magandang simula kaya ito?

i actually did it. went to the arena in san juan, took down notes as the four big teams in college basketball in the philippines, after besting all the other cool basketball universities from all over the country, slugged it out for national glory and a chance to represent the country in the world collegiate basketball championships in serbia in 2009.

yes, i was there! given the awesome privilege of doing what i love most: writing about sports from ringside!!!

like i said, wimbledon, i'll get to see you still one day --- as an accredited journalist!

wait, before i get ahead of myself, let's just hope that i can sustain this and that my editors think i'm worth keeping... so your prayers and best wishes are, of course, most needed and appreciated. you can read about my fledgling efforts HERE

moving on to freer pastures

all entries and comments, intact, but outside of a paid domain… over at Svelte Loves Sport. as with all my blogging ventures, this site will be attired in simple, basic colours until the magic man weaves his wand over the entire place. let’s not cease to believe in the power of miracles! :) expect this site to go down in a day or two… if you’re still around, i hope to see you sniffing around the other place soon!

wait for my first ever sports article on the philippine collegiate championships, or PCC, covered exclusively by inboundpass.com. i haven’t written about basketball ever — and this will be my trial by fire.

who would have thought that the first step towards realising the burning desire to be a sportswriter would begin with — *gulp!* — a gig in basketball writing?

i say, pass the ball, go for the fastbreak and set up the 10-2 run, sveltie baby!

If you love men's tennis... you just might love this!

Guys, I'm selling one ticket for the Year-end Shanghai Masters Cup to be held from November 8-17. I was able to purchase three tickets six months in advance for the dirt cheap price of $500. The price covers 7 days of tennis at the Qi Zhong Stadium in southwestern Shanghai (matches begin at 14.00 every day): that's three days of round robin action and then knock out matches for the semifinals and finals.

Who are playing in this event? Only the TOP EIGHT men's tennis players in the world. Who have qualified already? (the other players are playing tournaments as of this writing in the hope of getting a slot into the event which is two weeks away)

Rafael Nadal (world number 1, he will be given the year-end #1 trophy in Shanghai -- hurray to Rafael fans!), Roger Federer (the Swiss cheese who was #1 from 2004 until a few months ago when Rafa overtook him), Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Andy Murray of Scotland, Nikolay Davydenko.

Who else might take the remaining three slots and two alternate spots? Andy Roddick of the USA, David Ferrer of Spain, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, James Blake of the USA, and maybe the ever so cute Gilles Simon of France.

If you're interested, email me at svelterogue@gmail.com. If you're in the Philippines, send me an SMS: +63915/983.36.31.

Pass the word to others!

such arrogance!

if it isn't the  english language requirement (that is due to be scrapped nyahaha), it's some lame-assed punk who thinks he can drive better than a current world champion.

in both cases, it's BOO! all the way!

check out the links above for more.

*in photo (courtesy of itv-f1): kimi raikkonen of ferrari, current world champion.

all good things come to an end... almost

after what has been an incredible season thus far, the world number 1 can finally go home to mallorca and rest.  you would think he would celebrate snaring two slams and the olympic gold but wait... davis cup semifinals of spain against the united states is two weeks away.  

so take advantage of this time to rest, my beautiful rafa.  you have made me and all your other fans very happy so far in 2008.  when i go to shanghai this november, promise me you'll be the one receiving that cake with the #1 on it, ok?

time to rest now, rafa.  you are human, after all.

vindictive vindication

say what you must, think what you will, my heart will always root for the misunderstood mavericks.

ajde nole!

*in photo: novak djokovic slides for a return in his quarterfinal match against andy roddick earlier. nole won in four sets, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. (courtesy of the australian)

it ain't over til the fat lady moans

and boy am i moaning.  and yes, fat! 

*in photo: maria sharapova at the atp players party held before the USO kicked off last aug 20 (photo courtesy of tennis.com)

shining bright and it ain't over yet!

it's the kind of thing that makes me break into side A's LSS-inducing line, "so many questions but the answers are so few..."

answer the questions on my latest sports post and the top 3 answers get a special reward from the ultimate sports fan!

*in photo: liu xiang of china breaks 1.3 billion hearts as he limps off the track in the first heat of the 110-m hurdles earlier this week (photo courtesy of AP)

#1 glorified with gold

today, rafael nadal is officially the world number 1. vamos mi rafalito! as he is joined by ana ivanovic of serbia atop the tennis rankings, the sight of the olympic gold medal dangling around his neck has validated, with definitive authority, his ascendancy in the sport in 2008.

the biggest weekend for tennis in olympics ended in big smiles and joy for all winners.

in photo: roger federer and stanislas wawrinka with their doubles gold (photo courtesy of tennis.com)

beijing newsmakers

my brain's about to explode. the coming together of all my sporting favourites and sports favourites is just absorbing beyond belief.

