Puttering about in a small land

In the kitchen: FAIL

2010-02-05T13:29:00.002-05:00

Last week, I was supposed to bake a cake to take to our church's BBQ. I tried. I tried really hard. The recipe was good, the batter looked gorgeous, it rose up nice & high and smelled wonderful while baking. This was supposed to be a chocolate pound cake. I was stupid and took it out of the oven too soon (even though I left it probably 30 more minutes than the recipe said because it wasn't pulling away from the sides of the pan and the tester wasn't coming out clean). I swear after about 1.5 hours it looked and tested done. Obviously NOT done. Not even close. Not in the same galaxy as done. Blech.

Normally, I consider myself to be a decent baker, but this just had EPIC FAIL written all over it. Frustrating as crap. :(

One half was sort of salvageable. I cut off the underdone parts, and it was actually pretty tasty though still slightly gooey.

I was so mad that I childishly exacted my revenge (Play-Doh style) on the squishier half. Maybe it was a bratty thing to do, but that part of the cake was unfixable. I must admit it was fun to sculpt an amorphous blob-like amoeba cake from the wreckage of my culinary assay.

Duff Goldman, eat your heart out.

Long live temper tantrums.

Pacquiao/Cotto

2009-11-15T13:36:00.004-05:00

Forgot to publish this one. Duh.

Discombobulated thoughts on last night's main event. No comment on the undercards for now.

In no particular order:

1. Manny has nothing left to prove. His detractors can no longer cite the DLH and Hatton matchups as examples of cherry-picking. Manny fought a high-class, talented, smart, and hard-hitting welterweight, he came out on top, and he made it look easy.

2. I would be amiss if I did not give Cotto the respect he deserves. He's great is his own right. I think many people saw this as his chance to make a comeback after the Margarito hand wrap debacle. Cotto was the bigger and supposedly stronger fighter, but once again, Pacquiao's speed was too much for him. I'm anxious to see what Cotto does next.

3. Cotto showed tremendous class, fierce determination, and a huge heart. He handled the loss with grace, giving Pacquiao his due. He gave the fight his all, even after it became obvious in the later rounds that his was a lost cause. Even Manny acknowledged it was not an easy fight.

4. Manny Pacquiao has cemented his place in boxing history as a legend, and what's more, he's a phenomenon with the skills to back up his reputation. He proved that he has the speed, power, and smarts to beat the best of them. What's more, he showed us that he also has a solid chin. Some critics said that Pacquiao had heretofore not demonstrated any ability to take hits, especially from a heavy-handed opponent. Manny proved them wrong by absorbing a fair number of Cotto's blows, especially in the first, second, and front half of the third rounds. Cotto hits hard; many thought that, being the bigger man, he would be the more powerful puncher. Manny proved that he was able to withstand whatever Cotto dished out and still emerge strong.

5. As Emanuel Steward said, "[Manny Pacquiao] is a machine!" His conditioning and stamina saw him through the later rounds. He punches extremely hard for his size. He was (and has been since the start of his career) able to move up in weight class like it didn't even matter. He also handled his win with humility and showed respect for Cotto by acknowledging his strength.

6. One of Pacquiao's biggest advantages is his ability to make use of weird angles. He is able to deliver punches that Cotto never even saw coming. He threw some right hands from positions that looked to me like they should have severely compromised his balance, but even so, he managed to make these shots count.

7. Pacquiao was very cagey about a possible matchup with Mayweather. He said he would leave it up to his promoters. Freddie Roach unashamedly said, "I want Mayweather!", so there is obviously interest from Pacquaio's camp.

8. Roach and Pacquiao's entourage did pretty much all of the trash-talking for this match. Manny unleashed his skills in the ring to prove them right (aside from Roach's joking prediction of a first-round KO).

