Jayjay Helterbrand topscored for the Kings with 26 points, unloading 21 of those points in the second half.

Paul Artadi also waxed hot for Ginebra, knocking in 18 points and pestering the Realtors with his leech-like defense and superb court generalship.

The Kings played minus star guard Mark Caguioa (who is still in the United States for rehab), Junthy Valenzuela, and Rafi Reavis.

In the first game of the PBA doubleheader played at the Araneta Coliseum, the Purefoods TJ Giants came from a 16-point deficit to bludgeon the Red Bull Barakos, 77-73.

With ace gunner James Yap unable to find his range, Kerby Raymundo took the scoring cudgels for the Giants, pouring in 11 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter.

The Giants won despite notching in only five assists throughout the game, a league all-time record for a winning team.

The Barakos played exceptionally well despite being reduced to a team of role players after the Red Bull management decided to trade Mick Pennisi, the only remaining original member of the team that joined the league in 2000, to San Miguel.   

Red Bull also decided to part ways with back-up center Paolo Bugia and guards Topex Robinson and Kiko Adriano, leaving only Cyrus Baguio as their marquee player.

Baguio only chipped in 10 points in Wednesday’s game against Purefoods. Last year’s Most Improved Player also didn’t have any field goal attempt in the second half where he played for just 12 minutes.

Unheralded Gabby Espinas led Red Bull with a career-high 18 points but he had five turnovers, three in the closing minutes as the Barakos lost control.

Red Bull opened the game with a 12-2 run and kept the Giants, last year’s Philippine Cup losing finalist, groping for form for most parts of the game.

The Barakos posted the game’s biggest lead at 47-31 early in the third quarter. But they suddenly lost steam in the closing minutes, allowing the Giants to come charging back.

Purefoods still trailed 60-67 with 9:35 left to play but turned the game around with a 15-2 run starring Raymund and Enrico Villanueva, whose back-to-back baskets gave Purefoods the lead for the first time, 72-69.

Raymundo had nine points in that run, ending it with a shotclock-beating fadeaway jumper and a free throw later to seal the victory.

“It’s a tough win. Red Bull may have lost their stars but for as long as (head coach) Yeng (Guiao) is there, that team remains dangerous,” said Purefoods mentor Ryan Gregorio.

Raymundo also had 15 rebounds while Villanueva tallied 15 points and 11 boards to also finish with a double-double.

Peter Jun Simon scored 18 points including 13 in the third quarter to keep the Giants in the game.

Athletes that I mentioned above involved in sports for competition, having the reason of giving honor and glory not only to themselves but also for the pride of the country. It's like fighting hard and giving much effort to win is the best that they could give to make one country, their fellowmen, and themselves proud.

Utah Jazz - The Jazz beat every team in the NBA last season, and they were extremely exceptional at home. Although away from home they are outright disappointing, they are led by Deron Williams and haven't really done much to improve their team during the offseason.

Denver Nuggets - The only ‘D' that the Nuggets posses is in their home city. So they solved the problem by not bringing back their only defensive prowl in Marcus Camby, the Nuggets will once again give up the most points in the NBA, and more likely than not score the most. The only question is, will they give up more than they can score?

Portland Trail Blazers - Look for the Trail Blazers to be the surprise team this year. Greg Oden missed all of last season with micro fracture surgery on his right knee, even without Oden last year the Trail Blazers showed moments of promise, now we'll finally get to see just how good Oden is.

Minnesota Timberwolves - Letting go Kevin Garnett wasn't the best of choices last year. This year the Timberwolves drafted Kevin Love to go along with Mike Miller and the leader Al Jefferson, look for the Timberwolves to still lurk around the bottom of the very powerful Western Conference.

Oklahoma City Thunder - Well Oklahoma City finally has their team, their team is young and led by Rookie of the Year, Kevin Durant, the Thunder doesn't seem to pose a threat this year. The Super Sonic, name, logo, and colors stayed in Seattle in case they get another team down the road.

