“Eat Nothing. Do Something!” World Vision 12-hour Famine

12-Hour Famine Video of myself in Baseco

By: Bernadette Tan

There is a child killer among our homes...
As you read, millions of families in the Philippines are going without food; their children go to bed hungry every night. In the next seven seconds another hungry child will die—nearly 5 million in a year. An underweight child is four times more likely to die of a disease compared to a well-nourished child.Hunger is one of the leading child killers in our world. What are we doing about it?

Luckily for you reading this, hunger is not a life threatening concern. You’ve never had to face the horror of helplessly going without food for days or weeks on end. But for millions in countries like Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even the Philippines, the painful, weakening feeling of hunger is an ordeal they must negotiate every single day to survive. More than 1 billion people worldwide experience hunger daily. In the Philippines about 4 million households go hungry everyday or eat only the bare minimum of food to keep themselves alive. A hungry mind is incapable of concentrating, a hungry body cannot work productively, a hungry child loses all desire to study and play. When was the last time you skipped a meal? How long do you think you can go without food... 2 hours... 6 hours... 12 hours?

Before you take your next meal, please stop and consider what you can do to help these children.

WORLD VISION 12-HOUR FAMINE

In response to the screaming global hunger problem, World Vision Philippines is doing the “12-hour Famine” campaign, a global youth movement against hunger and poverty.

The same Famine campaign is being done worldwide: the 30-hour Famine in the US, the 40-hour Famine in Australia and New Zealand, and the 24-hour Famine in the United Kingdom, to name a few.

Youth participants from high schools, colleges and universities; members of youth orgs and churches will start collecting funds and donations for children and families going hungry in the country. And then, they will all come together in one event and experience a 12-hour famine—that is to go on voluntary fasting from food for 12-hours.

For 12 hours, thousands of Filipino youth will unite as one lending their voices to this global fight against hunger and poverty. On empty stomachs they will further raise funds and awareness about these issues and challenge the public and government to help.

The hunger period will be devoted to various activities other than eating to fill the void of hunger. For 12 hours there will be educational sessions and talks on related issues with guest speakers, inspiring video presentations, prayer time, interactive activities, games, talent showcases from different schools and groups, and a big, festive concert with World Vision celebrity supporters, the country’s top bands and other special performers who themselves are advocates of this cause.

The “12-hour Famine” will happen on November 6, from 9am to 9pm at the Flying V Arena in San Juan. This is your chance to do something relevant for the country and the world. All it takes is a little sacrifice. Eat nothing. Do something. Join the 12-hour Famine! To register call 8-FAMINE or log on to www.worldvision.org.ph/famine.

Fund Raiser for Teacher OLGA

Hey, are you an ELC alumnus as well? Or Early Learning Center pre-school in San Lorenzo. Do you remember Teacher Olga? Anyways, she is in terrible health condition right now and will need any form of assistance. She is suffering from diabetes and needs to undergo dialysis 3 times a week. She also suffered a mild stroke a few weeks ago. A group of ELC alumnus has organized a standup comedy night to raise funds in her behalf. This show is also open to the public, even if you are not from ELC. So please please come and support the event because you will not only be entertained, but you can save a life as well! Check out the details below.



Chris

Samsung Netbook

Congratulations to Kimberly Claire Tan and Rogelio Torres Jr for winning the Samsung Clique Savvy Poll! Now you guys can enjoy your own Samsung Netbooks as well!

To those who did not take part in the promo, the mechanics is really simple. Anyone can be a trend guru by placing an entry indicating what is HOT and COOL for you! Kimberly Claire had the most votes with 10,804. Unfortunately, the promo has ended and no more entries can be accepted.


What's HOT & COOL about the Samsung Netbook for me?
It's HOT because it's very stylish and it comes in the color BLUE :)
It's COOL because it's compact, light-weight and convenient to carry around, which suits my mobile lifestyle.

How about you?

Jones Cup 2010

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all those who greeted me for my birthday either through this blog or through my twitter. I was in Taipei over my birthday for the Jones Cup for almost two weeks and did not have internet access there. Actually, we did have internet, just felt that $10 USD per 24 hours of use was not worth it.

To those who are not updated, Team Pilipinas finished 4th place in the Jones Cup behind Iran, Lebanon & Japan. We placed higher than Chinese Taipei, Chinese Taipei team B and Australian Crocs team. I felt we could have finished 2nd or 3rd but had a disastrous game against Japan, who played with former Phoenix Suns point guard Tabusen. They scouted us well and fatigue kicked in. We also weren't able to adjust to their defense and intensity right away. Although I am personally disappointed with our result, and i'm sure quite a number of Filipinos feel the same way, i felt we showed that we could compete against the powerhouses of Asia particularly Iran and Lebanon.

