East Rombo: The Blog with Balls

The East Rombo Team welcomes Carlo Ricohermoso to the fold.

Look for Carlo, a.k.a. Chito (or at times Charlo) to deliver the lowdown as well as the latest chismax on the local cage scene. A die-hard Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings fan, you can also catch him and his band perform on March 31, 2006 at the Rizal High Sch-- Huh? What? That's not him? Ok.

Welcome to the team, Carlo!

Hey there folks! Bit here. I guess you could call me the resident editor of East Rombo. I've been busy ensuring the quality the design of the site and the state of the articles here for your enjoyment. Yup, that's me; always thinking about the welfare of others. A selfless worker who toils everyday to make the lives of those around him better.

OK, so that might not be entirely true, but I can surely say that about Kevin Garnett. I've followed much of his career since he was drafted 5th overall by the Timberwolves back in 1995. I was still mostly a basketball newbie back then so forgive me for not having a good sense of his game in the earlier years of his career - all I remember was that he was damn good player, and I knew he was going to be something great.

11 seasons, 10 playoff appearances, 1 Western Conference Finals, and 1 Regular Season MVP Award, Kevin Garnett, the Kid, the Big Ticket, is nearing - or quite possibly seeing the end of - the peak of his career at the relatively young age of 30. Among active players, he actually has played more minutes in his career than everyone else except Shaquille O'Neal. Barring any major injuries (or further injury to his knees), there should be another 6-8 years of pro ball left in him. But the question remains, is it already too late for him and the Wolves?

When Stephon Marbury arrived in 1996 to team up with KG, they were touted as the next Stockton and Malone. They were dynamite. Backed-up by Tom Gugliotta (who believe it or not was a terrific player back then), they were an up and coming force in the league. They once had Terrell Brandon, Chauncey Billups, Isiah Rider (let's forget that he was crazy for a sec), and even Christian Laettner but it was never enough. Marbury sulked his way out, Brandon's legs blew up, Chauncey got away, and Rider took one serving too much of crazy. Don't ask me what happened to Googs. I mean, how the hell could you win with a guy called "Googs"? It's like trying to win when your third option's a guy named "Smush".

Now, KG's Wolves look like an even worse version of the Lakers - one superstar surrounded by mediocre talent. Kevin McHale has not done a good job. Let's face it: Babcock, Thomas, McHale... they're all in the same league (although we can argue that Thomas is taking it to a whole other level). He once had a promising Joe Smith in his lineup to control the paint with KG. BOOM. There went the Wolves' draft picks for the next few years. What made it worse was that all McHale could get in the draft picks that they did get to keep was one Wally Szczerbiak and a kid named Ndudi Ebi. Wally worked out quite well. Can't say the same about Ebi.

McHale might very well have made his last deal as Timberwolves brass when he traded away Wally, Kandi, and could've been the only real defensive bigman they've had in years, Dwayne Jones. Ricky Davis, Blount, Reed, and Banks are undoubtedly good players, but are they good enough to bring KG the gold?

KG has had enough. He's given his heart and soul to the team, to the community, and to the world. It's about time that he's given something in return.

"I have faith in Glen [Taylor] that he'll do the right thing." Notice how he didn't say "I have faith in Kevin [McHale]..."? I've read that during the offseason, one Kevin will go, and one Kevin will stay. Glen Taylor would be out of his mind to let go of the Kevin literally giving his blood, sweat, and tears with every game. C'mon Glen. Give KG and us loyal fans something.

On the night of the conception of East Rombo, we were planning to make a theme for our contributor names, pseudonyms if you will. The first idea was Bit's departments, where we should each think of our own department in the district of East Rombo, like me being the IT head (Innocent Tainting) and Bit going for the DSPW (Department of Sanity and Public Welfare).

Other ideas included suggestions ranging from Captain Planet (earth! wind! fire! etc), to the Village People (policeman! indian!) to even the Power Rangers(triceratops! mastodon!). As of now, we still don't have a theme, the tentative theme being just our names. But I'm drifting off.