9. The knockdowns: they speak for themselves. Cotto was the bigger man. Enough said.

10. The twelfth round stoppage by Kenny Bayless seemed to be awkwardly timed. Before rounds ten, eleven, and twelve, Cotto's corner kept asking him if he had "one more, just one more" left in him. Cotto's father was in favor of stopping the bout, and his wife even left the arena after the ninth round, taking their son with her. Supposedly she couldn't bear to watch Cotto sustain any more severe punishment, and did not want her son to witness it either. The ring doctor okayed continuation after the eleventh round, and Cotto went on basically just to prove a point. Stoppage came a little late, in my opinion. The referee's job sometimes comes down to protecting the fighter from himself, which Bayless did, but I think he let Miguel prove his point for just a little too long. That's always such a tough call, though, so I can't really fault Bayless.

11. Major props to Freddie Roach. Once again, he's proven himself to be an excellent trainer. The Pacquiao/Roach partnership has been mutually beneficial and is one of the reasons for Pacquiao's success. Roach took Pac's raw talent, intelligence, and rampant work ethic and sculpted them into a champion. Questions were raised about the relative youth and inexperience of Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, especially about his right and ability to call a halt to the fight is necessary, but I'm not sure if Cotto's choice of trainer had much of an effect on the fight's outcome at all.

Angulo/Yorgey, Dawson/Johnson

2009-11-12T13:06:00.004-05:00

Here are my belated thoughts on last weekend's bouts and my speculations on the upcoming Pacquiao/Cotto matchup on 11/14.

Angulo/Yorgey

Going into this bout, I expected Angulo to dismantle Yorgey, and I was right. I've been impressed with Angulo ever since I saw him in the ring against Cintron in May. Although that was Angulo's first professional loss, I liked what I saw and recognized him as an up-and-coming, hungry young fighter.

Yorgey looked like he was in great shape, but he was no match for Angulo's speed and superior technique. Yorgey wasn't too shabby on his feet, but his performance still looked a little rough around the edges. Angulo kept him on the ropes, and that proved to be, quite literally, his downfall. Angulo looked sharp and precise, stalking Yorgey, controlling the distance, and turning him repeatedly.

The bout culminated in a spectacular KO at 1:03 of the third. Yorgey had already sustained 1 knockdown in round 2 and another earlier in round 3, and he sustained heavy punishment before Angulo's devastating left/right put an end to the fight. I could see Yorgey's lights go out after Angulo's left. He was gone before he even hit the canvas.

Yorgey has a hell of a lot of heart, and he's a good fighter in his own right; he was just outclassed by Angulo. I look forward to seeing what "El Perro" does next.

Dawson/Johnson

This bout was another matter of being outclassed. I was seeing shades of Pacquiao/DLH but to a lesser extreme. While Johnson, 40, looked great for his age, this same age became his disadvantage. He looked sluggish against Dawson, who was able dictate the pace and distance from the beginning. I'm not a huge Dawson fan; he's good but overhyped IMO, but I did think he turned in a nice performance against Johnson.

Pacquiao/Cotto: 11/14.

GET EXCITED.

My money is on Pacman. I do think Cotto looks good, and I am not discounting his skill, but Manny is a phenomenon for a reason: he can deliver. I've always said he was a madman ever since I saw him back in the early 2000s when he was still relatively unknown to the mainstream. I do think that this matchup will require more effort from Pacquiao than his last two fights. The fact that he plowed through both an aging DLH (who never should have taken on Pacman) and a drained Ricky Hatton does not mean that Pacquiao had an easy time defeating either one. Neither opponent was an easy mark. Cotto will be the toughest opponent Pacquiao has seen in a long while, but I believe that Pac's speed, power, and sheer determination will see him through. If Manny Pacquiao is anything, he is a hard worker. He completely invests himself in his chosen profession. He's in his physical prime, his style is wily and dangerous, he trains hard, and he has Freddie Roach in his corner. If that isn't a winning formula, then I don't know what is.

