Ailing and Able

Two words. Unbelieveable. Okay, that’s one word. Try this. Michael Jordan. Yep, MJ. The guy who defied all by draining 3’s and killing the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The guy who was sick. With the flu. Sick. Not 100%. As in, weak. Fatigued. No energy. Nothing. Sick. Just like me. Just like Edwin. Edwin=Michael? Yes, a resounding yes.

All players and spectators just shook their heads in wonderment. It was an honor for the players to be on the same court as the great Edwin Tanedo, who had been bedridden for the last 36 hours. Battling the symptoms of coughing, running nose, stuffy nose, headache, bodyaches, high fever, and shivering chills. Unable to pick up a basketball, let alone stand without losing his balance, Edwin was at the brink of even considering forfeiting his King of Crunch championship belt because he was just that sick. Like Michael. But like MJ, Edwin had pride. Pride and confidence in his own abilities to not only defend his championship belt, but to do so against all odds.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Unable to compete in Game #1, he watched as Jonas stunned the competitors with an offensive barrage that resulted in a win. Game #2 Jonas almost had as well. Almost. Because Game #2 is when Edwin hobbled to the court. And his defense put away anymore Jonas wins. Game #2 was won by Adam. He would win no more because Edwin would shut him out as well. Game #3 to John. And no more. Because of Edwin. Game #5? Rene. And then Edwin shut him out. Game #6? Edwin was the victor. Somehow, someway, he just willed his way to the important win. A fluke? Not so. Scott knew what was up. In Game #7 Scott sat out, inclined to take pictures to the impossible. Yep, a Game #7 win by Edwin. With his strength waning, wiltering like a yellow-crusted page of a Huck Finn novel left too long under the Mayan sun, Edwin hit the three to get to 18, then calmly nailed all three free throws to ice the second straight win, and thus, THE CHAMPION REPEATS!! Let the world know! He beat FIVE other elite players, all on only 5.24% energy reserve and still in the trenches of succumbing to the illness that wiped out the crew Star Trek in that classic episode where they are reduced to salt cubes or something like that.

So as it is, Edwin was victorious once again. The King of Crunch, despite his weakened, altered state of delusion, paranoia and UFO lights, won outright to the stupified and astonished losers named Rene, Adam, Jonas, Scott and John. I AM LEGEND.

Credits

Writer: Edwin Tanedo
Photographer: Jonas Reyes

Hustle and Slow 69, Octane Infinity 58

The Octane Infinity took a commanding 11-point lead early in the first half against Hustle and Slow last Monday, February 25, 2008, at The Courts in Portland, OR. Their scrappy defense resulted in several steals and fast break opportunities while their patience and the extra passes on offense created easy baskets in the paint.

Hustle and Slow shot poorly at first, but by the second half, they changed gears and began to hammer the Octane Infinity down low. On the other end, the Octane Infinity struggled to score in the first five minutes of the second half. The Octane Infinity never recovered and fell to Hustle and Slow 69-58.

Mike R. scored 19 points and six rebounds for the Octane Infinity. Jonas Reyes contributed 13 points while Edwin Tanedo added 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the 3-point line.

“There is no doubt in my mind that given the chance to face that team again, we would come away with the win,” expressed Reyes. “We lost focus on the second half, and we stopped doing what was effective in the first half. We won’t make that mistake again.”

The Octane Infinity were without power forward Marcus Berger and center David Camp. Both players were away on business.

Boxscore

No.	Pos	Player	2PT	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PTS
7	SF	Mike R.	2-5	5-15	0-0	6	1	2	1	0		19
13	PG/SG	Adam Crane	1-8	0-1	0-0	5	3	1	5	0		2
21	PG/SG	Jonas Reyes	5-13	1-5	0-0	1	0	3	0	1		13
26	PG/SG	Edwin Tanedo	1-4	3-5	1-2	5	2	4	1	0		12
30	PF/C	Chris Turman	4-22	0-4	0-0	18	0	1	3	1		8
32	SF/PF	John Le	1-3	0-1	0-2	5	1	1	1	0		2
44	SF	Scott Nelson	1-2	0-1	0-0	2	0	0	0	1		2
40	PF	Marcus Berger	DNP
51	C	David Camp	DNP
Totals			15-57	9-32	1-4	42	7	12	11	3		58

Credits

Statistician: Lisa Sander
Photographer: Jonas Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Fantasy League Stat Report (Week #17)

Team of the Week: The Others (Jonas)