One such suggestion was since the blog was all about basketball, NBA (PBA, MBA, NCAA, UAAP, or any other basketabll association for that matter) players' names should be used. Though it seemed kinda corny, there's a certain word play involved. I actually forgot when I first thought about it or some friend (maybe it was Jason, G or Bit) but even before, we already made fun of players' names.

Especially if you put 's or s' at the end of their first names. Take note of our classic example: "Tim's Duncan". What does it remind you of? Or what first comes into your mind when you hear that phrase? Still not following? How about larry's bird? Ah, now you get it. Good.

There are about a thousand players in the NBA and PBA combined, more if we include the retired players, but for the sake of space, sanity and safety (yes, safety, I will explain further) I will just put these guys into 12-man teams. For now, I am thinking of putting up 1 team a week, and then finish off with a grand finale of the all-time list, but that's thinking ahead too much.

For the pioneer week, the spotlight is on the 'big men' (and no, I am not referring to their heights, that wouldbe too discriminating). So without further ado, I present the first team:

Houston's Rockets!

Starting Five:
PG - TJ's Ford
SG - Darius' Miles
SF - Desmond's Mason
PF - Tim's Duncan
C - Nene's Hilario

Reserves:
Dikembe's Mutombo
Scot's Pollard
Vitaly's Potapenko
Pau's Gasol
Andre's Barrett
Calvin's Booth

It was kind of hard to look for guards, since most guards are small and even though they 'should' be small, the Rockets are planning a new approach to basketball: a multitude of big men. Since their team name suggests a huge and long object, the players themselves should also have huge rockets... er... objects... er persons... I mean personalities. Yeah. Huge personalities.

our balls are fun!

It all started one lazy monday afternoon, when a certain Phoenix Suns fan shared with his friend, a fellow basketball enthusiast and Minnesota Timberwolves supporter, his plans of putting up a new blog aside from his two other websites. His intention was to organize his various thoughts and emotions pertaining to his beloved game of basketball in this new patch of webspace.

His friend approved of the idea, relating that he himself had been planning to create such a blog in which he and his other friends can engage in good, clean, ballsy fun.

Fast-forward to a few hours later when, through the wonders of instant messaging technology, four post-collegiate friends and frequent basketball playmates (yes, playmates) found themselves trapped in an intense -- and at certain moments, homoerotic -- dialogue on how best to create this online haven for basketball fans and geeks alike -- or at least those who belong within the reaches of their respective social networks.

And just like that, East Rombo: The Blog was born. Named after the Yahoo! Fantasy NBA League in which the blog's authors belong, this site simply intends to be the home of whatever basketball-related material they wish to share to the world. Enjoy your stay.

But wait! There's more! First and foremost, meet the team -- the fantastic four, if you will:

G Abrencillo - The current commissioner of the East Rombo Fantasy League. The Malone-Stockton loyalist proves that just like his online monicker -- "g-spot" -- implies, he may be tiny, but his value and impact simply cannot be overlooked. An able point guard and coach, he currently endorses a hot-selling siopao and siomai chain.

Eums Gaspar - Occasionally transcends reality and invokes parallel realms during ball games which don't matter. He loves the white (and mostly bearded) amongst the sea of black (and goatee'd). Oftentimes the queerest in the group and currently on a campaign against capitalization and punctuation.

Jase Marges - Formerly long lost brother to Eums, and now simply "long lost," he is rabidly loyal to the Phoenix Suns, especially now that they're winning. His hair may imply something pertaining to the nature of his sexuality (interpret that for yourself) and is commonly perceived as a menace to society. Will probably get much flak from the other authors for writing this.

Bit Santos - Nicknamed "Ricky" for his Davaoeño good looks (even though he's not from Davao), he is the aforementioned Timberwolves fan, who also roots for the Seattle Supersonics. Watch out for his stunning command of proper punctuation and capitalization -- a budding rivalry against Eums (hehh... get it?) -- as he delivers his views on all things ball.

So there you have it. Welcome to the East Rombo Basketblog. *bodyslam*

Opening tip in three.

Two.

One.