The Iranian national team played without Hedadi and Afagh but their superstar Samad Nikkah Bahrami took over w/ 27 pts, 8 rebs and 8 assts. The Lebanon national team was complete (plus naturalized Jackson Vroman) and had a very balanced lineup, except for Fadi El Khatib, who said himself that he will not play for the national team. We were up by as much as 15 points until their shooters started to get hot.

Overall, i believe the Jones Cup was a very fruitful experience for both coaches and players and it allowed us to gauge our level and the standards of the opposing teams. For now, we just have to continue to work extremely hard (and smart), gain more experience (through competitions) and plug the holes in the lineup that will best suit coach Rajko's system.

Thanks again to all those who've been supporting us, through both rainy days and sunny days! And please continue to pray for the team (the players, coaches, management, etc.) for strength, wisdom, courage, inspiration and a little luck! So that we may rightfully represent our beloved flag and make each Filipino proud to be Filipino through our performance on the court and even our behavior off the court. I know its a long shot, but someone's gotta believe.... and try!

Chris

P.S. Still no word if we're participating in the Stankovic Cup this August 7 in Beirut, Lebanon. Greg Slaughter and Rabeh Al Hussaini can't afford to miss class, while Chris Lutz and Marcus Douthit still don't have Filipino passports. Still weighing the sanctions if we back out. FYI, we are in the same bracket with Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan and Syria! Other bracket is Iran team B, India, Japan, Chinese Taipei and one more (which i forget at the moment). How lucky can we get.

Latest ADVIL TVC 15s

Here's my latest ADVIL TVC. Switch na to Advil! Enjoy :)

Chris

My thoughts on FIBA ASIA Champions Cup in Qatar & the upcoming MVP Invitationals

I recently bumped into a few individuals who, apparently, follow my blog and encouraged me to write more often. So i thought of writing some of my thoughts on the past tournament in Qatar (FIBA ASIA Champions Cup) & the upcoming MVP Invitationals in Manila.

FIBA Asia Champions Cup

The 7th place finish for me was an underachievement. It's easy to make 100 excuses because of the situation of the team coming into the tournament but i don't want to cry over spilled milk. Certainly, valuable players JV Casio, Marcio Lassiter & JR Cawaling were missed because of what they could provide on both ends of the court. But let's just focus on those who were 'active' during the tournament, what were the pros and cons.

Despite being undermanned, I believe we could have finished, at least, 5th place (behind Iran, Qatar, Lebanon & Jordan). We lost to Syria in an unbelievably insane manner, an alley-hoop 3-point buzzer beater from an outlet pass downcourt. I thought I would only see those silly shots in the movies. We had our lapses too, which allowed Syria to creep back in the game. A win against them would have allowed us to battle for 5th against Kazakhstan who we can definitely beat.

DEFENSE

I think the main problem was our defense. We had difficulty matching up with the opposing players. Against Qatar and Lebanon, the had big and long wing players that caused mismatches against us. Qatar had a 6'9 wingman (Mussa) who could post up like crazy. Fadi El Khatib & Nate Johnson were playing the 2 & 3 positions for Lebanon. Fadi & Nate Johnson both stand around 6'6. Fadi uses his heft to create mismatches while Nate Johnson is very athletic. Both are extremely experienced. Against Kazakhstan, we had problems matching up with the big men who pounded us inside the paint. They had several 7'0 players who were agile. ALmost all their points were scored at close range. Iran had muscle power via Jackson Vroman (6'11) & lengthy Loren Woods (7'1) who played positions 4 & 5 respectively.

On our end, Milan Vucicevic is about 6'10 and has a wide body to bang but is not athletic & not a shot blocker. Japeth Aguilar is 6'9, very athletic but does not body up. In fact, Mac Baracael (6'3) played the position 4 (power forward) 70% of the time. Aldrech Ramos also plays the position 4 but is even skinnier than Japeth because he was recently diagnosed w/ Dengue. Our tallest wingman is Mac Baracael (6'3) but plays mostly the power forward position. Chris Lutz & Dylan Ababou stand around 6'3. And I am 5'10 without shoes. I don't think we had problems matching up with the point guards even if Mark Barroca & RJ Jazul are shorter than i am.

I felt we were not physical enough defensively and we weren't able to pressure the ball enough like we normally do, mostly because of fatigue due to the very short rotation of players. We lacked a shot blocker or even just an inside presence to change the shots of the opponents. This is very important because Coach Rajko's defensive philosophy is to force baseline, which is like funneling everything to our position 5 big man, also known as the Center.