FG%: Jobbers, .519
FT%: The Others, .822
3PT: The Dharma Institute, 56
Points: The Others, 798
Rebounds: War Flag, 295
Assists: Oscar, 201
Steals: The Others, 58
Blocks: HoopKings, 38
Turnovers: Oscar, 81

Team of the Week honors goes to Jonas and his Others squad, who soundly walloped Edwin’s Dharma Institute 7-1. Even though Rene’s HoopKings defeated John’s Job Squad 8-1, the stats don’t lie. Head to head (Jonas vs. Rene), Jonas would have won 6-3 with dominating performances in points, steals, FT% and 3’s. Even more telling is how Jonas has fared over the last six weeks: undefeated. That’s right, in head to head match-ups, Jonas has not lost! However, his win streak could come crashing down this week, as he faces the last team to beat him 8-1 that last time they faced each other: Scott’s Oscar. This will be our matchup of the week!

In other matchups, Rene’s HoopKings manhandled John’s Job Squad 8-1, but there were a few categories that could have gone either way: FG% (.493 vs. .468), 3’s (38 vs. 35), points (725 vs. 708) and rebounds (268 vs. 245). Mike’s War Flag did a great job holding Scott’s Oscar to a 6-3 victory, and could have actually won had he gotten .011 better in FG%, made three more blocks, and had seven less turnovers. As it is, with John and Edwin losing badly this week, Mike is only four games out of the last playoff spot belonging to John, and Edwin is now only four games in front of John. If John and Edwin lose badly again this week, Mike will suddenly see himself as the #5 seed next week.

Leading the board are Scott and Rene, with the Adam only 2.5 games behind. Look out for Jonas though! The Lakers have looked simply elite over the last 2 weeks with Pau Gasol, and the same can be said of Jonas’s team with the addition of Allen Iverson’s points, assists and steals, and the sudden re-emergence of Jason Terry (FG%, FT%, points, 3’s, and assists).

Boxscore

Team	FG%	FT%	3PT	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	Score
Jobbers (Adam)	.519	.797	43	730	278	120	36	35	82	8
The Dharma Institute (Edwin)	.457	.772	56	758	202	141	35	28	89	1
The Others (Jonas)	.475	.822	51	798	217	170	58	28	85	7
Oscar (Scott)	.494	.741	47	595	257	201	53	37	81	6
War Flag (Mike)	.484	.756	20	711	295	111	41	35	87	3
HoopKings (Rene)	.493	.786	38	725	268	157	45	38	114	8
Job Squad (John)	.468	.732	35	708	245	132	36	28	84	1

Credits

Writer: Edwin Tanedo

Tanedo Triumphant

Edwin Tanedo fulfilled his promise to win back the Crunch title at the Cedar Mill Ballys in Portland, OR, last Saturday, Feburary 23, 2008. The other Crunch participants included reigning champion John Le, Adam Crane, Rene Barzaga, Scott Nelson, and Jonas Reyes.

Tanedo, who had been battling a cold in the last couple of days, skipped the morning warmup and opted to sit in the sauna until the Crunch games started. There was no indication that he would even have enough energy to participate.

Reyes, Crane, Le, and Barzaga each won one of the first four games. But somehow, Tanedo managed to muster up the strength to win two games consecutively, enough to take home the title once again.

“I should have retained my title in three games today,” said Le. “It’s no secret that the longer the match goes, the more it works against me so I really needed to win fast and I just couldn’t get it done.”

Credits

Photographer: Jonas Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Tanedo Vows Vengeance and Victory

I was the Crunch Champion, taking it from John Le two weeks ago, with an offensive display of 3’s and quick drives to the hoop that left Scott, Rene, Jonas, and Mike flat footed and with their feet in their mouths.

I held onto that belt proudly until last Saturday, when John literally robbed me of my belt. With no Jonas, no Scott, and no Mike, only Marcus, Rene, John and myself battled it out. Let it be known that I had already won a game and that I was at 20 points with a sure-fire second win when I missed my free throw. And why did I miss my free throw? Because John made a disparaging remark about Keira Knightley. That was just cold.

Somehow, John battled back with a measly three points to win that game. Rene and I were both taking it to each other, and John just snuck in and stole that win. Then, in his game 5 victory, he didn’t let us touch the ball as he ball hogged it to hit his 3’s and free throws. This was a very unjust win from John, and I am asking the commissioner and the board to take a serious inquiry into the actions that John took last Saturday.

As it was announced, he has to put his belt on the line again this Saturday and I vow that I will regain my championship belt that he so wrongly stole from me. I will victor!

Credits

Writer: Edwin Tanedo
Photographer: Mike R.

