I seriously cannot not post this.

Thanks Deadspin!

Watching the replay of the Pacquiao/Cotto fight, I saw something I didn’t notice last weekend.  Right after the fight is called (55 seconds into the twelfth round), Pacquiao gets lifted in the air by cornerman Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez.  Manny then retreats to his corner, falls to his knees and raises both gloved arms to his head in rejoice.

It was a great moment captured by the HBO cameras; A moment of jubilation for the man who had just won a seventh world championship fight in a record seventh different weight class.  No boxer – not Ali, Tyson, Marciano, Foreman, Roy Jones Jr., Julio Ceasar Chavez, Sugar Ray (either one) or Floyd Mayweather can say they have equaled that feat.  It was a moment for the ages and greatly illustrated the interesting dichotomy that Manny Pacquiao presents:

Along with being the best pound-for-pound boxer in the game, he’s as humble as any boxer in the history of the sport.

Dedicating the victory to his countrymen that had suffered the effects of recent typhoons in the Philippines, the moment probably could have continued for hours.  But it ended shortly as his opponent Miguel Cotto came over to offer his congratulations for the fight.  While it only lasted seconds, the moment was as poignant as any throughout the night in the MGM Grand.

The night was full of great moments for us as well.  My cousins, brother and I were also at the MGM Grand.  We weren’t inside the Grand Garden arena, but in the closed-circuit viewing area.  The fight wasn’t being shown on regular TV, so we had to pay to see it – just as if we were at home.  The closed-circuit area was a huge ballroom with four very large TVs setup in front of 14-chair wide rows.  I’d say there were around 1,500 people in the room, most of them were Pacquiao supporters.

The atomsphere was great.  Some folks waved their Filipino and Puerto Rican flags and some supporters even ran through the aisles (see below) trying to spark up the crowd.  The four of us attended Pacquiao’s fight against Marco Antonio Barrera in October 2007, and I’d say this experience was almost as enjoyable.  The nice part about the closed-circuit viewing was that we were all together (as opposed to being in different parts of the arena).  Also, the fact that we could jump around and interact with all of the other fans made it fun as well.

I’d definitely consider heading back to Vegas for another closed-circuit viewing if (when?) a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight gets signed.

Still on the White Mountain High…

From wikipedia:

Mabuhay (pronunciation: mah-BOO-hahy) is a word from Philippine languages including Tagalog. It is used to exclaim “long live” or the Filipino version of live long and prosper. Comparable to the Romance language expression “Vive, Viva”, This expression is most often used at toasts during gatherings and parties. It is also an expression used in welcoming guests and a way of showing hospitality by Filipinos.

Littleton, New Hampshire is a sleepy, main street town.  When I drove through, it felt like I was driving a time machine.  The reason for this is the place probably looks the same as it did 30 years ago.

With that in mind, you can imagine my surprise when I came across this store:

This is my new favorite store.  Ever.  I so wish it was open when I saw it.  What fun it would have been!

I almost drove off the road from laughter.  I have never seen a market named “Mabuhay” anywhere, let alone approximately 180 miles north of Boston.  When I googled it, I came across this description:

Mabuhay Oriental Store
Fresh produce; meat; fish; specialty food;
Martial arts supplies; Filipino products
240 Main Street, Littleton, NH 03561

I gotta be honest here:  There can’t be many “Orientals” in Littleton, New Hampshire.  I also have to believe that it is probably one of the worst revenue-generating stores in town.  No matter how often they greet their customers with “Mabuhay!” it won’t help the fact that there probably isn’t much of a demand for “Groceries and Gifts from the Far East” in the White Mountain region.  It also doesn’t seem like an area that would require many martial arts supplies.

I’m just glad I was able to snap a picture of it before its inevitable closure.

MABUHAY!

Photo credit: Jim Davis – Boston.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: Go Bruins! Beat Carolina!

Welcome to Truth About Mike anniversary month!

May 23rd marks the one year anniversary of this blog.  Can you believe it?  I have something special planned for Friday the 22nd (if I don’t catch the swine flu), so stay tuned for that.  I’ll also try and do some fun stuff up until then to celebrate a full year of verbal diarrhea.  Frankly, I’m surprised I’ve kept it up for this long.

The greatest playoff series in NBA history is really taking a lot out of me (and the rest of the basketball fans in Boston and Chicago), so this is going to be a short entry.  I simply cannot believe there have been four overtime games in this series.  Last night’s three overtime game was another nail biter.

Saturday is going to be flat out epic and I cannot wait.  I will definitely need a long nap after the day’s events.  I may even set a new record on Twitter for the number of “tweets” (lame, I know) in one day.  Apologies in advance to my friends on there.

I’ve got a nice little Saturday planned: Miley’s follow-up vet visit, a cookout/poker party at Devid’s, Game 7 of the Celtics series and then Manny Pacquiao’s (a.k.a. the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet) fight against Britain’s Ricky Hatton.  I’ve already waxed poetic about my feelings on the Pacman and think he’ll win earn a decisive victory over Hatton tomorrow night.  I also think the C’s will take care of business with a double-digit win (thank you, home court!), but fear they may have nothing left for the next round.

In honor of tomorrow’s “Super Saturday,” I give you Pac meeting the Celtics:

Have a great weekend, everyone! Make the most of every day.

Gedde Watanabe!

(Devils win 1-0. On to the Garden Sunday!)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Happy birthday and congrats on the new arrival, Flah!