I felt we could have used the zone defense more.

OFFENSE

Most of our attempts and points came from outside shots. Mac Baracael took most of the attempts and unfortunately, he was firing blanks throughout the tournament. Totally opposite from how he shot in the Dubai International earlier in the year. Everything that he made then, he missed now. That really hurt our offense because our position 4 frequently gets great open looks because of the system. The heart & hustle he showed was indispensable though. Mark Barocca is a scorer and there was no problem with his scoring. Although we needed him more to setup and create for the others just like what JV Casio & Marcio do. This explains why Dylan couldn't get his open looks from 3 & the bigs couldn't get too much easy points underneath. But recently, Mark is showing his development in his creative passing abilities. Chris Lutz was not much of a factor, mainly because he only had two days of practice before the tournament. We certainly lacked inside points. Japeth was also a non-factor and we missed his energy. He averaged less than 10 minutes a game. He is crucial to our success. Greg Slaughter, who has improved dramatically in the past months, was not used too much as well.

CROWD

I have to commend the persisting Filipinos in Qatar who went out of their way to cheer for the team throughout the tournament. It felt like we were the home team, just like in the past tournament in Dubai. Filipinos occupied 80% of the stadium, which explains why they scheduled all our games at 8pm - the main game. It's just sad that we don't have a synchronized cheer unlike the other European, American & Middle Eastern countries. We should develop a common cheer for us Pinoys to use in international competitions for all sports! Maybe we can start in this coming pocket tournament?

MVP INVITATIONALS 2010

Looking forward, things can only get better for us. The injured guys are healing and the new guys are picking up the very complicated system of Coach Rajko. We also have Marcus Douthit, as our import and candidate for naturalization, who will be suiting up for the invitational here in Manila. He is very skilled and intelligent, although he is 30 years old already. He can provide the inside points that we lack. Through this pocket tournament, we hope to regain our lost confidence and get back to our winning ways. Competition will be very tough because all teams are coached by the best in the industry. 3 Olympian coaches: Brian Goorjian of Donguan coached Australia in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Mario Palma of Jordan manned the wheel for Angola in the 2000 SYdney Olympics & Coach Rajko Toroman spearheaded Iran's stint in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We also have 2 former national team coaches who are part of the tournament, Coach Jong Uichico of Ginebra & Coach Chot Reyes of Talk & Text. Gonna be a very competitive 4-day showdown!

I've posted the details of the tournament in my previous post. Thanks to all those who continue to support the team, win or lose! We now ask for your prayers for an injury-free line up and that we may be the best team in the tournament :)

Chris

MVP Invitationals Schedule (Manila, June 24-27, 2010)

NINOY AQUINO BASKETBALL STADIUM
June 24 - 27, 2010

Participating Teams:
Smart Gilas
Jordan National Team
Donguan New Century Basketball Club (China)
Ginebra
Talk & Text

June 24 (Thursday)
430pm - Ginebra vs Jordan
630pm - Opening Ceremonies
700pm - Smart Gilas vs Donguan

June 25 (Friday)
500pm - Talk & Text vs Donguan
700pm - Jordan vs Smart Gilas

June 26 (Saturday)
500pm - Smart Gilas vs Ginebra
700pm - Jordan vs Donguan

June 27 (Sunday)
500pm - Team #3 vs Talk & Text
700pm - Team #1 vs Team #2
845pm - Closing Ceremonies

FORMAT:

1. The competition will be (1) round elimination only

2. There will be two guest (2) teams from the professional league (PBA) namely
a.Talk n Text
b.Ginebra
which will play purely exhibition games only.

3. All games to be played by Smart Gilas, Jordan National Team and Dongguan New
Century Basketball Club will count in their team standing including their games
against the two PBA Teams

4. Team No. 3 in the final standing will be automatically declared 3rd place but will still
play against a PBA Team for exhibition as first game in the final day

5. Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 in the final standing will play one game for
championship.

7. FIBA rules will be fully implemented

TICKETS:

Tickets available at Ticketnet outlets (i.e. SM outlets & Araneta Center)

TV AIRING:

Games will be aired on QTV, 2 days delayed.
June 26: 2 - 530pm
June 27: 3 - 530pm
June 28: 2 - 500pm
June 29: 2 - 500pm


Please come & support Team Pilipinas!! This may be the first and the last time that Smart Gilas will compete in a tournament here in its hometown. See you at the venue!

Chris