*in photo: michael phelps erupts into celebration with his relay teammate when the USA pips france by .07 of a second to snare gold in the 4x100 metre freestyle event (photo courtesy of the canadian press)

svelte sightings

and the games have begun! i'm in sports paradise. the biggest sporting event on the planet --- my favourite celebs of all are the stars for the next 16 days! totally orgazzzzmic.

check out my parade of faves HERE.

and then there was four

it's not enough to have a trifecta of rafa (yeah baby, he'll be the official number one on 18 august 2008, after 160 weeks as #2, the longest record ever for a #2!), roger ("only no. 1 matters"), and nole ("my dream is to be the number 1 in the world, ever since i was a child of 9...") ruling men's tennis right now, and things are exciting enough with these three.

sometimes, exciting just ain't enough. if three's a crowd, four's a major party. way to go, flower of scotland!

yet another loss

losing to his 6 foot 9 inches opponent with the most fearsome serve on the tour, with his own serve never getting broken was painful for the world number 1. losing by three crucial points in the final tiebreaker is going to hurt for a long long time.

looping roar

this is for those who missed my posted link on rafa's roar --- or unbridled fury elsewhere on this site and beyond.

he's so hard

that's right, you read it here: rafael nadal is sooo HARD.

number 10

... his 10th loss this season and it's still shocking news. take heart, fed fans.

mustn't neglect the hamster

in spite of myself, i find myself admiring lewis hamilton's gutsy win over close rivals (both brazilians) at the hockenheim circuit last sunday.

missing nole and music

i found another gem from you tube: a mother-daughter tandem singing and dancing in 1963. so talented. so flawed. so good.

the last bit of news i could pull out about novak djokovic dates back to his second round loss at wimbledon to marat safin. since then, he hasn't hit the headlines anymore. bring back my serb! ajde nole!

rafa lights up the heavens

one week after and i'm still glowing.

and how! the kid wins his first wimbledon and is immortalised in proportions worthy of the greek misogynists on olympus.

and more. so much interest spawned for the sport that even though he pulled out of stuttgart this week (he's defending champ), i got daily updates on cnn's world sport!

more updates over at my sports blog, friends

comatose

am still overcome by sweeping emotions. happy beyond belief. the one year agony of waiting and hoping and believing came to fruition last night, after camping on my futon for 7 straight hours, allergies ravaging my skin, i unable to move beyond getting myself a glass of water each time my throat dried, allowing myself another trip to munch on a pear... last year's debacle is a distant memory, a necessary pain that culminates in this fireworks of joy.

it is the morning after and i am still hung over. caught in a state of tears and laughter, relief and vindication.

he is a one-surface wonder no more. he isn't just a clay specialist. he is special. he is the new king of the championships at wimbledon. he is my one and only rafael nadal.

in love with el capitaine and el toro

the bbc teaser/trailer ad leading to the championships (oh pompousness, thy name is wimbledon!) shows a clip of past wimbledon champions playing an exciting tennis match on centre court, interposing shots of borg, evert, navratilova, connors, mcenroe, serena williams, et al until the last shot is taken by roger, who is frozen in midair, with the lines, "wimbledon: where greatness awaits".

the men's semifinals are set: two top seeds face two unseeded veterans. if my dream final comes to pass, i will be floating in cloud 9 for weeks to come.

sveltie's yummy men

it's a glutton's dream come true tomorrow when the men's quarterfinals action begins at 14.00 belgian time (13.00 wimbledon time).

rafa? check.

mara? check.

feliciano lopez? check.

baby face mario? check.

don pa lang panalo na.

asia lights up sw19

these girls do me proud as a fellow asian! does it matter that they beat my ajde jelena and ana duo? not one bit.

beyond shock

it's all pretty much in HERE. in other words, what seeds will fall today? hopefully not rafa!

shocks and thrills

this week's sporting events are more than enough to exhaust this very happy and shocked sports fan.

check out yesterday's WINNERS and LOSERS.

