Why I love Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso concluded its three season run last year. I thought it was one of the best series I've watched. It made a lot of sense considering the situations the characters found themselves in and the humor was realistic rather than slapstick. Never mind that in reality an (American) football coach would never be considered to coach or manage an English football team.

I liked it when Ted wrote on the cover of Trent's draft that the latter only needed to change the title. Instead of "The Ted Lasso Way," the book's title became "The Richmond Way." It wasn't really about the football but life (in its many variations and situations) that was the topic of the series. Of course, it helped that there were many notable guests on the series including football legends like Pep Guardiola and Thierry Henry.

I think the top reason why I really love Ted Lasso is that the series helped me through a battle with COVID-19. One or two episodes a night for several nights including the most difficult ones while I had the virus and was in isolation helped me keep my spirits up and made my condition a bit more bearable while I struggled to recover.

-

Requiem from a fan and friend of the Skywalker

It's been 9 years since Samboy Lim suffered a heart attack. It was during an exhibition game among former PBA players when he collapsed. Unfortunately, there was no one to immediately attend to the emergency to give first aid and that proved to be critical to his condition. He lapsed into a coma from which he eventually recovered partially and had to be cared for until his recent passing.

A photo of Samboy beside the urn containing his cremains near the chapel altar at Letran

NCAA Championship trophies and souvenir nets from when Samboy played for Letran in the early 1980s. They won three straight titles with Samboy on the team.

 

I've long been a fan of Samboy Lim and was thrilled to finally meet him in person more than 2 decades ago. His former wife was a close friend of my wife as they had been blockmates throughout law school. Lelen is also our Godmother in our wedding. Lost among the photos that perished from Ondoy was one where we posed at the opening of their restaurant many years ago which I kept for one because we both held a bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen. There were no smart phones or social media apps to record these for posterity but such memories are ones you keep close and fondly recall and retell.

Samboy was a good man, a good father to daughter Jamie. He was a role model for a lot of kids especially those who were inspired by his game and demeanor on and off court. He took risks when he played and I thought he should have been MVP if not for all the injuries that prevented him from playing full seasons. Samboy will be missed by family, friends and fans.

-

Back to badminton?

I have not played serious badminton in over a decade. My daughter took badminton lessons during the school break and now enthusiastically plays street badminton with her friends. We got her an inexpensive racket from the Yonex store at SM Megamall and another one from Decathlon. Inspired by this development and also playing street badminton with her some afternoons, I decided to bring out the old rackets from storage so I can use them. The grips were already deteriorated and it was a bit difficult to remove them from the rackets.

The deteriorating grip on one of my rackets

I also removed the grip from another racket though it was not as bad the other

My two rackets are in great condition despite being almost 20 years old

One is a Yonex racket I bought in Fukuoka in 2003. The Wilson racket I got in Bangkok before I got the Yonex racket.

Muscle Power is an old series from Yonex. Hyper Carbon is also an old model from Wilson.

Both rackets are in great condition including the strings. After changing the grip on the Wilson racket, I could use it again to play (at least on the street). We're scouting for badminton courts near our place so we can play there and our daughter can probably take more lessons to improve her skills and play.

-

Back to badminton?

The wife and I have been reminiscing about the times we played badminton with friends and officemates (hers and mine on separate venues). There used to be a badminton boom and many courts sprouted around Metro Manila in particular. I recall we played regularly at three venues in Quezon City (Yellow Feather, Kalayaan and another court along C5 in what is now the Nuvoland condo beside All Day (which used to be a Shopwise). We also played sometime in Makati and on another court along EDSA near Polymedic Hospital. Fast forward to the present and there are fewer courts nowadays. Near our place, there are even fewer good courts. By good I mean well-ventilated and easily accessible. Of course, it would be good to have adequate parking space, too.

So crawling along Felix Avenue in Cainta, near my parents' home, I was surprised to see this sign of  Cainta Badminton Court. This is located at the Bazaar City, which is a complex of warehouses that has been converted into a bazaar, food park and an Land Transportation Office (LTO) branch (where you can renew your license or register your vehicle). While it is kilometers from home, it is along my usual commute and many of my childhood friends whom I know play badminton (I played with them during the boom.) reside nearby. From the photos in their Facebook page, the courts seem spacious. I will likely check the place out one time to see for myself and the check their rates.

