Craving for Sports

Last week I rented two sports (based on true events) movies. Believe me, you'll want to get to know these people.

Z-boys

The first one was about the legendary Z-boys who revolutionized extreme skateboarding. Lords of Dogtown was a movie written by one of the main characters about three surfer boys from California who turned (kinda permanently) to skateboarding after this kind of wheel type was invented (sorry, I'm lazy today). Stacy Peralta (the writer), Tony Alva and Jay Adams are played by these guys over here, respectively.

I haven't seen this documentary film about them, Dogtown and Z-boys (still by Peralta), but I've heard it's much better than the hollywood version. This photo on your left is Jay Adams, the youngest in the group, and yet the best natural skater according to Peralta. He still skates in drained pools today. You'll find photos on the angelfire website I provided below.

Informative Links:
Official Site
The 1st Z-boys Presence on the Internet - this angelfire site's got updates and loads of photos of the original z-boys.


The Invincible

He is Vince Papale.

At the age of 30, he made it to the Philadelphia Eagles making him the oldest rookie in the history of the NFL to play without the benefit of college football experience (source: Wikipedia).

The movie Invincible was inspired by his story. It starred Mark Wahlberg as Papale.


David Ferrer

I watch football (aka soccer). I like that sport, in fact I root for a team and a country. My team: S.L. Benfica, my country: Portugal (though I'm from the Philippines. But if one day the Philippine team faces the Portuguese, I'll stay with my very own. But that would be a feat, if you think about it.). Wherever Nuno Gomes goes, I go.

Now last week, as I changed channels, I came upon a tennis match in a cable channel that shouldn't be in my tv because I don't have cable. I couldn't remember who played in that game, but the next I wanted to see. It was the Masters Cup held in Shanghai and the next game would be Nadal against a fellow Spaniard named David Ferrer. I realized I'm not yet a fan of any tennis player, and I want to be. Rafael Nadal is famous so I'd like to see him play. I let my mother watch with me since she used to play tennis (and mind you, she's good at it. She almost beat a college tennis varsity player when she was in her forties.)

Before the game started, I let her choose who she's rooting for. It's not good to watch a game if you're not a fan of any side. I observed Nadal. He moves a lot. The other one was quiet. My mother chose Ferrer. Alright, I said, me too.

David Ferrer. He's really quiet, but he's got a temper. You'll eventually know from this game that he doesn't like to lose. But I like how he plays (especially his service). The young Nadal is very good, no doubt about that. The game was very tight that my mother couldn't sleep. It lasted for almost three hours. Ferrer won.

The next few days there was no more of that channel, so I couldn't watch, but I updated myself from the net. Ferrer started at World rank number 6 during this competition, and ended at number 5. His last game was in the finals against Roger Federer. Of course, Federer won.

I found this great article about Ferrer at ATPtennis.com.


Euro 2008 Qualifying Teams

Yes, the final teams competing for UEFA Euro 2008 are complete. Portugal and Turkey are in! England is out! woohoo!!!

Euro 2008 Qualifying at Wikipedia