All-Star Rosters Mess

Sometimes the fans are the ones who mess up the All-Star lineup, getting a player undeserving to be an All-Star starter by their popular votes. And sometimes the coaches mess up the lineup, choosing undeserving All-Star reserves.
Again, this year, the NBA All-Star lineup of East and West seems not that satisfying… again.
So the West has Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Nocomplains there. This is the West starters as they should be. But the East has Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson. What’s wrong with that lineup? I think AI does not deserve to make it (like his starting place last year at the West’s lineup). It should be Devin Harris instead as starter. But, of course, there are more AI fans than Harris fans.
Then there’s Shaquille O’neal and David West for the West bench. The format requires the coaches to fill the bench with a center, two forwards, two guards, and two wild cards. That’s why the bench is a mess sometimes since the slots are defined by positions. Why them? Why not Andrew Bynum who played well even if shadowed by the star powers of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol? Or if not Bynum, at least switch Pau Gasol to the backup center slot and give his slot as backup forward to some other deserving player. And what about Al Jefferson? Sure, the Timberwolves have no decent record, but Jefferson plays better. Jefferson is more deserving of that slot than Shaq and West.
Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol both deserve their slots. Gasol have good averages and very good field goal percentage. Nowitzki… a satisfactory All-Star.
Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups, and Brandon Roy fill up the roster. But I think the coaches could have done better than that. It would be more interesting to see Paul Millsap. And it’s a pity Deron Williams, though better than Parker, had no exceptional season, so he had a slight chance only. Carmelo Anthony’s chances of an All-Star appearance disappeared when he got injured. Nene was close of being an All-Star, but not yet. And I think Steve Nash deserves a slot since he is the one who keeps a messed-up team like the Phoenix Suns to still work. I guess the coaches are not imaginative to make a more interesting lineup.
Now, let’s look at the East bench.
Yes, Danny Granger, Devin Harris and Jameer Nelson are all true All-Star players this season. The three are the best choices they made for the All-Star bench this season. But not Rashard Lewis… he’s only a player in an excellent team. Chris Bosh is good as backup center. There is no choice for the backup center position, and no complains even if Bosh is not technically a center but a forward who had played center for most of the time this season.
Paul Pierce also should not have been in the All-Star lineup this year. Sure, maybe he could be included for the sake of being an All-Star before, but Ray Allen was not included in the roster so it is better not to include Pierce also.
And why Joe Johnson again? Again, the coaches should have been more imaginative. Rajon Rondo is the one who keeps the Celtics’ Big Three playing well together – he deserves a slot! Antawn Jamison is an excellent player in a terrible team. Mo Williams deserves some credit for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ success this season. And Vince Carter is doing well again, but still a last choice among the others I mentioned before him.
(Sigh) The only way these deserving players I mentioned can be included in this year’s All-Star game is for those undeserving players chosen for the All-Star rosters to get injured. Morbid thoughts? But at least just.

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My Music for the Maestro

As an amateur musician, I had experience it.
I stood on that stage with my six-string.
Like all musicians, I find it fun.
Beautiful music made from my instrument.
The crowd applauds.
They cheer.
They chant my name.
Exhilarating.
Ecstatic.

But it’s different when I play for the Maestro.
Beautiful music made from my instrument.
The applauses and the cheers are not for me this time.
But for Him.
Through the music I make, I lead the crowd to praise and worship Him.
And I find it more exciting.
More satisfying.
More fun.
More fulfilling.

Making the Maestro smile is more important than the glory I receive from the crowd.
Because He is the Giver of Talents, and deserves the talent He gives me to be returned to Him.
And because He is my Father.

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Peter, Faith, and Grace

Ah, Peter. His life, like of all Bible heroes’, was very dramatic. A fisherman who was called by Jesus to be “fishers of man” instead. An “act now, ask questions later”-type of guy. A tendency to do much “talking” but not much “walking” in his early years – kind of like most of us.
Of course, Peter was imperfect. All God’s chosen heroes are. But God showed Peter (like the other heroes) grace and made him great. (How great is our God! He picks up the losers and put them on the winning team… His team!) That’s one of the lessons we could learn in the story of Peter. But this is a lesson we could also learn from the stories of the other Bible heroes. What about a lesson exclusively unique in Peter’s?
Okay... here is one of my Bible stories favorites. And if you can still remember your Sunday school lessons, you are probably familiar with it.
This was the dramatic story of the disciples having a lot (a lot!) of trouble at sea due to a terrible storm that, without warning, suddenly hit. The wind was so strong and the waves were big that the ship of the disciples was in great threat of being destroyed. They were all in terror. Then they saw a figure walking on water towards them. A ghost! So they thought. But it was really Jesus and he reassured them that it was he and not a ghost.
Then comes the climax of the story. Peter said, “Lord! If it really is you, tell me to come to you!” Jesus Christ replied, “Come!” And Peter did. He was very courageous at that point... Or very foolish, the disciples might be thinking. What if the man on the water was not really Jesus? But fortunately it was indeed Jesus. Peter jumped from the boat and started walking towards Jesus Christ… on water!
But later on, he got scared of the big waves that he lost his faith and started to sink. He cried, “Lord! Save me!” Jesus replied, “O Peter, why did you doubt?” Jesus rescued Peter, and they both reached the boat as the wind died and the sea calmed.
If you can’t see the beauty of the story – and the deep epicness in it – maybe you should read again the full story in the Bible.
The lesson was faith. In our lives, there will be bad storms and big waves – problems, temptations, etc. – that we will face. The waves and storms would knock us down or terrify us. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus, put our faith on him fully, like Peter did, we would walk on water, too! Because if we focus on him and walk towards his direction, surely, even if there will be waves and storms, he would make us walk through them. The waves and the storms are too big for us to face alone. We can only beat them, do the impossible through Jesus.
But that’s not the end of it. The most beautiful part is to come. In case we start to doubt, and be afraid, and feel that we are sinking, like Peter, we should call, “Lord! Save me!” And Jesus will. Our faith is imperfect. Like Peter, we often sink of doubt because of the big waves of life. But Jesus is perfect and gracious. He will pick us up, lead us back to the boat, and calm the storm and the waves. That is grace.
Our own “faith” is feeble. True faith exclusively comes from Him alone. His grace made it all possible.
In God, I will walk on water. Amazing grace.

