The "Must" List: Grand Deception?

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the 5 people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I humbly submit the above video as evidence as to why women tennis players deserve equal prize money. Oh. Hi there, Gilles Simon. Who's the most popular out of the four of you there? (Video courtesy of @OnTheGoTennis)

*Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and probably the best cyclist that ever lived, is going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport that he dominated after refusing to defend himself from allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. This early 2011 investigative piece from Sports Illustrated sheds some light into the issue and even hints at a grand deception on the part of Armstrong and his entourage to cover-up his long-term doping. After reading this article, I can't help but compare Armstrong to Tiger Woods, another superstar who spectacularly fell from grace after being involved in a sex addiction controversy, and how far celebrities and their handlers would go to appear "clean", deceive people and cover up any negative publicity. I know that Armstrong is revered more than Woods mainly because of his work with Livestrong but, after reading SI's article, I can't help but still feel betrayed. I love sports and admire athletes who work really hard and sacrifice a lot of things just to be able to compete and be the best that they can be. It's a shame when they cheat by relying on performance-enhancing drugs and don't do the hard work that other athletes do. It's also unforgivable when they act out like Mafia bosses and ruin the lives and career of people who dare expose them as frauds.

*Here's a nice Strong is Beautiful campaign photo featuring Ana Ivanovic from the WTA. I can't help but feel emotional (you know how we tennis fans can be) after reading the following tagline: "Strong is…never giving up the struggle to be as great as you know you can be. Strong is Women’s Tennis." It's no secret that I'm a big Ana Ivanovic fan (just run through my previous posts) and, of course, I know very well how enormously talented she is and how hard she works to get back to where she once was before the slump happened (Grand Slam champion, former world no. 1). It just sucks big time that her results since late 2008 have not been commensurate to her abilities. I still hope against hope that someday she will somehow recover what she lost during her long slump (e.g. ranking points, a couple of titles, Queen Bee locker room status, endorsement deals). Thanks for keeping the faith, Hitler.

*How hard is it to be a wannabe Secretary of State or Foreign Affairs Secretary? Just ask Steve Walt.

*Vladimir Putin doesn't have a sense of humor. Another post from Steve Walt: 

Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the punk band Pussy Riot got sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism," all because they had the temerity to poke some harmless fun at Vladimir Putin and made the mistake of doing it inside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now there's a real threat to public order!  And the government's lame response is revealing: throwing young female musicians in jail is like taking out a full page ad in the world's leading newspapers announcing "We are afraid of independent thinking and have absolutely no sense of humor." In a world where success increasingly depends on tapping into the energy, imagination, and initiative of the citizenry, Putin is telling young Russians to be dull and conformist. I think he's also betraying a profound sense of insecurity: when a three-person punk band is a threat to society, you know that the government has lost all perspective. He's got Madonna ticked off too, although I'm not sure that matters all that much. 

*Cute guys edition: Ryan Gosling does ballet? I need a video ASAP. Brody Jenner's single, y'all. (Oh wait, I shouldn't have announced that. Darn.)  Unintentional hilarity still follows Andy Murray.

*The Philippines lost a good public servant last week. While a lot of tributes have been written about DILG Secretary and multi-awarded former Naga City major Jesse Robredo, this piece written by Patricia Evangelista is probably my favorite. RIP, Sec. Robredo. Your brand of leadership will surely be missed. 

Plagiarism. Bow.

First and foremost, what is plagiarism?

Did Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto and his staff commit plagiarism? This looks like plagiarism to me.

But Senator Sotto apparently doesn't think so:

“Bakit ko naman iko-quote ang blogger? Blogger lang iyon. Ang kino-quote ko si Natasha Campbell-McBride.” 

Are you kidding me, Mr. Senator?!

Sarah Pope, the owner of the blog where Sen. Sotto and his staff copy-pasted significant portions of his anti-RH bill speech, was obviously not pleased. In an ANC interview:

Sarah Pope, in a telephone interview from Florida with Tina Monzon-Palma on ANC's "The World Tonight," reminded Sotto about copyright law amid allegations that the senator's staff copied one of her blog posts verbatim and without permission for Sotto's speech against the reproductive health bill.