Pacific

Los Angeles Lakers - The returning Western Conference champions will be looking to return to the finals again this year. MVP Kobe Bryant has elected to not have surgery on his pinky and maybe we'll get to see how good this team can be with a healthy Andrew Bynum who only played in 35 games and missed all of the playoffs.

Phoenix Suns - Shaquille O'Neal has officially announced his retirement, but it's not for another 2 years. Now that Shaq has had the offseason to meld with the team they might become an even more potent opponent.

Golden State Warriors - Although the Warriors lost Baron Davis, everything looked well when they picked up Corey Maggette. Now the news is looking dim, the Warriors were unable to land another key player for their team and now Monta Ellis will be missing at least 3 months, looks like another disappointing year for the Warriors.

Sacramento Kings - The Kings will be without last year's starters, Mike Bibby and Ron Artest. Kevin Martin will be the shining star on this team along with center Brad Miller, besides that expect for the Kings to have another less than average season.
Los Angeles Clippers - With the Clippers there is good news and bad news, and the bad sounds worse. The Clippers gained Baron Davis and Marcus Camby through free agency, but in turn lost their 2 biggest players in Elton Brand and Corey Maggette.

Southwest

New Orleans Hornets - The Hornets are without a doubt posed to make an even deeper run this year. With Chris Paul leading the team and David West to dish it too this team is built to win the championship, especially with the addition of James Posey.

San Antonio Spurs - The Spurs are another year older and things already don't look for this squad. Manu Ginobili, who is a vital part of the team, will miss a good amount of the opening season after having left ankle surgery, which he reinjured in the Olympics.
Houston Rockets - The Rockets who went on a phenomenal 22 game winning streak last season. In the playoffs, however, McGrady and company, who were without Yao, do to a foot injury, exited in the first round to the Utah Jazz.

Dallas Mavericks - The Mavericks were dismal at best once they traded for Jason Kidd. Mark Cuban fired Avery Johnson, and it has now become known that 5 players wanted out if Johnson would have stayed. The Mavericks will now be coached by Rick Carlisle.
Memphis Grizzlies - The Grizzlies are still in the rebuilding process, but with players such as Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Marc Gasol they might win a few surprising games. The Grizzlies will most likely still be in the cellar in the tough and competitive Southwest division.

As a youngster following Philadelphia sports in the late 70's and early 80's, many would say I was spoiled with victory by our local heroes. It was a time when each of the four professional teams were not only competitive, but poised to take championship runs. Each of the teams made finals appearances in 1980 with the Phillies winning a World Series that year.

As I look at the current state of each team, it is not inconceivable that a moment like 1980 could be a close horizon for the beleaguered Philadelphia fan.

Philadelphia Phillies - Winning the National League East Division last year gave the Phillies their first taste of October baseball in 13 years. A disappointing three game sweep in the first round, however, left a somber feeling for the Phillies fans. The Phillies returned to 2008 with anticipation of regaining the faithful fans and responded with a second division title. With MVP caliber players like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, the offense has the firepower to catapult them into a World Series. But perhaps the biggest difference this year has been the play of their bull pen. With a league leading ERA combined with Brad Lidge, the best closer in baseball, the Phillies are going to be hard to beat.

Philadelphia Eagles - 2007 was a year of bewilderment for the Eagles. Donovan McNabb began the season still nursing an injury. Special teams blunders, mostly caused by personnel mishaps by Andy Reid, sank the Eagles into an early hole from which they never recovered. With off-season moves and a rehabilitated quarterback, the Eagles once again look like an NFL powerhouse. In their first three games of the season, the offense proved they can put the ball in the end zone, even from inside the red zone. The redesigned defense has allowed a touchdown in only one of those three games. Although the NFC East division looks to be the toughest in the NFL, the Eagles should still be able to wrap up a playoff spot and make a run to play through January.

