How One Can Be A Champion?

         To be a champion in any field of sports, one needs to have certain qualities that will aid him to reach its summit. There are certain steps that one can take so as to achieve this goal. Among them are: set clear goals, commit to consistent training, focus on fundamental, stay physically fit, develop mental toughness, and learn from failure. 

        With regard to setting your goals, make it both long term and short term goals. Assess them as something specific and attainable as well as something that can give you motivation and direction. In addition to this one, be sure to have your whole heart on your training. The training period allows you to be prepared in all facets such as physically, mentally and emotionally. 

         Learn to draw plans and concrete steps so that you can be true to your dream of becoming a champion. Be inspired by the lives of such champions as Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Kyrie Erving, Efren Reyes and many others who in their life have achieved their greatness. 

imagecredit: https://pixabay.com/photos/mountains-lake-house-lake-house-1587287/

          Then focus on your fundamentals, Whatever field of sport you have chosen, learn its basics, try to improve your footworks and your decision making abilities. Your foundation is very important to improve your field. And stay physically fit meaning learning to say no, ( a big NO) to all those vices that could possibly hinder you to reach your goal. Be smart enough to set aside minor details that can cause distractions. 

          Second to the last, develop your mental toughness since in any game that you are in, positive and negative sides are always present. Be aware to celebrate those times of victory and accept graciously moments of failures. Feel both the joy of being a winner and also the pain of losing any game. From all those failures, learn something positive. Though it sounds tough since it touches your pride and heart BUT for you to be able to become a champion, learn to extract positive from them. 

                                                                                    

Who is the GOAT in Basketball?

          When it comes to the title GOAT (Greatest of all Time) in basketball, I believe this refers to these two players: Michael Jordan and Lebron James. As I tried to researched on this one, my guess is as right as that of other people thus let us stick to these two as GOAT in basketball.

          First and foremost, let us talk about Michael Jordan. His legacy on the game is that he has 6 NBA Chanmpionships,  5 MVP Awards,  and heaps of personal accolades. During his active years, he spent most of his playing days with the famous and equally heralded Chicago Bulls. 

Image by Inga Klas from Pixabay

          On the other hand, Lebron James has been seen playing with several teams such as Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and his latest team, the famous Los Angeles Lakers. Similar to Michael Jordan, he has received many awards also like the MVP and the NBA Championships much to his credit and contributions. 

          With all these achievements, the title GOAT is seemingly extended to them however there are also other notable players who have made great contributions to the game just like the names of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russel, or Kareem Abdul Jabaar or even the late Kobe Bryant. Hence the tile GOAT could oftentimes be subjective depending on one's own preference and gauges. 

Sports' Latest News

     As we start a new month, allow me to share with you some of the latest news on the world of sports. We all know that everywhere we are, sports field is always full of surprises and breathtaking activities that we should be aware of to keep us excited.

1. Tennis- one of the prestigious world class competition on tennis is soon approaching, that is the WImbledon and one sad news for all those Nick Kyrgios fans is his latest injury that will sideline him for the rest of this year's Wimbledon season. In his latest undertaking, the young dominant player suffered an injury particularly a torn ligamnent in his wrist and that it needs him to rest so that he will be prepared for the other tournaments this year. We wish the young player a speedy recovery from this.

                                                                    

imagecredit: Lars Nissen from Pixabay

2. Boxing- Tim Tszyu is unhappy to learn that his supposed title header fight with Jermell Charlo will not materialise for the latter opted to fight instead the super middleweight undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez. It has been his dream to fight Charlo for the unification title but somehow, with this latest development he was stunned to learn that this will be brought to nought. However he remained active this year scoring two impressive wins including the spectacular demolition of the Mexican champion Carlos Ocampo. Consequently, he now has to further wait for his chance to fight the explosive chamption Jermell Charlo in the future. 

3.   Basketball- in the world of basketball especially here in Australia, the big news is with Australia claiming the Bronze in FIBA Asia Cup held in Sydney.  They made a significant win over the equally tough New Zealand team to claim this place. As a result, the team qualifies for next year's Paris 2024 Qualifying Tournament. The Australian Team is bannered by these talented players: the trio of Tess Madgen, Darcee Garbin and Anneli Maley plus the abled support of Alice Kunek and Tall Fern Penina. We wish the Australian team more positive performances in their coming tournament. 

Where is Derrick Rose?

    Health is wealth and this is exactly very true to athletes in all events. Players on different fields are considered very lucky especially for those of 5 star quality since they receive huge pays plus many perks. And when bad luck happen most notably through injury, that's the worse that any player also could imagine. 

 

    This is the story of the very talented Derrick Rose. He was awarded the  prestigious Rookie of the Year award while playing for the Chicago Bulls and he also had the record of the youngest ever player to win the NBA MVP award. But who is Derrick Rose?

     He was born on Oct. 4, 1988 in Chicago. While he and his three siblings were raised only by his mother, Derrick started to develop his likings to basketball through the influence of his brothers. He studied at Simeon Career Academy. And on his first year playing for their basketball team, he averaged 18.5 points thus resulting on him helping the team to have a 24-1 record. 2006-2007, he led the team to 2 championships and he was chosen as Illinois Mister Basketball.  

     After high school , he received a scholarship from University of Memphis and he joined the basketball team wherein they had the record of winning 26 straight games. Due to his contributions, they reached the championship but lost to Kansas. After the season, he decided to join the NBA draft and fortunately, he was picked in the first round by the Chicago Bulls. On his rookie year, he averaged 17 points and 6.3 assists. On this first year, they reached the playoff but lost to the defending champion -the Boston Celtics. Though they lost, he attracted the attention of so many basketball fans since he equalled the record of Kareem Abdul Jabaar on getting the most points on a playoff game.

