Bullet of Baltimore

Winning isn’t everything. To Phelps, heck NO…winning is the only thing he focuses in the pool. That’s why he swept all 8 gold medals in all events he participated at Beijing Olympic and be the only swimmer that ever won 8 gold medals in a single Olympic game vanishing  Mark Spitz record of 7 gold medals in 1972 Summer Olympic. Not just that, he has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most that ever won by any Olympian to date. In his early appearance, he was the youngest swimmer to set a world record when he was 15 years 9 months. Just amazing. Having physical advantage with 6’7” wingspan, 3” longer than his own height help him with extraordinary reach. I think that’s how he beat Milorad Cavic in 100m butterfly in Beijing despite his quickness on the last stroke which was half stroke earlier than Cavic’s. Imagine, 0.01 of a sec determined who won the shining gold. Cavic must be really pissed off with that result. I mean, 1/100 sec…huh. Very2 tight race.

In Beijing, it was a miracle. I still remember how the US 4x100m freestyle relay team outran the Fantastic Four of French. But Phelps wasn’t the man. The hero that helped Phelps to win another gold was Jason Lezak. On that relay, Lezak really nailed it that he set the fastest split time in history to beat Frenchman Alain Bernard by 0.08 sec. Again, it was astonishing and I thought that was one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen. What heat up the competition was because the French has been talking too much about beating the American in that relay final. They were very confident that they could beat the Americans who were getting more hype during the game.  It was a breathtaking performance by Lezak and of course without him, Phelps couldn’t have dreamt to pursue his ultimate goal.

Phelps and mates have proven that everything is possible by setting their preliminary goals. To realize the goals is to dream about it, dream as it was real, and then work on it…harder and harder until you reach your limit and then go beyond the limit and that’s where you would reach greatness. To know if you’re capable to do so is to try, and then you’ll know where you stand. When you know where you stand, you’ll start dreaming of reaching higher, later you’ll learn how to jump to reach a higher spot. That’s how it works. Life ain’t easy.

Ali

He said he could ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’. The one and only Muhammad Ali is a legendary boxer, still the greatest in my heart. Being a professional boxer, he was cocky, but of course in a sense to portray his confidence level and a way to jolt his opponent’s psychology. He never worked during his early life; all he did was boxing, and during practice, he set himself apart from other boys. How? First thing, Ali was sassy, so not many people adore people like him and second he outworked any other boy during training. He trained very hard and it did pay off. He won 6 Kentucky Golden Gloves titles plus 2 National Golden Gloves titles with an additional Amateur Athletic Union National Title and not to forget a gold medal from 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Those were marvelous achievements for an amateur.  As a professional, he was three-time World Heavyweight Champion with only 5 losses throughout his professional career. Despite all those phenomenal successes, he went through a lot of difficulties. He refused to serve his nation during the war against Vietnam and it caused him his championship title. More than that, he faced a 5-year prison term, his boxing licenses were cancelled and his passport was taken. After the doomed years, he set his comeback by fighting Joe Frazier in a so called the “Fight of the Century” but then Ali lost. However, Ali paid his revenge to Joe in the bout famously named “Thrilla In Manila” where Ali won after 15 arduous rounds. It was a ‘fight for your life’ mission and Ali did it…what a match. Later in his life, Ali was awarded “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and also the “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC. And I will always cultivate my mind with the fighting spirit he possessed as a notable inspiration to achieve greatness in life.

The Devil vs. The Tiger

Yep. 3-2. Pretty close result huh. Man U could just have one extra goal to defeat our beloved national team. I wonder what Ferguson has in his mind that makes him wanna rematch against Msia team tmrrw. Guess we beat the heck out of his team yeah. Yesterday, it wasn’t the same team that championed the EPL but I’m sure Ferguson is feeling fragile and he wants to redo it to regain his confidence (I might just say arrogance) because it such a shame to let 2 goals scored by a 3^rd-World country. Well, congrats to Amri with his spectacular goals against the Devil and also to all Msia players. U guys are superb. Keep it up. Don’t let the Devil wears the Prada. Long time ago, I used to be a Man U fan. But not anymore.

The King

Hail the King…LeBron James is on top of any other NBA players…in fact he always is ever since I watched him played back in 2005. Being crowned the MVP last season was his greatest achievement so far and yes, he deserved it after fighting his sweat off throughout his career with Cleveland Cavaliers. Without him, the Cavs got nothing to offer….LBJ is the backbone of the team; he rules the team as his own kingdom; he anchored every possible chance and makes it real; he cherishes the fan by slamming the ball to the ring and making the impossible looks so easy. He plays sophisticated basketball and performed the task magnificently. In high school, James was always touted to be a big hit in the NBA. Three-time awarded “Mr. Basketball” of Ohio brought him straightaway from the high school as the number one pick in NBA Draft 2003 to enter Cleveland Cavaliers. First year went great as he averaged 20.9 points  and awarded the NBA Rookie of the year during 03-04’ season. His achievements were tremendous; he was the youngest player to ever score at least 40 points in a game; he was the youngest player to be awarded as the All-Star MVP; he has become the youngest player to score 10000 pts when he was 23; he’s holding the all-time record scoring for Cavs and still scoring for the team; he has scored at least 35 pts in 9 consecutive games and put his name in the same row with Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan as players who had ever accomplished those achievements since 1970; averaging 28.4 pts last season put him on top of the scoring list in the league for 08-09’ season. He has set a very high standard for any newcomer in the league. What a remarkable basketball player he is. A lot of records breaking have been done but more surprises are yet to come, LeBron is on his way to be the greatest basketball player. What he really needs now is merely an NBA title to launch his incredible journey. This is just the beginning. And I’m the WITNESS.

The GoAT

Many claim that he’s the GoAT (Greatest of All Time). Indeed. RF is the greatest tennis player of all time. After being crowned the King of Wimbledon (again!), he finally deserved to be the GoAT. Federer is the only person on planet earth who has achieved 15^th Grand Slam (Open Era) title while completing his Grand Slam title collection by winning on all surfaces. He got his 14^th at the French Open (his 1^st title there) equaling Sampras achievement. However that record did not linger too long until Roger broke it by winning another title few weeks after that. After an epic (yet heartbroken to RF) match last year at Wimbledon with Rafael Nadal (who finally defeated RF on grass), he shed the most distressful tears, frustrated to seize his 14^th on the grass where he always playing his best tennis, he then promised he’ll be back again next year (2009). And yes, he did it…stylishly. This Swiss maestro has proven that nobody can stop him even Roddick who (I personally think) has played his best tennis during the Wimbledon final by only getting his serve broken just once, but the most inconsolable one; the one that gave Roger the championship point. Now, his name is a legacy yet he is still in the process of building it to become bigger and bigger. Even legendary Pete Sampras said that Federer could win at least 18 or 19 major title. What an incredible athlete he is. Salute. All in all, the most important thing is his fabulous achievements help to inspire people to do what they believe in and what they are capable in doing. And I’m one of them.

First Day

Well fellas,

First day at work usually a very short one huh, so I'll keep it simple. This blog is created to say something about sports, doesn't matter what it's all about as long as that piece is related to any sport that ever existed in this world. Wanna know more, stay tuned and check this blog as you surf your way down through this boundless world. Your comments are crucial. I really appreciate whatever you will write because truly, it does matter to me. Hmm, alright guys, seems like today is your lucky day, I'll release you guys a little bit early, but don't forget to drop by. Aite, later.