Snippets of my love affair with sports

De-Rek Je-Ter. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

Just a random Tuesday night and I felt the urge to write a blog post. There hasn't been a lot of sports-related content in this blog (except for the Homegrown Squad series) so I figured it was time to add another one. This time, I'll be sharing my list of all time favorite team/squads across different sports and reasons why I offered (or continually offer) my unwavering support and loyalty to them. In some cases, the fanaticism borders on extreme obsession *coughMaroonscough*. Others have their weird origins and most were easy choices because of the team's popularity. Let's move on to the list then, shall we? More after the jump.

Basketball (National Basketball Association)

My All-Time Fave: Second three-peat version of the Bulls (1995-1998)

Where's Luc Longley? 

I'll start off with a very obvious one. Every kid who grew up in the 90s idolized Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. No exceptions. Everyone. That's the cold hard fact. And honestly, who wouldn't love that team? I preferred the post-Jordan retirement Bulls version though specifically for three reasons:

1. The record-breaking 72-10 regular season record (unbreakable!)
2. Defeating Karl Malone in consecutive NBA Finals (1996-97,1997-98)
3. The Shot (which should have been THE perfect end to the career of His Airness).

 Now, if only the Washington Wizards part didn't happen...Oh, what could have been.

Why, Michael, why?

Honorable Mentions: Webber/Bibby/Christie/Divac/insert random fifth Sacramento King, healthy Oden/Roy with peak Aldridge Portland Trailblazers (which never happened), every Popovich-led San Antonio Spurs, and the Splash Brothers/Oracle Arena Golden State Warriors.

Basketball (Philippine Basketball Association)

My All-Time Fave: San Miguel Beermen (back when Ildefonso and Seigle molested the entire league)

The squad that resurrected Dwight Lago's career.

My Beermen days, as far as I can recall, go way back to Bong Ravena's ROY season and Renato "The Atom Bomb" Agustin's MVP year which were probably around 1991-92. Today, Agustin's already a coach and Ravena's son has been labeled the future of Philippine basketball. Geez. Still, my best memories of this team would come around the late 90s-early 00s phase, a time where the infamous "illegal defense" was still in effect. This rule became the cornerstone for countless San Miguel Beermen titles and was repeatedly exploited by a dominant low post guy (Danny Ildefonso) and a walking mismatch (Danny Seigle). And the plan was oh-so-simple:

Step 1: Dump the ball to either Demolition Man (Danny I) or Dynamite Danny Seigle.
Step 2: Wait. Wait. Wait.
Step 3a: If no double team comes, punish the defender one-on-one.
Step 3b: If the opponent decides to double, kick the ball out to Dwight Lago, Boybits Victoria, Olsen Racela, or Nic Belasco. Heck, even freaking Arnold Gamboa would be open somewhere.
Step 3c: If the opponent hesitates, wait for the referee's whistle for illegal defense. Free throws!
Step 4: Repeat. 

Honorable Mentions: The silly team names that the franchise used until going back to the original one this past season (Magnolia Beverage Masters, Petron Blaze Boosters, eeeeew!), Yeng Guiao's underdog squads, any team going against Brgy. Ginebra.

Baseball (Major League Baseball)

My All-Time Fave: New York Yankees. Any season. Easily. But the 2009 team. Most especially.

Aaron F'in Boone. Yankee legend.

I started getting into Major League Baseball back in 2003 through a video game called "MVP Baseball 2003" (which had Manny Ramirez on the cover. Yuck.) and who would've thought that 11 years later, I'd still be so into this sport. I still remember vividly the day Aaron Boone (pictured above) blasted that walk-off homerun in the 11th inning off Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series (against hated rival the Boston Red Sox, no less) effectively sending the Yankees to the 2003 World Series (where they were manhandled by then Florida Marlin-future Red Sox Josh Beckett). And that, dear readers, is when I began displaying my fervent and passionate adornment for this vaunted franchise. Every year. 162 games. Playoffs. Including the offseason.

My most satisfying moment as a Yankee fan though came in 2009, the year they won their 27th World Series title. And that series included tons of amazing highlights:

• Johnny Damon's "Mad Dash" (stole second and third base in the 9th inning of Game 4) 
• AJ Burnett's fantastic Game 2 outing (this one game probably paid for his entire contract in New York) 
• Andy Pettitte extending his record for career postseason wins to 18 (now currently at 19)
• Mariano Rivera extending his record for career World Series saves to 11 (GOAT)
• Hideki Matsui (Gojira) going on a rampage (tying World Series record for RBIs in a game with 6 on Game 6) and eventually winning the Finals MVP. 

Add No. 28 soon, please?

Honorable Mentions: Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders, Trenton Thunder, Tampa Yankees, Charleston Riverdogs, or in short, minor league affiliates of the New York Yankees. Any team going against the Boston Red Sox.

Football

My All-Time Fave: This year's Real Madrid (La Decima!) 

Scary Iker Casillas face.

Like baseball, I got acquainted to football through the modern magic of video gaming specifically through a game entitled "Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)". Prior to that, I had exactly zero knowledge about socc.. errr, I meant to say, football. But you had to be living under a rock if you didn't recognize the Real Madrid brand especially during the Galacticos Era. Ronaldo - the Brazilian, Figo, Zidane, Beckham, Raul, van Nilsterooy, Roberto Carlos, Robinho, the list goes on. While that group certainly won several silverware, I wasn't religiously following the team back then so no emotional attachment was involved. It's a different matter though with this year's squad that won both the King's Cup and the UEFA Champion's League title. And the rollercoaster of emotions while watching the Champion's League finals at 2:30AM proves it all. It went something like this:

• 2:30 AM - Wakes up. Turns on TV.
• 2:31 AM - Watch. Blinks. Yawns.
• 3:06 AM - Iker makes a dumb mistake. Godin scores. 1-0 Atletico Madrid. Sigh.
• 3:15 AM - Halftime.
• 3:30 AM - Second half starts. More Yawns.
• 4:10 AM - 5 minutes left. Still 1-0. Turns off TV. Sleeps.
• 4:20 AM - Randomly wakes up. Checks Twitter. RAMOS SCORED AN EQUALIZER!!!

How could I miss this moment???

• 4:21 AM - Turns on TV.
• 4:22 AM - WHY DID I SLEEP 5 MINUTES BEFORE REGULAR TIME ENDED???
• 4:45 AM - Gareth Bale gooooooooal! Jumps and hugs brother.

La Decima winner!

• 4:53 AM - Marcelo goal! La Decima is now in the bag!

Brazilian kick!

• 4:55 AM - Ronaldo goal! And then he takes off his shirt. Final Score, 4-1 Real Madrid.

The last image I saw before going back to sleep. Not right.

• 5:00 AM - Yawns. Sleeps. Snores.

Honorable Mentions: UP Men's Football Team, the Azkals when Chieffy Caligdong was still playing, Arsenal 2003-04 (Henry/Bergkamp/Pires/Ljungberg/Reyes/Vieira/Cole days, and any team going against Barcelona (see a familiar trend here?)

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Do we have the same favorite teams? I hope so. Or else. *evil grin* More sports (and maybe individual athletes/players) for the next post!