Back to my life

What's good my J-Smooth-a-maniacs?!?! LOL ...

What a Christmas break it was ... eventful, memorable, relaxing, enjoyable all rolled into one ...

-after business was taken care of in December, it was time to head off for sunny skies and warmer weather ... and it was exactly what I needed ... to be able to clear my head ... away from the everyday ... and be away from the seemingly redundant and more recurrent eye-rolling familia gatherings of late ...

-December 22nd, Destination 1: San Diego, California ... a place I've been no stranger to in the past 13 months, my third trip within that span ... of course there were my "must-stops": Jollibee, Maggie Moo's, San Ysidro outlets, Plaza Bonita mall and San Diego Zoo ... I just have to give much credit to Princess and Romeo, because the hospitality was second to none, absolutely more than I could've asked for ... giving me an environment to just relax, without making me feel like an imposition ... much love and thanks to you both ...

Of note

-drove up to LA LA land on "boxing day" with Romeo and had the worst case of itis from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, all I needed was a place to lay down and you could've woken me up a day-and-a-half later LOL ... also hit up the Beverly Center, which didn't feel so "Beverly Hills", they always seem to glam it up more on the small and big screens ... also marked the first time I've ever purchased a basketball shoe (Kobe 7's the Venomenon) on its release date, you can say that was my present to myself ...

-Skype chatted with BabyGirl on Christmas Day ... she's been away in the motherland since December's onset, so I missed her and based on the conversation, she's missed me just as much if not more ... sucks that there was no audio, but I certainly was not complaining about the video, cute as always ...

-December 27th, Destination 2: Phoenix, Arizona ... a return almost 8 years in the making ... can't believe it's been that long ... Zona and AVAD were at the airport waiting for me with smiles and hugs ... great to see them both ... just as in San Diego, the hospitality was great ... Zona and AVAD, thank you both and your mom very much, see you guys again soon ...

Highlights

-there was the relaxation, but spliced with the trademark D-Mac competition ... J-Smooth vs. AVAD in Wii Sports Resort, new record set by yours truly in the 3-Point shootout and a record low by AVAD, nuff said ... then rolling Zona in NBA 2K11, first two games average margin of victory 20, capped of with a brilliant 35-point destruction in the 3rd game finale ... Fight Night Round 4, Zona I have to give you your due ... it took a while to figure you out, but as always, the greats adjust LOL ... that's just a sample of the Fight Night Champion beatdowns you have coming to you LOL ...

-caught the Phoenix Suns game on the 29th against the 76ers, Vince Carter's Suns debut ... I definitely brought the Toronto hate with me ... but my boos were drowned out by the warm Phoenix welcome he got ... finally got to see Steve Nash play live, man his court vision is second to none ... took in the game from our "lower bowl" seats ... Zona "it's what we do" LOL, thanks again for the tix ...

-headed for home on New Year's Eve ... a long time on the road, which included a stopover in Dallas, the terminal layout puts ours to shame for sure ... once I got home from the airport, I had to head back 30 mins later to pick up my parents who were coming home too SMH ... all that probably contributed to my decision to just sleep through the countdown ...

-I thought the holidays were over at that point, but boy was I wrong ... they were just getting started ... I had another week off ... SupermAnthro was in town, which can be described as eventful ... hung out with him almost ever other day this past week, including the past three ... threw back some Sonny's and ran some Super Street Fighter 4 (can you say throwback to 1994, settling disputes via 2D stages and fireballs) ...

-this past week also included dinner with the Newman fraternity ... never a dull conversation ...

-over the past week I spent more time in downtown Toronto (four nights, past three) than I did all of 2010 combined ... nights where SupermAnthro has really lived up to the billing ... it's like seeing the fruits of your labor, knowing I had some measure of influence in building the legend ... SupermAnthro is Durant to J-Smooth's Kobe ... "we're just on a different level homie" ...

-J-Smooth is usually perceived as open-book ... but onto something more ambiguous, but explained as best as I know how ... For all of 2010, I've been going through my life like being champion ... became recognized in the mainstream as champion and the best in the world on a fateful December night just like another Pinoy pugilist ... since then there have been challenges, as a result of being champion, because there are potential opponents that always wanna try and knock you off ... however, there has been no opponent that has been able to get to me, inside the ring or out, because I've had one goal in mind and that's legacy ... I've walked right through their best punches, uppercuts, hooks without even flinching ... but then along came this one opponent in particular, who had a lot of advantages ... and in this match, I went chin first into a punch that I never saw coming and I got buckled ... those are the punches that can potentially hurt, change the course of a fight, the ones that you don't see ... there comes a point in every champion's career where they are tested, a gut check, and have to dig deep and see just how much heart they have ... so when I got buzzed by this punch, it made me stop and think (so much so that I'm doing an entry about it), what do I do? ... I could simply use the ring and run, but what does that make me? nobody respects a coward, fans don't either ... stand and trade toe-to-toe? but after being buzzed, the next clean shot could send me to the canvas ... now I've been knocked down and even lost before, but losing in this situation would definitely hurt legacy and cost me my title ... I've acomplished enough in my career to not take any unnecessary risks by trading shots in hopes of scoring an unlikely knockout of my opponent in this situation ... the prospect of another signature highlight didn't outweigh the potential damage I could sustain just to get it ... sure I could trade shots to please the fans, but is it worth risking my status as champion or damaging my career for that reason alone? ... the outcome? ... I used my head, I was smart in the ring, made the necessary adjustments and used my skills ... worked behind the feints, head movement, jab and body shots, traded when necessary, but most importantly boxed intelligently keeping that distance ... I got through that fight, weathered the storm, legacy intact, still champion, but I have to admit touched up a bit ... what happens now? well like the entry title says, I go back to my life, which is a great thing, because I love being champion ... but with the memory of this fight and as a result smarter on how to handle adversity ...

~J-Smooth~