Review: Mizuno Philippine Azkals Futbol Kits / Jersey 2010

I got this back when the Azkals got to qualify for the Suzuki cup, way before they got the historic win over Vietnam that pushed them towards the mainstream. From what I heard, during the match against indonesia at the semi finals, Almost all the stocks were wiped out at the mizuno stores except for the kids sizes. So, for those who are asking or have the intent to ask about the availability, Please just wait for Mizuno to release the 2011 version.

RP Team: Playing Posum?

What transpired over the week seemed to be a shock for the local avid filipino basketball fan. Powerade Team Pilipinas, though not expected to show all and keep intent on winning games in the William Jones cup. We expected to lose games, but not get smacked by Jordan in the opening round or have our 19 point lead vanish at the hands of Japan. Negativity and criticism are rising in local and international hoop forums. But there are signs and flashes of brilliance that make us wonder if the RP Team is really playing possum or not....



There are most times where the team use individual one on one plays and turnovers galore. Basking in dissapointment everytime the opposing team clobbers us by a 10 point lead or so a few minutes within the start of a game, yet we shout and cheer valiantly as the team climbs back to let the enemies' lead wither or even tie the score, using set plays and offensive schemes only to revert back to the NBA style and lose at the end by a few points. Questions like, "why didnt they call a timeout?" or "why didnt they revert to the set plays" boggle out mind. As if in the back of our heads, we are thinking that the team isnt really taking this seriously.

The team who does well in the jones cup does not really guarantee that they'll win big on the suceeding touranments that they will enter. Such an example is the 2007 version wherein Jordan won the jones cup but ended up as only the 5th place in Fiba Asia in tokushima. Kazakhstan, a team which placed way below and 2nd to the last, ended up a notch higher in fiba at 4th place and even made it to the wild card olympic qualifying round. Another example is the 1998 centennial team wherein they won the Jones cup but got smacked by the US College teams, Korea and China in tune to the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.

Right now we are seeing a mystery, Are we seeing a team which continues to hold back? A team which is really on a loss and has no chance to win in the grand stage? A team which has lost lots of precious preparation time due to the professional league and the commissioner's vision? Or a team that is just playing possum?

In 2 weeks time we will know.

Mi Adidas RP Edition

Adidas has caught up with nike on the RP Game. With nike releasing the RP Hyperize pack and released the RP Hyperdunk in limited quantities in the states, Adidas has also released their own Myadidas Pilipinas Collection.



These are basically customized color variants of their kicks, notably the TS Bounce Commander, the Promodel and the TS Lightning Creator.

Designs are ok but prices are e little higher than the regular releases. (and I like the KG Home colorway better for the bounce commander).

Your 2009 Seaba Champions: Powerade Team Pilipinas!

(This awesome photo is from Nuki Sabio/PBA Graphic Artist and Photographer)

Team Pilipinas recently showed its dominance against weaker South East Asian Rivals. By once again winning seaba. though the winning margins was not as high as the 2007 seaba and sea games, they still managed to win convincingly

Indonesia, the second placer has vastly improved their game, Even sticking out with TP in the first few minutes of the second quarter. A great feat for someone who did not send their real national team just their second best club team garuda bandung reinforced by other players from other teams.

The Games were played in inter barangay/ municipal court look alike. But even then we were treated for 4 days of extreme Pwnage.

Now that the warm up exercises has ended, it is now time for the actual challenge. Coach yeng now needs to match up his boys against El Khatib, Wright, Sun Yue, Orimo, Toroman's former poster boy Ehdadi and more.

Though this powerade rp team lacks practice and exhibition games compared to chot's team or the other countries, Yeng has the capacity to do wonders for any team and that wonder we need is at least a 3rd plact this august.

Artwork of the Week: K-Will

Customized Mcfarlane Sportspick - Kelly Williams #9 Team Pilipinas
(from TMAC version 3 base figure)

This is the first time I customized an sportspick figure. I saw a lot of customizers do renditions with their sports picks figures for players or variant uniforms that havent been done as of yet. But I havent seen anyone do local (PBA) Players. I've been doing model kits before but this seemed to be a whole new ballgame. I Re sculpted the face and did the decals. The base was also re designed and the Jersey was repainted in the proper colors.

Beijing 2008 Report Card: Tatlong Itlog? or is it?

And so it ends. Another olympics of frustration, another 4 years of waiting for the next redemption.

The hyped bets in taekwondo and boxing did not even produce a single victory as all lost in the preliminaries. Looks like Recah Trinidad and his genius friends will once again be happy and rejoice insulting everyone on his no brainer articles.