"He is acting as though he's above the law, that he is above copyright law, that he can do whatever he wants, he can step on whoever he wants,  to get his agenda through the Philippine legislature," Pope said.

"That's just wrong,  that's poor very behavior. I hope the Filipino people great note of this behavior  and subsequent denial on his bad behavior on the part of Senator Sotto. Think about this when they go to the election booths when he's up for reelection," she added.

Sen. Sotto's Chief of Staff, Atty. Hector A. Villacorta, agreed with his boss (duh) and took the blame for him. From Rappler:

Villacorta said that while the staff may have failed to attribute at times, it did not make it a habit to source information from blogs. The staff is composed of a team of 7 lawyers and researchers.

“In hindsight, perhaps we should have mentioned that we also got it from Sarah’s blog but it may be inelegant to say that.”

Sotto’s chief of staff added, “There is no jurisprudence on that (quoting blogs) because blogs are part of public domain. They can test the liability of the senator but that is virgin territory, even in the US.”

“Are you also going to accuse the Constitutional Commission of plagiarism for copying the Bill of Rights of other countries like the US?”
Villacorta said that both Sotto and Pope quoted McBride because the two used the phrase “according to.”

The chief of staff added that Sotto and his staff took the pains to cite and recite the speech’s book and newspaper sources even if this took up so much time on the Senate floor.

I cannot believe the nerve of this person. Anty-Copy/Paste Act of 2012? Where do I sign up?

I graduated from De La Salle University-Manila where plagiarism is considered a major offense. The offender can be put under probation, suspended, dismissed and/or even expelled for it. Just saying.

I'm mad that we have a Senator who cheats, doesn't do his homework and plagiarizes the work of other people. I'm mad that he refuses to apologize and own up to his mistake. I'm also mad that he hires people who are equally as incompetent as he is. God save the Philippines.

Golden Boy

Roger Federer has a Rafa Nadal problem. Rafa has a Novak Djokovic problem. Novak has a Roger problem. Poor Andy Murray has a lot of problems. Andy lost to Novak in the semis of the Australian Open. He was no match for Rafa at the semis of Roland Garros. He was reduced to tears after losing to Roger in the finals of Wimbledon just a couple of weeks ago.

This has been the story of Andy Murray's career. He has been to four Grand Slam finals already but has never managed to win one. The Scot was simply unlucky to be Britain's only tennis hope during the time that Roger, Rafa and Novak were extremely dominant. It has been said several times that Murray's tactical, but defensive, game would not be enough to topple the big 3 and win him a Grand Slam. His strategy of just waiting for his opponents to make mistakes was just not going to cut it.

I can't remember the specific match that I saw that made me a big Andy Murray fan. I remember becoming a big Ana Ivanovic fan when I saw a replay of her semifinal match on tv against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic during Roland Garros '08. I just remember being impressed by how cleanly she hit her forehand. Up to this day, I still think it's the most beautiful shot in the game. I took tennis lessons before just to be able to copy the Ivanovic forehand (to no success). I know Ana's game like the back of my hand and heck even her body language when she enters the court. My friend Erny and I would text each other every time we are able to catch a match of hers live on tv. We would make predictions as to how she would play judging by how she looked and acted as she entered the court. It may be a talent but we are rarely wrong when making Ana-related predictions.

I have seen a lot of Andy's matches even before I became a big fan of his. While I admired his very tactical game, I just wasn't that enamored with it in the beginning. On the men's side I tended to root for Roger or Novak a lot. In a match that doesn't feature any of them, I root for the, uhm, more good-looking player (e.g. Ernests Gulbis, Tomas Berdych, Juan Monaco, Simone Bolelli). But then came one eureka moment when I was watching Andy in a Wimbledon 2010 match. I can't remember who he was playing against but something just clicked inside my brain. I was suddenly able to distinguish how differently he adjusted his game, specifically how he hits his backhand, from one surface to another. It was like my mind became a television screen and Andy's game was shown on slo-mo and in several split screens playing on a slow hard court, a clay court, a grass court and a fast hard court. I think it was during that time that I realized, for better or worse, that I was a bona fide tennis nerd. From then on I realized that I was watching tennis from a very technical point of view.

After that match, I just couldn't switch the channel every time an Andy Murray match is on tv. I started reading articles about him and I just totally fell in love with the guy's dry British (or Scottish?) humor and with the unintentional hilarity that seemed to follow him.  It also helped that he is very complimentary of women's tennis (I'm looking at you, Gilles Simon) and that his girlfriend's dad (Nigel Sears, dad of Kim Sears) is currently coaching Ana. Probably what I found most endearing about him was how honest and aware he was of the pressure of being Britain's great tennis hope in probably the greatest men's tennis era of all time. Andy knows how talented he is but is just unable to get to the next level. He's a classic Feza fave: an extremely talented person who chokes when they are about to reach their moment. I guess I'm lucky that I attended a school for fans that taught students how to poke fun at their favorites that's why I am still able to  root for the likes of Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray a.k.a. headcases. I still believe, no matter what, that (a) Ana can win another Slam, (b) that Andy will defeat one of the top 3 in a Slam final and win at least Wimbledon and that (c) they can still be multiple Slam champions. I always add, though, in the end that (d) "I'm  delusional" and that (e) "the tennis gods have put a curse on me". I know. It's like believing in unicorns and in flying pigs.

But, at least for the past week or so, Andy was able to prove that (d) and (e) are not always true. He was able to prove that rooting for headcases is not always a lost cause. I know that winning a gold medal at the Olympics may not mean the same as winning a Grand Slam for many people but, hello, how many tennis players can claim that they've won a singles gold medal? Not even Roger, who has won a career Slam and has 17 Grand Slam titles, can claim that he has won a gold medal on his own (I refuse to include his doubles gold medal with Stan Wawrinka in the statistic). Not even Novak with his invincible 43-0 win-loss record at the start of 2011 has a gold medal. With the right mix of defense and aggression (and an improved forehand, thanks to his coach and tennis great Ivan Lendl), Andy defeated both Roger and Novak on his way to winning the gold medal at the Olympics, in front of a hard to please home crowd. (Rafa, I hope he gets a chance against you next.) Obviously I'm praying that it could lead to a US Open title but I'll try not to think too far ahead. This is still Britain's first gold medal in tennis since 1908 (!). So, as a fan, I'm savoring this moment. This is as good as a Grand Slam and he officially won the gold medal as a representative of his country. The British tabloids can mock him some other time.

#facepalm

From BuzzFeed:

#pressmutebutton

I love Ryans

And dorks.

Olympic swimmer and wannabe boyband member Ryan Lochte (photo from BuzzFeed Sports)

I'm sick of this song but I'll make an exception, Ryan.

What the hell?!

I leave for London in 6 days. Undergoing therapy for pre-traumatic-stress syndrome related to mascot phobia. twitter.com/Bonnie_D_Ford/…
— Bonnie D. Ford (@Bonnie_D_Ford) July 16, 2012

This mascot should be blacklisted and then declared persona non grata. Dear London: You could do so much better.

P.S.
I'm a big fan of the Olympics. I actually think that the Opening Ceremony was fantastic. (Danny Boyle, you're the best.) I just hate the mascot.

Quotes: He's getting closer.

From Reuters:

"I'm going to try this - it isn't going to be easy," Murray told the crowd as he tried to hold back tears to get through his runners-up speech.

"I was told the other day that 'this is your best chance because Roger is 30 now.' He's not bad for a 30-year-old. He had some struggles early on (this tournament) with his back and today he showed us what fight he has got left in him.

"I'm going to start crying again... Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at Wimbledon, how tough it is, ... the people watching make it so much easier to play - they make it incredible," Murray added as he was given a rapturous round of applause.

