GRILLED LAMB CHOPS

The Lamb Chops came at Promo price (Buy 1 Take 1) sold by Rustan's Fresh Supermarkets during the recent Holidays. I am just cooking off what was leftover.

MARINADE

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
  3 pcs. Calamansi
  8 Whole Garlic Cloves
Pepper
Thyme and Parsley

I believe that marinating meats and chilled for a few hours definitely
enhance the flavour of the meat. The acid from Calamansi acts as a Meat Tenderizer too.

Grill the meats on both sides for around 10-15 minutes.
Baste with the leftover Marindate and crack on Black Pepper during the grilling.
Used an Imarflex Electric Griller here.

Was pretty satisfied on the taste and results.

Sure beats eating at an expensive steakhouse.

JORDAN AT 50

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
http://www.philstar.com/sports/2013/02/18/910174/jordan-50

Michael Jordan is now 50 years old. The retired guard considered the greatest basketball player of all time has left a mark on the sport more through his sheer force of will than his incomparable athletic ability. Though once again, questions are starting to arise whether or not Jordan would have fared as spectacularly almost two decades removed from the game given greater athletic ability of his basketball descendants, his status remains unquestioned.

Instead of going over the volumes of stats and seemingly endless highlight reel that studded his career, this writer pored over the big picture: what lessons did Michael Jordan leave behind for other athletes and even ordinary people to follow? What really made him the enduring figure he still is today? How did he continue to evolve to become even more of an awe-inspiring exemplar?

Facing down rejection. Remember that Jordan was cut from his Laney High School basketball team? Though it would have been devastating to any teenager, Jordan persisted in pursuing his dream. He practiced incessantly that summer, and went through a growth spurt that saw half a foot added to his height. For young people trying to find their way in the world, that sends a very strong message: don’t give up. Keep plugging away at your goals.

Keep getting better. Sadly, there are many elite athletes who are just content to be where they are, earning seven-figure salaries and playing the game they enjoy. But for Michael Jordan, winning an NBA title was the ultimate prize, and his competitiveness drove him in that direction. Unfortunately, the Detroit Pistons kept preventing him from leading the Bulls even just out of the East. Athletic enhancement specialist Tim Grover (who now trains Kobe Bryant) approached Jordan with a unique new training program designed to make him stronger while adding only about five pounds of muscle a year, keeping him airborne. Jordan bought into it, and with his buddies Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper, had a “Breakfast Club” where they trained in secret and all improved dramatically. The results are obvious.

Trusting the system. Through seven years of frustration and even injury beginning his rookie season in 1984, Jordan’s efforts proved fruitless. Truth be told, he was selfish and took too many shots. In some of the games he would win for the Bulls, he would even tease assistant coach Tex Winter that he “forgot” to follow the triangle offense they had spent a long time inculcating into the team. His smugness probably cost the team a couple of championships early on. But when he realized he had hit a well, Jordan grudgingly acknowledged that he needed a system to enhance his magnificent gifts. Consider the fact that only Jordan and Pippen were on all those six Bulls title teams. The system worked.

Working with others. Early in his career, he constantly got into conflict with teammates he didn’t believe in. Center Bill Cartwright got so incensed with Jordan’s comments that he threatened to seriously injure him at one point before he was traded. Passing the ball was not Jordan’s strong suit. He simply didn’t think his teammates were good enough to win games in the clutch. But some of his most memorable victories eventually come when he gave up the ball to Steve Kerr and later John Paxson for winning shots. When he opened up to the gifts of others, he made it easier on himself. When he learned to trust that they would deliver, they did. They proved they were ready.

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Practice makes perfect. Jordan was such a tough taskmaster in practice. He simply savaged any teammate who didn’t perform up to par in drills and scrimmages. He would humiliate them relentlessly, thinking it would make them tougher, to the point of being cruel. This made playing games a relief for the Bulls, because the games were sometimes easier than practice, and because during games Jordan was on their side.