Sign just outside Bazaar City along Felix Avenue and just across from the SM Hypermarket

 

-

Braves baseball then and now

The reason I suddenly posted about baseball was my learning that the Atlanta Braves finally won the World Series after 26 years. That's a pretty long spell for a team that consistently won in the 1990s until the mid 2000s. I watch a resurgence in the last 5 years but always thought their teams weren't good enough to get past the National League given the competition. Pundits sure didn't expect them to win it all this year being team with the least wins (88) in the playoffs and just getting in because of a poor NL East Division. The San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers both won more than 100 games in the regular season and featured superior pitching and hitting all season. And yet, here were the Braves to win it all, beating a 95-win Houston Astros in the World Series.

I first became a fan of the team back in the early 1990s when they battled and lost a couple of finals to the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays. They won in 1995 against the Cleveland Indians before heartbreaking losses in the next so many years at the National League (they were the top team so many times but were upset in the NLCS) and twice to the New York Yankees, which, to be fair had superior teams back then. I admired their pitching and who couldn't with the trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz practically beating most teams every night they start for the Braves. I recall they pitched deep into the game with a complete game not far off when they're on. Nowadays, they seem to be pitching by committee with the starting pitchers lasting only a few innings. In the recently series, it was rare for a Braves starter to last 4 innings. While I admire the relief pitchers and the closer, I think they should some really good starters if they want to sustain their winnings. Or is the time of the dominant pitcher already gone?

My first baseball cap was an Atlanta Braves cap I got in 1996. I got it for what I recall was 5,000 yen from a vendor in Harajuku, Tokyo.

The ball cap is basically in great shape considering its 25 years with me.

Back of the cap

This is a New Era field cap, which means this is a cap the players use in games.

Politics aside (and there are many controversies about the Braves out there), I do hope they continue their winning ways and perhaps be champions again in the near future, if not back to back.

-

On baseball

I realized that I have not written about another sport that I enjoy watching and had an opportunity to play (very little) when I was studying in Japan. Aside from basketball, football, tennis and badminton, I also enjoy watching baseball. While I played basketball, football and volleyball in Physical Education classes during grade school and high school, I never got to play baseball until my time in Japan. I enjoyed baseball as a fan. And I learned about the rules from my father. Tatay played some baseball and softball when he was in high school in the province at a time the sports were still popular in the country. Fortunately, there was some Major League Baseball games that I got to watch on TV in the late 1980s. So I was able to watch the LA Dodgers win in 1988, when that city's team also won the NBA Championship.

There was an 8-university tournament among the transportation engineering and planning laboratories in the Kanto area. What was an annual tournament was held at the Tokyo Science University or Science University of Tokyo (Rikadai) spacious campus grounds in Noda, Chiba. Among the universities participating were the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology (where I was Visiting Scientist in 1996), Saitama University (where I was visiting Scientist there in 2001 and 2008), and my school, Yokohama National University. I don't recall us winning many games but it was all for fellowship among the students, research associates, and some of the faculty (mostly the young ones) who chose to participate.

This was held in the summers and I recall labmates practicing at the field near our building as well as during our summer seminar. I could catch the ball but I couldn't throw it like my Japanese friends. They played baseball when they were young and a couple played the equivalent of varsity when they were in high school. We had a really good pitcher and a few good hitters during my second year in Japan. I think that team was good enough to win the tournament but another lab had a better game. I sat out that one, content to watch the game with the other foreign students who also attended for the fellowship (read: after tournament party) part.

I have a few baseball caps in my cap collection. These I purchased myself and were not pasalubong.

More on baseball in future posts!

-

First Philippine Olympic gold

The Philippines had not won an Olympic gold medal for a regular sports competition before last week. I say 'regular' here because technically, the Philippines got one thanks to Arianne Cerdena back in 1988. That was in what was then the demonstration sport of bowling. Bowling, unfortunately, never became a regular event in the Olympics so that somewhat diminished the achievement. The good news is that the Philippines finally won a gold this time thanks to weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz. Here's a screencap of the moment from the television broadcast:

The moment the athlete knew she won the gold (I claim no copyright of this as its clear this is from the Olympics and a screencap by phone camera.)

