2007 Philippine Blog Awards

My thanks go to the organizers of this year’s Philippine Blog Awards. For the get-go, the above image sure looks good in here if you ask me. Likewise, thanks for making me feel all worked up from hours of smarting over the many good blogs being maintained by Filipinos. I paid each nominated blog a visit and they were far from being poor blogs. They made feel bad and discouraged, those blogs, and I was able to test my courage and the experience had been edifying. I think I'm all right now. Thank you, too, no mas!

Night mare: Empire King upsets Real Spicy

Let’s get this out of the way first; there is nothing about Empire King that can make any of the horseracing public think that the six-year-old colt is a mare. But that Sunday night at the San Lazaro, Empire King was nothing but a night mare to the connections and supporters of two-time Horse of the Year Real Spicy.

The gates opened with the Hermie Esguarra-owned Real Spicy getting 80 percent of the daily double bets. He came to the race as an outstanding favorite, winning all of his 14 races with about six-length lead average and being billed in the mainstream media, where horseracing is not considered a sport (although that is not the case at the local sportswriters association), as the second coming of another Esguarra horse, the legendary Windblown.

Empire King, meanwhile, placed second in the betting, with a meager 10 percent of the pool going to him. With Real Spicy being noticed by even the non-betting public and Empire King’s poor showing in his loss last month to a rather surprise winner Master King, it wasn’t actually hard to get a glimpse of what Sunday night's Philaracom Commissioners Cup would be like.

As expected, entry no.1 Empire King led the pack at the early stages of the four-entrant race. Jockey Jaja Ladiana secured the rail for Empire King, which made it easier for the duo to hug the turns. On the first turn Native Land put up a challenge and rode neck-and-neck with Empire King. Real Spicy, expectedly, was at third watching the leaders bust their lungs out.

Into the back stretch rider Jesse Guce was readying for a push. As Empire King outpaced Native Land, Real Spicy went all guns a-blazing and cut the lead little by little. At the far turn it was already between the two impressive horses, with Manhattan at close third but not really given a chance to beat either of the two leaders. With Empire King coming off a brutal pace along side Native Land, it should be easy for Real Spicy to get the lead.

The 1,700m distance, however, turned out to be within the lung capacity of Empire King. Riding in spite of the rush of an acclaimed rematista, Empire King stood his ground and put to test the impressive reputation surrounding Real Spicy. Empire King reached the finish line with a neck lead over Real Spicy.

Quote of the day

"The thing that was running through my head was just 'stay alive.' I couldn't control my eyes. They rolled in the back of my head. My head swelled up. I thought it was cracked open. I grabbed my head instantly because I really felt like I was holding it together."

--ADAM GREENBERG, former Chicago Cubs left fielder, speaking to reporter Bob Holtzman 20 months after he got a 92 mph fastball to the head (Greenberg won't let dream slip away).
He now plays for the Kansas City Royals.

What's pretty isn't always thus

Early that morning, a week into what had become my routine of making a push with a road bike, I headed east along J.P. Rizal St. and could see the trusses of the Guadalupe Bridge ahead flashing in the sun and the Pasig River beginning to glisten.

There rarely was a stink in that part of the drive, when the river would flank the road, during mornings. Usually at night on my way back from work it was different. There must be something with mornings that is truly healthy. I took a passing look at the sun and felt all right and awake like I had just sipped a decent gin or some thing.

I pushed hard in the cold of the morning and I wanted to really sweat. I could not help but check myself every time the wind made me shiver. Then a hefty SUV brushed past me, drove off, and I felt my eyes especially hot and I knew I was afraid.

At a park on the banks of the Pasig I took a seat on a stone bench, rinsed my mouth with the water from a canteen on the bike, and looked out to the Mandaluyong side of the river. I said to myself a brief prayer and it was hastily done. I tried not to think about that SUV and watched the river.

The black water, when it reached the banks, more and more looked to me like it was scraping on to the rocks and pulling itself out. I readied for the push back. I knew I had taken to imagining and it often happened to me that I would subsequently be anxious for the way back.

The hell with the sun and the river and all that morning feel. I was riding a bike and that was it. I read somewhere that one way to know the beauty of a town really well is to ride in its streets on a bike. I must have taken that to mean differently. A week into my bike routine I had taken the sun rising in Makati to mean the day is getting busy and the road nasty. I sure had more use for that.

Moment of Zen

There's nothing more that I want to have right now than an established blog. Had I have one the blue days would probably be less bad. It's hard for me to explain, but if you have a fat bank account and look at it the way old folk do at faded photo albums then you know.

If you have no fat bank account you're probably not that smart and I'm sorry, really, that I can't make this introduction any simpler. If you have no fat bank account but know where I'm going with this post, but, fuck, I too have none and there may even be no one reading this blog.

What the hell. Keeping a blog ought to be less hard than trying to get over yourself each morning.