Finding new ways. Jordan came up with several new tricks to improve his chances of winning. The most obvious was developing a trademark fallaway shot later in his career. Most coaches wouldn’t teach that because it supposedly took you out of rebounding position and was not fundamentally sound. But for Jordan, it separated him from taller defenders and gave him a clearer shot. He also mastered blocking shots from behind, which gave him a headstart in fastbreaking in the other direction. He also realized that free throw shooters didn’t box out, so he could swoop in for rebounds from behind them.

Being an ambassador. Jordan’s ascension paralleled the explosion in media and the Internet. He wore the badge of brand ambassador very well, and enjoyed the attention. When the Dream Team was formed, he was still the most sought-after among all of them. He became the most-recognized athlete on the planet, in some place supplanting even Muhammad Ali. He inspired people to play the game, sold videos and sneakers, and led the way in creating his own Jordan brand. In terms of endorsements, he became the benchmark for all succeeding athletes, thanks in large part to his agent, David Falk.

Fighting time. His constant comebacks ultimately became his downfall, effectively dividing his career into the golden moments with the Bulls and his mediocrity with the Washington Wizards. He was also the top executive with the Wizards, but had to surrender his position to play again. His snide comments against respected Wizards owner Abe Pollin closed the door on his days as an executive in Washington. His pride did him in, but it also provides lessons for us today, lessons about humility and respect.

Thankfully, Michael Jordan will be remembered for his excellence on the basketball court and his success in business. He was, after all, also human, and had his own share of controversies (gambling), tragedies (the murder of his father) and family issues (repeated news of divorce over the years). But even that reminds us that being the greatest in one part of our life does not guarantee success in other areas. You still have to work at that, too.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

http://www.philstar.com/sports/2013/02/19/910558/learning-others

There’s an extremely interesting book that’s just out in the market called “NBA List Jam!” by long-time NBA front office executive Pat Williams and Boston Herald web site blogger Michael Connelly. It’s an amusing collection of top 10 NBA-related lists contributed by players, coaches, officials, writers, broadcasters and fans. Over 125 lists were assembled by the authors who went out of their way to generate feedback from those in the know about the NBA. More than their entertainment value, you can pick up a lot of lessons from the lists.

I’ve chosen three lists to share with you. Please allow me to pick up lines from the book. First is a list of 10 things you never knew about 11-time NBA world champion coach Phil Jackson by author and NBA analyst Charley Rosen who served as his assistant coach with the Albany Patroons in the Continental league.

First, Jackson is an excellent cook who believes that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. His speciality is pancakes made from scratch that includes at least a dozen ingredients like buttermilk, eggs, whole-wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seed and fresh berries in season. Second, when serenaded by the house band in Mexican restaurants, he’ll tip $50 for the musicians to play “My Way.” Third, since he really doesn’t see himself as being a celebrity, only two personalized items are on the walls of his Los Angeles home – one is a large, framed poster of the caricatures of the 1973 New York Knicks title squad (which Jackson was a part of) and second is a drum cymbal autographed by Jerry Garcia’s Grateful Dead. Fourth, his favorite radio show is “Prairie Home Companion” which reminds him of his childhood in Montana and North Dakota. Fifth, he and his older brother handcrafted the main residence in his Montana homestead which is where his family of five children and six grandchildren congregate at least once a year. 

Sixth, Jackson bounced a pass off his butt to Walt Frazier during a three-man fastbreak drill at a New York practice. Seventh, he is a ferocious competitor belying his calm Zen-like exterior. That’s what he had in common with Michael Jordan and that’s why they got along famously. Jackson never wants to lose even in penny-ante card games, thumb wrestling, foosball and tiddly-winks, said Rosen. Eighth, he was nearly knocked out by former NBA/ABA star George McGinnis. While defending McGinnis once during a game, Jackson wouldn’t ease the pressure. McGinnis threw a punch that grazed the top of Jackson’s head. Jackson fell to the floor but luckily, didn’t absorb the full impact of the blow. Ninth, Jackson had a contentious relationship with referees as a player and coach. In the Continental league, Jackson was suspended two games for spitting at a referee once and ejected for throwing a chair on to the court in another incident. Finally, Jackson was a talented baseball player in his younger days. He once pitched a one-hit, 12-strikeout shutout for the University of North Dakota and in an exhibition game, clouted a double off the legendary Satchel Paige.

