all of these things. It makes for an easily combustible bubble of emotion, one that is difficult to comprehend, to marry, one difficult to come to terms with. But I should’ve known that going into the series.
Chill, bro, it’s just sports. You’ll live. They’re not even your team, right?
But do you know what this feels like? To see one of your idols succeed at the expense of another? To see a team that deserved it so much lose to another that deserved it just as much? To see both teams go from miles ahead to inches ahead to, ultimately, just enough to cross the finish line? Somebody has to lose. And, somehow, that is why we all win.

May 13, 2013

The "Must" List: Only God Forgives


*Dear Ryan Gosling: Why are you so adorable?

*I've been addicted to @Longform for quite some time now. Let's just say that it's the main reason why I am not getting a lot of sleep these days. If you're on Twitter and you absolutely love reading longform non-fiction stuff, Longform is a must follow. Some of my favorites: Love and Madness in the Jungle, The Mind of a Con Man, Al Gore's Golden Years and A Murder Foretold (this should at least be made into a movie), among others.

*Chechnya =/= Czech Republic. What is happening, people?! *shakes head*

*Thanks for this, Paulo Coelho.

*Who needs the Avengers when you have Uncle Ruslan and Charles Ramsey?

*The next great Hollywood sports movie should come this list. Most compelling story in the list would've be that of Baron Gottfried von Cramm's. Nazis. Homosexuality. Tennis. Rebellion. What more can you ask?

*Buzzfeed + Foreign Policy = MFEO.

*CNN calls itself "The World Leader in News". After this and this, I am not so sure anymore.

*And we end this post with another golden quote from tennis star and self-help guru, Ana Ivanovic:

Apr 10, 2013

Quotes: Respect.

I don't think I need to be in the NBI/FBI/CIA/Mossad or get a law degree to sniff out fake social media accounts. Come on.

Mar 10, 2013

Did I just see a smile there?

Remember Haymitch's line in the Hunger Games about Katniss having as much charm as a dead slug? Well, some people make the same comment about Andy Murray. While Andy may not be as lively or vivacious as Jennifer Lawrence,  he's equally as adorable. I just love his Scottish sense of humor. To prove my point, I humbly present to you the following videos. They're marked as Exhibits A and B.


Exhibit A: Andy reveals that Roger Federer is not picky. He also says that he doesn't know if both Roger and Rafa (Nadal) read books. LOL. Priceless.


Exhibit B: It's nice to know that tennis players are talented enough to also have a career outside tennis when they finally get tired of it. Doubles players Jean-Julien Rojer and Colin Fleming could definitely give the hosts of E!'s Fashion Police a run for their money. It's pretty hilarious when they rib on Andy for the effort that he exerted in dressing up for the Indian Wells Players' Party. I also love it when they ask him about his tan (or lack thereof) and when they start giving him fashion advice. Oh and Andy, please. No more excuses on that pasty skin. Also, tie your shoes.

Mar 8, 2013

TGIF.


Nothing more awesome than welcoming the weekend with a video of Ryan Gosling giggling. As much as I would love to create a fake Mrs. Gosling account on Twitter, my inner self that is so totally against trolling prevents me from doing so. Anyway, giggle away, Goz. You'll always and forever will be the mascot of my blog site. 

Mar 3, 2013

The "Must" List: Words of wisdom



*Kinda bummed that there's no mention of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation in this video.

*It's becoming really hilarious now how often I see pictures of Roger Federer crying. Come on, guys.

*Jennifer Lawrence, hands down, is the biggest winner of the recently concluded Academy Awards.  After this, this, this, this and this, really, how can people not fall in love with her? (Even the IR guy that I follow on Twitter wants her to run for Congress.) Funny, down-to-earth and extremely charming, JLaw definitely won herself a lot of fans during Oscar night. Her ability to poke fun at herself is indeed very disarming. I do wish that some media outlets would stop calling her a "starlet" nowadays. Duh. She has several awards under her belt now, is the lead star of the Hunger Games franchise (which contributed to archery's massive popularity during the Olympics on US cable tv) and is the face of Miss Dior. JLaw has earned every right to be called a "star". Anyway, it's really great when someone who you started following because you found her hilarious in one interview almost two years ago hits the big time.

