I shot the San Beda College football team after they captured their sixth straight title in the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the Philippines. It wasn’t a difficult shoot - it was just really hot under the sun. My output was the banner you see above.

After shooting the team, I took portraits of the individual awardees as well as their coach. The results of that shoot are below.

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Unlike last time, I didn’t even have time to do a round by round account. In the dying seconds of the third round, Manny Pacquiao sent Erik Morales to the canvas and left Morales shaking his head in disbelief.

Even before the opening bell, the Pac Man looked ready to eat up his opponent. He looked bigger than he was in the previous bouts and for once, was the bigger dog in the fight. Once the punches started flying, Manny showed that the fight in him was bigger too. The first round was Manny’s and Morales could do nothing about it.

The opener belonged to Pacquiao, but Morales wasn’t about to let him take another round. Morales let loose on the Pac Man and the two traded blow after blow after blow. It looked to me like Morales was going to take the round - that is, until Manny landed a jarring left. Based on Morales’ reaction after the count, one might believe that Morales had slipped, but the replay made it clear - Manny had scored the first knock down.

In the third, Pacquiao simply let his fists fly. A Pac Man combination sent Morales to the mat a second time two minutes into the round - and the fight looked like it was over. Morales fought back though, and for a few moments, looked like he was going to survive. His problem was with seconds left in the round, another left from Manny sent him collapsing on the ropes a third time. Morales sat up, shook his head, and winked - the fight was over.

Sunday, October 8, 2006
Club 650, Quezon City
WNCAA 2006 Finals

Can you guess who the champions are?

I’m watching the Pacquiao - Morales Rematch now and blogging betweeen rounds, so forgive me for not being very articulate. Why am I blogging? Well, I’ve got nothing to do between rounds, and I’d rather focus my attention on my computer than on the terrible ads they show here. Also, just for the record, I see a Pacquiao win by KO in the 9th. Of course, I’m no expert, so the recap I give might say otherwise. Anyway, here are my (not-so-well-constructed) thoughts.

Round 1
10 - 9 Morales. Nothing really significant, except for a flurry from Morales midway into the round. Pacquiao fought back, but couldn’t make up the distance.

Round 2
Undoubtedly the PacMan’s round. A nice left hook staggered Morales - almost knocking him down. The only thing that saved him there was his grip on the top rope. I’d give Manny a 10-8 advantage, but there wasn’t a real knockdown. I have to say 10-9 Manny.

Round 3
Uneventful. I give the slight edge to Morales 10-9.

Round 4
Likewise uneventful. Manny 10-9.

Round 5
Still uneventful. I don’t know anymore. I guess I’m getting bored. Pacquiao 10-9.

Round 6
Manny all the way! He went on the attack early on, putting Morales on his heels. Relaxing a bit in the middle minute of the round, he seemed to have a sense of when the third minute was starting, unleasing another barrage of blows on Morales. Morales seemed pretty confused from that point on - he looked slow and seemed unable to punch back. In the last 5 seconds or so, Manny let out another flurry, almost knocking Morales down again. His last staggered Morales, and if the referee wasn’t in the way, Morales would have staggered back a little bit further, if not fallen down right at the bell. 10-9 Manny.

Round 7
Morales started the round as expected, hitting hard and hitting fast. He controlled the first minute of the round. He seemed to lose steam though, and let Pacquiao take over in the second minute. Neither boxer really took control of the round though, with both relaxing a bit in the latter part of the round. I think Morales won the round though - Manny’s counter-attack didn’t seem as impressive as his opponent’s initial strike. Morales 10-9.

Round 8
Pacquiao definitely outpunched Morales this round. Just into the second minute, Manny landed a 1-2-3 combination that set Morales reeling. While Morales fought back and landed his own barrage soon enough, Manny wouldn’t let him take over. Pacquiao seemed to be able to connect at will - Morales’ defenses just didn’t look as sharp as they had in previous rounds. Morales, in fact, was obviously tired. Manny, on the other hand, looked just as fresh as he did in the first round. Could my knockout prediction be true? We’ll find out in the next round. For now, it’s Manny 10-9.

Round 9
Morales looked slow. He landed a good blow early in the round, but didn’t seem too inclined to follow it up with an agressive attack. Morales was also moving back a lot. Nothing really significant this round though. My knockout prediction is now officially out the window. I guess it’ll be fairly safe to say Pacquiao will win this fight though. I’d still like to see a knockout, but a decision in Manny’s favor seems likely. I’m not sure if Morales has enough steam in him to knock Pacquiao out. In any case, this round goes to Pacquiao 10-9.

Round 10
It’s over!!!

Some two minutes into the round, Manny sent Morales down on all fours with a sharp left hook, forcing a count. When fighting resumed, Pacquiao pounced on a defenseless Morales, forcing a stop. TKO - 2:33 in the 10th.

Before Morales went down though, he still looked pretty dangerous. A punch midway into the round sent Manny back, but then this only seemed to make Manny mad. Pacquiao then let loose, and Morales seemed all but defeated. When Pacquiao relaxed al little, Morales fought back, sending a final flurry Pacquiao’s way. All he did, however, was spend his last few ounces of energy on some wild blows. This totally opened him up, and let Manny land the killer blow. The blow, honestly, didn’t look like much. Of course, this is because I wanted to see a spectacular fall. I’ll take this though - a win is a win, and my prediction was only off by a round.
Rounds 11 & 12
Irrelevant. The fight is over.

Tired.

Drained.

Exhausted.

I hate this feeling.

I can barely move.

Pain.

That is my punishment.

Sleep is my sanctuary.

If only it would come.

I want to be numb.

A handful of pills should do it.

Damn this muscle pain.

This is what I get for killing myself last Wednesday. I can’t run like I used to. My legs aren’t used to this kind of abuse anymore - and now they’re letting me know it.

I hope I’ll be fine by Saturday. Then I can kill myself again - this time playing futsal all day.

Saturday was painful - I had some rough encounters with a futsal ball, a concrete floor, and an elbow. Is somebody telling me to cut back on sports?

Who cares? I’ve got frisbee practice later, and I don’t intend on missing it.

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been blogging lately. This entry is a feeble attempt at getting started again - I guess I’m still too lazy to really write anything now. This is basically a recap of whatever I remember about the past few days, weeks, or however far back I can remember. Oh, and just for fun, I’m sneaking in bits of “news” that are totally fabricated, entirely fictional, absolutely false, and basically untrue.