24/7 Olympics - Day Five

Office Olympians

The latest medal count at the office:

0 gold.
0 silver.
0 bronze.




and




0 overtime pay (ako lang si saro nasa Beijing)

Will the OR (Overtime Record) be shattered before the closing ceremonies? Will a new world record for no sleep at home be broken before the 24th?

Not-so-random images from Day Four:

24/7 Olympics - Day Three

After last night's and yesterday's rather unorganized system, we are starting to get it today. Believe me, in production you could be doing it the last 365 days or so and still there is no system in place that you can trust and you will cling to. Few things i learned today which i have learned and unlearned the past 365 days because of panic, pressure and what have you.

Day Three was much more... uhmm, relaxed. At the same time it was the most, what's the word they are using? Ngarag. i am trying to remember the bicol counterpart of the word but i can't seem to find the right one... But my panicky mode the entire mode pretty much made me understand it. Some more pics in Day Three coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Not the athletes or the Olympians but people who may be working as hard but will never earn any gold medal or silver or bronze. (Reminder to self: not even earning overtime pay)

The random images including pictures of some of the Office Olympians and today's set of hosts (including the first-timers, including Ms. Weena Lim and again, Bobby):

"Nakua mo hanap mo"

You get what you deserve? Tama man translation? Sala man kaya you get what you are looking for. Mas-marhay si enot. Mas-exacto, masmalaman. Masmayemosyon. i am writing in Bicol because i have been writing in English (for work) the last 48 hours. And mapagal palan.

So anyway. Ay sala. English palan to. Ang punto ko lang magreklamo sa mga (supposedly) gusto ta sa buhay. Pirmi na sana, gabos kita may reklamo. Sa sweldo, sa kwarta sa wallet ta, kung saen mainom atchan ta mayo kwarta, or kung i-text na lang lugod si Don o si Che o si Christian o si Budoy (Si Bonks, masakit yan) ta baka manlibre maginom. Basta, ang punto ko sa kadakulan tang reklamo magibo man giraray kita ning paagi na magsilensyo tapos gibuhan na lang ning paagi ang dilemma (anong Bicol kang dilemma, idtong direct translation?).

So anyway ulit, naisip ko lang yan ta puro ako reklamo digdi sa opisina. Though aram ko man ano lalaogan ko. Kung nagbabasa kang blog ko aram mo na ang Olympics ang pinagkakaabalahan ko. Aram ko man na arog kaini kasakit (and kasiram) ang trabaho ini. Puro sana pressure. Puro sana gabos mo "garo" (and otherwise) kaiwal or iiwalon. Gabos saimo nagprepressure na gibohon ang mga dapat gibohon. Pero at the end of the day, naiisip mo na ginigibo lang ninda ang trabaho ninda.

Dakulon ako subagon bloopers sa shoot. Bloopers na behind the cam behind the cam behind the cam. Scriptwriter garo. Ay, minsan head for content man daa. May sala akong natao sa graphics na info. Kasupog sana. Ta naging cause of delay sa shoot. Although gusto ko ilaban ang issueng incompetence and common sense (my favorite argument) dae ko na papadakulaon pa ta spoonfeeding ang kaipuhan sa ibang tawo. And of course, ako man talaga si number one incompetent sa puon ta ako ngani nagtao kang info sa tao sa graphics. (Pero... Iyo na tama na.)

Explain ko lang: bakong salang sala. May typo dahil sa pagrush ko. Patal na kung patal. Pero dae ko aram kung arin ang maspatal si patal na enot or si dae nakarecognize kang kapatalan. Iyo, patal talaga ko. And pangirit talaga. Haha. Basta, kasta man ta sala. Nagmamadali lang po. Medyo pressureed sa oras.

So in the end, sa hiling ko ako si patal. Bawi na lang sa sunod.

Matibayon na ako mag tackle ning problema. Ata. O imahinasyon ko lang. O baka dae ko pa namamaster sa gabos na bagay (and tao) Dati maduman ako sa banyo tapos mahibi sa corner na pangOscars ang acting (Fiction yan of course, and exaggeration) Pero ang punto ko sinasarabat ko na lang ang gabos na problema lalo na kung parte kang pagiging irresponsible ko.

Going back sa enot kung punto. Su si about sa pagreklamo. Ako kaya dakolon reklamo sa current state ko. Lalo na ning lintik na Olympics na ni. Garo ni babaeng chi-nachallenge ka talaga. Basted garo padumanan, o saen man pero masgusto mo man giraray na digdi lang. Arog kayan pagmati kang Olympics assignment. Grabe ang satisfaction and grabe ang disappointment. Extremes. Pagnakagibo ka ning marhay (sabihon ta na marhay na pagsurat) maogmahon sa pagmati. Pag nasala ka man na typo ngani sana. Magabaton sa boot. And masupog ta patal ka.

Dae paka seryoso ha, medyo exaggeration syempre ang kadaklan na word dyan. Paginapod ta kang patal dae ibig sabihon patal ka talaga. Masmaorag lang ako saimo. Or something. Got to love vanity, ano? Haha.