*From the video vault of awesomeness: Michelle Obama and Jimmy Fallon doing the "mom dance".

*Who knew that the way to Kim Jong Un's heart was Dennis Rodman? I'm still not giving up on my peace plan.

*Words of wisdom from Ben Affleck: "...you have to work harder than you think you possibly can. You can't hold grudges. It's hard but you can't hold grudges. It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life, cause that's gonna happen. All that matters is that you gotta get up."

*Words of wisdom from Ted:



Feb 24, 2013

Of trolls and cyberbullying

Required reading:

1) The Princess and the Trolls: The Heartrending Legend of Adalia Rose, the Most Reviled Six-Year-Old Girl on the Internet (Gawker)


I was particularly struck by the profile of one of Adalia Rose's trolls:

Sherburne used to believe in God, back when he lived with his grandmother, who raised him in the 700-person town of Grantsville, Maryland. "I talk to my dad on occasion, I don't care to talk to my mom," he told me late one Friday afternoon when I reached him over Skype, where an avatar of his round face showed up above the username "Some Faggot Named Carl." He went to high school in a place called Accident. "I hated it there," he said of North Garrett High School, where he was expelled at the beginning of his junior year. "Someone started a rumor that I had a hit list and a gun. They took me to a mental institution, took me to get evaluated, found out that nothing was wrong with me." Did he have a hit list? This is how he answers: "I was a little wannabe goth kid, I sat in the corner and cried a lot. There was nothing intimidating about me and they still kicked me out."
This newfound freedom allowed him time to care for his grandmother—his grandfather passed away in 2005 and confusingly left all the money to his previous wife; Sherburne's suicide attempt came in the aftermath—and to get a full-time job at a local McDonald's, where he worked until this past January, when he quit after almost six years. It also left him time for the Internet.
On June 2 last year, he uploaded to his YouTube channel a Beavis-and-Butthead-style reaction video of him and a friend drinking beer and watching "1 Lunatic, 1 Icepick," gory footage of the now-indicted murder suspect Luka Magnotta allegedly decapitating a man, then feeding the body to a dog, while a New Order song played. The New York Observer's tech blog Betabeat ran a screenshot of them watching the snuff film. Sherburne was thrilled, later writing online, "That was an exciting experience knowing that I hit the news and I was proud of it, I won't lie."
2) It happens. And it shouldn't. (Forty Deuce)

An excerpt:

The thing is, it's all well and good to tell the victims of online abuse to suck it up, grow thicker skin, and ignore the vitriol from complete and utter strangers. But the bottom line is that we're all fragile people and I'm thankful for the fact that at the time of this incident I was in a pretty good headspace. It was easy then to dismiss what was being said. But had I been in a different headspace, had I been in a depressive state or if it was a time of my life when I was genuinely questioning myself, my self worth, and my self-esteem, things could have turned out differently. 
Because that's the thing. You never know where the target of your anger, meanness, or viscious comments is at the moment they read your shit. What can be, at least to you, a critical but mild comment, could be the thing that sets someone off. It could be, in that moment, the absolute worst thing that person could hear. We can say "oh, you're being oversensitive" and "toughen up", but isn't that basically victim-blaming? I can't think that's the solution here. 
 ...
All in all, the topic of cyberbullying and its effects have been discussed quite a bit in my circle of friends.  We've come to the conclusion that it's just so easy to do and the only thing that stops people from engaging in it are (1) you don't have a "bully" personality, (2) you have better things to do with your life, and (3) you simply refuse to engage in internet meanness.
It's really surprising how much of a kick some people can get by creating a fake account online and using it to spread false and malicious information about other people. It's simply wrong and, sadly, even politicians and companies knowingly engage in trolling just to get ahead and ruin the reputation of their rivals. I just hope that people would be more discerning when reading things that are posted online instead of just jumping into conclusions and engaging in a herd mentality to unjustly bring another person or company down. 