Philadelphia Flyers - “Hungry for More” is not just the slogan for this year's Flyers team, but the feeling of the Flyers fans. No Philadelphia fan has been more loyal or more rewarded with success than Flyers fans. Although only two Stanley Cup championships sit in their trophy case, The Flyers have been an elite team in the NHL for many of their 41 years in the league. Every so often, though, a season like the 2006-2007 season plagues them. With off-season moves by new GM Paul Holmgren, the Flyers rebirth was quick and painful (for the other teams around the league, that is.) With rising young stars like new captain Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, this team seems to have finally learned that toughness must be matched by team speed to be successful in today's NHL. A healthy Simone Gagne also returns for the Flyers, who should give them a goal scoring punch that should make the Flyers one of the best scoring teams in the league. Another trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, and hopefully beyond, is certainly within their reach.

Philadelphia 76ers - It was a difficult decision to trade one of the most exciting players in Sixers history; speaking of Allen Iverson. Although a tremendous athlete with great skill and offensive ability, the trade of Iverson brought team unity and a chance to showcase some new talent. It resulted in a second half season that gave the fans something to cheer about. As they rose in the standings, they also gained considerable respect for a team that can defend as well as run the floor in transition offense. The off-season acquisition of superstar Elton Brand should give the Sixers the necessary veteran power forward who can make a difference on the court that will translate into wins in the standings. With a weak Eastern Conference, the Sixers have positioned themselves to be an elite team with potential to go deep into the playoffs.

As we play out these seasons, our Philadelphia sports heroes can once again make the Philadelphia fans feel proud to be in the best sports city in the US. And perhaps - just maybe - the fans will get to show their appreciation by lining Broad Street for one of the biggest parades in Professional sports history, regardless of which team gives them that long awaited championship. Do you remember “The City of Champions” Philadelphia?

Why must we go on hating,

Why can't we live in bliss?"

-Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), "Peace Train", 1971

For thirty years, I have been an enthusiastic sports fan.

Ever since I saw the 1977 World Series on television, the one where Reggie Jackson torched three home runs against the Dodgers in Game 6 to win the title for the Yankees, I have joyously followed my local teams in baseball, football, and basketball.

I have felt blissful elation after victories, and utter dejection after losses.

I have also admittedly reveled in the misery of opposing fans at times when my teams have won, and have attempted to endure - not well - fans of the opposition taunting me over my teams' failures.

For the past few years, I have heard about some obnoxiously crazy incidents among fans of various teams all over the world, such as soccer hooligans in Europe beating up opposing supporters, a college football fan having his eye almost put out by a beer bottle at his rival's stadium, a brawl among tailgating fans before a football game that was caught on You Tube, and most tragically a soccer goalie being murdered after letting in a winning goal during the World Cup.

I have also heard and read nasty insults among people at games and on the internet, some of them directed at me, and have seen fights among people in the stands, one of which a friend of mine and I broke up at a football game a year ago.

After years of all this, I have frankly wondered if it's all worth it. Why does it REALLY matter whether a team wins or not? What's the purpose of people jumping around screaming over a bunch of millionaire and soon-to-be millionaire jocks running around? More and more I have found myself thinking

"OK, so they won. So what?"

In other words, although I still enjoy sports and have teams that I follow and like being a fan of, I have grown weary over this extreme fanaticism, the arrogance among supporters of winning teams, and the bullying degradation put on losing fans. The fortunes and won-loss records of the various college and professional teams are somehow starting to matter less to me.

I particularly feel this way due to some most regrettable incidents that I'm "fessing up about...

There was that time in the mid 1990"s when I threw ice at the mascot of my college's hated rival during a football game against them, got myself ejected from the stadium and nearly got arrested, which would have been an extreme nightmare. Even though my team ended up winning the game, I couldn't enjoy it, feeling most remorseful and depressed over what I had done in my zealousness.

Then there was that time a couple of years later, in a football game against the same hated rival...

It was a most exciting, barnburner affair of a game. My college's team had made an unbelievable comeback, scoring 17 points to tie the contest and send it into overtime, the first time that had ever happened.

I was excitingly exclaiming that point in the stands when a young girl, no doubt a fervent fan of the rival, standing behind me started yelling at me to sit down in a bit of an obnoxious way. I then proceeded to loudly reply, "No, you sit down, you bitch!!", making her cry and leading her brother and male friends to almost jump me and beat me up in the stands.