The Infamous post olympic blaming game (now on its 3rd Straight leg) continues. As those in the seats will read their scripts saying "The moment we entered the Olympics, we're already winners" excuse.

However, there is still a spark of light

The Philippines got a consolation prize in the form of a Olympic Demonstration Sport Gold Medal in Wushu courtesy of Willy Wang and was also accompanied by 2 more bronzes by Benjie Rivera and Mary Estimar from the same sport. Even though it is only a demonstration sport, it is still something to be proud of in the midst of 15 straight disappointing setbacks.

It is like having to join a beauty contest, whereas the country always fails to have a delagate reach the top ten, but always gets the consolation award instead. Like the philippines, which rarely gets to the top 10 semi finals but always manages to bag home a friendship or photogenic award. Its a spark of hope, a spark of promise. But in reality, it does not count.

So the RP's First official gold medal is still a dream, Unless they include singing in the olympics.

Is national pride a crime?

Since there are many people in this blog viewing and/or asking for details regarding the Philippine Track top jacket, I might as well post a certain update in regards to the production of the 3rd batch of the Philippine Jacket. This message was sent by Adidas to the people who reserved for a third batch of the said jacket.

"We express our sincere apologies in informing you that there has been a
design change in the adidas Originals Philippines Track Top (article #
575167) under your reservation. The National Historical Institute of the
Philippines has brought to our attention that the Philippine flag design
on the track top is in violation of Republic Act 8491,The Flag and
Heraldic Code of the Philippines. We are therefore prohibited from
retailing or importing any additional units of this article.

Due to this, we will be replacing all orders of article # 575167 with
article # 575293. Kindly see attached images for your reference. The
design elements are likewise inspired by the Philippine flag, and the
track top will only be produced for a one-time, limited run. Target
launch for this new design is December 2008. Retail price remains at Php 4595, with sizes available from XS to XL for women and S to 2XL for men.

We would appreciate a reply to this email by June 18, 2008 so we may
immediately process or cancel your reservation. Should you wish to
proceed with your reservation, kindly e-mail us back with your name,
mobile number, and sizes required."

So, Basically the old Philippine flag jacket is replaced with a modified version of the women's track top to fit with mens sizes. It also has a pretty cool design and is contrasting to the old loud design of the jacket.




Anyways, Here is article 8491 regarding our national flag.

Republic Act 8491

CHAPTER 1: THE NATIONAL FLAG

I. Prohibited Acts

SECTION 34. It shall be prohibited:

c) To use the flag:

1. As a drapery, festoon, tablecloth;
2. As covering for ceilings, walls, statues or other objects;
3. As a pennant in the hood, side, back and top of motor vehicles;
4. As a staff or whip;
5. For unveiling monuments or statues; and
6. As trademarks, or for industrial, commercial or agricultural labels or designs.

CHAPTER VII PENALTIES

SECTION 50. Any person or juridical entity which violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000) nor more than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000), or by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That for any second and additional offenses, both fine and imprisonment shall always be imposed: Provided, further, That in case the violation is committed by a juridical person, its President or Chief Executive Officer thereof shall be liable.

While I do agree that the national flag is a symbol of our nation's Pride, Heritage and honor and should not be in any way used or manipulated like what was said above, It is the people and the Citizen's right to represent their country, their heritage through whatever they wear. The concern is, will the National Historical institute continue to hunt down clothing lines that are inspired or have partially similar color scheme and patterns as the Philippine flag? Will they go as far as hunt down and penalize people who want to be proud of their nationality?

A lot of clothing brands nowadays are into producing clothing with national pride theme in them. From independent graphic shirt sellers at multiply, to adidas's line, FMCC's shirts and jeans, new era's caps Accel's Team Gears and the limited edition national team jerseys of Nike and Mizuno. People's Tastes have changed. They are more proud of their brown roots. Fil-Americans and OFW's would shell out hundreds of dollars just to get their hands on these stuff. Its not like a decade ago where someone would be considered "trendy" or cool by wearing a US basketball Jersey or a Brazilian football jersey or at farther extent, Shirts that say London, Germany, France or any other highly industrialized country that the Philippines could only drool about dreaming to be.

The NHI (National Historical Institute) should even encourage people to represent the Philippines. If anyone has the right to shoulder the name or the flag of the Philippines, its the OFWs, the Fil foreigners who seek their roots, The athletes who sacrifice blood, sweat and tears (except the players and officials of the BAP) and their fans, The taxpayers and the normal day to day citizens. They have a lot more right to represent or show it than corrupt government officials or politicians who just travel abroad with the people's money just to spend in luxuries. It is so disgusting to see the Philippine flag pinned to those personalities in their suits and/or barongs, that is the ultimate disrespect for the Philippine flag.