* * * *

Bill Van Gundy, father of the only pair of brothers (Jeff and Stan) to coach in the NBA, came up with a list of 10 coaching lessons he passed on to his sons. Van Gundy himself was a coach at Brockport State College and Genesee Community College.

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First, defense wins. Second, do not expect universal love or agreement. “You will always be criticized,” he said. “You will never satisfy everyone – players, fans, media. Don’t try. Do what you think is right, develop a thick skin.” Third, preparation pays off. Fourth, be demanding. “Demand performance, not talk,” said Van Gundy. “Push each person to be the best he can be. Everyone can learn and improve. When winning, never accept anything you would not accept when losing.” Fifth, teach, teach, teach. Sixth, winning is all important. “Learn from losing but never like it,” he said. “Everyone in the program must focus on winning.” Seventh, be completely honest. Eighth, work hard. “This is a staple of success,” he said. “There is no limit to how hard one can work. Working harder can overcome a lot of deficiencies.” Ninth, trust your gut. “Thoughtfully formulate a sound coaching philosophy – offense, defense, discipline, motivation – to guide you,” he continued. “When push comes to shove, always confidently put your trust in your instincts.” Finally, be yourself.

* * * *

Don Rutledge, former WNBA supervisor of officials, listed the top 10 essentials for a basketball official. First, being in good physical, mental and emotional shape. Second, a great knowledge of the rules of the game. Third, mastery of the mechanics of officiating. Fourth, understanding of the game. Fifth, officiating teamwork with each crew. Sixth, being observant: See without looking, hear without listening, sense without feeling. Seventh, ability to handle adversity and conflict. Eighth, willingness to expose your honesty and character to all. Ninth, poise. Finally, communication skills, your biggest asset.

If you’re a basketball fan, there’s a lot you can learn just by reading what’s on the top 10 lists of the experts of the game.

CRAB CAKES WITH CREAM SAUCE

My Mom is devout in her Faith and thus we have certain days where
meat is not served. I do not mind as I'm not choosy with eating. 
I need to lose weight anyway.

Usually I do not follow any recipe. I always look at what are the leftover
contents of the fridge or cabinets and concoct something in my head and make something 
out of that. Here's what I found today...

RECIPE

6 Crab Cakes
2  Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 Onion, Chopped
1/2 Carrot, Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Peas
1 Tbps Cream of Chicken
2 Tbps Cream
Pepper



Prepare Ingredients.

Pan-fry Crab Cakes and set aside.



Saute Vegetables for a few minutes. 
Mix Cream Broth Mix and Water

Add Cream Broth Mix and Cream.
Season with Pepper to taste.



Plate and Serve.



NOTE TO SELF:
I over-estimated the saltiness of the Cream Broth Mix.
Need to tone it down a little.
Thankfully, was able to salvage this dish from being a disaster

RAVENS EDGE 49ers 34-31 IN ELECTRIC SUPER BOWL

ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/49ers-ball-1st-super-bowl-233734257--nfl.html

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- For a Super Bowl with so many story lines, this game came up with quite a twist. 

Try a blackout that turned a blowout into a shootout - capped by a brilliant defensive stand.
The Baltimore Ravens survived a frenzied comeback by the San Francisco 49ers following a 34-minute delay in the third quarter for a power outage Sunday night, winning their second championship 34-31. Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco threw three first-half touchdown passes, Jacoby Jones ran back the second-half kickoff a record 108 yards for a score, and star linebacker Ray Lewis' last play fittingly was part of a defensive effort that saved the victory.