3 in 1

four entries written about three amazing stories that happened within six hours of each other.

the three headliners?

first, my captain defeated my favourite maverick.

second, i discovered that ana ivanovic was not the only beautiful girl on court 1 today.

last, much as turkish delight has lit up the tournament thus far, the ball is still round and anything can happen.

life imitating sports

wait. i think that should read "life imitates literature." however, this maxim has certainly landed me in hot volcanic springs and my ass is toasted red with all talk in that direction. i'll leave all sane literature discussions for my classes next semester --- at least i get to tell any over-sensitive hotshots to just leave the classroom if they can't handle the heat.

it is possible, my friends, to learn valuable lessons from one of the most unifying events in our lives: SPORT.

bmw-sauber rocks in montreal

the beamer used to be my dream car. since i can never realistically get my hands on one of these and call it mine, i can at least adopt the munich-born grand prix team, if only for one race, can't i? because yesterday in montreal was when it finally came together for bmw-sauber! congratulations, kubica! heidfeld! theissen! rampf! well done all around!

the mallorcan juggernaut

you can't touch him, roger, not you, not nole, not nico, not anyone right now.

vamos mi rafalito, the undisputed king of clay! wooohooooooo!

the big 3 and dinara

compelling match-ups tomorrow, my friends! read more about it HERE!

and the feel-good story of this year's french open thus far for yours truly has got to be the stirring run of dinara safina to this saturday's final.

it's heating up in roland garros... bring it on, boys and girls!

words get in the way

it's been three days since i got back from roland garros and i still have not found the right things to say about my experience, only THIS.



while we're on the topic of my beloved tennis, check out my sports blog entry about two exciting players i've added to my impossibly long list of favourites . it's getting more crowded at the top!

RG watch: centre court is the place to be

today's fourth round matches on both the men's and women's side promises to be action-packed and joy-giving to this very happy tennis fan

see you there, folks!

sa dernière samba à paris

one of the best things to happen to this tennis fan was to cheer one of her favourite players in his last match --- on the court of his maiden triumph --- and witness the last poignant moments of his tennis career draw to a close.

i will miss you, guga.

all roads lead to moscow

... and the path will be beaten by 42.000 zealous english fans and 3.000 other fans --- a whopping attendance in russia's queen city for the biggest match of the year!

i've asked this before but i ask it again: are you for the reds or for the blues? i'm going for avram grant's blues! allez les bleus!

rafa takes over roger's hamburg home

my rafa did it: beat roger in a strange final at the atp hamburg masters yesterday to add the only missing masters shield to his impressive collection of clay titles. onto roland garros, my sweet, and a fourth consecutive french open title!

vamonos, mi raralito!

when rafa loses...

... it really HURTS. always. this week, the timing of his loss to a friend triggered so much more than just pathos for the end of an amazing streak of one amazing athlete.

roger-rafa final!

what an exciting sunday for sports and it always happens on the fourth sunday of april --- just in time for my 7th wedding anniversary on the morrow (honestly, what IS the connection? LOL)

in tennis, world number 1 roger federer squares off against world number 2 rafael nadal (mi rafalito!) at 14.30. watch for it on star sports, my asian readers! elsewhere, pray that the tennis channel has decent coverage in north america and as ever, eurosport is bound to cover this great title match. vamos rafa!

in motor sport, kimi raikkonen is set to claim his second victory of the season at the spanish grand prix in barcelona's circuit de catalunya at 14.00 today.

how shall i spend my afternoon, then? why, with my tv tuned in to the live coverage of the grand prix and my laptop streaming the live feed of the roger-rafa match via my atp masters tv. it's the best a girl can do in the circumstances, no? :)

*note: although nole is not in the final, i still wanted to put his picture here. oh vay!

roland garros, here i come!

i'm all set for may 28-29 2008 this year. i have got to book accommodations in the 15me arrondissment in paris and no matter what happens, i am confirmed for this year's french open! woohoooo!

three's a charm, rafa!

guys, i am so happy i cannot sleep! it's 6.20 in the morning and i'm exhausted. you HAVE to share in my euphoria!

this is euphoria number 1.

this is euphoria number 2.

the question is, can there be euphoria number 3, even if it comes at the expense of my nole? vamonos rafa! ajde nole! rafa forever!

we've only just begun!

the first race has been battled on a track with soaring temperatures down in australia, and things can still get hotter! last weekend was exciting for formula 1 nuts like me. i couldn't sleep after watching a predictable race. but things started sizzling with more than 35 laps still to go, and suddenly i was wishing there were more laps to go around. kimi broke my heart by driving like a drunk. be sure to click on the highlights video; crank up your speakers as well for the rockin' music. :)

*in photo: nico rosberg of williams-toyota (german nationality --- finnish dad, german mum). isn't he such a cutie??? his father, apart from being a finn like heikki and kimi, was former 3-time world champion keke rosberg.