It could have been so much more...but alas, it was not to be. Those who expected a true-blue slugfest in the much-touted Pacquiao-Barrera rematch were left disappointed. Many say that Barrera outsmarted Pacquiao through most of the fight. Clearly, Pacman was just not his usual self. Could it be the result of too many distractions as I had written about in my previous entry?
In fact, the fight was such a sleeper that the De La Salle-UE finals basketball game for the UAAP crown the afternoon of the same day turned out to be more exciting. Losing the championship to the De La Salle Green Archers had to be a real heartbreaker for the UE Red Warriors, after their record 14-0 sweep in the pre-finals. Many of them, not the least Coach Dindo Pumaren could be replaying those fateful last two games in their minds over and over again. This time around...what could have been...just wasn't meant to be.
Alas, for players like Borboran who (as far as I know) is graduating this year, there will be no tomorrow as far as the UAAP is concerned, which makes it a mega-heartbreaker. But for Pacquiao, there will be other fights to come... and hopefully, he will wise up. He can't be lucky all of the time, you know.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Pacquiao vs. Barrera II: Behind the Tale of the Tape
The Pacquiao-Barrera return bout is just five days away, and I find myself wondering whether all the distractions of the past several months could possibly have put the Pacman's readiness to face the world-class Mexican fighter under serious question.
It was in November 2003 when the Pacman TKOd his way into world boxing fame at the expense of the much-idolized Barrera aka The Baby Faced Assassin. After a controversial draw with Juan Manuel Marquez and a stunning loss to another Mexican prized fighter, Erik Morales, Pacquiao has come back with a vengeance, pummeling Morales twice in a row, and two other lesser known boxers in between. The convincing manner in which he piled up this last string of victories certainly makes the Pacman look rather invincible. But he's had so many other big things occupying his time and attention in the months leading up to this fight (like a failed congressional bid in the last May 2007 elections, a movie and a rumored romance with his leading lady to boot, and a new television contract with GMA Network, among others) that it's become rather worrisome as to whether or not he will show up at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 6 (Sunday, Oct. 7, Manila time) in 100% shape as he had in all those previous fights.
Anyway, let's take a quick look at how the tale of the tape unfolds.
It was in November 2003 when the Pacman TKOd his way into world boxing fame at the expense of the much-idolized Barrera aka The Baby Faced Assassin. After a controversial draw with Juan Manuel Marquez and a stunning loss to another Mexican prized fighter, Erik Morales, Pacquiao has come back with a vengeance, pummeling Morales twice in a row, and two other lesser known boxers in between. The convincing manner in which he piled up this last string of victories certainly makes the Pacman look rather invincible. But he's had so many other big things occupying his time and attention in the months leading up to this fight (like a failed congressional bid in the last May 2007 elections, a movie and a rumored romance with his leading lady to boot, and a new television contract with GMA Network, among others) that it's become rather worrisome as to whether or not he will show up at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 6 (Sunday, Oct. 7, Manila time) in 100% shape as he had in all those previous fights.
Anyway, let's take a quick look at how the tale of the tape unfolds.
Pacquiao vs. Barrera
28 - Age - 33
44 - Wins - 63
28 - Age - 33
44 - Wins - 63
35 - KOs - 42
3 - Losses - 5
2 - Draws - 0
67" - Reach - 70"
Southpaw - Stance - Orthodox
5'6"1/2 - Height - 5'6"
From the looks of it, the Pacman is up against a battle-weary warrior who, at age 33, might just be nearing the end of the line as far as his legendary boxing career is concerned. But he is a highly-skilled pro who has mastered more tricks in the game than one can imagine so he might just pull a fast one over the mega-talented and highly-favored yet distracted Filipino sensation.
Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
3 - Losses - 5
2 - Draws - 0
67" - Reach - 70"
Southpaw - Stance - Orthodox
5'6"1/2 - Height - 5'6"
From the looks of it, the Pacman is up against a battle-weary warrior who, at age 33, might just be nearing the end of the line as far as his legendary boxing career is concerned. But he is a highly-skilled pro who has mastered more tricks in the game than one can imagine so he might just pull a fast one over the mega-talented and highly-favored yet distracted Filipino sensation.
Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
More About Filipiniana.net and WikiPilipinas
This took a long time coming...but as promised here is Part 2 of my entry about two of the hottest new Pinoy websites - Filipiniana.net and WikiPilipinas.org.
I've had more time to check out both sites since I discovered them at the Manila International Book Fair where they were formally launched to the public, and I must say, that the more I looked, the more impressed I became.
As I said in my previous entry, I am particularly impressed not only by the range of books and materials offered by Filipiniana.net, but even more so by the researcher-friendly features of the site. I already mentioned about SKOOL TOOLS, which is the only one of its kind I've seen in a local digital library.
If you are a historian, researcher, or a student searching for rare Filipiniana materials, then you will most definitely find Filipiniana.net a treasure trove of hard-to-find books and documents. But more than that, you'll appreciate the fact that the website has all these features that make both researching and writing a paper so hassle-free. Aside from Skool Tools, Filipiniana.net also offers fully-indexed books and documents so if you know what you are looking for, all you have to do is type in the keyword and the pages in which the word appears are displayed right on your screen. Now, if that's not researcher-friendly, I don't know what is.
