Musings of a Rabid Sports Fan

Eversince I started playing whatever sports to cure myself of my stupid respiratory problems way back in high school, I've also went on to focus on a team and invest my loyalty in them.

During high school, it was the Bulls, mainly because everybody was into them. Everybody was in this crazy Michael Jordan trance and kept buying his sneakers. Time went on and I became a fan of Kobe Bryant (that was then! not anymore) and the-then-Milwaukee-Buck Ray Allen (hehe, kasi may crush ako nung high school ka-initial niya).
And then when Kuya Anthony took us to ULTRA during my junior year to watch one Aus-Phil volleyball game, I started looking for a team to support.

Enter the Cuban team. Mireya Luis was the prime hitter then. She is only 175 cm tall but her Spike reach was 335cm and her Block is 316cm (past 10ft). She was one of those outside hitters that you would just love to watch. But of course the idea of being a rabid fan was still out of my mind then.

Come college, and the invasion of the World Women's Volleyball Grand Prix that showcased Brazil, Italy, Cuba, and Russia (I can't remember other teams). Leila Barros, Heila Souza, Francesca Piccinini and Maurizia Cacciatori won over the Pinoys. I started being a rabin fan. I collected every magazine and newspaper clippings and I surfed through the net reading articles and interviews and I made FIVB.org my home page. I need not talk or write anything about Leila Barros, she is an awesome leftie hitter and I will pick her over Erika Coimbra anytime of day (talagang galit kay Coimbra e).

And of course, when you're college, in UP, and the UAAP season kicks in, you can't help but be swept into the swirling storm (uh, premonition) of the very much festive games. Never mind that winning for the Maroons looked very far-off. Never mind that we only expected to win over NU on opening day.

I am also a supporter of the Lady Maroons, but I think I only started cheering them on from my sophomore year (eh kasi wala pa akong alam nung freshie pa ko). Too bad I missed Camille Dowling's ROY season. Sayang. But anyway, sophomore year was when I really started going to games, the first one was with Nikki in USTe (games were held in USTe then) where she almost got recognized by some e.Rondon player that "harassed" (haha the term) her in high school. My Junior Year saw the Lady Maroons push to the Finals against DLSU but sadly, the firepower of the Manalo twins, Ginny Velarde, Jeck Severino, et al, was too much for Dowling, Shaq Torres, Miggy Abadilla, Chon Mendoza and the rest of the Lady Maroons. DLSU won 2-1. The next season I couldn't remember anything that happened except for the fact that Jac Cruz proved to be a potent scorer. Ironic that I can't remember now when I think that was the season that got me waking up early every Sunday just so I could go to Adamson to watch the games. Last year, I don't know, I guess we were kinda lethargic and that the team is currently composed of MC peeps and I don't know, I'm not even sure if I want to sacrifice my Sunday morning sleep to watch them. Unless Chubi and the others troop to San Marcelino. In that case, sama ako!

Oh wait, senior year was Adamson's year (ugh!) and last year the once-perennial lethargic Ateneo girls came out really strong. The squad from Loyola almost won the championships but got foiled by Arayi, Gadian and ICan'tRememberHerName. Too bad for Caynap, Quimpo, Tioseco and others. Good for us. Hehe. Pag ba naman kasi naunahan pa tayo ng Ateneo makakuha ng Championship sa WBBall ewan ko na lang. Though malakas talaga sila.

Pro-Scene. I got tired of the NBA and the player's egos and all the crap that comes with those games. Enter the WNBA, enter Lauren Jackson, enter Sue Bird, enter the Seattle Storm into my RabidFan Arsenal.

I literally got hooked on the Storm, not just on Sue Bird, and followed them all season from the point that I saw them. All those early-mornings spent in gritted frustration because they bombed another game in CT (Gah, I hate those East Coast games, sobrang aga), all those delayed lunches, all those endless listening to David Locke in KJR, all of those paid off. The Storm won the Championships in 2004 on the backs of youngsters Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, both just 24. Ann Donovan became the first woman coach to win a WNBA Championship. LJ got her "consolation" in not winning Gold in the OG's. Sue joined 6 others with her trifecta of championships (2 ncaa's, 1 oly gold, 1 pro champ).

This season, it's not easy to be a StormFan. If I'm faint-hearted or if I'm a fair-weather fan, I'd have migrated my interests to the CT Sun, a team I so despised last year simply because they were the Storm's opponents in the finals. I hated Whalen. Now I even have a soft spot for her as she joins Swin Cash (Det), Becky Hammon (NY), and Taurasi (Phx - oo na, di na ko galit kay DT, ang kulit kasi niya nung ASG eh) as my favorite nonStorm players.

Okay, wait, Tina, stop the blabber already, conclude this seemingly pointless entry and figure out why the tests that you're currently coding aren't working.

Tama na pagkaRabidFan. Mamaya na ulit. After 30 minutes hehehe.... O wait, magbabasa muna ko ng news...sports news no. Ayaw ko na ng national news, nakakasakit lang ng ulo.

List of the Teams I Follow:
[+] SEATTLE STORM
[+] Seattle SuperSonics
[+] San Antonio Spurs
[+] UConn Huskies
[+] Brazilian Volleyball Team (though not anymore kasi wala na pala lahat nung players na gusto namin ni Carabelles dati, kahit si Coimbra wala na)
[+] USA Women's Soccer
[+] Russian Volleyball Team (Ekaterina Gamova, ChachKova etc)

List of the Players I Follow:
[+] SUE BIRD (pag di pa obvious sa layout)
- Seattle Storm Point Guard
- 2004 Olympic Point Guard
- 2004 WNBA championship
- 2002, 2003, 2004All-WNBA first team
- 2002, 2003 All-Star Games
- 2002 No. 1 draft pick
- 2002 Naismith Award winner and Wade Trophy recipient, AP National Player of the year and the list goes on and on and on...

[+] LAUREN JACKSON
- 1997 Australian National Women's team debut (youngest ever at 16). 2001 WNBA Draft 1st pick overall by Seattle Storm.
- 2003 WNBA: #1 in Points Per Game (21.2)
- 2003 WNBA: #1 in Points (698.0)
- 2003 WNBA MVP - youngest MVP, first non-playoff team MVP, first non-US MVP
- 2003 WNBA: All-WNBA first team
- 2003 FIBA World Cup MVP
- 2004 ESPY for Best WNBA Player
- 2004 Athens Olympic Games Silver medallist
- 2004 Olympics: #1 in Points Per Game (22.9)
- 2004 Olympics: #1 in Points (183)
- 2004 WNBA: #1 in Points Per Game (20.5)
- 2004 WNBA: #1 in Total Points (634)
- 2004 WNBA: #2 in Efficiency (20.81)
- 2004 WNBA: All-WNBA first team
- 2004 WNBA Championship with the Seattle Storm
aaah. dami. di ko na masama yung iba...

[+] Diana Taurasi (WNBA, Phx)
[+] Lindsay Whalen (WNBA, CT)
[+] Becky Hammon (WNBA, NY)
[+] Danica Patrick (Indy)
[+] Leila Barros (Beach Vball, Brazil)
[+] Ray Allen (NBA, Sea)
[+] Manu Ginobili (NBA, SA)

saka na nga yung iba. :) para magawa ko na tong pinapagawa sa kin hehe.