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My favorite commercial

Roger-Rafa final in Madrid...gooooo Roger!!!!! I believe!

A great day. (27/31)

I've had an excellent Saturday. It started with a morning at home, watching a great game between Kansas and Michigan St. online, and then working with IMovie '09 for awhile. Then I left for the Rugby Sevens, over on the island. It took me a lot longer to walk there after my bus ride than I had anticipated, but it was turned out well because I met a lovely British couple, Sarah and Grant. We chatted all the way up the hill to Hong Kong Stadium.

I really enjoyed the Sevens! It's an awesome sporting event! Crazy, crazy fans, and a great tournament structure. Continuous games all day long at 20 minute intervals. I watched about 15 different teams play during the afternoon, I think. Some of them were huge blowouts. The powerhouse teams like England and New Zealand were so good. It's a fast game and fun to watch. Rugby players make football players (as well as most other athletes!) look like pansies. Especially in the Sevens game, they have such an impressive combination of power and speed. I was surprised and impressed with the sportsmanship evident in the game. I didn't see the after the whistle clashes you see in football, nor the dives you see in soccer. I liked that. It was fun to watch them break out for long runs. I watched Canada beat Chinese Taipei, and after that Hong Kong pulled out a big win against Tonga. That was a great match.

The fans in the infamous "South Stand" were nuts. I overheard one person trying to find a friend on the phone..."So, you're next to the Incredible Hulks and the bumblebees? Are the men in the orange tights closeby?!" Some of my favorite get-ups: the Smurfs, the Teletubbies, the Roman soldiers, the bananas and the Dan Marinos. I wished that I would have taken my Nikon with me; there were plenty of fun photo opportunities. I think the fans in the South Stand alone were likely responsible for drinking enough to fill the Hong Kong harbour with beer...so you can imagine the environment on that side of the stadium!

After the Sevens, I met up with new friends at an Indian/Nepalese restaurant. I had a great time getting to know Medha and Kala. Dad has become friends with Medha's family in Guwahati, so he connected Medha and I. And the food was so, so good!

Overall, a great day!

I didn't know how to get to the Stadium, so I assumed this guy was headed in the right direction...

Hong Kong Stadium

The "South Stand"

These people were pretty excited to have their picture taken.
They're only one hour away!

Delicious meal with new friends, Kala and Medha

She's back!!! (26/31)

Some great news today from the tennis world! Kim Clijsters is making a comeback! This is good for women's tennis, which has taken a hit in the past couple years, losing players like Henin, Clijsters and Davenport. Clijsters, a former #1, is a fun player to watch, and so well-liked on the tour. She's only 25, so if she can manage to stay healthy, she could do well for a few years yet. Now if Justine Henin would get back into the game...

I had to laugh this morning when friend sent me a text message: "Hey, I see you on the news!" My Chinese friends here like to call me "Kim" because they think I resemble her! Hey, if my backhand even came close to resembling Kim's, I'd be thrilled!!! :) I'll keep dreaming..

Good times (25/31)

Tonight we had our basketball wind-up party. One of the guys on the team has a great place for a party. His parents make movies. You can imagine that his house (it actually is a house) is slightly more spacious than my 630 foot flat.

Things got interesting when one guy locked out two of the others, while letting the guard dog loose in the yard. We laughed pretty hard as they tried to escape by running around the pool...and eventually jumped in. I wish I would have caught it on video. The dog was far more playful than dangerous; but I would have been freaked out if I was the one locked out of the house! Anyway, a few of us were left inside, enjoying the entertainment. With sixteen year old guys, you can guess it wasn't long until everyone was thrown into the pool...coach included (twice)!! Ah, good memories. I'm going to miss these guys, that's for sure.

A cake I made for the party.

The party site!

Toss #1

Toss #2 (they launched me backwards a second after this picture)

Hong Kong Sevens (24/31)

Today I picked up a free ticket to the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens! I am excited. I'm not really a rugby fan and I know little about the sport, but the Sevens are the talk of town in HK at this time of the year. It will be good to add to the HK experience resume. Plus, I'm always up for learning about a new sport. From what I hear, the fans take on Riderville-like qualities, so that should keep things interesting.