It took a while for the country to finally have its first gold medal and the effort by Ms. Diaz is most appreciated because of her commitment and struggle that led to this achievement. I was very happy, too, as I watched history unfold and be replayed on TV. But there's more! I am posting this now as there are prospects for more gold medals care of a couple of boxers and perhaps a pole vaulter. Their events will be from August 3 and though assured of medals, golds are not far-fetched. Here's hoping for the best results in the next few days!

-

My football jersey collection

I collect shirts from the various places I've been to here and abroad. But I am not going to talk about these in this article. Instead, I will be talking about some jerseys that I have collected over the last few years. The collection actually started while we were residing in Singapore. I had the luxury there of having many sports shops selling official football merchandise.

Manchester United jersey the last time they won the Premiership under famed manager Sir Alex Ferguson

Shirt celebrating Liverpool's 6th Champion's League title - the most by any English team

Man U jersey when they won the Premier League and Champion's League back when Cristiano Ronaldo was playing for them

Recent Chelsea jersey with Yokohama Tyres as the main sponsor. Previous to this Chelsea shirts had Samsung on them.

Barcelona jersey when they won practically all the trophies that year including La Liga and the Champion's League. I have another one I keep in my office locker that does not have a sponsor at the front but has a secondary sponsor in Unicef at the lower back of the shirt.

England national team jersey

German national team shirt. Its not a jersey but a collared shirt that I got at Takashimaya in Singapore.

Not football but Canada's national hockey team jersey that my brother-in-law got for me

I used to have a Spanish national team jersey but the size was too small and I decided to give it to my nephew who plays football in his school. I also got him and his sister Juventus jerseys when I learned they liked the top Italian team in the Serie A. I got these from a favorite football shop at the 313@Somerset mall in Singapore. I also have another Barca jersey that didn't have the sponsors' patches except for Unicef at the back. What I don't have are baseball and basketball jerseys but I do have NBA shirts and a collection of baseball caps. I will write about my cap collection soon.

-

On basketball and my favorite teams

I have been a basketball fan for as long as I can remember. That should not be surprising as I am a Filipino and we're supposed to be fans of this game that was introduced during the American Period when the country became a commonwealth of the US. I also played the game when I was young; even winning a championship with childhood friends back in the 1980s. I also had my fair share of injuries from pick-up games. I must admit I wasn't good as a player but I knew my trivia and stats, which I enjoy reading about to this day.

My all-time favorite teams are the following (I won't comment in details on each.):

• NBA - 1980s Lakers (Pre-Showtime and Showtime Lakers with Magic, Kareem & Worthy at their peak), 1990s Bulls, 2010s Warriors, 2000s Lakers (the 3-peat Shaq & Kobe and the back-to-back Kobe & Co.) and the 2000s Spurs.
• PBA - early 1980s Toyota and late 1980s Ginebra (afterwards I stopped following the local league)
  

While I'm more of a Lakers fan, I don't have any of their paraphernalia. I have a couple of Warriors shirts though including one featuring three stars and an eight-rayed sun (symbols in the Philippine flag) that's an exclusive for Filipino nights (the bay area has a large Filipino community). I also have a Spurs shirt with Tim Duncan's name and number. It the only item I got for myself at the NBA Store (now closed) in Trinoma when they had a sale when Duncan retired from playing. I also got one for my brother. I used to have a Celtics shirt with Rondo's name and number that the wife got for me when she was in Boston the last time the Celtics won the championship. We sold it at our rummage sale (quick and good buy for the one who spotted it).

 

I won't mention Olympics and World Championship teams except maybe the first Dream Team back in 1992. That was a historic moment in the sport and the US Team was really loaded. I might not have agreed on the head coach and perhaps the hesitation to have an all-pro team but it is still the best assembled that competed in the Olympics or World Championships.

I was very happy to see the Lakers come up big during the previous season when the NBA decided to continue with a bubble in Florida. They are my sentimental favorites and the fact that LeBron James is playing for them is pretty special for a team that's always been in the limelight. After losing Kobe to retirement and his untimely demise last year, it seemed the franchise and its fan base needed something to cheer them up. The season was almost lost to the pandemic but somehow recovered thanks to strict rules that allowed teams to resume play.  They are favorites to repeat this year and perhaps they will barring any serious injuries to the main cast.