If there's any consolation here it is the fact that the NHI allowed adidas to continue producing the other version of the jacket. Maybe the first design was just too loud or has too much similar elements to be considered being used as an industrial label. Hopefully producers would not get discouraged of this incident. But just be careful nonetheless.

And another thing, It seems like ABS CBN has released a new station ID where some common extras and their celebrities are running around and wearing shirts inspired by the flag and the others wearing flags used in the revolt against spain. A very cool and proud scene. Will the NHI step on it for those shirts as well?

RP Youth bags seaba crown!

The RP team has once again bulldozed its southeast asian competitors this time in the 18 and under division through the efforts of the Nokia Youth team. The massacre's details averaged around 42 ppg. The victory lessened the pain of the upset in the seaba champions cup. (Its a good thing that Dato Yeoh guy didnt do anything to destroy our lineup this time around).

Up next for the youth team is the asian championships. While not having any expectations, the nation is hoping for a respectable showing from these guys.

I just hope they get some decent showing this time around. 4 years ago, I remember having our physical education class being held on the same sports center as the RP youth team. Their coach looks upset the way they run plays and next I heard, the team got beaten badly by its asian counterparts. But then again, those were the bap days.

Philippine Inspired Jackets

There is now a part 2 of this feature, click Here.

Note to everyone: Please do not ask me anymore about the availability of the said jackets. They have been sold out a long time ago and another production is highly impossible. If you are really desperate then there are some online sellers which sell them for 2-4 times the original cost in ebay.

Also, If you saw my pics below being used in selling sites such as ebay or sulit, then the seller is using my pics without permission, Also be careful because the adidas philippine jacket has a lot of fakes being sold on the net. The fakes has a white tag with an "adidas performance logo" as opposed to the original one which has a black tag with the "Adidas originals trefoil logo" and usually sold for around 3,000 php.

There will be a part 2 of this article coming very soon. Featuring another batch of RP inspired jackets. Most likely in late 2008.

Finally, After months of waiting I was finally able to grab hold of the Adidas Philippines jacket. It came out about 2 weeks ago. And I got it a few days after its release, thanks to the nice people at Adidas. As of press time only very few stocks are left and most likely is sold out.

Anyways, here's a mini review of the 3 RP Inspired jackets that I got.



Nike Team Pilipinas Jacket

This was the jacket used by Team Pilipinas on their heartbreaking campaign on the Fiba Asia championships. It was deemed as limited edition and within less than a week, got sold out on several outlets. The only ones remaining in stock from this collection were the "believer" shirts and some XXL sized shorts. There are still overpriced ones available on Ebay.

Design is pretty much basic and similar with TP's Royal blue jersey highlighted by white accents and minimal red ones. TP's Flag crest shield is on the right side, the flag shield has been used by The old National teams from the 40's to the 60's when the country was on its glory days. A white swoosh mark on the left side. Simple Pilipinas Basketball serif at the back. Retailed for around 2k.




Adidas Flag Jacket

This is not worn by any national team or used in an international competition since the Flag track top series of Adidas originals was supposed to be a tribute to countries who have a rich tradition of football. Though that sport is not even close to popular in this country, unless you're part of some club or living in Bacolod.

The design is great! it shows the Philippine flag in front with the sun-face probably inspired by the old revolutionary flags. A small Football is seen in the lower right area with the PH sign. At the back, it shows the crest flag with a ball looking like a Sepak takraw/ Sipa which probably pays homage to our national sport. One thing wrong here though is that According to Article RA 8491, Section 10 of the constitution; when the flag is raised vertically the blue should be on the left. This was because Blue, signifying peace should be closer to our hearts. But this one had the red on the left side and blue on the right. I wished the design team researched a little more before deciding on the final design. Fabric is thick and retails for P4.6k and 85$ US




Accel Phils 2005 Team Philippines jacket

This one was worn by the Philippine Contingent in the 2005 sea games where they bagged the overall title for the first time in Seag history. As expected from accel designs, they turn out to be plain and simple. But what's disappointing on this one is that there are no RP flags visible on the design. There is a big Philippines text on the back but the embroidery is not that good. The red blue design on the side looks good. This was the cheapest among the 3 at a little over 1k. Cloth is made of nylon and lightweight material.

2009 UPDATE!
There is now a part 2 of this feature,
Click Here to view the part 2 of this article.
Includes 3 new RP inspired jackets