Now, about WikiPilipinas...
Unlike Filipiniana.net, its sister site, WikiPilipinas.org, looks like it is still a work in progress. But it holds so much promise, that it's got the 'elitist' /'purist' local chapter of global giant wikipedia.org, virtually up in arms over what they perceive is a duplication of efforts. In my search for more information about WikiPilipinas, I stumbled upon the so-called "turf war" that began just after the launching of the website. It seems that some Pinoy wikipedians (Seav and Shrumster are among those whose negative comments I've read) are playing Goliath and are out to trample upon the Davids of this startup website. Well, we all know how that Biblical tale ended and by the looks of it, the wikipinoys are not about to let the big bullies stop them from attaining their goal of hitting 100,000 entries to catapult the site to the top ten wiki sites of the world. As of last count, it has breached the 40,000 mark in just a couple of months.
I will admit to having a thing for underdogs and big dreamers, which is why I fully support WikiPilipinas. Its tagline reads: Wikipilipinas.org, the Free and Hip Philippine Encyclopedia, yet it is also working towards becoming an almanac, a Philippine directory, and a communities portal all rolled into one. It's ultimate goal is to become the world's largest Philippine knowledge database. Like I said...big dreams and I love it!
I truly hope that it gets all the support it badly needs particularly in building up its encyclopedic content if only to gain more credibility. It looks like its successful launching at the MIBF has upped its popularity as evidenced by the soaring number of registered users. Well, I hope this translates to more entries for them. I look forward to the time it can truly claim, "There is something for every Pinoy in WikiPilipinas.org."
I've had more time to check out both sites since I discovered them at the Manila International Book Fair where they were formally launched to the public, and I must say, that the more I looked, the more impressed I became.
As I said in my previous entry, I am particularly impressed not only by the range of books and materials offered by Filipiniana.net, but even more so by the researcher-friendly features of the site. I already mentioned about SKOOL TOOLS, which is the only one of its kind I've seen in a local digital library.
If you are a historian, researcher, or a student searching for rare Filipiniana materials, then you will most definitely find Filipiniana.net a treasure trove of hard-to-find books and documents. But more than that, you'll appreciate the fact that the website has all these features that make both researching and writing a paper so hassle-free. Aside from Skool Tools, Filipiniana.net also offers fully-indexed books and documents so if you know what you are looking for, all you have to do is type in the keyword and the pages in which the word appears are displayed right on your screen. Now, if that's not researcher-friendly, I don't know what is.
Now, about WikiPilipinas...
Unlike Filipiniana.net, its sister site, WikiPilipinas.org, looks like it is still a work in progress. But it holds so much promise, that it's got the 'elitist' /'purist' local chapter of global giant wikipedia.org, virtually up in arms over what they perceive is a duplication of efforts. In my search for more information about WikiPilipinas, I stumbled upon the so-called "turf war" that began just after the launching of the website. It seems that some Pinoy wikipedians (Seav and Shrumster are among those whose negative comments I've read) are playing Goliath and are out to trample upon the Davids of this startup website. Well, we all know how that Biblical tale ended and by the looks of it, the wikipinoys are not about to let the big bullies stop them from attaining their goal of hitting 100,000 entries to catapult the site to the top ten wiki sites of the world. As of last count, it has breached the 40,000 mark in just a couple of months.
I will admit to having a thing for underdogs and big dreamers, which is why I fully support WikiPilipinas. Its tagline reads: Wikipilipinas.org, the Free and Hip Philippine Encyclopedia, yet it is also working towards becoming an almanac, a Philippine directory, and a communities portal all rolled into one. It's ultimate goal is to become the world's largest Philippine knowledge database. Like I said...big dreams and I love it!
I truly hope that it gets all the support it badly needs particularly in building up its encyclopedic content if only to gain more credibility. It looks like its successful launching at the MIBF has upped its popularity as evidenced by the soaring number of registered users. Well, I hope this translates to more entries for them. I look forward to the time it can truly claim, "There is something for every Pinoy in WikiPilipinas.org."
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Filipiniana.net and WikiPilipinas Make You Proud to be Pinoy
At the Manila International Book Fair which ran from August 29 to September 2, I discovered two fascinating web portals – Filipiniana.net and Wikipilipinas.org.
I went to the
But the fact that there weren’t any books visible anywhere was what got me really curious. After all, it was a book fair, right? So I decided to watch from the sidelines and from what I gathered from the videos and presentations, both were newly-launched websites purportedly offering comprehensive information about the
When I got home that night, I checked out the two websites. I will confine this entry on my take on Filipiniana.net.
True to its claim, Filipiniana.net is the premiere digital library and research portal on Philippine studies. I’ve never seen such a diverse collection of books and materials on the
But I, for one, believe that Filipiniana.net is set apart from other digital libraries because of the added features. I am completely fascinated with Skool Tools, a unique web application embedded on the site which allows researchers to actually write their report or paper without ever having to leave the site. The best part of it is that it allows instant citation in the format prescribed by the Chicago Manual of Style. GREAT! Filipiniana.net actually revolutionizes the way people do research and write reports.
Kudos to the publisher, Gaspar Vibal, for this monumental project. Kakaiba talaga!
About WikiPilipinas.org on my next entry.
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