-

A new chess set

I decided to acquire another chess set that's made in my country. I knew there were good makers here as I owned one particularly nice set that I bought in the mid 1990s during one of the trips that took us to Paete, Laguna. Paete is well-known for its wood carvers and once Japanese visiting professor was so impressed that he and his wife commissioned a 14 stations of the cross that they shipped to Japan and donated to their church!

Browsing the internet for a nice set, I came upon a marketplace post of a set with the black pieces made of kamagong wood. Kamagong is a rare hardwood native to the Philippines that is known for its weight or density and is highly regarded and prized for furniture and other woodcraft. It is also commonly called "iron wood" for its properties. "New" kamagong is hard to come by and is much regulated by government (although there are many instances of illegal logging) and so scraps from the more expensive furniture likely find their way to become chess pieces. Here are photos of my new chess set made of narra and kamagong. Note that only the black pieces are made of kamagong.

The set the first time I laid the board and arranged the pieces at the office. I had this delivered at my office where the address is easy for couriers. We also have a disinfection routine when packages are received by the guard-on-duty.

Finely crafted chess pieces made out of kamagong (iron wood).

I remember one article from a long time ago stating that knights (horses or kabayo as we commonly refer to them) made in the Philippines are among the best in craftsmanship. I agree and here is a close-up of the white and black knights from this set.

My first set was a hand-me-down kleine from my father. That perished in the floods back in the 1980s. My next set was a cheap set. These are the ones you can buy at the local bookstore or sporting goods shop. I bought a tournament size set from my high school allowance. I think it's still at my parents' home though there's some water damage from the perennial floods we experienced in Cainta. I already wrote about my 3rd and 4th sets in a previous article. The 3rd one is similar to the new set I purchased. I also got it from Paete but the entire set is made of narra.

-

Historic moment in Philippine basketball

I take a timeout from the usual posts on travel, transport and food to feature an important moment in the history of basketball in the Philippines. Last night, despite very tough opposition in a strong team from Korea, the Philippines national basketball team emerged victorious and qualified for the FIBA World Championships to be held in Spain next year 2014. The last time the country qualified for the World Championships was in the middle of the 1980's when a team that included the cream of the crop then plus a few naturalized players was able to top Asia for the last time.

Until that time, the country had a fierce rivalry with Korea for the top place in Asia. Afterwards saw the rise of China as a basketball power in Asia. Later, during the last decade, saw the emergence of teams from the Middle East and the former Soviet Republics in Asia, who had the size and eventually the skills to dominate teams from East Asia. These teams have been lording it over the competition and have become even stronger with players competing professionally in Europe and the NBA. Meanwhile, the Philippines, which prides itself as the only Asian country to medal in the FIBA World Championships (a bronze in 1954) and whose national past time has been basketball has not had a player in Europe or the NBA; the last being a dream for many.

The victory last night against Korea was especially sweet given the historic rivalry between the countries. That history has included a lot of heartbreaking losses to Korean teams including close ones in the 1970's. The last major victory of a Philippine team over Korea was probably in 1967 for the gold medal if that year's FIBA Asian championships. That team, which fielded among other popular players one Robert Jaworski, defeated another Korean team that also featured some superstars particularly one Shin Dong Pa, who was a sharpshooter who was so good he could probably beat teams by himself. There are so many stories about the match between the teams that I will just leave it for the reader to research these online.

Of course, the game last night was just the semi-finals of a tournament that featured a major upset in China not making the final four for the first time in more than two decades. It was sort of an irony that the Chinese team was beaten by an inspired team from Chinese Taipei or Taiwan. The Philippine team dropped a game to Chinese Taipei during the tournament's first round but that proved to be a blessing as it avoided meeting Korea or Iran early in the knock-out phase of the tourney. And so the Philippine team now faces Iran in the finals after Korea took the last qualifying spot by beating Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal game. Win or lose, the Philippines has already qualified for the 2014 World Championships but it would definitely be great if we were to win it all and on our home court.

