Streak Shooter

I was jolted out of my sleep one early Monday morning here in California by the news that Gilas Pilipinas, the national team of my former country Philippines, got into a brawl with the Australian team during a game at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan as part of the qualifiers for next year's FIBA World Cup in China. According to the reports I read from social media, the incident took place in the third quarter and the Australians leading by a big margin, 79-48, when an Australian player threw a punch at Gilas player Carl Bryan Cruz. That led to a bench-clearing and punching incident that saw nine Gilas players thrown out, including Cruz, Terrence Romeo, Andray Blatche and Jayson Castro William -- a guy not really known for his hot-headedness on the court as a Talk n Text player in the PBA. Five Aussies were also ejected, including NBA player Thon Maker, who threw a swing at Romeo at the height of the melee. A friend of mine on Facebook also told me that he witnessed Gila...

SOCIAL media all over the world is going ga-ga over the news that superstar LeBron James is moving to the Western Conference for the first time in his NBA career. On an otherwise boring Sunday afternoon (US time), James shook up the sports world when he announced that he is signing a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers where he will be paid $154 million, thus ending his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers whom he led to the NBA title in 2016. It is no secret that LeBron has had irreconcilable differences with Cavaliers team owner Dan Gilbert over the direction of the team which prompted him to say goodbye for a second time to his hometown. Gilbert was criticized for some questionable moves such as trading Kyrie Irving to Boston and giving the Cavs a quick fix by acquiring veterans like Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose only to let go of them during the trade deadline. And the players Cleveland got like Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. didn't create much of an...