I'm doing a little research before I go. Here's what I know so far:
-Hong Kong is supposed to be the biggest stop on the Sevens Cup circuit.
-They've been hosting the Sevens in HK since 1976. Tradition.
-Rugby is normally played with 15, but for Sevens...they play with 7. Good one. Same size field, so the game depends more on speed.
-Games only last 15 minutes (two 7-minute halves, with a 1-minute half time). So on Saturday, games start every 22 minutes...from 10:30am to 7:15pm.
-New Zealand comes in as the defending champions. Samoa won the year before.

The rest I'll learn on the fly! Should be fun!

Are you kidding me?!

I'm telling ya, it's great to be a sports fan in March!! Did you see the 6-OT Big East game between Syracuse and UConn?!! That's no typo...6 overtimes! Crazy.

Getting warmed up for the madness!!

This is a sweet upset in the World Baseball Classic...the mighty Dominican, with 23 MLB players, falls to the Netherlands (they have 2). See? March is the month for upsets! Love it.

Bringing Cougs pride to HK...(9/31)

This morning I got to watch the second half of the National Championship, hosted at the U of R. The hometown Cougs (ranked #2) were up against Simon Fraser (#1). It was fun seeing the U of R pack the place, as usual. There are few universities in Canada that get the crazy crowd support that Regina does, and you can imagine the home team advantage the Cougs had going into the National Final. Unfortunately they came up short against what looked like a tough SFU team. They came up with some big shots and Regina didn't shoot very well. A hard one to lose on the home court, especially with six 5th year players in their final games.

Takes me back to the good ol' days, when I proudly warmed the pine for one great season. I think of that year (and a half actually, until I blew out my knee) often and miss the intensity of it all. It was one of the best experiences I've had in my life. It makes me feel very old to look at the roster and see that most of the girls were just going into high school when I was playing on the team! Yikes!! Anyway, I had to pass on a little Cougs pride to the kids in Grade 5 today, so we watched the last few minutes of the game in class. I'm sure some of them would fit in well with the crowd in Regina...

Dodgeball: Game of Champions (1/31)

My church is revving up a pretty awesome sports ministry. It reminds me of Sunday nights at 1825 Rothwell St- playing basketball in the pint-size gym and loving the chance to play with big brother Tim and his cool and athletic friends. Anyway, tonight we played some epic dodgeball. I think dodgeball is an amazing way to spend an evening- whipping balls at your friends with every ounce of strength. Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge, baby. What could be better?!

It also brought back a memory that makes me laugh of embarassment. Why didn't my roommates at the time (TAMARA!) tell me that I should not wear purple spandex for the dodgeball tournament? Tonight I spared my (new) friends the terror of seeing me in purple spandex. I won't spare you, though...here's a picture of the purple spandex (and some other good friends in trendy gear)...from the 80's party of the century (another fine memory!).

Ah, dodgeball- a game for the ages.

Guess the shoe didn't fit.

An update on the Cinderella story. They played a tough game but we lost 72-49. It was a significant achievement to notch 49 on this particular team. We were down by two at the end of the first quarter. We were terribly outrebounded and one by one my 'big' guys fouled out. They had a number of trees. We had a number of fighters...but came up short (no pun originally intended). I was proud of the guys. A couple of them made some incredible finishes- very pretty to watch. They've come a long way this year- as individual basketball players and especially as a team.

Cinderella...or Sink!

Well, we're into playoff season! We finished the regular season 5-5- a solid job by a young (mostly grade 10's and 11's) and undersized (but speedy!) team. These guys are so enjoyable to coach...I learned to tone down the ol' pep talk because they come so fired up on their own! I love it.
We ended up tied for fifth with two other teams in the league. Unfortunately we lost to both, and thus dropped to the #7 seed...which places us in a tough match against the #2 seed.
I emailed the guys yesterday:

Guys...your basketball homework has arrived. Watch this:

On any given Saturday...anything can happen.
cmac.
(that's me)

Ooooh, this just fires me up...for tomorrow's game, and beyond that- for March Madness!!! Best month of the year- hands down!!

This year's showdown..

