Rare Things in Sports

Sports continue to fascinates us and even leave us in awe as if we are in state of trance. Superb performance and tricks dished out by remarkable athletes will simply throw us right off from our seats, and keep us guessing how the things before our very eyes transpired.
Here are some things that are considered rare in sports.

1. Golf – Hole in one, or an eagle.
2. Basketball – Four point play, buzzer beating basket that serve as the winning basket in the end, quadruple double, a dunk with very high level of difficulty of doing it, 100+ point, 20+ assists or rebounds, 10+ blocks, or 7+ steals performance in one game.
3. Baseball – Multiple home runs (three or more) and hits (9) in a game, and a grand slam or two in a single inning.
4. Gymnastics – Rare triple and perfect score of 10.
5. Diving – In the last staging of the Olympics in Beijing, China, the highest degree of difficulty that is utilized is 3.8, which is a reverse 2 and a half somersaults with 2 and a half twists in pike on both the three and ten meter platform.
6. Boxing – Word champion in at least three weight divisions or a knock out win under one minute in the first round.
7. Athletics – Running under 10 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
8. Figure skating – Rare double.
9. Billiards – Shooting the nine ball in just first try.
10. Bowling – Perfect score of 300 in 10 frames.

You may post your own share of rare stuffs in various sports here.

Take Your Pick Lakers, Heat, Celtics or Perhaps Other Teams in the NBA

The opening of the 2010-2011 NBA season will blast off this November and many title hungry teams are crowding the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers quintet will lean on its popular superstar Kobe Bryant and the virtuosity of their head coach Phil Jackson. Both Bryant and Jackson are gunning for their sixth NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. Additionally, Jackson seeks his 12th NBA title overall.

The Los Angeles Lakers team is still very intact, as Spanish behemoth Pau Gasol, defensive sentinel formed Ron Artest and behemoth Andrew Bynum which forms the nucleus of the team that won the title in the 2009-2010 NBA Season are returning in harness stave off any resistance mounted by their opponents.

The Miami Heat was perhaps the biggest winner in the off-season build-up by acquiring LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chris Bosh of Toronto Raptors and hometown favorite Dwyane Wade will form a formidable triumvirate that will surely give other teams a run for their money.

Other teams to watch in the coming new NBA season is Oklahoma City which boasts off a line up led by 2009 NBA Season MVP Kevin Durant. Boston Celtics which is bannered by the quartet of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo will surely give other teams in the league huge headache on the wooden court.

Lebanon Five Beat Smart Gilas Gains Semis

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas yielded to the tournament’s defending champion Al-Riyadi in a hardly-fought and very close battle for a finals berth of the 21st Dubai Invitational. The Lebanon side score a nail-biting 79-76 victory over the Philippine squad. The repulsed RP team however gained respect they deserved, as they bowed to their rivals after giving their all-out effort and their heart. The Philippine quintet almost pulled the rug over their opponents which is beefed by American imports. With the numerous Filipino migrant workers rooting for the Smart Gilas team and providing some measure of morale support (the sitting capacity of the stadium here is about 5,000 and a third of this are Filipinos), the Philippine team pushed the favored Lebanese to the hilt. as it even lead the game nine-point with less than four minutes left in the contest. The Lebanese unleashed a ferocious stance in the crucial minutes as they whipped out the zone very well to take control of the game, and eventually wrapping up the game over the gritty and feisty Filipinos side. The Lebanese relied heavily on their experience to overcome the Filipinos. RP Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said, “I think experience came into play in this game. They put the zone and we suddenly couldn’t execute’. CJ Giles, the Smart Gilas’ original choice for naturalization scored a game-high 29 points, several of them coming from thunderous dunks.In other semi-final game, the Iranians trounced Al-Jalaa of Syria 95-93 to advance in the finals. The Filipinos lost its two games without their American reinforcement, including a setback to finalist Al Jalaa on their opening game. Smart Gilas also had a shallow bench as its key players were humbled by injuries. Abesent in the game against the Lebanese team were Rabeh Al Husseini and Aldrech Ramos, while players with injuries includes Tiu (left leg), Mark Barocca (back), Dylan Ababou(nose), Jason Ballesteros (left shoulder), JV Casio (contusion) and Japeth Aguilar (recovering from dengue). Toroman said, “Our problem is lack of ceiling we don’t have too much inside game, and that’s really a big problem. I think thought that Jason and Greg gave their all,” and  he added, “Lebanon has two NBA players, lots of Americans, lots of national players, that’s why I told the players not to be disappointed. e have to be proud of and I’m proud of them because they showed that for 10 months they would be very competitive in Asia.”