-

Starstruck

Filipinos were treated to two friendly matches between NBA players and our very own PBA selection and national team, the game with the nationals is still on as of this writing. The NBA players were no pushovers as most were All-Stars and A-listers in as far as basketball is concerned. The visiting team is led by 5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose, and recent Team USA leader and gold medalist Kevin Durant. Also, starting for that team was All-Star point guard Chris Paul and slam dunking/shotblocking center Javalee McGee. Other players include Bryant's backcourt mate at the Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, bearded James Harden, Tyreke Evans and this year's No. 2 in the draft pick Derrick Williams. Some people were saying that perhaps, if there was no lockout in the NBA the sponsors could have brought in Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to be coach of the visiting team.

The first game was more exhibition considering how starstruck the Filipino players were and how conscious they were with their game. It was mostly open court basketball with lots of fastbreak points and alley-hoop dunks for the NBA stars. I found it a little irritating that those interviewing the NBA players were just too eager and too excited (masyadong kilig). Of course, who can blame them considering this rare opportunity.

Today's game was more serious with a more physical game and more organized ball movement from the national team. I guess the nationals just want to also show that they could play with the best and that they would be no pushovers. The game, after all, can be used as a tune-up for future matches as the Philippines prepares for the Olympic qualifiers in Asia. For the visitors, I guess they could treat this game as a good workout, a competitive one where they could sweat it out while also promoting the game in a country where basketball is tops. Below is one of the more memorable moments where Kobe Bryant passes to Derrick Rose for a slam.

Perhaps the MVP group, the sponsors for these games, could also lend a hand to Philippine football by bringing in a very good team to play a friendly against the Azkals. Perhaps that team should be one with which the Philippines share a little bit of history. After all, there's one team in Europe where a Filipino, Paulino Alcantara, holds the record for scoring - reigning European Champions FC Barcelona. Who knows, this might just be one of those tipping point moments that will give our football program a push.

Football

The recent success of the Philippine football team, fondly called Azkals (asong kalye or mongrels), have sparked interest in the sport. It is supposed to be the most popular sport in the world and yet in the Philippines it is far behind basketball despite the latter giving not so encouraging results in major competitions notwithstanding our sending teams comprised of professional players. Perhaps we now have the opportunity to promote football to the level that our neighbors have embraced the sport and focus on the development of players to come up with competitive teams at present and in the future.

I've played football or, as we call it here, soccer since I learned the sport in Physical Education (PE) classes in grade school. At my school, the academic year was divided into quarters and each quarter, our PE focused on a particular sport. From grade school to high school the basic sports that we rotated among each quarter were basketball, volleyball, football and swimming. These were graded according to our knowledge of the rules (theoretical) and our performance (practical). I did quite well in all considering that I was usually playing with other kids who were more my level. The good ones played their own games and were usually the ones who got more attention from the coaches who were also trying to spot potential players for the varsity. Of course, our classes usually had core teams for the intramurals.

In 1999, I was still in Japan and had just recently successfully defended my dissertation behind closed doors in front of a panel of five that included 3 senior professors at my university. At the time, the eliminations were being held for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the group matches were hosted by Hongkong. The group included the Philippines and heavy favorite Japan, who along with South Korea had the best teams in Asia thanks to their local leagues and the emergence of several excellent players competing in Europe particularly in the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A. As usual, the football fans among my labmates tuned in to the live game and I joined them joking that Japan would surely beat the Philippine team considering the recent performance and Japan's campaign to host the next World Cup in 2002. The outcome was never in doubt and below is a link from YouTube showing how bad we were back then. I must admit I wasn't at all embarrassed knowing in advance how we would be performing. My labmates and I just laughed it off like a comedy show.





In the recent AFF Suzuki Cup, the Azkals finally showed their new found mettle and despite bowing out to favored Indonesia in the semi-finals, clearly surprised her Southeast Asian neighbors with their performance. It was a clear message that we would no longer be the whipping boys in this part of the world. The performance also showed our potential to improve more and perhaps become a decent enough team to compete for a spot in the World Cup Final. Partida pa nga as they say considering that this team received no support at all from the Philippine Football Federation, something that's about to change with FIFA's orders for an audit on the PFF's operations that was heavily subsidized by FIFA to the tune of 250,000 USD per year. Reports mention that since 2010 was a World Cup year, the assistance would actually total 500,000 USD for the development of football in this country. One can only hope that the money will be spent wisely in the near future and that the team, shown below against defending AFF champion Vietnam, would eventually establish itself as an Asian power in the sport.