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Grace

Everytime I think about it,
It overwhelms me.
It touches me.
It makes me smile.
Just think about it
Everytime I fall down, God picks me up.
Imagine… the Almighty Holy God, Creator Of All, Bigger Than The Universe, The Greatest VIP Ever, would show favor to a miniscule irrelevant undeserving unimportant pathetic sinner like me.
It’s so absurd.
So extremely absurd.
But so awesome.
More absurd is that He died on the cross to save me.
God’s Grace…
So amazing. I am at loss of words in awe.

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A "Floodgates" Set

Here was the Floodgates band's set when we were invited to play for a fundraising concert of a local church.

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On Washing the Dishes

The number one chore of mine in our home is washing the dishes and other utensils. And there is one particular thing about this chore… I get a feeling of particular annoyance and irritation when I have to do it. I do not want to say that I hate the work. Yeah, I am lazy. But I don’t mind working at all. But I have this annoyance when I do the chore of washing the dishes. It’s almost the same kind of irritation when my mother nags, or my sister torments me, or someone who has no right or authority raises his voice at me, or when, while I am frying, the oil “pops” – the explosive kind – and hits me a lot.
The only two emotions I don’t mind showing (of course, I have to show some emotion… I’ll suffer if I don’t, and I’m human) are amusement and annoyance. But, of course, to get the job done, I have to get rid of the annoyance of washing the dishes. And I have two things that help to get rid of it. First, I procrastinate. It adds up when I have to be told to “wash the dishes now.” Washing the dishes is my responsibility, and I will do it… but not “now.” I want to wash it on a better mood… usually at a “later time.” If I do it later, in my own timing without getting told to “do it now”, the annoyance lessens or disappears. The second, I listen to my mp4 player while doing the dishes. Yup, it helps a lot. That is why you would find me often having a headset on while on this chore.
I try to interpret this phenomenon. Maybe I feel downgraded when I wash the dishes, unconsciously, even if I believe that good work is noble. Or I associate something, someone, or an early annoying experience. Or, since I do not show much cathartic emotions, it’s one of my outputs to get rid of the build-up of emotional tensions. I am not sure. I am not a shrink. Even if I psychoanalyze myself in an amateur way, it is not very effective.
Self-psychoanalysis is impossible. I think Sigmund Freud said that (if I’m wrong, correct me. Whoever said it, he’s surely a shrink). It should be done by an outside or second party mostly (and the fact that the one doing the interpreting knows what he is doing and is not himself prejudiced) to interpret one’s behavior effectively. This thing with the washing the dishes is just one of the many things I would like these shrinks to analyze. Maybe what will they say would make sense. Or maybe not. Someone like Freud would just say some sexual interpretations or origins about it (Freud almost always, if not all the time, did. Are humans only motivated by something sexual?)
But I wonder how the shrinks would interpret it. How about your interpretation, dear readers? Is there a deep philosophical meaning in it? An emotional scar? A past trauma? Or am I just very lazy?
As long as I don’t find the answer, I am doomed to wash the dishes and continue to get annoyed.

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Pacman's Big Win

It had never been the slugfest that I expected.
Before the fight, I disagreed with the experts that it was going to be a mismatch. Yes, the Golden Boy has the advantage of height, bulk, and reach. But they were wrong to exaggerate the advantage of GB. I agree about GB’s advantage; I do not agree of their projected mismatch. I was confident Pacman would hold his ground. And I know he had speed, power, and age as his advantages. No mismatches, I analyzed, both have equal chances; a slugfest until someone get knocks down.
But then, my projection was wrong, too. There was never a good slugfest. PM dominated the fight. GB was not the fighter I knew him to be. PM’s speed, power, and excellent footwork, because of Roach’s training, won out.
There are only two things that can explain GB’s behavior in the fight. A) His not young anymore, thus, he can’t take on PM or B) The Mafia was on him. You decide.
Of course, like all Filipinos after a PM win, I feel glad and proud. But I admit, I was disappointed because of my expectation of a slugfest, with PM being put into the hardest fight of his career (his fights with Juan Manuel Marquez was the closest to a slugfest that had gave PM a hard time). It was not so.
Of course, the most logical step from here is for the Pambansang Kamao to take on Hatton – the Hitman. Some are suggesting for PM to challenge Floyd Mayweather out of retirement, but Mayweather has no belt to offer, Hatton does. Mayweather can be next after the Hitman. Or another one with Marquez.
Disregarding the feeling of disappointment for a slugfest in the Dream Match, it was still an entertaining fight (because PM won). Congrats to Manny Pacquiao. May he continue to bring entertainment, glory, and temporary peace and happiness to the Filipino people (but I hope, we do not put our hope on Pacman everytime).

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