Dae paka seryoso, ta kadaklan man inaagi ko lang sa suba. Gabos suba. Suba gabos. O kabanga lang. Dae ko aram.

Basta dakol ako reklamo. Mauli ako sa Naga sa 26 tapos mabalik September na. Deserving man garo ako kayan (along with deductions sa salary) pero ma ko pakiaram. Gusto ko maguli Naga after kang Olympics. Kugoson si Jigs. Kung may kwarta iluruwas sa Ma and Pa. Or maski mayo kwarta, luwas man giraray.

Dakol ako reklamo. Tanda ko si sabi ko ki Enteng kang college ata: "Dyan ako padi matrabaho" (while watching sportscenter.) Nagkatotoo man in a way.

Nakua ko ata hanap ko. Pagal. Ogma. Pagal. Ogma. Maturog na ko. Another marathon 3-hour na turog. Balik trabaho. Para masuya. Para maogma.

24/7 Olympics - Day Two

i did not mention it yesterday but Jason Williams finally signed with a team. The Los Angeles Clippers. Can't be sad with that one. Let's just wait and see how this turns out.

On to today's set of pictures in the studio. Morning shift hosts are Mike Ochosa and Bobby Yan. Evening shift, it's Charlie Cuna and Mico Halili.

24/7 Olympics: Notes, pics and rants

Solar Sports in-depth coverage starts today as we begin with a little primer for our (Samsung) Daily Update. i will be posting pics at random. (re)editing posts for random notes and what have you. Meaning, i will try to squeeze in a little bit of time for this blog. 20 years from now i will be wondering:
"oh shit. i did work for that without overtime?"

No whining really. Just rants and some. i am a bit more excited than nervous and afraid for the entire updates and recap shebang. i mean, this team has been thrown into deep waters so to speak when we handled the daily show, Sports Desk some years back. Of course, this has a little bit more of pressure because there's just too many news to cover from August 8 to 24. And there are the updates almost every hour...

So anyway, some early pictures before and during today's shoot...

Starting off with.. The first bag is the usual knapsack i use daily when going to the office and the latter is the traveling bag i used when i first went to Manila. Now you know, we are serious about staying at the office 24/7...


And the rest them random takes... Cesca Litton and Anthony Suntay

One World, One Dream, No Sleep

Solar Sports (insanely in-depth) coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics begins tomorrow night just in time for China's expectedly extravagant Opening Ceremonies starting at 8PM.

Solar Sports start off with a little 30-minuter of a primer before the ceremonies kicking off the 24/7 updates and recap show for the duration of the quadrennial event.

Updates are set at 9AM, 2PM, 5PM and 8 PM (Not to mention additional updates all the way from Beijing with Vito Lazatin and Patricia Bermudez-Hizon and the rest of the Solar crew including our Executive Producer Angelo Pazcoguin who will most likely leave his role as producer when he gets the chance to watch that USA-vs-anybody basketball game!) plus the recap show at 11:30 PM.

Daily. Hourly. 24 and 7 has never been truer. So true that everyone from the editors, graphics artists, producers and us TWO writers is expected to go 4-5 consecutive days at the office. (Maybe one day to recharge after that but return to the office after that little rest...)

One World, One Dream, One Network. No sleep. No life. No nightlife (Assuming i had a nightlife). No online poker. No girlfriend. (That was a given even before the Olympics). No anything (you can anagram the first part). No Magic the Gathering (Sorry King Tuquero). No live basketball. (Means no exercise) Not even overtime pay. (That last part really hurts)

Anyway, here are few pictures i took as the crew prepared for the set of the updates and recap show:

PBA Fiesta Finals: Express in 6 games

The Philippine Basketball Association Finals begins this Wednesday as the Air 21 Express, appearing in their first championship stint go up against the Ginebra Gin Kings, inarguably the most popular (and hateable) team in the land.

Fearless forecast says the Express will win this series in six or seven games although that's quite a courageous prediction considering the Gin Kings have not lost a game in roughly two months...


The keys to this Finals series:

+ Homer Se vs. the people of the Philippines. Express head coach Bo Perasol in recent interviews that it feels like "Air 21 vs. the people of the Philippines." Getting the cue from that and twisting it a little bit, it will be Homer Se who will be the most hated player (who else, but by the people of the Philippines) before the series ends. Se, a rugged player anywhere on the court will try to frustrate Gins import Chris Alexander. Se, a glue-guy blue-collar worker inside the paint will challenge everyone that gets in his way. How will Alexander react? Or more importantly, how will the Gin Kings react to this guy macho-plays? If one way and another he neutralizes or contains the import, i feel this will be a key to any game in the series. If one way and another he earns the crowd's ire, i feel it's a job well done already since it means that he is indeed effective. In his own little gulang ways.