I will look forward to a 2011 where Philippine football will have a most productive campaign. who knows? We might also just get the stadium needed to allow us to host football matches and cheer our own team as passionately as in other countries.

Lakers vs Celtics

I've always enjoyed watching NBA games ever since my first glimpse in the early 80's. I remember watching the Lakers, Celtics, Sixers, Sonics and Spurs battle it out in regular season and playoff games when the stars included Jack Sikma, Moses Malone, George Gervin, Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. At the time, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird was just beginning a professional rivarly that was to spread to what was also a revival of the classic rivalry between their teams - the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

I have always been a Lakers fan and have read enough about their history to know that they started out in Minneapolis. The "lake" root in the team's name actually comes from the Great Lakes in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. When they moved to Los Angeles, they retained the name of the franchise and it seemed just appropriate given that LA was beside the biggest "lake" of then all - the Pacific Ocean. I also read about the storied rivalry between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Boston has so far emerged the more successful team with 17 NBA titles to the Lakers' 15. Most of the Celtics' titles were at the expense of the Lakers including 6 during the 1960's when Bill Russell and company were the best team in the league (they won 8 straight titles).

I was sad when the Lakers were swept the Sixers in the first Finals series I watched on TV. I was even more disappointed to see the Lakers lose the following year to the Celtics in a winner take all Game 7. So when the Lakers won in 1985 and back-to-back in 87-88 I was ecstatic and thought they would finally string up more titles to finally overtake the Celtics in the tally. Lo and behold, the Pistons came and so did Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

In the 90's, I remained a Lakers fan while also supporting (from afar) the Bulls and the Rockets. I particularly admired Hakeem Olajuwon who in 1986 led the Twin Towers to an upset of the Lakers but lost to Boston in the Finals. I also admired the tandem of Karl Malone and John Stockton whom I believed brought the basics back to the game. MJ was, of course, terrific. Through those 90's the Lakers teams were decent enough and even made what were surprising drafts at the time including one Kobe Bryant who was to become the franchise player of the team after the turn of the century.

I think the Lakers organization was the better one compared to the Celtics in the 90's and for most of the past decade. It is already a fact that they maintained a competitiveness that eventually led to a three-peat in 2000-2002. Boston didn;t have a chance until in the preseason of 2008 when they finally came up with a Big Three revival in Garnett, Pierce and Allen. I was pleasantly surprised when the Lakers responded in kind by pulling off the trade of that year when they acquired Pau Gasol for virtually nothing before the deadline. Sadly again, the Lakers lost to a superior team, not having the toughness and enough big men to compete with the Celtics.

2009 was different with the Lakers finally hitting their stride and the Celtics meeting a roadblock in the form of more powerful opponents in the Eastern Conference. I was expecting the Lebron James led Cavaliers to meet the Lakers in the Finals but it was the Orlando Magic that emerged after beating both Celtics and Cavs in the playoffs. The Dwight Howard led Magic truly represented the best in the East but was outclassed by a Lakers team that I believed had the toughness and the finesse they needed in the previous year.

At this time, the Lakers and the Celtics seemed at it again and fated to meet in another classic. I was relieved when the Lakers pounded the Suns in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. I hope they get to exorcise playoff losses to the Suns in 2006 and 2007. I was also rooting for the Celtics in the east despite having thoughts of wanting to see the Celtics lose, too, and maybe see their chances at NBA glory fade away with the aging line-up. But I wanted to see the Lakers and Celtics meet again in the Finals, at full strength and with no excuses to offer. Maybe the Lakers can finally pull it off and Kobe can include beating the Celtics in the Finals in his impressive Hall of fame credentials. Or maybe the Celtics can win it again and frustrate LA. Whoever wins will definitely deserve it and I will be happy with the result.

----------
PS I'm envious that the Clairvoyant will be in Boston for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The atmosphere is sure to be electric as it is a potential series ender should the Celtics win again in Game 3. =)