Feb 10, 2013

Quotes: Can't stop laughing.

Feb 7, 2013

I love Roger Federer.

Some of my favorite RF-related things:


*That's ok. You can't win all the time anyway.

*Top 10 Roger Federer Verbal Jabs At at Andy Murray. I don't know where the hate is coming from. (Probably because of this.) Good thing Andy knows how to poke fun at himself.

*There's also this very funny fake RF Twitter account.

*Who doesn't love Sponge Bob?

*Genius at work. Shut up.

*Are they deporting him?

Feb 3, 2013

Quick hits

(Because I don't want to flood my followers' timelines on Twitter.)

*Just finished reading Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife and it's probably one of the best novels that I've read in a while. The story deals with themes such as war, death, family, myth, storytelling, superstitions, among others. I think the subplot that resonated the most with me was that of Luka's, the wife beater. While many of the characters in the novel deals with the death of a person, Luka had to deal with the death of his dream of becoming a famous musician. Here was a guy who knew from the very beginning what he wanted and suffered at the hands of his father because of it, only to return to their backward village later on as a failure and be consumed and ruined by his utter disappointment and heartbreak. This is a must read for those who are interested in Balkan history (and maybe even those who like Serbian tennis players ... sorry, the big tennis fan in me had to put that one out there). I also recommend it as well to fans of the magical realism genre.

*U.S. Anti-Doping CEO Travis Tygart, who is widely regarded as a hero for having tirelessly pursued Lance Armstrong and exposing him as a fraud, also came out with an interview on 60 Minutes to once again denounce Armstrong's lies during his confession to Oprah. Tsk, tsk. Some people just never change, do they?

*Also watched Gangster Squad. Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte and Emma Stone. Seriously, how can you go wrong with this cast? I wasn't really happy with it, though. The movie had a lot of potential, really, and could have been like Argo if the producers asked Ben Afflect to direct it and write the screenplay. Anyway, I would still recommend this movie to fellow Ryan Gosling lovers.

*Must watch Youtube videos: A Pep Talk from Kid President to You and Disney's Paperman.



Have a great week ahead, guys.

Jan 20, 2013

Quotes: Oh, the what-could-have-beens...

Uhm, like, 5 Grand Slam titles lost? (This is my blog so I have the right to be delusional.) So Ana just lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round of the Australian Open, 2-6 4-6. Radwanska was just serving like a GOAT (fantastic placing) and was not giving away a lot of errors. Ana, despite having a lot of chances, just couldn't serve well and hit winners consistently. Sigh. Call me (maybe) crazy but I really do believe that Ana Ivanovic is still capable of winning Grand Slams (yes, with an "s"). I don't know when but there's reason to hope after seeing her play this past couple of weeks. (For a short history of how really, really good she was and her struggles from 2008 onwards, click here.)

Jan 12, 2013

The "Must" List: Baby Bump Gap

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.


*Giggling Ryan Gosling = Official Mascot of my blog site.

*So what does make the US a world superpower? Definitely not it's military power or its economic might (duh!) but the likes of People, Us Weekly, Star Magazine, Perez Hilton and the National Enquirer. Take that, North Korea.

*I really pride myself for my choice of absolute tennis faves (even if they don't win a lot). I love you, Andy Murray.

*Looks like everyone's excited for the Australian Open.

*Dear China: please please please be nice to us Filipinos. Want to know why? Because it pays to be nice in international politics, according to Steve Walt.

*Seriously, Ryan Lochte. Can't you just be on The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars?

Jan 4, 2013

That's so last year.

I already wanted to forget about Gangnam Style but then this happened:



Ugh. Why are you guys so cute? 

P. S.
For more Ana - Novak Hopman Cup goodness, click here and here. (Warning: Cuteness overload.)