New Normal

2009-10-19T20:31:00.004-04:00

I feel like I've been tunneling underground for the past few months. Now that I'm starting to emerge, mole-like and blinking, the light seems too bright and the pace too frenetic. I've been so hyperfocused that my brain no longer processes at real-world speed. Reintegration, so to speak, is a bit bewildering and sometimes exhausting, but on the whole, a good thing.

We had a very rough spring/early summer with Dad. I think that sent me and the entire family (to a certain extent) into the fallout shelter. A situation like ours reduces day-to-day functions to a minimum, stripping away all but the most essential tasks. Now that I have a little more time (not a large amount, but enough to make a difference-- 15-20 mins even) on my hands, I don't know what to do with myself. My life had become so defined by the efficient execution of necessary tasks that I'm now wrestling with the concept of leisure and how/if it applies to me. I can't seem to believe that there isn't something I need to be doing all the time. Of course, there is always more that I could do; the hard part is distinguishing the "must do now" from the "can wait until later."

I've got to relearn that it's ok not to be doing something every minute. I feel frivolous if I do something fun or relaxing. I think Mom and I both have seen so little rest (not idleness, but necessary respite) these past few months that I've lost sight of how important it is to maintaing good health and functionality. And sanity. One can't run 24/7 for several months without a break and expect to be in good shape. I have turned myself into an automaton with a bad case of the Protestant work ethic. Once I find the "off" switch, I will then have to teach myself not to feel guilty about taking some personal time. It still feels a little decadent and self-indulgent at this point.

Now that Dad is doing better mentally, physically, and emotionally, it has become evident that there has been a sort of shift in the family dynamic. It's a good thing; now it's more like 3 people in a household rather than 2 people supporting another through the most difficult time in his life. Things will never return to normal, as in pre-stroke normal, but that's okay. Part of this whole ordeal is finding the new normal. Even if Dad regained 100% of his pre-stroke functionality, I doubt any of us would be the same. It is impossible to go through a life-altering upheaval like that and not have it leave its mark on you for better or for worse.

A great deal of unexpected blessings has come out of this situation, and needless to say, it brought our family closer. For me, at least, it has rearranged my priorities, re-cemented family ties, and shown me what is truly important and what is not as important as I thought it was. It has also taught me not to care what the world at large thinks (not that I ever gave it too much thought before) of my decisions and not to put too much time or energy into dealing other people's criticisms. As long as I am doing what I believe to be morally right, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says. Let them draw their own conclusions; I know what is right and I stand by my choices.

I'm still struggling with the reversal of the parent/child role. I love Dad as my father and respect him as such, but I think we both recognize that a paradigm shift has occurred. What I do for him on a daily basis in order for him to survive and function is not unlike what a mother does for her infant or very young child. That's okay-- I don't mind and I'm glad to do it. How can I not take care of him when he's taken such excellent care of me from the day I was born? It just still feels strange to see how things are so very different. Often I get so caught up in the grind that I forget for a while; then at odd moments, the realization will hit me like a ton of bricks. I'll think "Where did my father go? What happened to him?" While the strokes may have left him cognitively intact, the experience has left neither one of us the same person. I think we are still adjusting to the way things are now. Finding our new normal.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss the way things were before. I can't deny that I mourn for and miss terribly the person he was before the strokes. That does not, however, mean that I love or value who he is now any less; actually the contrary is true because of how close I came to losing him (3 times, no less). Nothing like a brush with death to drive home how precious someone really is. If it makes me a bad person for mourning what was, then I suppose I'm guilty and it's mea culpa time. I can't help feeling that way.

So now it is time to ease back into real life and society, etc. It will take a while, but I suppose it must be done eventually. One can't (or maybe shouldn't is a better choice of word) live one's entire life holed up underground. At least I've started dancing again. That should keep me somewhat sane.

Mayweather/Marquez, Klitschko/Arreola

2009-10-05T22:39:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday, Dad and I watched the re-broadcast of Floyd Mayweather Jr./Juan Manuel Marquez and the title bout between Cristobal Arreola/Vitali Klitschko. I wrote some stuff up but haven't had time to post til now. Mom's been sick, so I've had to take care of Dad mostly by myself.