                                                                        

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     Due to this enormous contributions, he won the Rookie of the Year Award. On 2009-2010 season his second year in the league, he suffered an ankle injury and he missed months of playing. Luckily in January 2010, he returned to the line-ip averaging 25 points plus 6 assists. On the following season, 2010-2011 season,  his big break came when he at 22, dominated the NBA with 25 points plus 7.7 assists average per game helping the Bulls achieved a 62-20 record. As a result, he was chosen as the league's MVP - the youngest player ever to win the prestigious award. on the next season, 2011-2012, Bulls enjoyed the magnificent performance from Rose who averaged 22 points and 6 assists. Thus tye decided to give Rose a 5 year $94 million contract. 

     However, on April 28, 2012, 1st round of the playoffs and against the Philadelpia Sixers and 12 points ahead, Rose penetrated the hoop and suffered an ACL on his left knee. With that incident, the fans had witnessed Rose's worst injury that destroyed his promising career. Season 2012-2013 came, he didn't play as a result of his injury. On October 5, 2013, Rose came back to the Bulls' line up but after playing for only one month, he suffered another injury. that resulted of him missing playing for the whole season. 

     2015-2016 season, he played for 66 regular games but unfortunately the team fell short and did not reach the playoff. As a result, he was traded to New York Knick on June 23, 2016. 2016-2017 season, he slowly regained his health but in April 2, 2017, he needed a surgery for his left knee that made him to rest for 8 weeks. Consequently he was not offered another contract. He was traded to Cleveland Cavaliers. On November 7, 2017, he suffered another injury. With this incident, all his previous injuries came back to his mind and he was thinking of retiring from the game definitely.  Sad to note though that from 2012-2017, he already suffered 32 injuries. Finally, last February 25, 2022, he underwent another procedure to check his skin infection and due to this, he was  ruled out indefinitely. 

                                                                    

     Knowing all these misfortunes by Derrick Rose, we can all say that indeed, health is wealth however, there also could be times that things will not go smoothly as we want them to be. 

                                                                             

Amazing Talent- Kai Sotto

     Height is might- a very true statement especially in the world of basketball. And one prospect on this game who has this gift is Kai Sotto- a Filipino prospect who is considered as. a great talent and a great prospect in the world of basketball.

     But who is Kai Sotto? Kai comes from Las Pinas, Philippines. He is listed as 7'1 indeed a very tall player in the world of basketball. On a news last April 1, 2021, it was then announced that his services is taken by the Adelaide Sixers of the National Basketball League based in Australia. And to think that NBL is one of the best leagues of basketball in the whole world meaning that Kai will be given the tools to improve and learn all those stuffs that will make him great on this game.

                                                  Image by Varun Kulkarni from Pixabay 

     I have seen some of his games on NBL and I personally could see the potential that this young man possesses. He is not scared to compete against those big bodied and more senior players from opposing teams. His slams are so great to watch. With the league on its way, it is not impossible for Kai to develop intensely his skills and bring his talent to NBA hearing that this is his ultimate goal in his basketball journey. Good luck Kai. 

                                                                            

Goodbye The Black Mamba

        Today marks as one of the dark days of sports since this day, Kobe Bryant, the Black Mamba, died on a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California. Considered as one of NBA's legends together with the likes of Michael Jordan, he was instrumental in bringing his team, Los Angeles Lakers to several championships. 

       When he joined the league in the year 1996, he was together with the more known Larry Drew and Michael Cooper at that time. " He debuted in the Summer Pro League  in Long Beach California scoring 25 points in a standing room only crowd.  He scored 36 points in the finale and finished with averages of 24.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in four games.

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           As a rookie in 1996-97 he mostly came off the bench behind the more notable guards at that time like Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. " Source-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant#1996_NBA_draft

       

           The world of sports and even outside of it woke up today in tears as they were told of the horrific news about his death. And what added to the pain was that he died in the crash together with his 13- year- old daughter Gianna who also is an aspiring basketball star. We all include in our prayers the eternal repose of his soul and we also pray for the peace of mind and heart of the family. 

                                              

Sports World in 2018

         Year 2018 indeed was filled with many exciting events in the world of sports. To name some of these big events, events like Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Football's World Cup, Formula 1 Races and many more have resulted in new sporting heroes coming out and some old faces fading away from the limelight.

          Picking up a few of these sports, first in the tennis world, new interesting names that are coming out are the likes of Alexander Zverev, the 6'6" 21 yrs old German who made big waves most notably in the Roland Garros tournament

Photo by Chrissa Giannakoudi on Unsplash

when he reached the quarter finals. Another new big name that came out last year was 21 year old Croatian Borna Coric, who made himself spectacular with victories over big names like Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem. 

Meanwhile in the Formula 1 races, the following emerged as the dominant drivers:

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Valterri Bottas

3. Sebastian Vettel

4. Kimi Raikkonen

5. Fernando Alonzo

6. Sergio Perez

Source: https://www.formula1.com/en/teams.html

          In the world of boxing, prominent names that made waves last year are the following: Keith Thurman, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Chris Eubank, and Luis Nery. All throughout the year 2018, several interesting bouts were held and in all of them, joy was evident on the faces of those triumphant ones while pain of defeat was rather displayed on the not so lucky ones. 

Source: http://www.the-sports.org/sport-calendar-2018-p0-62018.html