Closing the May 10,2008 Chapter In My Life

As I close the book of my saddest chapter of my life, there has to be some controversy.

A big one, it seems.

As I look her friendster and facebook page for the last time, three words appeared out of nowhere and hit me instantly. These 3 words are the most powerful words that can simply devastate me when it comes to the girl related to May 10,2008.

And for a split second. It hit me. Reality caught up with me in an instant.

These words are: "In a relationship".

As i learn how to close the deal regarding this girl, she also closed the little opening of the door that I'm hoping one day she would open up for me. For one year, I've hoping that there's a possible second chance between us. For one year, patience has been my best virtue, waiting and persevering that time would come wherein we'll meet again. For one year, I've learned and experienced the true definition of martyrdom. For one year, I've also relieved my faith in the so-called "destiny".

And now, it's all over.

Now that she's stepping into a new relationship, I'm just happy for her. I'm happy that she's found the one that would make her happy, something that I failed to do before. Moving on is the next best thing that will happen to me. At least now, I can accept the fact that she's happy with someone now. She had learned how to love someone and now has someone to care for. Although we didn't end up together, I can say that she's responsible for what I am today. For all the things I've given and fought for her, I can honestly say that i never regret making those decisions. And if rejecting or hurting me means she'll find a better one(which really happened), then so be it. I'll gladly accept the fact that I'm not good enough for her just for her to be fully satisfied in her life.

I wish her happiness and good luck to her current relationship. Let's hope that this relationship will last. I have no grudge nor bitterness towards her. I'm even thankful that she rejected me because I'm not the Michael Kent that you know today if not for her. I know that closing this book and moving on is not going to be easy, but I'm ready for the journey that awaits me and I've got to. For one year, I've restrained all the pain just to wait for the right time. Now, I'm withdrawing all the pain and waiting for the right one to come. Writing this blog has given me the urge to perform better in every aspect of my life. I know I'm can be better and certainly, I have the motivation to perform better.

June 26,2009 is the day that i shall end this impossible dream of mine. For the record, I've waited one year, one month and 16 days before closing the deal.

If this was a boxing fight, I've taken the fight into the 15 round. If this was a basketball game, I've taken the game into 4 overtimes. If this was a baseball game, 9 innings is not enough to shut me down.

But, this is a game. A game of life.

Game over, Mr. Kent.

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Another Pathetic Move By Minnesota

Kevin McHale is out as GM of Minnesota Timberwolves, yet they still continue to do stupid basketball decisions that will hamper their team next season.

After KG's era, Minnesota is simply seeking for a savior for answers how to build a competitive team.

Trading one of your future best players will not help their bid.

Minnesota traded their point guard Randy Foye, together with sharp shooter Mike Miller to Washington for the number 5 pick in 2009 draft,Etan Thomas,Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov. Foye, who averaged 16 PPG last year, showed brilliance during the second half of the season when Al Jefferson went down and proving critics that he can cope up with his draft classmate Brandon Roy, whom he was traded for during the 2006 rookie draft.

But trading Foye for number 5 overall pick? This year's draft class has the making of the worst draft class ever since Andrea Bargnani went 1st overall and Adam Morrison going 3rd overall during the 2006 NBA draft. Plus the fact that you've got 3 players who are having a hard time leaving the Wizards bench for the last 3 years? Who will complement Al Jefferson? Kevin Ollie?! The Mexican sensation who cannot even shoot a free throw?

Minnesota has done several stupid moves when it comes to front office decision. Remember Sam Cassell being traded for Marko Jaric? That was a crazy move. After that, they traded KG. It was a fitting move now that Jefferson have blossomed into a fantastic NBA player. They traded this guy, Foye for Brandon Roy, who later developed into an NBA all star and now, they want to trade their guard of the future for another lottery pick? How about they traded OJ Mayo for Kevin Love? Mayo showed brilliance while Love showed nothing. Are they sure they've fired McHale?

What are they trying to do? Now that Foye is gone, it looks like Kevin Ollie will get the nod to start. Good luck T-Wolves fans. This is going to be a long season.....

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The One Person That Truly Made Me Happy

For one year, the ghost of May 10, 2008 incident had haunted me. One year, I suffered all kinds of pain and sorrows just because of what happened on that special day. Some people have even wondered how long will i be able to recover by this incident.

After one year and one month, here i am ready and determined to close the sad chapter of my life.

It's simply time to move on, sadly.

But every sad endings have a new beginning.. hopefully.

In my case, there's one special person who helped me moved on from this sad incident. This one person helped me become stronger facing these challenges. This is also the one person I did not expect to be familiar with, but somehow I did. Knowing her have been the best thing that ever happened to me this year, honestly. Although I've known her in just a short period of time, she gave me enough reason to forget the past and face the present.

We've been going out lately, for friendly dates. I can say that the every time when I'm with her, i just hope that i have the ability to stop the clock because every moment with her is simply fantastic. She's fun to be with, plain and simple. It's like i want to cherish every single minute that I'm with her. She has the ability to put a smile on my face when I'm down and depressed. She can light up my dreadful day with just a simple text. She has that cute impatient attitude that despite it drives you crazy, you'll just realize how lucky you are when she does that antic since not all girls do this antic. .. Probably she's the only one who has ever done that. In my part, I miss her during the times I'm not with her. For all those times that we were together, i could say that she's the best companion I've ever with. For a friend, i could not ask for more.

There's no doubt that i like the girl. But courting her or me falling for her seems to be the farthest thing on my mind given the fact that i just came from a failed relationship. I enjoy her company. I enjoy what we are today and hopefully we'll stay this way for a long period of time. Time will only tell how we'll end up in the future but for now, I'll simply cherish what we have today. She have given me the word "contentment" a new meaning in my life. Should this be a new chapter of my life, then I don't want this chapter to end. In case it has to end, I just hope it has a better ending than my previous one and I'll surely miss all of our memories that we're been together, hoping we can do it all over again. For now, I don't want to ruin what we have today.

As for my past, it's pretty safe to say that I've moved on.

Game over. As i always used to say.

For this special friend of mine, thank you for making your friend happy and contented. I've never been this thankful since last year. I can say that my life is complete now that I'm back to my old high-spirit self. I just simply hope that I have put a little smile upon your face the moment that we've known each other.

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My Salute To Kobe Bryant

For the record, I'm not a big fan of Kobe Bryant. I hate how the guy plays. Despite his abilities on the basketball court, I despise the guy. But somehow, he won a NBA championship and finally got his first ring without Shaq. So, I just think I will pay Kobe a respect.

A little one, of course.

Kobe Bryant, adjudged the NBA Finals MVP was simply awesome throughout the finals. He also had enough help, the help that eluded Lebron James for his quest to enter the NBA finals. Pau Gasol, not as dominant as Howard, but held his ground against the "so-called" Superman of the Magic. Derek Fisher, the player who was then famous for his 0.4 second shot against the Spurs, again made his presence felt during Games 4 and 5. Trevor Ariza, the underrated wingman of the Lakers, came up big in their series clinching win with 15 markers. But one thing that made the difference for the Lakers is the 7APG of Kobe during the series. Notably a scorer, Magic threw 3 defenders against him and he let them pay with those timely dishing. Once defense focus on other players, Kobe this time became aggresive.

Kobe have evolved into one of the best, if not the best(I hate to say this) player of the game since Michael Jordan. Looking through his history of run-ins with the Lakers front-office, including demanding a non-sense trade last 2 years. He had a feud with Phil Jackson after the Malone-Payton era of the Lakers that led to his coach labeled him as a "selfish" player. But this year though, the "selfish" player have matured enough to have his own ring.

Future still looks bright for the Lakers if they can resign their biggest free agents in Lamar Odom and Ariza. Bynum is still young and developing while Kobe is in his prime at 30. Gasol is still one of the most dominating presence down low and Fisher will remain at least for one more year with the Lakers.

Hey Shaq, still wanna rap "Kobe cannot do it without me?"

Eat your words big fella, the guy has just done what you claimed he can't do.

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Game Over: A Flashback of May 10,2008

“Sometimes you love something so much that it hurts to leave it, but you must. Sometimes it hurts too much to hold on to that thing you love. And sometimes you let go of what you love because it hurts, but then just sometimes... you get it back and live happily ever after.”

The quote simply defines what my feelings and my hopes for someone right now. Here, let me tell you my sad story that happened last year which until now, I can still remember every detail of it.

May 10,2008, I endured one of the worst feeling a man could ever felt. It was that day my heart was crushed and broken. One year after, all those pains and sufferings still remains. Her memories still lingers on my mind. One year after, I still haven’t moved on. And one year after, here I am still wondering what went wrong between the two of us.

What makes this more painful is that during the 4 months that I’ve known her, I was so attached to her. All those places we went, all our memories and all the things she’s done for me is something I’ll never forget. This is the chapter of my life that I’ll surely cherish for the rest of my life. Given the chance to know her is pretty special experience for me. During that time, it was only that course of my life I learned how to love and care so much for someone. All the efforts I’ve made for her, I can honestly say I’ve never done that to anyone else except for her.

People say it’s been over a year, get a life something like that, or move on. But words are easier said than done. For the entire period that I’ve known her, all I did was cared for her. This is simply what makes this even more painful. My friends are trying to hook me with someone but somehow, it didn’t work mainly because I’m still attached to this girl. Her memories are so hard to let go, considering the short period of time that we’ve known each other. I still can’t understand why her memories are hard to forget, just like other people are telling that it’s been a year.

Even though we didn’t end up together, I’m blessed and appreciative that God have given me such contentment in my life. During that period is the only time that I’ve been so happy in my life. Knowing her gives me a new definition of life. It was also during that time, I learned to fight for someone you really cared about. I fought for her yet things didn’t go my way. Looking back, I learned some positives outlook in life. Life’s more than pleasure and money. When you found somebody you really cared about, cherish it and never let her go. Sadly for me, it was never that way with her.

At this point, I’m still optimistic that one day we’ll meet again. I’m still persevering that one day, destiny would go our way. This is one dream that I’m still hoping reality could re-enact for me. For one year, I always ask myself, “Is this it? Is it really over between the 2 of us?” For one year, I’ve always wandered “Does she deserve someone better than me?” It’s agonizing to come to though that she might have found the right one for her. I’ve pondered what my reaction would be if one day my friend would approach me and tell me “pre, my BF na si ….” If that day comes, then I’ll be happy because she has found the right one who would make her happy even though deep inside of me, it’s different.

“Never stop dreaming”. This is one motto that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’ll never stop believing that maybe one day our time would come. I’m trying to keep up a positive outlook, by thinking this is not our time. If our time would never come, then I’ll sit back and remember all those memories I’ve had with her, thankful that I’ve been given a blessed chance to meet someone as special as her.

But now, I’m not giving up. Not now. This is not the ending I’ve pictured for the both of us.

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Orlando Slips Past Lakers, Trims Lead to 2-1

Finally, the point guard issue for Orlando has been put to rest, for a game.

Rafer Alston scored 20 points including 8/12 from the field to lead Orlando Magic past LA Lakers 108-104 to trim their deficit series to 2-1. Not only Alston who did the job, it was also the emergence of Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis that helped Magic pull away during the late stretch of the fourth quarter. Howard and Lewis finished with 21 points apiece, including a late jumper by Lewis to give Magic a four point cushion with time down to less than 2 minutes.

Compared to their previous 2 games, Magic came out blazing, shooting 63% from the field and haunding Kobe for the rest of the night. The black Mamba finished with 31 points but shot just 11/25 from the field, a Lebron-type like stat line that led to Cavaliers downfall. Orlando also mustered enough support, showing their patented balance scoring with Hedo and Pietrus have 18 points apiece.

"We've got to play like this. When guys are attacking we're tough to guard." Howard said.

It should be if there were 5 players who would score at least 18 points each.

As for Lakers, their support was not there. Derek Fisher, who had the hot hand in Game 2, finished with just 4 points while Lamar Odom added 11. Andrew Bynum, for the second straight game, was a non-factor as he finished with just 4 points in 23 minutes of action. "We're all frail as humans." Phil Jackson said, offering excuse to their loss.

Not this time Phil. Lakers are bound to lose one or maybe more. But for now, let's give the night to Orlando as their Magic was able to cast a spell on your Lakers team.

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NBA Finals Analysis(Game 1 & 2)

After 2 games, Orlando Magic had another deja vu of their first finals appearance 14 years ago.

It was Nick Anderson that time that muffed 4 charities that enabled Houston to rob Game 1 of their finals. This time, it was Courtney Lee who missed a potential go-ahead layup that could have given them a 2 point lead and it was also Lee who missed the could-be game winning layup for the Magic after a perfect lob pass from Hedo Turkoglu.

For a season of comebacks, Magic must do a mere magical act to escape this current hole. Down 0-2, no team in NBA finals history have ever came back from this deficit. Given the season of Orlando, including down 2-1 against Philly in their first round, down 3-2 against Boston and a convincing clinching victory over Cleveland, there's no doubt that this team can come back.

Not only if they stop the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.

Byrant struck hardest in Game 1, finishing with 40 points 8 rebounds and 8 assists, simply showing why he deserves to be MVP than Lebron James. Game 2, Magic double teamed Kobe resulting to his 7 turnovers but still finished with a modest line of 29 points and 8 assists. But more notably, Lamar Odom scored 19 off the bench while Fisher added 12 points. For a finals game, those numbers are huge. Bench players are the X-factor for this series. Superstars would off-set each performance and it's up to the role guys to provide the spark for their respective teams.

In this finals, the story so far has been Kobe Bryant. This is evident to their 2-0 lead in the finals. Bryant is determined to prove to everyone that he doesn't need a dominating center or simply say he doesn't need Shaq. He has Gasol in this series. Gasol has not been dominant but he's applying defense on Howard towards the latter part of the game. We have expected that Andrew Bynum will be plagued by foul trouble upon guarding Howard, which was right after he occured 5 fouls in just 16 minutes of action. Kobe can score, no doubt about it. The question lies for the Lakers is, who will step up and help Kobe in his scoring. Defense has also been the key, limiting Howard to just 14.5 PPG, a far cry from his 40 point performance in their clinching victory over Cleveland. Ariza has done a decent job in guarding Turkoglu.

For the Magic, their momentum simply was lost in Game 1. Where is Rafer Alston? The guy who dropped 26 points in Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and was the running quarterback of the team that sent Lebron James home crying. The addition of Jameer Nelson have been a negative impact for the team. Stan Van Gundy must determine which point guard will he play more. In their 2 games, their minutes is evenly distributed. But for me, it was Alston who guided this team into this contention and it should be Alston commanding the point. I would gamble on Alston, who was the one responsible for bringing this team deep in the playoffs rather than Nelson, who guided the team in the regular season only to be injured and left the team in the playoffs. Where is Mikael Pietrus? Pietrus averaged close to 13 points per game in their series against Cleveland. This time, he fouled out Game 2. He has been the best perimeter defender of Magic but has been struggling in this series.

After 2 games, Lakers seem destined to notch their first title without Shaq. Magic meanwhile, are desperate searching for answers.

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NBA Finals Preview

Move aside, Lebron James. Your Cleveland team had just been toppled.

Now, it's Superman vs. Black mamba.

After failing last year against Boston Celtics, Kobe Bryant and his LA Lakers are back at center stage as they host Game 1 of NBA finals this Friday. With a solid supporting cast and the return of Andrew Bynum, many have dubbed Lakers as the favorites in this series. Pau Gasol remains the primary sidekick of Kobe while Ariza and Fisher are expected to be the X-factor.

Orlando meanwhile, forms the league best starting 5. Rafer Alston, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis can complement Dwight Howard inside the lane. This 2009 Magic might have been the best team Orlando has ever fielded in years. With a dominating center inside and surrounded by shooters, Magic boasts a team every coach would be envy of. Their brand of basketball is simple. Give it to Howard. Either dominate inside or kick out to outside shooters and let the three-point shots kill you. Pick your poison as they say, but don't expect this NBA finals will be a walk in the park for both teams.

Phil Jackson is a hell of a coach. We all know that he has some aces up on his sleeve on how his Lakers will defend Howard. My initial guess? Let Bynum play Howard one on one. Limit their three-point shooting because this is their bread and butter. Game 7 of Eastern Finals proved that Howard is a good passer for a center. With Howard scoring 40 points and Magic making 12 three-point attempts, Cavs simply don't have an answer. Lamar Odom will play a key role in this series, which is equivalent to Mikael Pietrus of the Magic. Both players are sixth man and suppose they played well in the series, their respective team have an edge.

Defense would be the key. Kobe can score while Dwight, do we still need to ask? Kobe have Gasol as his sidekick. Dwight have Hedo, Rashard and Rafer with the addition of Courtney Lee and Pietrus. Stan Van Gundy will surely assign Pietrus to Kobe, the way he planned how to slow James in their Eastern Conference Final. Bench players also is vital for both teams, with the likes of Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and Sasha would be big for LA. Lakers has the pieces to win it all, but can they really win it all and give the big-headed Kobe Bryant his first title since post-Shaq era.

Orlando is so balanced that this team is labeled as unpredictable. Any given night, there are different players who beat you. Imagine, Kobe scoring 10 points yet Lakers win? I don't think so. Put Howard in the situation. Howard scoring 10 points yet they win? Probably because his wingmen are capable of stepping up. Pietrus, a once player who was delegated to the bench by the Warriors, now plays a defenive stopper and a terrific clutch shooter. Imagine this Magic team playing without Jameer Nelson...

Predictions anyone? Orlando in 6 and let the pathetic Kobe Bryant cry on his own, once again.

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