The games of the 29th Olympiad has just began at Beijing, China. Missed the beginning of the ceremonies, which started at 8:08PM on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008 (08 August 2008 at 8:08). Nice numbers. Wonder will this bring luck to Team Philippines.

Was excited to see the events of the Opening Ceremonies as they unfold “live” at C/S (Solar Entertainment channel), but got dismayed with the number of commercials during gaps. Luckily, I found another channel covering the ceremonies, just minutes behind the one aired at C/S. But, seems to be that the lucky day is not favoring me: the CCTV channel just went off the air. Got pissed, turned the television off and headed on to the net. Justin.tv is still not covering the ceremonies, but the pictures are already online at the official Olympics website and at Yahoo!News.

Now, I remember 16 years ago, I was just 11 years old then when Barcelona in Spain played host to the 1992 games. Because of the timezone difference, my dad woke my brother and I up at around 2AM just for us to catch the opening ceremonies. It was the first time that I had actually watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony. And who can forget the dramatic lighting of the cauldron by archer Antonio Rebollo? For those who were still very young to comprehend or remember the 1992 Olympics, here’s what happened during the final torch relay and ceremonial lighting of the cauldron:

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Last month, it was reported that swimmer Miguel Molina will be the country’s flag bearer to the Beijing Olympics come August 2008. However, upon Manny Pacquiao’s return from his successful match with David Diaz last week, PGMA announced that he will be the country’s flag bearer to the Olympics.

Alright, Manny is a great athlete, I have nothing against him, but is it really necessary to kick Miguel Molina out of being the flag bearer? Another thing, Manny is NOT even on the official Philippine delegates list to the Summer Olympics, thus making the butts of the Philippine Sports officials off their seats trying to get him in the list to Beijing. Shame on you PGMA!

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Solar Sports won the right to broadcast PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) games for three (03) years starting next season. The PHP508 million deal will bring the country’s premier basketball league back to RPN 9 (where Solar Sports is a block-timer).

This makes Solar Sports the exclusive rights to air all of the premier basketball leagues Pinoys love: NBA, PBL, and PBA games. Not to mention exclusivity in airing the 2008 & 2012 Summer Olympics (China and London) and 2010 Winter Olympics (Canada).

Read on the details at http://www.pba.ph/content/view/2133/1/

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For those who are waiting for the match to be aired via GMA 7, sorry to spoil the excitement guys and gals, Manny Pacquaio wins via split decision!

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Sta. Lucia Realtors grabbed their very first All-Filipino crown in tonight’s do or die match with the Purefoods Chunky Giants, 100 to 88. I must say, they really deserved it! The Chunky Giants are now a bunch of hot & brat heads (pardon for the terms, but can’t find any better words). It’s high time that PF kicks their coach (I had said it a conference ago).

Congratulations to the Sta. Lucia Realtors!

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The Philippine Basketball team at the 24th SEA Games continues its winning streak at the expense of Malaysia, 108-60 in this afternoons match.

Here are the stats:

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It was reported at the GMANews.tv website that former PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) Commissioner Jun Bernardino is dead. He’s the first PBA Commissioner that I had known (90’s). My sincere condolences to the family of Comm. Jun. May his soul rest in peace.

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