Early Battle on Monday

The Octane Infinity are scheduled to play Hustle and Slow at The Courts in Beaverton, OR, this Monday, February 25, 2008. The game starts at 6:10pm.

Hustle and Slow have been winless so far this season and have never faced the Octane Infinity. There is currently no information on how the two teams will match up.

“Since we don’t know much about them, we don’t know if their team name is supposed to be ironic. Either way, we’re going to sic our quickest guys on them and hope that we have a field day in steals and fastbreaks if they do in fact live up to their name,” stated team co-captain Jonas Reyes.

Credits

Writer: Jonas Reyes

Playing Thru Pain

Crunch Champion John Le is not going to let any injury stop him from defending his title from his Octane Infinity teammates this Saturday, February 23, 2008, at the Cedar Mill Ballys in Portland, OR.

“The swelling on my right knee was pretty bad when I woke up today. So I’m having it checked out tomorrow,” said Le last Tuesday. “Just remember, though, I am a fighting champion. If you’re a gambling man, you better bet yo asses that I’ll show up to successfully defend my championship.”

Fortunately for Le, he won’t be the only one who will not be 100% on Saturday. According to MySpace, Edwin Tanedo is currently suffering from a cold. However, Tanedo does not expect to miss this Saturday’s round of Crunch games.

The recent health issues of Le and Tanedo may have just opened the door for a new champion to be crowned this week.

Credits

Photographer: Jonas Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Hulkamaniacs 70, Octane Infinity 56

At The Courts in Beaverton, OR, last Monday, February 18, 2008, the Octane Infinity led with as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Hulkamaniacs just wouldn’t go away. By halftime, the lead was cut to four.

The Hulkamaniacs thrived in the second half and eventually took the lead. The Octane Infinity, trailing by just six points at the two-minute mark, were forced to foul on defense to stop the clock. Unfortunately, the Hulkamaniacs were able to hit their free throws despite shooting them poorly earlier in the game and pulled an upset on the Octane Infinity 70-56.

Chris Turman scored 22 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the 3-point line, along with 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Octane Infinity. This was the third time this season that Turman has achieved a double-double. Jonas Reyes had 13 points, and Edwin Tanedo added nine points.

The Octane Infinity were without the services of center David Camp, who was unable to attend the game. “If it weren’t for Chris, we would have been obliterated on the boards. We definitely missed David tonight. His inside presence would have helped our perimeter game tremendously,” stated John Le.

Boxscore

No.	Pos	Player	2PT	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PTS
13	PG/SG	Adam Crane	3-6	0-0	0-0	1	4	2	2	0		6
21	PG/SG	Jonas Reyes	2-6	3-6	0-0	3	1	1	0	0		13
26	PG/SG	Edwin Tanedo	1-2	2-6	1-3	1	0	4	0	0		9
30	PF/C	Chris Turman	5-13	4-8	0-0	14	1	3	1	4		22
32	SF/PF	John Le	1-2	1-6	1-4	5	0	1	0	0		6
40	PF	Marcus Berger	0-1	0-0	0-0	6	0	2	0	0		0
44	SF	Scott Nelson	0-3	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	1	0		0
51	C	David Camp	DNP
Totals			12-33	10-26	2-7	30	6	13	4	4		56

Credits

Statistician: Lisa Sander
Photographer: Amy Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Le Victorious

John Le reclaimed the Crunch Champion title last Saturday, February 16, 2008, at the Cedar Mill Ballys in Portland, OR as he beat out Edwin Tanedo, Rene Barzaga, and Marcus Berger. In one of the games, Le trailed everyone, having scored only three points, but made a spectacular comeback and won. Le won three games while Edwin Tanedo and Rene Barzaga won one game a piece.

Tanedo, who was so shocked about losing the title, refused to relinquish the belt. He will just have to wait again next Saturday to have a chance to win the title back. In the meantime, Le is King.

Credits

Photographer: Mike R.
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Tanedo Expects Repeat

Current Crunch Champion Edwin Tanedo will be defending his title against his Octane Infinity teammates at 9am this Saturday, February 16, 2008, at the Cedar Mill Ballys in Portland, OR.

“Same time, same place, same King of Crunch Champion. It is MY precious. Bring your kids, bring the ESPN cameras and bring the reporters cause I can’t wait to show the world once again the true supreme HoopKing, not some Fantasy wannabe. I’m the champ, the rest are chumps, be there to bow to the King!” proclaimed Tanedo.

Will Tanedo back up his claims of surpremacy, or will he prove to be a flash-in-the-pan titleholder like Buster Douglas was to boxing?

Credits

Photographer: Amy Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes