James Yap

James Yap, shooting guard for the Philippine Basketball Association team Purefoods Chunkee Giants, has enjoyed a star-studded two-year career. After becoming one of the most promising players during his high school years, he went on to play first for amateur teams, leading them to victories, then was drafted in 2004 by Purefoods. Yap married Kris Aquino in 2005 (but managed to keep the news quiet for months) and are expecting a child in 2007.
Born James Carlos Yap, February 15, 1982, he hails from Escalante City in the Negros Occidental region of the Philippines and began playing basketball in the second grade. He was a star basketball player in his high school years, and went on to University of the East, where he played for the Red Warriors.

With the help of several other team members, Yap led the Red Warriors to several wins that left them in a final four playoff series. It had been years since the Red Warriors had participated in the Final Four. Although the University of the East lost to Ateneo de Manila University, the Red Warriors went on to win the Collegiate Champions League title in 2002. The team saw Final Four action the following year as well, but again lost in the semifinals. Still, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines honored Yap with the MVP vote.

Yap was noticed in his amateur career, and was picked up by Purefoods TJ Hotdogs in the 2004 draft. However, he had a mediocre year and lost the Rookie of the Year award to Rich Alvarez of the Shell team.

The 2005 season saw the TJ Hotdogs change names to the Purefoods Chunkee Giants, and a change in James Yap as well. He and his teammates led the Giants to an appearance at the Fiesta Conference, where they earned a runner-up position; but Yap faced down the Red Bull team to help the Giants win the 2006 Philippine Cup Championship. For this, Yap won the year’s PBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Other awards include: First Five Mythical Team Member, 2003, University Athletic Association of the Philippines and First Five Mythical Team Member, 2005-2006 season, PBA.

Pacquiao - Mosley Fight Tickets Selling Like Hotcakes

Brokers and scalpers are making a killing in ticket sales for the May 7 world welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley, Hall of Famepromoter Bob Arum said from his lair in Las Vegas.

"People are making so much money from this fight," said Arum, the 79-year-old chief of Top Rank Inc, undoubtedly the leading promotional outfit these days. "People are waking up in the morning saying 'I want a ticket to the fight' and they would pay any amount to get one."

Demand for tickets to the 12-round war at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas that Arum said there's none available now.

"What we have now are three tickets...three tickets and by tomorrow, they would all be gone," said Arum in his trademark New York drawl.

Tickets - priced from a high of $1,000 to a low of $150 -were made available to the public two months ago.

Internet sellers are making huge profits with them low-priced tickets pegged as much as $350, while the high-end ringside seat is selling for as much as $3,800.

Even the closed-circuit viewing is starting to catch on following the unavailability of tickets to the 17,000-seat venue.

"So far, there's been a sale of 3,000 tickets to closed-circuit and all the MGM-Mirage operated hotels and resorts will be showing the fight," said Arum.

"We still have a full month ahead and everything's great about the promotion," added Arum.

Where are all the Manny Pacquiao vs. Sugar Shane Mosley promotional commercials on CBS that Bob Arum and writers were boasting about? Wasn’t it part of the Showtime/CBS deal to heavily promote this boxing event for May 7, 2011?

I’ve been watching March Madness NCAA college basketball and I haven’t seen any commercials regarding the Pacquiao-Mosley Showtime pay-per-view for May 7th. I’ve been watching Survivor, CSI, and Criminal Minds during the highest watched primetime hours, and I haven’t seen a single commercial for Pacquiao vs. Mosley.

I also noticed that the FIGHT CAMP 360 for Pacquiao-Mosley will debut April 2 on CBS at 9:00 am in the morning and it will be 20 days before the second episode airs, this will make viewers lose interest in the fight having to wait so long for a second episode. HBO 24/7 airs 4 episodes every week near fight time to keep us updated.

Who watches TV during the early morning hours on a Saturday? Most people sleep in after a long week of hard work they want to rest on Saturday and not wake up early. I doubt the Fight Camp 360 will have high ratings or even be seen by enough people to make a difference in pay-per-view buys.

There isn’t much talk about this fight, and it’s already a match-up that the boxing fans are boycotting. I think the jump to Showtime will backfire on Arum and Pacquiao because HBO is still the king of boxing pay-per-view.

With the lower than expected PPV numbers of 250,000 buys for the Miguel Cotto vs. Ricardo Mayorga fight, I don’t see the Pacquiao-Mosley fight doing well at all, especially with the lack of promotion leading up to the fight.