''To me, that was one of the most amazing goal-line stands I've ever been a part of in my career,'' said Lewis, who announced a month ago he would retire when the Ravens were done playing.

They are done now, with another Vince Lombardi Trophy headed for the display case.

 ''What better way to do it,'' Lewis said, ''than on the Super Bowl stage?''

That stage already was loaded with plots:
-The coaching Harbaughs sibling rivalry, won by older brother John, who said the postgame greeting with Jim was ''painful.''
-Flacco's emergence as a top-level quarterback, and his impending free agency.
-Colin Kaepernick's rapid rise in the last two months as 49ers QB.
-The big game's return to the Big Easy for the first time in 11 years, and the first time since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in 2005.
-Lewis' self-proclaimed ''last ride.''
But when the Superdome lost power, well, that wasn't in anyone's scenario.
 Flacco and the Ravens (14-6) were turning the game into a rout, leading 28-6 when, without even a flicker of warning, several banks of lights and the scoreboards went dark. Players from both sides stretched and chatted with each other in as bizarre a scene as any Super Bowl has witnessed.

''The bad part was we started talking about it,'' said safety Ed Reed, who had the game's only interception. ''That was mentioned. It was like they were trying to kill our momentum.''
After power was restored, the 49ers began playing lights out.

San Francisco (13-5-1), in search of its sixth Lombardi Trophy in as many tries, got back in the game almost immediately.  Michael Crabtree's 31-yard touchdown reception, on which he broke two tackles, made it 28-13. A few minutes later, Frank Gore's 6-yard run followed a 32-yard punt return by Ted Ginn Jr., and the 49ers were within eight.  Ray Rice's fumble at his 24 led to David Akers' 34-yard field goal, but Baltimore woke up for a long drive leading to rookie Justin Tucker's 19-yard field goal.

San Francisco wasn't done challenging, though, and Kaepernick's 15-yard TD run, the longest for a quarterback in a Super Bowl, made it 31-29. A 2-point conversion pass failed when the Ravens blitzed. Tucker added a 38-yarder with 4:19 remaining, setting up the frantic finish.

Kaepernick couldn't get the 49ers into the end zone on the final three plays. The last was a pass into the right corner of the end zone to Crabtree that involved some incidental bumping. Jim Harbaugh insisted a flag should have been thrown.

''There's no question in my mind that there was a pass interference and then a hold,'' Jim Harbaugh said.
Ravens punter Sam Koch took a safety for the final score with 4 seconds left. Koch's free kick was returned by Ginn to midfield as time ran out.

''How could it be any other way? It's never pretty. It's never perfect. But it's us,'' John Harbaugh said of his Ravens. ''It was us today.''
Barely.

 ''Yeah, I think that last drive when we got the ball and had time to go down and score a touchdown,'' Kaepernick said, ''we thought it was our game.''

But the championship is Baltimore's.

As for the foul-up at America's biggest sporting event, officials revealed that an ''abnormality'' in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown, forcing backup systems to kick in. But no one was sure what caused the initial problem.

Everything changed after that until Lewis and Co. shut it down. But there were plenty of white-knuckle moments and the Ravens had to make four stops inside their 7 at the end.
''I think it speaks to our resolve, speaks to our determination, speaks to our mental toughness,'' John Harbaugh said. ''That is what wins and loses games.''
At 4 hours, 14 minutes, it was the longest Super Bowl ever.

Flacco's arrival as a championship quarterback - he had 11 postseason TD passes, tying a league mark, and no interceptions - coincides with Lewis' retirement. The win capped a sensational four games since Lewis announced he was leaving the game after 17 Hall of Fame-caliber years.

The Ravens will become Flacco's team now, provided he reaches agreement on a new contract.  Flacco's three TD passes in the opening half tied a Super Bowl record. They covered 13 yards to Anquan Boldin, 1 to Dennis Pitta and 56 to Jones.

That start boosted him to the MVP award.