Thoughts while wishing my sloppy seconds were Elisha Cuthbert…

In America, sports heroes take on a larger than life persona. They inspire, excite, and either make our days or ruin our weeks. There is one athlete who eclipses even the enormous American pedestal athletes here strive to achieve. This athlete is Manny Pacquiao, a boxer from the Philippines. In June, he was rated by Ring Magazine as the #1 ranked pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

On SportsCenter last night, Steve Kim from maxboxing.com described Pacquiao (to Filipinos) as “the Beatles, Michael Jordan and Brad Pitt all wrapped into one.” He carries the hopes and dreams of 90 million of his countrymen on his shoulders each time he steps into the ring. He’s a rare and glowing beacon of pride from a country which usually doesn’t have much to boast about. His greatest accomplishment has probably been getting my mother to watch a boxing match.

Pacquiao was born into abject poverty in General Santos City in the southern section of the Philippines called Mindanao. Today, Mindanao is best known for being a haven for terrorist activity from the M.I.L.F. (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) factions and the A.S.G. (Abu Sayyaf Group). Even with all these MILFs (yeah, I’m laughing) and ASG running around, Pacquiao has kept his home in Mindanao. One would expect nothing less from the man known as the “people’s champion.”

Pacquiao left school in the third grade to sell donuts to help his family. Allegedly, he ran away from home because his father ate his dog. Such is life in one of the poorest sections of a third-world country. He rose from those conditions to become the first Asian fighter to win four world titles in different weight divisions. His lifetime record is 47-3-2 with 35 wins by knockout. Also, he has been dubbed the “Mexicutioner” because he has defeated every Mexican boxer he has faced. This is quite an impressive feat considering the great success and tradition of Mexican boxers.

Pac won his fourth world title on June 28^th against David Diaz. After the fight he was visited in the locker room by most of the NBA champion Boston Celtics (just eleven days after they had won the title). In this youtube (around the 1:00 mark), it was revealed that his basketball idol is Kevin Garnett. Pac and Garnett both began their path to stardom at early ages. KG skipped college and went straight to the NBA and Pacquiao moved to Manila at the age of 15 (without his parents knowing) to begin his boxing career.

Boxing isn’t the only arena in which Pacquiao has left his mark. He has appeared in Filipino movies, released a pop album, and even has run for political office in his home country. For these reasons, he has also been called the “Filipino Elvis.” Furthermore, he is the first Filipino athlete to be featured on a postage stamp. Lastly (although he wasn’t on the team), he was the flag-bearer for the Filipino national team at the Summer Olympics this past summer in China.

The reason for the blog entry on the Pac Man? Tomorrrow night in Vegas, the Mexicutioner faces the greatest challenge of his career: future boxing Hall-of-Famer Oscar De La Hoya. This one is personal. Sure De La Hoya is old, but Pac is moving up 30 pounds in weight to fight him. This is rare in boxing. Sadly, I think Pac’s three year undefeated streak will come to an end tomorrow night. Hopefully, he proves me wrong as he has done to many others countless times throughout his life and career.

Either way, the Pac Man has already won. At this point, he inspires millions of people with every move he makes. These millions are found all over the world, not just on the 7,107 islands that make up the Phillippines. As his idol Kevin Garnett once proclaimed, Manny Pacquiao is living proof that anything is possible.

One of the coolest things that has happened since the inception of Sexual Chocolate, is that some of you have been sending the link to friends and relatives. I really, really appreciate this. I appreciate this almost as much as the comments you guys have been leaving on the site (keep ‘em coming!). Considering that sexualchocolate.com and .net are both porn sites, you’re really putting yourself out there by sending this link to someone. Just remember to include the “the” at the beginning of the address. This will keep your browser porn free. For those of you interested in internet porn, please drop the “the” from my url.

To those people who have received this link from a friend or relative, I think it is only common courtesy for me to introduce myself. I’ll start by tackling the toughest question first. Hopefully as you read on, you’ll learn more about me through the verbal diarrhea I spray all over the walls of Al Gore’s greatest invention: the internet.

The toughest question I get about myself is….

(drum roll please)

“What nationality are you?”

I always wince when I get this question. I usually lighten the mood by turning into a game. I do this by turning the question back onto the person who made the inquiry and ask said person to guess my nationality. I’ve been called almost every nationality in the book including (but not exclusive to): Hawaiian, Samoan, Mexican, Alaskan, Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan (Miyagi!!), Korean and American Indian. Hell, my ex-wife thought I was Japanese-Mexican when she met me. Think about that. Japanese-Mexican! What the hell is that??!? Sushi-burritos, anyone?

I’ve been called so many different nationalities that I’ve stopped correcting people and just tell people that I am the nationality of their first guess. Part of the game is acting all happy and surprised that said person guessed it. I’m so many different nationalities to so many different people that I can’t even remember what I am to whom anymore. I’ll get a laugh every once in a while when I’ll hear one of my friends talking about me to someone else (“My Mongolian friend Mike also lives in Pleasantville”).

During another period of my life, I just started telling people I was Dutch. Dutch! I never thought anyone believed that until just recently when my friend Z told me he thought I really was Dutch. Dutch! Like windmills and wooden shoes. Dutch!

In short, I am everyman. I’m a living, breathing, blogging, walking and talking United Nations conference. Actually from this point on, I might just adopt a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy regarding my nationality.