+ Gary David vs. Mark Caguioa. Mr. Energy and The Spark matching up against each other? i guess not as Perasol sends a taller Arwind Santos in trying to stop Mr. Caguioa and in turn Tanquincen sends a bulkier Junthy Valenzuela against Mr. David. While they won't be assigned to each of the other, monitoring their scoring output will be vital to this series. i expect both to really explode for a game or two and it will greatly help their team's cause for those games.

+ Motivation vs. Hunger. It was a poster from Pinoy Exchange that provided me the idea (or even stated it himself subliminally) that motivation is quite different from hunger. As i stated at PEX, motivation is more of the emotions felt by the veteran team and hunger by a younger one. Ginebra has found their motivation, along with their confidence of course, in the middle part of the season and it's the same reason why they are still in a long winning streak and hoping to cap it off with the championship. On the other hand, the young guns from Air 21 are simply hungry to become one of the elite teams in the league. Both teams are looking to prove something; Ginebra is looking to earn more bragging rights in its rich history and Air 21 is looking to make history.

Choices, changes and cards

Losing money in poker is never a big deal. Well, it's never a big deal until you realized that the taxi driver is asking for an extra ten pesos for the fare. They call it flat rate but it's never a flat world when it's the taxi drivers doing the talking--- also called soliciting--- and they make you round and round and round...

i read in a Pahalniuk book about the signs of addiction. i am not sure if it was a Pahlaniuk book anyway, but i read it somewhere. The signs are there probably. i am not going to deny that part. But. But i was accused of the same thing with basketball---- waking up at 4:30 am because the game is at 5:00 am and you had to be at the covered courts because you don't want to be late and spare yourself of being real early but still has to play the second game of the morning; then going home right after the game because you still had to continue that NBA LIVE franchise mode you started a week earlier OR watching the Memphis Grizzlies battle the San Antonio Spurs, which by the way has dominated the former in their first three meetings earlier in the season.

Which brings me back to a very personal question; where is the thin line drawn between addiction and passion? Is it the same, a point which probably every addict will want to hear and fight for? Or is it different, a perspective that every passionate person will fail to accomplish yet will try to understand... And so, which is it?

i am addicted to competition. It's not just about the fun... It's not just about fun AND winning even... It's about fun, winning and LOSING. It is all of it. i can not explain it and i will never understand it. It's the chopseuy of life. The tasty tender cauliflower versus a near-rotten string beans add a little mix of the usual carrots and cabbages.

i lost around 800 pesos last time i played poker. And i'm looking forward to the next games. You can call me anything now.

One (U) month delayed

One U pilot episode moved to August 26. One World. One Dream. One U! Thanks and no thanks to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This is more than an oh-well moment by the way.

PBA Semis Forecast: Express in Seven

Rooting for San Miguel (Ok, it's called Magnolia) is tough these days, as many observers have pointed out it is a team that is (very) rich in talent but can't seem to find that character that will define them... Caught 3 of the 4 games this semifinals series and it is sheer talent that is carrying San Miguel; then again, talent alone won't win you championships and i don't see that happening this conference.

Unless...

San Miguel goes back to their previous strength and that is STOPPING people. Stopping Air 21 is indeed a difficult task since they are primarily an offensive team which maximizes their strength. They have an import in Thomas who knows to do just that and they have a slew of versatile players that gets the job done. Credit to the likes of David, Santos and even Se who have used their brute and speed to take advantage of the oft-times lazy and half-hearted efforts on the defensive end. So i repeat, unless they become more of an intentionally defensive team this next two-three games i just don't see the sister teams slugging it out for the crown.

Some notes:

+ Sad to see Danny Seigle being used sparingly. i just want his ass to be traded so that it lights a fire under his errr, ass and he plays motivated and he once again plays like a superstar. Injury or not , it's always sad to see "what could have been" players sitting out at the end of their careers. Not too sure if Siot inserted DS in the lineup last Sunday to up his trade value because it is obvious that SMB has already enough offensive weapons.

So we will see on Wednesday (and Friday and Sunday) if MY team proves my forecast wrong. That's always been the case when you really don't have a confidence in your team. The worst-case scenario reverse jinxing person might just change the fate.

White Choco goes Euro...

La fuga a Europa puede no terminar ahí. Los rumores sobre otros posibles fichajes son constantes. Se baraja el interés de dos equipos rusos por el pívot letón Andris Biedrins (Golden State Warriors), la posibilidad de que el esloveno Sasha Vujacic deje de ser compañero de Gasol en los Lakers, la huida de Carl Landry de los Houston Rockets y el fichaje de Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls) por el Panathinaikos. Incluso se dice que Jason Williams (Miami Heat) podría haber sido ofrecido al Maccabi de Tel Aviv.

Bold words translation (according to Hoopshype.com):

Jason Williams may have been offered to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Damn it. And i was only half kidding when i said i should start getting into Euroleague fantasy...

Dae ko aram kung totoo ni...

Tsk. Tsk. Ang mga pinoy talaga. (Da best!) Sometime dapat post ko si Marlboro sachet. (Salamat sa officemate na si Paolo sa pagsend kang picture na kinua nya sa multiply site kang tropa nya).