Looking Back

First post for the year 2011. Heck it's been a blast doing a lot of stuff last year. 2010 did pack a lot of stuff happening in sports and it was my busiest year not just for me as a writer but also for my blog.

Here's a recap of the stories that made noise in 2010:

Tiger Woods returned to playing golf after dealing his personal issues. No longer the number one guy in the sport but nevertheless he is still looking to redeem himself.

Who could forget the crazy trades in the NBA after the All Star break. The NBA playoffs that year perhaps was day of reckoning for one LeBron James -- then with the Cleveland Cavaliers -- it all seemed they were going all the way to the Finals. Or so everybody thought.

The NBA Finals brought together one of the most storied rivalries in the L. Kobe and the Lakeshow finally got their revenge of their 2008 Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. The Black Mamba lead the LA Lakers to their secong title tying up with their rivals from Beantown with 17 championships.

Then Manny Pacquiao earned his 7th world title against his ho-hum opponent Joshua Clottey

Jenson Button jumped ship to McLaren and Michael Schumacher rekindled his love for Formula One racing and joined Mercedez Benz team formerly Brawn GP.

Football/Soccer season was on, the Jabulani ball got a lot of heat and Spain dominated the whole tournament. Paul the Octopus once again made do of his prediction and he was right.

Jose Mourinho decided to bolt Inter Milan to coach Real Madrid.

Danica Patrick got controversial and she was slowly losing fans alike at the time.

LeBron James made "The Decision" to bolt Cleveland and take his talents to South Beach during the NBA offseason.

Michael Jordan endorsed the NBA 2K11 video game.

Fil-Am coach of the Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra returned to the Philippines for the NBA Fit Week to conduct basketball and fitness clinics for Filipinos. Then the NBA Asia Challenge 2010 happened where NBA Legends Chris Webber, Mitch Ritchmond, Gary Payton and Glen Rice joined forces with PBA greats Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic and Atoy Co, just to name a few for an exhibition game Filipino fans will never forget.

Then American Rafe Bartholomew, author of the critically acclaimed book Pacific Rims gave the Philippines some love. Flew all the way from NYC to launch his book. He watches live PBA games via live streaming in the US. Now that's what I call a real fan of Philippine basketball. Helluva a nice guy, by the way.

Then I got my first gig in covering sneaker events all thanks to Adidas Philippines. Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard finally got their own signature kicks. Adidas launched the NBA Revolution 30 jerseys now being worn by players from all 30 teams in the L.

German Sebastian Vettel finally got the monkey off his back and won his first ever Formula One Drivers' Championship and was also the youngest to have won the title.

Then King James started sking everybody what he should do.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles won their three-peat in the UAAP Men's Basketball. The San Beda Red Lions wasn't far behind winning the NCAA 'chip but what made it even sweeter is that they were undefeated until they lost for the first time to the De La Salle Green Archers in the 2010 Philippine Collegiate Championship League semis. The Blue Eagles also won their 3rd straight PCCL title as well.

John Cena joined the Nexus then he got fired but was reinstated again.

I attended my first ever Nike event at Titan Barbershop with the launch of the Nike Lebron VIII South Beach edition CW. Then I covered the Nike Sportswear AW77 Hoodies launch featuring Filipino rock band Chicosci at Nike BHS.

Another first for me was covering the second semester of the UAAP season 73. What an honor it is for me to attend write about UAAP Women's volleyball.

Manny Pacquiao won his 8th world title against the Tijuana Tornado Antonio Margarito that pretty much brought together not just the Filipinos but fans around the world.

The Philippine Azkals made some noise when they brought Philippine Football/Soccer back to life by making their successful run at the AFF Suzuki Cup in Vietnam.

Mariano V. Araneta replaces Mari Martinez as President of the Philippine Football Federation or PFF.

Adidas launched their Neo label in the Philippines and finally the Air Jordan XI Cool Greys dropped.

CM Punk joins the Nexus after John Cena beat the crap out of Wade Barrett in WWE TLC PPV.

This 2011 I look forward to writing/covering more sports events. Jr. NBA will begin on January 19 and Football/Soccer season in the UAAP will happen this month as well. Y'all watch out for that. I got some big stuff planned this year most especially for my blog. I'll do my very best to make Air Tsinelas one of the rising sports blogs in the Philippines.

Thanks to those who've found their time to visit my blog and the poeple who gave me an opportunity to cover great sports events here. You know who you guys are.

Again thanks y'all for the support.

Cheers to 2011!

-Roy Afable