I predict the Manny Pacquiao vs. Sugar Shane Mosley PPV will fall around the 500 to 600,000 pay-per-view buys range, it definitely won’t hit a million buys or the exaggerated prediction of two million buys that some obsessive die hard Pacquiao fans predict.

This could prove to people that Manny Pacquiao’s star power is overrated.

TRAILER:

Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao is a household name in Philippines and so much so that a movie has been produced on his life and released on June 21, 2006. The title is Pacquiao: The Movie and the lead role has been played by Jericho Rosales and is directed by Joel Lamangan.

Born on 17 December 1978 and codenamed Pacman, Manny Pacquiao can pack a real mean punch. Pacman a.k.a Emmanuel Dapigran "Manny" Pacquiao was born in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines. He has been nicknamed the destroyer. His achievements are extraordinary as he is the reigning WBC International Super Featherweight Champion. In Philippines, he has the status of superman and is referred to as ang Pambansang Kamao or the national fist. Pacquiao’s feats and achievements talk much louder than words. He is the former Ring People's Featherweight Champion from 2003-2005, WBC Flyweight Champion from 1998-1999, and IBF Super Bantamweight Champion from 2001-2004. An impressive career record, the destroyer has 43 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws, to his name out of which 33 wins came through knockout punches.

Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao entered the professional boxing ring for the first time in 1995 with a weight of 106 lbs. During this time, he was far from being famous and had to be satisfied with boxing fights in small venues. These were usually broadcasted on a boxing show called Blow by Blow and it was hosted by John Ray Betita. But he was still far from the actual BIG Games. Meanwhile Pacquiao lost a few fights to Singsurat and Torrecampo and since his weights had also increased by 7lbs, he had to shift to the bantamweight division. The bantamweight division changed his boxing career as Pacquiao went on to win and defend it five times.

One such fight in the Bantamweight division changed Pacquiao career for good. Pacquiao was defending his title for the fourth time when he came face to face against the Mexican boxing champion, Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao defeated Barrera in the 11th round through a technical knockout at the Alamo dome, San Antonio, Texas.

Six months down the line, Pacquiao was face to face with another top Mexican boxer, Juan Manuel Marquez, who was also the World Boxing Association and the International Boxing Federation Featherweight champion. The fight took place at the MGM Grand and finished with a controversial draw. Pacquiao had knocked down Márquez three times in the first round itself.

The moment of glory finally touched his gloves on September 10, 2005. Pacquiao knocked out Hector Velázquez, and went on to become the WBC International Super Featherweight champion at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. A true champion, Pacquiao is also the owner of Pac Man Gensan, the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association in General Santos City.

Efren Bata Reyes

Also called “The Magician,” Efren Bata Reyes is currently the pocket billiards star of the worldwide tournament stage. He has won many major tournaments, and was part of the “Filipino Invasion” that took the United States by storm beginning in the 1970s. His talents and performances earned him a feature spot in a movie, “Pakners,” and to his engagement as Philippine Sports Ambassador to the Southeast Asian Games in 2005.

Biography
He was born in Pampanga, Philippines, on August 26, 1954. When he was five years old, his family moved to Manila. There, he worked in his uncle’s pool hall and was given the Tagalog nickname “Bata,” meaning “kid,” so he wouldn’t be confused with another player with the same name. While working in the pool hall, he learned how to play, and began playing for money. Soon he was winning games worldwide, and would be called one of history’s finest players.

Career
Reyes United States tour began with simply playing for money in the 1980s, but soon he was winning tournaments against some of the country’s best players. In 1995 alone he won six tournaments, including the Sands Regency Open and the 1995 Pro Tour Championship.

In 2003, he received the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Billiard Congress of America. Reyes continues to win honors and a huge paycheck—in the 2005 International Pool Tour’s King of the Hill 8-ball Shootout, Reyes beat Mike Sigel (also in the Hall of Fame) for a $200,000 prize purse, as well as the International Pool Tour championship over Rodney Morris for $500,000.

He got the nickname “The Magician” for his talent in kicking the ball, which is hitting a rail with the cue ball before hitting the intended ball. His kicking ability in addition to his general talent for the game earned him his nickname from the U.S. professional players.

As of this writing, Reyes boasts a total of 54 tournament wins, 5 recognition awards, and appeared in a film called “Pakners” along with actor Fernando Poe Jr. Poe claimed the movie was his recognition of Reyes for bringing the Philippines to the world’s stage in pocket billiards.