2012: One hell of a year for me. Thanks for all the memories!

It's December 31, 2012, who would have thought we would make it to this day, after the biggest comic epic failure of the century happened 10 days ago with the end of the world not coming to fruition, bringing doomsday preppers and believers into utter disappointment. Well it has gone and passed. Just like the year 2012 will be in a couple of hours. 2012, has been one hell of a year for K-Smoove with all the good and challenging times that life has to offer. So here are some of the highlights of my 2012.

Well 2012 marked the year I turn legal, as I celebrated my 18th birthday on April 30, where I had a simple house party with my friends with some delicious food at home. I was supposed to register for the upcoming 2013 elections. Unfortunately, I was too late to get register, and I will have to wait for the 2016 elections.

It also marked the end of the Quadricentennial celebration of the University of Santo Tomas where we were all witnesses to usher in the Neocentennial Year of the university, we were also witness to a once in 50 year spectacle called Velada Tomasina where we came to school wearing Filipinana clothes from Barong Tagalog to the Baro't Saya, and to cap the celebration with a university party and the ever-famous fireworks around the university.

I got to hang out a lot with my friends this year, whether we'd go out to do a school project, a ordinary school day, watch UAAP games live at the venues, a summer time birthday party, university events like the Quadricentennial Closing and Paskuhan 2012, college events like the CTHM Sportsfest and CTHM College Week, watching WrestleMania 28 at TriNoma or a reunion + basketball with my high school friends. I had a great time with all my friends this 2012. It was a fun time hanging out with them and it brought meaning to my year.

I also got the opportunity to meet a lot of people along the way, from within my own college CTHM, to fellow Thomasians outside of my own college, and the people I meet on Twitter or Facebook. My world just got smaller in 2012!

There were also times of victories in which I finished 3rd in our class at the Tour Guiding examination, the success of our class event "Silhouette: A Glint in the Dark, The Search for the Next Miss Tourism Ambassadress 2012" (where I fondly remember of being the "Devil's Advocate" of the preparation process.), and of course Team UST-CTHM's victory at the 2012 International Tourism and Trade Expo where I was a part of the winning team. I really hope for more success in 2013.

There were also times of defeats and challenges for me, especially not winning a post in the class, there were also a couple of heartbreaks which will not be mentioned on this blog entry, not making the Dean's List for two consecutive semesters, not making the Top 10 of my first competition representing UST-CTHM, and all the struggles of the average student. These challenges though made me a strong as the days progressed this 2012.

Of course, all the family bonding we had this year with our relatives, from weddings to birthday parties, to reunions, outings and Christmas celebration. It was all worth the time spending with my family and relatives.

Since I'm a sports junkie, I also would like to talk all the biggest sporting events this 2012 from the London Olympics, the Miami Heat winning their second NBA championship (LeBron James finally gets the ring), Talk 'n Text, B-Meg (now San Mig Coffee) and Rain or Shine winning PBA titles in 2012, the New York Giants defeating the New England Patriots once again in the Super Bowl, the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull winning in Formula 1, UFC matches (St-Pierre vs Condit, Silva vs Sonnen II, Henderson vs Edgar II, Dos Santos vs Velasquez II to name a few), Ateneo defeating UST for a five-peat in the UAAP Basketball Finals, but UST gets their revenge in the PCCL vs Ateneo, San Beda defeating Letran in the NCAA, Philippine Azkals games from the Suzuki Cup to all the friendlies, Chelsea defeating Bayern Munich on their home turf in the UEFA Champions League Final, Manny Pacquiao's double whammy in 2012 losing to Bradley and Marquez, Nonito Donaire's 4-0 year, Lance Armstrong's cycling ban, and all other sports events that have happened this year.



2012, will be one for the books for me. To end the year with a bang! I would like to thank all the people who were a part of my 2012, my family, my relatives, to my troupes Tropa-Guise & MERALCO, to my blockmates in T5, to my batchmates in CTHM both Travel Management and HRM, my batchmates across the university, my other friends in the university, my high school friends, my old friends, to my friends outside of the Philippines, to all my mentors, and FINALLY to God for being the best guide of my life.

Until then, cherish the good times this 2012 and leave all the heartbreak behind, let's enjoy the fireworks and the medya noche later tonight, as we bid 2012 goodbye, and usher in 2013!

Clipper win streak up to 16, Hawks contending in the East, Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

On the 150th blog entry of this blog, for the last time for the year 2012, here are the highlights of Week 9 in the NBA.

Clippers win streak now at 16!

Photo ©NBA/Clippers.com

The win streak for the Western Conference leaders the Los Angeles Clippers continues as it currently stands at 16. In their last win, they had to battle from behind all game long, but they manage to pick up a huge road victory against the Utah Jazz at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. With this winning streak, we could see Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro coach the Western Conference in the 2013 NBA All Star Game in Houston, unless the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs have anything to say about it and keep contending for the top spot in the Western Conference. Then again, who knows when the streak will come to an end? But these guys from Tinseltown are playing their best basketball not only this year, but also in franchise history after all the heartbreak and struggles that the franchise had gone through in it's existence.