Sigh. I never choose my favorites. They pick me.

Wimbledon round-up

Taken from @breakingserve's Twitter timeline

 *Maria Ivanovic and Sabine Goerges? Are you kidding me, WTA?!

*Ana Ivanovic (she's a legit tennis player, trust me) is now in the 4th round of Wimbledon after defeating Julia Goerges in a tight three-setter in yesterday's match. (Dear Star Sports, you still owe me for cutting the match at 4 - 3 in the third set with Ana leading and then switching to Serena Williams-Zheng Jie. Not cool, guys. Not cool at all.) Ana's last three wins have not been as pretty as she is but, as a fan, I'll take them. She hasn't been winning a lot of three-set matches and tie-breaks these past couple of months so her last wins at Wimby should really give her a mental boost when she faces current Australian Open champion and world number 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the 4th round. Should she beat Azarenka, Ana would be in her first Slam quarterfinal since her French Open win last 2008. She could also be back in the top 10 again.

*Golden opportunity for Andy Murray: Rafa Nadal, who almost always is in Andy's half of the draw, was uncharacteristically booted out in the 2nd round of Wimby by Czech Lukas Rosol, who is ranked 100th in the world. (Rosol was, however, unable to sustain his run as he bowed out to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the 3rd round.) I know that Andy's path to the finals is still littered with landmines (he's up against Marin Cilic next and could still face the likes of David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro, Mardy Fish and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), but Nadal being eliminated early gives him a fantastic opportunity to get into the finals of his Home Slam. Here's hoping he finally replicates Fred Perry's achievement.

*Equal prize money: Gilles Simon, who is maybe a Saudi national at heart, has re-ignited a controversy by saying that women tennis players don't deserve to be paid the same as their male counterpart since more people find men's tennis more interesting than that of the women's. Thus, business-wise, they should get more money. What a chauvinist pig. Obviously, the female players were not very happy with him. I'm personally offended as a woman. Shouldn't he be happy that tennis, as compared to other sports, is giving equal opportunity for both sexes? Also, like what Maria Sharapova said before to those arguing that men should be compensated more for playing best of five matches during Slams, it's like watching a movie. Do you pay more for a 3 hour long movie than one that is only 1 1/2 hours long? Does it also mean that a 3 hour movie is automatically of higher quality than a 1 1/2 hour one? Besides, not all men's best of five matches go the distance anyway and not all women's best of three matches finish early. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut made history by playing the longest match ever but it wasn't high quality (while the feat is admirable, I bet many wouldn't want another Isner-Mahut saga). It's hilarious when someone pointed out on Twitter that if only prize money was based on the number of winners that are hit in every match, Simon (who plays an extremely defensive game) would have a lot more complaining to do.

*A little drama on the ATP side: Men's tennis has always been the Big 4 show. Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are almost always demolishing early round opponents and then continue on to face each other in the semifinals of each Slam. It was different at Wimby this year. Rafa was eliminated early, Roger Federer had to dig deep to come back from two sets down to beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau and Novak Djokovic had to struggle to overcome pesky Radek Stepanek. It's funny because, out of the four, it's actually Andy Murray who hasn't been the source of major drama this early in a Slam. It's also refreshing to see drama this early come from the ATP side, not from the WTA. The women's draw is still pretty balanced and has plenty of Slam winners and former number 1s left.

Quotes: Gloria's got nothin' on you.

Aung San Suu Kyi (photo taken from The Financial Times)

From Conrado de Quiros' Philippine Daily Inquirer column:

Keeping Arroyo in a police facility, said Santiago, “damages democracy and our institutions. Humiliating the former president damages the presidency. Power is not perpetual. It expires after six years, so better think well about what you are doing now. Is that how you want to be treated eventually?”

“The world is watching,” said Honasan, “and the way we treat the ex-president would send a strong message of what we are to the rest of the world. (With Arroyo in detention), foreign investors would think, ‘If this is how they behave, why would we invest?’”