Mayweather v Marquez

Here's how I had it round by round:

1. 10-9 Mayweather
2. 10-8 Mayweather
3. 10-9 Mayweather
4. 10-9 Mayweather
5. 10-9 Mayweather
6. 10-9 Mayweather
7. 10-9 Mayweather
8. 10-9 Mayweather
9. 10-9 Mayweather
10. 10-9 Mayweather
11. 10-9 Mayweather
12. 10-9 Mayweather

This was pretty much a one-sided match. Besides the fact that Mayweather cherry-picked Marquez as the opponent for his comeback fight, his size and speed gave him the natural advantage. There is also the controversy about Mayweather "buying" himself a $600K weight advantage. That being said, Mayweather looks like he's in superb condition.

In a way, this match was also a clash of styles. Marquez's hunt-and-peck approach just didn't hold up well against Mayweather's fast hands. Marquez couldn't get in close enough to do any real damage without exposing himself to Mayweather's left jab. Oh, and the 2nd round knockdown. That too. This isn't to say that Marquez looked bad; to his credit, he has a good chin and hung in there. I didn't think this match would go the distance.

Speculation about the next match abounds. Will we see a superfight between Mayweather and Pacquiao? We'll have to wait for the outcome of the Pacquiao/Cotto matchup on 11/14.

Many people doubt Pacquiao's ability to stand up to a well-conditioned fighter like Mayweather, especially after his routs of an aging De La Hoya and a haggard, poorly-conditioned Ricky Hatton. Personally, I share Freddie Roach's faith in Pacquiao. He might find himself having to work a little harder, but I still think he's still the best pound-for-pound in the sport.

Klitschko v Arreola

Round by round:

1. 10-9 Klitschko
2. 10-9 Klitschko
3. 10-9 Klitschko
4. 10-9 Klitschko
5. 10-9 Klitschko
6. 10-9 Klitschko
7. 10-9 Klitschko
8. 10-9 Arreola
9. 10-9 Klitschko
10. 10-9 Klitschko

This was another mismatch, as far as I'm concerned. Klitschko's size and reach advantage already made him the heavy favorite, but in the end, it was the older fighter's experience that made the difference.

Arreola has a lot of heart and clearly lives to box. He's got a hell of a chin and took a lot of punishment from Vitali. At the end of the bout, Chris got props from the crowd and Michael Buffer, and even Klitschko stated that the fight was difficult and that he has "big respect" for Chris. The being said, a number of factors contributed to his downfall.

For one, Arreola's had a relatively short professional career. He just hasn't clocked enough hours to go the distance against a world-class heavyweight like Vitali. There is also the elephant in the room (or ring, oh brother): conditioning. Arreola reminded me of James Toney circa his match against Ruiz in 2005. He seems to battle the work-hard-play-hard Ricky Hatton syndrome of bingeing between fights. That being said, I believe Arreola will be back for more soon. Once he gains some more experience and gets his conditioning under control, he might just be the next up-and-coming American heavyweight. He's powerful and nothing to mess around with, just needs a little refining.

Throughout the fight, Klitschko used his reach advantage to dictate the distance. He used his jab to back Arreola up and wear him down. Arreola provided a fairly constant onslaught, but Klitschko caught a lot of the blows on his arms. This was one of the better defensive fights I've seen from Klitschko. What made this successful defense remarkable is that Vitali fought most of the rounds in an easy, relaxed stance with his hands most often down by his sides. This enabled him to keep Arreola at arm's length and to use his pawing jab. As Harold Lederman pointed out, Klitschko's performance was the definition of ring generalship. He was in control the entire time. Nb this was also one of the more active heavyweight bouts I've seen.

Klitschko retains his title, but watch for Arreola. I look forward to seeing more from him.