The semi-final score

Al-Riyadi 79- Giles 29, Colson 20, El Turk, Mahmoud 8, Frieje 7, Vogel 3, Ahmed 3

Smart Gilas – Baracael 23, Tiu 17, Casio 17, Barroca 8, Lassiter 7, Ballesteros 4, Aguilar 4, Ababou 3, Slaughter 0

Smart Gilas Five Faces Al Riyadi of Lebanon

The Philippine Smart Gilas basketball team continues to make ripples as they are gearing to clinch the finals berth against very tough and top favorite Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semifinal phase of the 21st Dubai Invitational at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium. Lacking in height and hampered by injuries of some key players, the Filipinos compensate with their speed, outside sniping and a big fighting heart. The Filipinos added a heftier Al Jazeera of Egypt side to it growing list of victims. Playing with a high-octane offense and gutsy defensive plays the Filipinos rallies tenaciously in the crucial stretch as they overcome a 15 point deficit and eventually wrapping the game with a dramatic 82-78 win to set up a semif-final duel with the fancied Al Riyadi team.

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Compilation of Lebron James Inspirational and Famous Quotations or Quotes

Perhaps the planet’s most popular and exciting basketball player, Lebron James is slowly carving out a great name for himself. Last year he steered Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA finals and many experts expect him and his team to be a force to reckon with again this year. Here are some inspirational quotations or quotes dished out by the most versatile and prolific basketball nowadays. Feel free to read them:
“I don’t want to be Kobe, I want to be LeBron.”
“Sometimes the coaches tell me to be selfish, but my game won’t let me be selfish.”
“With that locker room I could sleep there after games.”

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The Philippine National Basketball Team Downs the Australia in William Jones Cup

Chris Tiu One of the top guns of Philippine Naional team.

The Philippine Smart Gilas team under the tutelage of Rajko Toroman vented its ire on the taller and bigger Australian team to rebound from a first game loss to Asian basketball powerhouse Iran. The Philippines dismantled the Aussie team the Townsville Crocs on their second game to level its win loss slate to one a piece on this year’s William Jones Cup which is held in Hsinchuang gymnasium, Taiwan.

Top RP naturalization prospect Marcus Douthit and Greg Slaughter dominated the middle even as Dylan Ababou, Chris Lutz, JV Casio and Marcius Lassiter gave the team the much needed lift by their relentless and torrid outside sniping, to somewhat eased out the loss they absorbed against the Iranian which showed action in the last Olympics.

The RP team will battle dangerous and host con their third game. The Taiwanese team routed Townsville on the opening day 103-55 and came back on the second game by squeaking past compatriots Taiwan U All Stars.

Iran also posted an unblemished record so far by registering their second win against the resilient Japanese side 77-73.

The Filipinos are expected to have their hands full against the similarly fast and deadly shooters Taiwanese team on their third game.

The Birth of a New Basketball Star in the NBA: Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics

Although the Boston Celtics bowed down to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 3-4, in the 2010 NBA Finals, but still they are lucky since they just polished a diamond in the rough in spitfirish and all-around player Rajon Rondo.

Rondo emerged as this year’s surprise package as he gets out from his shell to help carry the Celtics to the NBA Finals. Rondo is fast becoming a feared point guard on the league. Still very young at 24 years old, the former University of Kentucky varsity, Rondo shows great promises in the future for the Celtics.

Rondo smothered Hall of Famer and legendary Bob Cousy’s total assists in a season and his stars shines even further as he was selected for his first appearance in the NBA All-Star game held in Dallas, Texas as a reserve this year.

Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge was brilliant when he signed the Celtics fiery point guard to a lofty $55 million deal last November 2009. Ainge could’ve seen some greatness in Rondo, since his gamble paid off and the team started reaping the fruits of retaining the consummate point guard who is capable of doing a lot of things on the court.

Rondo is not only a great passer as he can pluck down rebounds and scores. He registered a triple double effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Western Conference semi-finals, as he scored 29 points, pulled down 18 points and handed out 13 assists, becoming only the third player aside from Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson to do so in a single playoff game.

The Boston Celtics Logo

In the penultimate Game 7 of their series with the Los Angeles, Rondo came up just two rebounds short of posting his third triple double in the post season. Rondo garnered 14 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed 8 rebounds.

With the surprising performance Rondo continues to give his team he is now considered to be at par best with the best point guards on the league such as Chris Paul of New Orleans Hornets, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. With Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce getting older, Rondo is expected to carry the torch for the Celtics in the years ahead.