Last year I went to see Roger vs. Pete in Macau. This year they are adding a couple old guys to the show...should be fun!!

Touching Them All

Oh my, this makes me weep! What a neat story. Hits close to home- softball, a torn ACL, and a girl that's never hit one over the fence! :) I sure miss ball, and especially all my ball friends, at this time of the year. I'd love to get the cleats out and dive into the shale. Enjoy...and get your kleenex out!!

Where's the A535?

I've got that soreness that is most definitely a result of basketball. I've missed it! Reminds me of my first basketball camp. I was tagging along with Tim and his buddies to a camp at CBC- Athletes in Action. I was ten, and I remember waking up the second day and discovering the effects of lactic acid for the first time.

Anyway. My friend Jill and I have been on a hunt for a women's basketball team here. A tennis friend connected me to one his buddies, whom we met up with for a bit of street ball. He then pointed us to a team, and last night we joined their practice. This was likely the highlight of the weekend. I haven't been a player in a practice since the the day I said goodbye to my acl in University. It was awesome to get out and run the floor again. Ah, I have missed it so much. They seem to be a nice group of girls and they were fun to play with. I'm looking forward to more, though I'm not sure how I will balance tennis and basketball. Not a bad thing to have to figure out, though! Love it!

It's about time I got back into it- it's March after all!! Time to work on the brackets!

The Men in My Life These Days...(Happy Valentines Day!)

Mature, responsible fourteen, fifteen and sixteen year olds...as you can see.


We just finished off our regular season. A pretty decent record of 6 wins, 2 losses. Today's win was strange, to put it kindly. The home team didn't have a bench to sit on, nor did they have a score sheet, or scorekeepers, to start the game. A game that was supposed to be played in quarters was played in two halves, until the clock chimed 6pm, and the public gym we were playing in lifted their nets with one minute left in the game. A slightly anticlimactic finale, especially with a score of 18-14. Yes, we were playing basketball! Ah well, the best part was that the location of the gym was a perfect picture of Hong Kong- built on the top level of an indoor wet market. We're walking by the vegetable section and I'm wondering- this is really the way to the gym? Classic use of space!!

Saturday is our first play-off game. Should be a good one! I've enjoyed this bunch a great deal- committed, eager and a lot of fun.

Pep Rally Movie 2008

Here is the movie I put together for today's pep rally:

Aussie Open Hype

Day 5- Serena is sizzling with 15 aces in her third round match. Domination or what?!

Justine Henin blows my mind. Her overall record in the past 3 years is 63-4. Her one-handed backhanded leaves me dumbfounded. She is so good. I love watching her play.

I've got to say, in honor of Heather, that Rafa's orange look is just not working out. I'm not digging it.

However, I know Heather's rooting for Jankovic, so here's a pretty awesome picture I found. Desktop material! I dream of a two-handed backhand like that!

Speaking of Jankovic, this is a neat video on "The Rebirth of Serbia". I find it hard not to cheer for the big three of Jankovic, Ivanovic and Djokovic.

Here's an interesting article detailing how both Roger and Pete tragically lost their coaches- and were seemingly spurred onto their legendary play as a result. It's a good one.

Looks like the match of the day was Baghdatis/Safin. A five-setter, one I hope to catch via my friend's marvelous daily recordings of tennis coverage.

Both ESPN and Tennis.com have good highlights to wrap up each day's action.

Ohhh. I love tennis!!!

Live Tennis, Gotta Love It!!

I'm really excited about what came in the mail today: tickets for the JB Group Classic 2008!! I'm going to the "Super Friday" on January 4, which should showcase the best of the bunch in the semi-finals. I'll be rooting for Ivanovic; she's my favorite in the draw. Other top players in the draw include Sharapova, Venus, Hantuchova, Chakvetadze and Dementieva. It's just a warm-up tournament and lacks real intensity (I went to the event in 2005), but it's still so awesome to watch these ladies play.

Be Like Pete. For Tennis Fans.

After watching Sampras scorch Federer with 14 aces in two sets, I have been dreaming of the Sampras serve (and the Federer forehand/backhand/everything) all week. So, for tennis fans, here's how you can serve like Pete. I wish...