Hawks contending in the East.

Photo ©NBA/Hawks.com

In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks have made a lot of headway this season and have shocked the NBA world as they currently sit in third place in the East and are right on the heels of both the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Their star Josh Smith have been putting up all-star numbers for the Hawks and is in serious contention to make his first All-Star Game appearance this season, after being snubbed in previous years. Smith has also been getting a lot of help this season from players like Al Horford, Lou Williams, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver. Head coach Larry Drew has done a pretty good job in Atlanta, keeping them a competitive team every season, as well as playing well on their first season without last season's leading scorer in Joe Johnson who moved to the Nets this season. These Hawks are making some noise in the East, and their chances of sneaking to the top of the Eastern Conference are very high.

Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

Photo ©CBSNews.com

After 2 1/2 seasons as head coach of the Nets, the curtain has closed for the "Little General", as Avery Johnson was relieved of coaching duties by the Brooklyn Nets organization. His firing came after the Nets have gone 3-10 in December, after they started the season at 11-4 and in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference and giving him the Coach of the Month Award  for the month of October-November. Johnson finishes his tenure with the Nets with a overall record of 60-116 (.341) which spans 2 1/2 season. Assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo has taken over the coaching reins on a interim basis for the Nets, as the organization searches for a permanent replacement for Johnson. So another coach gets the boot this season, the question now is how will the Nets continue their promising inaugural season in Brooklyn? That we will have to see in the days to come.

Meanwhile in Week 8, LeBron James of the Miami Heat has won his third Eastern Conference Player of the Week award of the season. While Chris Paul becomes the second Los Angeles Clippers player after Blake Griffin and the seventh player to receive the Western Conference Player of the Week award.

Here are the standings across the association after Week 9:

Western Conference:

1. Clippers (24-6), 2. Thunder (23-6), 3. Spurs (24-8), 4. Grizzlies (19-8), 5. Warriors (21-10), 6. Rockets (16-14), 7. Nuggets (17-15), 8. Timberwolves (14-13), 9. Trail Blazers (15-14), 10. Lakers (15-15), 11. Jazz (15-16), 12. Mavericks (12-18), 13. Suns (11-20), 14. Kings (10-19), 15. Hornets (7-23)

Eastern Conference: 

1. Heat (20-8), 2. Knicks (21-9), 3. Hawks (19-9), 4. Bucks (16-12), 5. Bulls (16-12), 6. Pacers (17-13), 7. Nets (16-14), 8. Celtics (14-15), 9. 76ers (14-17), 10. Magic (12-18), 11. Raptors (11-20), 12. Pistons (10-22), 13. Bobcats (7-23), 14. Cavaliers (7-25), 15. Wizards (4-24)

Only four teams have less than 10 wins so far with 9 weeks of the season thru, it's a five-way race in the Western Conference while it's a three-way race in the Eastern Conference on top of the standings.

Stay tuned as the first NBA weekly blog of 2013, comes to you next week!

K-Smoove

Hoopin' with my bros once again.

I always remember and cherish all the basketball games, me and my friends in high school played during PE classes twice a week and in Intramurals each year. Victories and defeats. Good and bad games. Falling short and rising again. You name everything that may happen in a basketball game. However, with every game played, the brotherhood gets stronger and bonds are made that lasts a lifetime.

We have gone different paths after all was said and done, and today, me and my PEEPS got together once again as we have been doing so since we went our own ways and played hoops once again, it's been almost three years since we played a game together. It was also time to catch up with things that have been happening with us from the last time we all got together, especially for one of my friends who came back from Cebu for Christmas.

We played our first game on midday at a basketball court inside one of my friends' village, it was at first a 4 on 4 full court battle, until two of my other friends arrived and it became a 5 on 5 match-up. Our team won the game and I scored a couple of baskets, but the defining moment for me in the game were the TWO BLOCKS I had in the game, the most notable of those blocks was a block on a three point attempt from behind the guy taking the shot, after that block, he struggled with his shooting. The other block was on a short jumper also from behind the guy taking the shot. I had some of Serge Ibaka's genes on those blocks. It may not be a LeBron James chasedown, but both blocks were special and the fact that I have not made a block in a game in 5 years. After the game, we took a rest from the action, and then played another 5 on 5 battle with a different set of players, but it was only a halfcourt game. Unfortunately, on the second game, our team lost and the guy who I blocked at the three point line got his groove back, maybe he wanted to exact revenge on me after that block. After the games, we took a long rest at his home, before heading out for lunch where we had more time to catch up and talk about our life stories in college, as well as relieving some memories of our days in high school. After a long discussion, we went our separate ways to our homes.

So once again, I thank JL, Aldrin, Francis, Gelo, Patrick, Nur, Ichi, Miko and Josh for the great time spent and all the hoops. Until our next trip/reunion!

Brothers for a lifetime.
K-Smoove