Three Takes from The First Four Days of the World Cup

It has been a whirlwind four days in the 2018 Russia World Cup and it has been beyond exciting.

Here are my three takes so far:

Take #1: The unexpected is taking centerstage.
Sure, Russia is the host nation and thus, expected to have some kind of homefield advantage but a 5-0 result against a normally solid Saudi Arabian squad? And it was a relatively easy 5-0 win too, as the Russians threatened all game long. And then there was the Mexico's famous victory over Gemany, Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick for Portugal, and Lionel Messi's missed penalty kick to drop Argentina to a draw against Iceland, all of which are sentences we never thought were going to be said in this lifetime.

Three Takes From The National Women's Volleyball Team Selection

So, the list has finally come out. Here are the fourteen women tasked to lift Philippine women's volleyball to the next level:

Aby Marano (Team Captain), Alyssa Valdes, Jaja Santiago, Dawn Macandili, Kim Fajardo, Jia Morado, Ces Molina, Majoy Baron, Kim Dy, Mika Reyes, Cha Cruz, Dindin Manabat, with Denden Lazaro and Rhea Dimaculangan on the reserve list.

Here are my three takes from this list:
Take #1: Isn't the team a bit...uhm, unbalanced? I look at the inital 12-person lineup and I see so many middle blockers but just 1 libero. Are we then banking on dominating the aerial battle at the net, rather than the trench warfare on the floor? Also, heavens forbid that Dawn Macandili have a bad day at the office (or worse, gets injured) because we may then have to test Cha Cruz-Behag's on-court versatility.

Janine Pontejos Makes FIBA 3x3 History for Philippines.

In the end, the best man left standing was a Filipina.

Yes, the smallest of the snipers, Janine Pontejos, stood tallest when the chips were down by scoring 14 points in 41.86 seconds to finally give them Philippines its first gold medal in the senior division* of the FIBA 3x3 tournament.

Here are three things that helped Pontejos win the shootout:

1) Homecourt advantage - There's nothing like playing at home and Pontejos definitely felt the love from the home crowd, which helped prop up her confidence.

Philippine Women's 3X3 Team: When Puso Isn't Enough But It Still Is.

Afril Bernardino. Jack Animam. Gemma Miranda. Janine Pontejos.

Remember those names. Today, they showed the fabled Pinoy "puso" on the court and made every Filipino proud.

This was a Filipina team that was lacking in a lot of things: height, experience, monetary support, an easy draw. But what they didn't lack was the determination of the Pinoy baller to overcome all those challenges.

The Significance Of Game Three

Game Three is going to be very important. So important that it will dictate whether Lebron James leaves the Cavs this summer or not.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think the Cavs will win the series. The Warriors are just too darned good. But if the Cavs can win Game 3, then they make the series respectable. Win Game Four and we'll have a proper series.

The Unfortunate Thing About Game One...

Do you know what's quite sad about Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers?

That its biggest talking point isn't Lebron James' singular dominance, scoring 51 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and 8 assists in an almost triple-double effort, while playing 48 minutes.