I apologized for my words, as it was in the heat of the battle, but that was still absolutely no excuse for what I said to that poor girl. A pretty nasty incident on my part, even though my team eventually won the game.

Looking back on those episodes and thinking about other crazy things I've seen and experienced as a fan of sports has led me to these realizations

In the long run, and in the greater scheme of things on this planet, whether or not a team wins the World Series, Super Bowl, World Cup, a gold medal in the Olympics or a collegiate national championship means one thing...

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Hatred among fans of opposing teams, particularly rivals, has seemingly grown leaps and bounds in recent years, and I am getting increasingly tired of it.

All the ranting, raving and shouting about "We're number one!", "We're better than you!", "We kicked your ass!", and "You guys suck!" - More and more I just feel like saying to those yahoos

"OK, so your team won the game, SO THE HELL WHAT?"

"OK, so your team won the championship, WHO REALLY CARES?"

"All right, so your team's better than my team, BIG FREAKING DEAL!"

Having said all of this, I'll admit that I still have a few teams in baseball, and one college football and basketball team in particular, that I follow and enjoy rooting for. It's not like I have completely abandoned the sporting world in disgust.

But with each passing year I'm getting increasingly tired of having feelings of animosity toward opposing teams and rivals, and the people who follow them.

With all due respect to those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, athletic contests have felt more and more like a war to me. And I am getting tired of this war.

What's more, as time goes by I reckon I will feel more that way.

Perhaps if all those fanatics out there who paint their bodies, get wasted drunk at sporting venues, scream their heads off over bright-colored jerseys and helmets, and harbor a blind hatred of anyone not wearing their team's colors or logos, behaved more like kids playing T-Ball or AYSO (the Little League of soccer), the world would be a better place, and maybe, just maybe, we could start to "live in bliss".

After all, it IS just a game.

1. It's Indoors - The game is played in a controlled environment. 75.735° Fahrenheit... oh you like that temperature... me too. Playing basketball outside is a drag sometimes too. I could put up this beautiful three-ball on those crappy double rimmed hoops at the park that is only going to go in if I swoosh it, except a gust of wind comes up and sends it into the nearby baseball practice. I'm afraid of little kids with bats - for the record. Finishing up, no weather or temperature issues... It's nice.
2. The Ball - The ball is a very comfortable size at 29.5" for men and 28.5" for women. It's also a very nice puke brown color which is very appetizing I think. Also it's not so irregular shaped that players are not kicking it all around the place trying to pick it up - you know you've seen this on the sport's biggest follies.
3. The Shoes - The American population or at least the teenage American
   population have taken a liking to the basketball styled shoe. Very few sports can you go from leisure to action without changing shoes. Having said that - it gives basketball an advantage and why I call it the best sport to play or watch.
4. Athleticism - I am a firm believer that basketball requires the best athletes. Not only does a player have to be fast and strong and what not. They also have to be coordinated and the ability to jump many feet in the air is greatly admired. There are many other things that are necessary to be a great basketball player but it's the combination of all those things that gives basketball an edge over all other sports.
5. The Light Show - If you were privy to attend a professional basketball game or sometimes you get a glimpse of it on TV but there's the smoke and the lights and the everything awesome that you wouldn't get at any other sports event.
6. Equipment - Basketball has a complete lack of equipment, which makes everything lovely from a player's standpoint. Some sports have so much equipment that it limits player mobility. Not having pads or things of that sort made basketball the cheapest sport to play growing up.
7. Mascots - At least at the professional level the mascots are the most entertaining of the bunch. It's just fun to watch some person dressed up as a bear or some random animal riding down the stadium staircase on a bike or jumping through a ring of fire... then having trouble putting it out an delaying that game for 30 minutes but that's beside the point. It basically a circus that comes free with a ticket to the ball game.
8. Playoffs - Playoffs in every sport are very exciting I admit however basketball is the king. At the professional level there are series instead of individual games and the playoffs last for a couple months allowing viewers to catch plenty of basketball games. At the collegiate level March Madness is an entire month full of high intensity playoff games and games are nearly every day.
9. Courtside - Ok so most of this stuff is as the professional level but even below that the intimacy between the fans and the athletes is very high in basketball. Most people, however, can't afford seats that are courtside but it is entertaining to see your most disliked celebrity get squashed by some of the games bigger athletes.
10. Scoring - The amount of scoring in a game dictates a lot of things such as pace and momentum. Basketball has very high scoring at very small intervals which can lead to so much chaos for both players and fans except I think that's what makes it fun. Some sports the momentum shift is very slow and gradual and so momentum shifts only a few times in a game. Basketball could have dozens of shifts in the course of a game. A minutes worth of momentum could yield over ten points on some occasions. This gives the game that X factor, because you never know who's going to win even down those final couple minutes.

