The Reality: Alaska Can Live Without Tim Cone

Alaska's championship starts a new era of its dominance. Justin Gener

The loss of Tim Cone as Alaska's head coach was so tragic for the Aces side that in their first year playing basketball without his mentoring, they struggled. But the hopes were high for rookie coach Luigi Trillo. Trillo once coached the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the UAAP, but he had two winless seasons there But he was still given the task to coach the remainder of the 2012 PBA season the full 2013 PBA season. While the struggles were still there, he and the Aces believed that the breakthrough would come. That came in the form of Calvin Abueva via the draft and Jvee Casio and Dondon Hontiveros via trades. From the once lowly club, the Aces became a formidable team in just a season. And their hard work was rewarded with a championship. It is a proof that Alaska can still be a powerhouse team without Tim Cone.

The Alaska Aces finally showed that the loss of Tim Cone is already a thing of the past. I still believe that Cone's loss was vital for the Aces, but now we can truly say that there's life minus Coach Tim at the Alaska camp. It was a fairy-tale ending for the Aces, who despite the struggles and the woes stayed to their system.

The new era of Gatas Republic dominance ushers in. Get ready, PBA fans! They're back!

The Reality: Alaska Can Live Without Tim Cone

Kobe Takes His Talents to the Fight Versus Homelessness

Kobe Bryant is taking his talents ...to the fight against homelessness.

Kobe Bryant has already made up his mind. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar will join... the crusade to give people home.

Kobe made a taped announcement in the Sports Spectacular 2013 that he will team up with the SS organization to eradicate homelessness. In fact, he's setting up an event on August 16 (Philippine Time) at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles together with host Jimmy Kimmel. The proceeds of the event will be used to build houses for the poor communities.

Many speculations were raised up overnight regarding his decision, the most popular being the retirement option. Bryant ruptured his Achilles tendon late during the regular season that sidelined him throughout the rest of his spectacular season in which he made it to the 31,000 club, and an Achilles tendon injury is a major injury that retired many athletes sooner than expected. Other speculations included a possible trade demand and the exercising of the opt-out clause in his current contract with the Lakers.

Kobe Takes His Talents to the Fight Versus Homelessness

Do the Math: Liga Zon Sagres Edition

Is Kelvin De Oliveira's late goal enough for Porto to win the Liga Zon Sagres?
Reuters

One of the most underrated professional soccer leagues in Europe for me, the Portuguese Primeira Liga, now known as Liga Zon Sagres, stays in step with the more well-known leagues in Euro soccer in terms of competition. Why not? Just as we are still shrugging off the remnants of the wildest finish in the Barclays Premier League since 1989 (that was just last year), here we are again. After Kelvin De Oliveira struck a stoppage time goal in their previous meeting against Benfica Lisbon, Porto is heading to tomorrow's action a solitary point ahead of the latter for the Portuguese league championship. Porto will go on the road to face Pacos De Ferreira, while Benfica plays Moreirense at home.

1. Relegation Battle

Before we go to the championship race, let's go to the bottom of the standings, where five teams, Setubal, Gil Vicente, Olhanense, Moreirense, and Beira-Mar are battling to get out of the Bottom 2 as the teams in that zone will be relegated. As aforementioned, Moreirense, second to the last in the standings, has a tough outing on the road as they visit Benfica at Lisbon. Beira-Mar, dead last in the table, also has a tough season finale at home as they face another Portuguese powerhouse, Sporting Lisbon. GV battles Estoril at home, Setubal clashes with Braga, and Olhenense faces Maritimo, all at home. Since five teams are involved, things are really complicated down there, so I will not go further with this. But I'm pretty sure Moreirense is done. About Beira-Mar? Skip to number 2.

2. Championship Battle

Now here's the wildest. Benfica and Porto are battling for the league championship. For the Lisbon side, this will be a sweet consolation after losing to BPL club Chelsea in the Europa League championship game considering that they can write their own fate. For Porto, being at the driver's seat gives the club some advantage. Here are their standings (W-D-L):

Porto: 75 pts. (23-6-0) with +54 GD (68-14)
Benfica Lisbon: 74 pts. (23-5-1) with +55 GD (74-19)

a. If Porto wins, Porto gets the championship regardless of the result of the Benfica-Beira-Mar game. If Benfica also wins, Beira-Mar is relegated.
b. If Benfica loses, Porto gets the championship and Beira-Mar could escape relegation (i.e. if at least two of the four other endangered teams lose) regardless of the result of the PDF-Porto game.
c. If both teams draw their games, Porto will still walk away with the championship, but for Beira-Mar, the club must hope that Moreirense loses and Olhanense loses by at least two goals to escape relegation.

To summarize some points of the first three, if both Porto and Benfica share the same result, Porto will win the Liga Zon Sagres. Now here are the wilder scenarios.

d. If Benfica wins and Porto fails to win (i.e. draws or loses to PDF), BL wins the championship and Beira-Mar is relegated.
e. If Porto loses and the Benfica-Beira-Mar game is a draw, both Porto and BL will finish the season with identical 23-6-1 records for 75 points. However, because Benfica has a better GD (BL will still finish with a +55 GD, while Porto's GD will drop to a maximum of +53), BL wins the championship. Refer to the second clause of scenario (c) for Beira-Mar.

Fearless Forecast: That Kelvin goal last week was the dagger. Scenario (a) plus Beira-Mar's relegation will happen after tomorrow.

Do the Math: Liga Zon Sagres Edition

Is Calvin Abueva Gilas-Worthy?

Should Calvin Abueva get a stint with Gilas Pilipinas? Philippine Daily Inquirer

While skimming the sports blogosphere, I saw this new blog post from Mico Halili in which he got a screen capture of a conversation between PBA fan Jeron Sarapdon and Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes. My topic for this article is obvious through this:

What did Gilas coach Chot Reyes mean when he replied "Onga"?
Mico Halili

Now, the question: should Calvin Abueva be added to the national team? With the tone of Coach Chot's answer, he's now considering "The Beast" to make the Gilas lineup. I agree. "Why not?" Abueva should get a Gilas cap. Abueva is the perfect example of an energy player right now in the PBA. His style of play is now getting attention from the Alaska fans and haters alike. While the 6'3" swingman is kinda undersized for a forward, his passion for the game is so immeasurable. He's definitely a game-changer. Do you agree?

Is Calvin Abueva Gilas-Worthy?

Davao Natives Rule Mt. Apo Race

People's Park Runners' Mario Escalner and Ronald Dagaang needed less than
12 and a half hours to top the Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge in Davao Del
Sur.

Mario Escalner and Ronald Dagaang of People's Park Runners topped the 2013 Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge in the town of Sta. Cruz in Davao Del Sur, finishing the race the fastest among 32 teams including three international pairs.

The Davao City-based pair clocked in at 12 hours, 22 minutes, and 58 seconds to win PHP150,000 in cash and other prizes as top finishers of the 113-kilometer race in which the teams will climb Mt. Apo, the country's highest peak. Dexter Nonato and April John Maniyog of Team DOTA/Columbia finished second after finishing the bike-trek-swim-and-run course in 12 hours, 32 minutes, and 21 seconds, while the pair of Dioscoro Genunsalao and Romeo Caparas was third with 12:46:51. The two teams received PHP100,000 and PHP75,000 respectively.

The Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge highlighted the Pista sa Kinaiyahan of Sta. Cruz, one of the entry points to the Apo Peak.

Davao Natives Rule Mt. Apo Race