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9 Filipino Sports Heroes and the 1954 Philippine Basketball Team Enshrined to Hall Of Fame

Nine Filipino outstanding sportsmen with remarkable feats and a formidable team made the Philippines proud, will be inducted to the first ever Philippine Sports Commission PSC Hall of Fame last May 5, 2010 at the Maynilad Hall of the Manila Hotel, Manila, Philippines

Late boxing greats such as Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Francisco “Pancho” Guilledo, Ceferino Garcia, and the father and son tandem of Jose “Cely” Villanueva, Anthony Villanueva, track and fields stalwarts Miguel White and Simeon Torribio, swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, and the basketball quintet led by Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, that took home the bronze medal that glitters like gold in the 1954 World Basketball Championships made up the illustrious first batch of PSC Hall of Famers.

Elorde reigned as WBC super featherweight Champion for seven years from 1960 to 1967, while Guilledo was the world flyweight champion from 1923 to 1925. Garcia on the other hand was the world middleweight champion from October 1929 to May 1940.

Yldefonso, the first Filipino medalist in the Summer Olympics salvaged a bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke in the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He duplicated his feat when he took another bronze medal in the same event at the Los Angeles Games, four years later.

The Los Angeles Olympic Games also produced another great Filipino athlete in Torribio who collared the bronze medal in the men’s long jump and boxer, Jose “Cely” Villanueva, who annexed the bronze medal in the bantamweight division.

In 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, athletics stalwart White brought home the bronze in the men’s 400-m hurdles.

Villanueva’s son Anthony made a breakthrough as he took the country’s first ever silver medal in the games, as he wound up second in the men’s featherweight in boxing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Taking the cudgel for the RP team, Loyzaga steered the vaunted Philippine basketball squad to a respectable bronze medal triumph in the 1954 World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Philippines’ lofty finish here is still the highest placing for any Asian country in the World Championships.

Two thumbs for making the Filipinos spirits high!

Philippine Team Eyeing Jared Homan and More Filipino-Foreigner Players

The Philippine Smart Gilas team is now pinning its hope on Jared Homan as a naturalization prospect to reinforce the team in the shaded lane. The 27-year old Homan of Iowa State is currently playing in the Greek League as contract was sent and team as waiting for his reply.

The 6-10 Homan averaged an impressive 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 31 outings. On his last game with Iowa State he amassed 19 points and 20 rebounds in a losing effort against eventual 2005 NCAA champion North Carolina.

The aggressive effort of the Gilas team is not only in acquiring a naturalized player but also plan to obtain promising Filipino-foreigners to bolster its lineup further.

The team is eyeing two Filipino-Italians 6’6 Christian Stanhardinger of Nebraska and 6’1 Chris Bancher of Seattle University. Filipino-America Chris Lutz of Marshall University is set to join the team in a tournament in Doha, Qatar.

The team’s itinerary in the remaining months ahead includes: a trip to Las Vegas to play five games and then the team departs to Canada to play three more games. The team is also competing in Stankovic Cup in Beirut, Lebanon, the Jones Cup in Taipei and the tough Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

In their recent Aussie stint the Philippine hacked out impressive and scintillating victories. The team came home with five wins and a draw.

In their trip to basketball powerhouse Serbia, the Philippine team missing a reinforcement in the middle and plagued with injuries, absorbed four losses and won just once. The Serbs mightily put the lights out of the Filipinos, by taking full advantage of their sheer height and heft. The losses of the Filipinos were on the Hands of Metalac Valjevo, 76-86, KK Hemofarm Stada Vrsac 67-98, Partizan Belgrad 71-87 and UKK Beograd 79-80. The solo win registered by the Filipinos was against Super Fund 91-84.

Fil-Am Marco Lassiter was the team’s brightest player in Serbia as he unleashed 17 points against Metalac and Beograd and 21 points against Partizan.

Have Fun In Playing Basketball

Here are the practical tips you must know by heart when playing basketball: you should have a good running shoes. Do not wear dark colors especially when you are living in a tropical zone. Drink plenty of water and always think of your safety including your team and your opponents. It’s been said that ‘winning the game is not important if at the end of it you acquire injuries’. Of all the body parts you must protect, the most susceptible to injury is your fingers, so exercise caution when handling or catching a ball. Oftentimes, to achieve maximum protection, you need to acquire personal gadgets and practical effects.

Playing basketball is one of the healthiest and happiest sports a person can engage in. To be more efficient in playing especially in basketball, it is a necessity that one must possess quality accessories. The choice of sportswear and sports gadgets must be selected with utmost care considering the durability, the cost-efficiency and the current trends not emphasizing the current fads. If you will browse the internet for online shopping, let say you want to buy NBA paraphernalia, you need to search carefully. But for simplicity however, I suggest you visit the following NBA shop. If you heard of these basketball associations in the nearby region, NBA jerseys and NBA basketball jerseys, you need to have an access to a good NBA shop. Even if you are not an official player in the 2010 All Star-Game, acquiring the gadgets for your personal satisfaction and identifying yourself as a fan of the said 2010 All Star-game, possessing a shirt or any gadget with an All-star logo is a real fun.