Outrageous... yes, logical... sometime but you have to admit they all make sense. At least in my head they do. I guess that leads the question of whether I am sane or not. Meh who cares!

Clay Bennett has taken plenty of criticism on the way he handled the move to Oklahoma City, but one must also consider what happened behind the scenes. Check this out. What Seattle did was show that the city was not in the market for a basketball team.

Consider the outpouring of fans and support Oklahoma City gave to the Hornets when they came to town. By virtue of the tickets sold and the television ratings, OKC was a clear choice to move a fledgling franchise. One lesson to take from the move is take care of what you have. Seattle didn't, and now their loss has become OKC's gain.

On the flip side, the Thunder is also making moves on the court to help build the success of the team. The Thunder have three high-caliber rookies going into the season with Russell Westbrook (UCLA), Kyle Weaver (Washington State), and DJ White (Indiana). They have proven success at the college level, and played for teams from major conferences with better competition. That should translate into success, but not necessarily immediate success.

The Thunder also signed Joe Smith and Desmond Mason to bolster their veteran presence inside. Most assuredly, the Thunder will experience growing pains in its rookie year; however, things are shaping up well with a veteran coach in PJ Carlesimo, and a corps of veterans and solid rookies.

Oklahoma City succeeded in showing the NBA they can handle a professional sports team. Forget the talk about TV ratings and where Oklahoma City ranks in major market sports. The argument to keep a team based off of that is weak. Only time will tell if Clay Bennett and the Thunder are successful. Until then, just sit back and enjoy the seasons unfold.

We'll weather the storm together.

Earlier that week, the Suns had played the number 1 ranked Torque Marine in a semi final in which technical fouls flowed and for the Suns, so did the points. With the Torque team rattled and flustered with the Suns triangle defence, they managed to win reasonably comfortably in the end.

Earlier in the day the Suns had played in the mini Cromwell Mens Basketball Tournament winning each of their three games before making their way to Wanaka to try and put the lid on a fantastic season.

In the final at the Mount Aspiring College gymnasium on Saturday night, the Suns employed that same defence, shutting down the Snow Parks two best players and running all night on offence. With Nathan and Jonny Roberts on overseas "sabbaticals" and an injury to Sam Smoothy, it was left up to the core of last years team plus star signing big Dave Hope to get the deed done. And get it done they did. Hope and last years MVP Christian Alberton were huge on the boards both on offence and defence giving the little men space to fast break. Rhys Chamberlain, Alberton, and Andy Ritchie provided most of the scoring but it was the maturity, decision making and the growth of youngsters Cole Chamberlain and Michael Ritchie that really gave the team an added edge. Nick Scott was solid on defence all night and shut down the Snow Parks main offensive threat leaving the 3 point ace with 0 points at the final buzzer. Despite constant taunting from the Wanaka crowd, the Suns composure and smart play won them the match comfortably. Rhys Chamberlain was named 2008 MVP of the league but it was the understanding the Suns had with each team member that ultimately secured the victory for the second year in a row.

The Cromwell Suns

• Christian Alberton
• Cole Chamberlain
• Rhys Chamberlain
• Dave Hope
• Andy Ritchie
• Michael Ritchie
• Jonny Roberts
• Nathan Roberts
• Nick Scott
• Sam Smoothy