''They have to give it to one guy and I'm not going to complain that I got it,'' Flacco said.
John Harbaugh had no complaints about getting that other trophy named after that Green Bay coach. But he struggled to balance it with the disappointment his brother was feeling.
''The meeting with Jim in the middle (of the field for the postgame handshake) was probably the most difficult thing I have ever been associated with in my life,'' the Ravens coach said.
The wild scoring made this the second championship in the NFL's 80-year title game history in which both teams scored at least 30 points. Pittsburgh's 35-31 win over Dallas in 1979 was the other.

The Ravens stumbled into the playoffs with four defeats in its last five regular-season games as Lewis recovered from a torn right triceps and Flacco struggled. Harbaugh even fired his offensive coordinator in December, a stunning move with the postseason so close.
But that - and every other move Harbaugh, Flacco and the Ravens made since - were right on target.

New Orleans native Jones, one of the stars in a double-overtime playoff win at Denver, seemed to put the game away with his record 108-yard sprint with the second-half kickoff.
Soon after, the lights went out - and when they came back on, the Ravens were almost powerless to slow the 49ers.

Until the final moments.
''The final series of Ray Lewis' career was a goal-line stand,'' Harbaugh said.
Lewis was sprawled on all fours, face-down on the turf, after the end zone incompletion.
''It's no greater way, as a champ, to go out on your last ride with the men that I went out with, with my teammates,'' Lewis said. ''And you looked around this stadium and Baltimore! Baltimore! We coming home, baby! We did it!''

Jim Harbaugh, the coach who turned around the Niners in the last two years and brought them to their first Super Bowl in 18 years, had seen his team make a similarly stunning comeback in the NFC championship at Atlanta, but couldn't finish it off against Baltimore.
''Our guys battled back to get back in,'' the 49ers coach said. ''I thought we battled right to the brink of winning.''

The 49ers couldn't have been sloppier in the first half, damaging their chances with penalties - including one on their first play that negated a 20-yard gain - poor tackling and turnovers. Rookie LaMichael James fumbled at the Baltimore 25 to ruin an impressive drive, and the Ravens converted that with Flacco's 1-yard pass to Pitta for a 14-3 lead.

On San Francisco's next offensive play, Kaepernick threw behind Randy Moss and always dependable Reed picked it off. A huge scuffle followed that brought both Harbaughs onto the field and saw both sides penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.

Reed, also a New Orleans native, tied the NFL record for postseason picks with his ninth.
Baltimore didn't pounce on that mistake for points. Instead, Tucker's fake field goal run on fourth-and-9 came up a yard short when Chris Culliver slammed him out of bounds.

The Ravens simply shrugged, forced a three-and-out, and then unleashed Jones deep. Just as he did to Denver, he flashed past the secondary and caught Flacco's fling. He had to wait for the ball, fell to the ground to grab it, but was untouched by a Niner. Up he sprang, cutting left and using his speed to outrun two defenders to the end zone.

Desperate for some points, the 49ers completed four passes and got a 15-yard roughing penalty against Haloti Ngata, who later left with a knee injury. But again they couldn't cross the goal line, Paul Kruger got his second sack of the half on third down, forcing a second field goal by Akers, from 27 yards.

When Jones began the second half by sprinting up the middle virtually untouched - he is the second player with two TDs of 50 yards or more in a Super Bowl, tying Washington's Ricky Sanders in 1988 - the rout was on.

Then it wasn't.
''Everybody had their hand on this game,'' 49ers All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis said. ''We point the fingers at nobody. We win together and we lose together, and today we lost it.''

Team Comparison

Team		Record	Standings	PF	PA	Road/Home	AFC	NFC	DIV	Streak
	San Francisco	11-4-1	1st NFC West	397	273	6-1-1 Home	7-4-1	4-0-0	3-2-1	W 1
	Baltimore	10-6-0	1st AFC North	398	344	4-4-0 Road	8-4-0	2-2-0	4-2-0	L 1

 

 

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