Of course, Honasan added, “with the President enjoying a high trust rating, an attempt against his administration would be farfetched. But let’s not tempt fate. Let’s not do anything that would worsen how things are right now.”

You wonder what planet these two have been inhabiting all this time. But of course the effects of Arroyo’s incarceration are sending ripples around the world. And of course Arroyo’s prosecution, which should follow swiftly on the heels of Renato Corona’s impeachment and conviction, would send even bigger ripples, if not a veritable tsunami on the Filipino communities, around the world. But not in the way Miriam and Gringo imagine.

I hope our dear Senators Miriam and Gringo don't start comparing Gloria to Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi. Please, no. Gloria, to quote Susan Roces (widow of Fernando Poe Jr., who ran against Arroyo in 2004), "stole the presidency not once but twice". Suu Kyi was deprived of a chance to become Prime Minister by the military junta even if her party won majority of the parliament seats in the 1990 general elections. Gloria is currently under hospital arrest at the presidential suite of the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center (but was previously at the much more chic presidential suite of St. Luke's Medical Center). Suu Kyi, while under house arrest, didn't experience any of the comforts that Gloria continues to receive. Gloria is reviled by many Filipinos. Suu Kyi is not only revered by many people in Burma (except maybe the military officials who previously illegally detained her), but is also considered as a democracy icon by people all over the world.

My fave tennis tantrum. EVER.

The look on the umpire's face is just priceless. Don't ever change, Andy.

To find your own favorite tennis outburst, click here.

Unintentional hilarity: Sesame Street diplomacy

*I didn't know that there's such a thing as Sesame Street diplomacy. I wonder who among Ernie, Bert, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Oscar the grouch and Elmo would've made a fantastic Ambassador?

*A couple of observations from Maroon 5's Payphone video: (1) Adam Levine and his female companion in the video were running in front of the robbers and they couldn't get a clear shot of him?! (2) why are the cops running after Adam's character? Aren't the robbers STILL inside the bank? (3) Adam's sexy but he's still no Jason Statham.

*This book about marriage and game theory totally makes sense. Really, props to the author. I would've made a thesis out of it if only I was able to think about it first.

*Who knew that googling Scottish tennis player, Andy Murray, could yield these hilarious photos of other players?

*For the record, I wouldn't mind seeing a Bollywood number during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I'll take that over Beijing's fake fireworks and lip-synching.

Quotes: Bow down to the Queen.

Those who belong at the top never forget their way back. #MariaSharapova twitter.com/niketennis/sta…
— Nike Tennis (@niketennis) June 7, 2012

From Maria Sharapova's Roland Garros trophy acceptance speech:

"I proved that no matter how many punches I took in my career, I've always gotten back up," she said. 

"I never made excuses for me, not to myself, not to people.  I always relied on my own talent, on the help of my team. At the end of the day, that's really what gets me through and gets me up. I have a tremendous amount of belief and pride in what I do.  I love my work.  I've always said this:  I love playing tennis. I had so many outs in my career.  I could have said, I don't need this.  I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have Grand Slams.  But when your love for something is bigger than all those things, you continue to keep getting up in the morning when it's freezing outside, when you know that it can be the most difficult day, when nothing is working, when you feel like the belief sometimes isn't there from the outside world, and you seem so small. But you can achieve great things when you don't listen to all those things."

Won Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17. WTA Tour Championships winner in 2004. Brief stint as world number 1 in 2005. US Open champ in 2006. Australian Open winner in 2008. "Inherited" the #1 ranking when Justine Henin retired unexpectedly for the first time during the spring of 2008. Suffered a debilitating right shoulder injury that almost ended her career and was out of the women's tour from mid-2008 until early 2009. Won Roland Garros in 2012 even if she thinks that she plays like this on clay. Tenth woman in history to win a career Grand Slam. World no. 1 yet again and rightful Queen of the Tennis World. (Yeah, she's still the highest paid female athlete in the world.) Not too shabby, Maria Sharapova. Not too shabby at all.