Savoring 'The Final Year' of the Seattle G.O.A.T

This year is the last time Sue Bird will be playing for the only WNBA team she's played for. I'm glad that after the gap years of not watching any Storm basketball due to already working, losing access to WNBA on local television, not having thought of the WNBA League pass because I thought I could not afford it, etc. I felt I was given a one final chance to see her play.

With us still working from home, saw one of my newly formed friends online posted that the WNBA was only $12 or something like that, I felt like now is the right time with all the resources of whatever kind that I have now, I made sure to grab that one last opportunity because if there's one thing I would not like to happen again was I wouldn't be able to give myself a chance to savor the final games watching your favorite player play on the court.

Not being able to do this to Tony Parker (my favorite NBA Player), the way I wanted it to happen by watching his last games in a Charlotte Hornet jersey, and only for him to announce on the media that he's going to finally retire make you come unprepared for it. It was too late since I felt like League Pass was so expensive to pay for a month nevertheless for the whole season, add into that that the TV Cable we have right now suddenly cut their contract with NBA Premium and switching to another TV Cable that provides that was not even worth the price.

But with Sue Bird announcing her final year, our company is still on a full-time work-from-home set-up, I'm still working on a mid-shift where it allows me to focus were the perfect storm for me to watch all the games I could possibly watch before she eventually retire - for good.

With less than 10 games into the WNBA regular season and 3 games that are slotted on a midnight to dawn time. I just hope... I just hope that I would have enough will to actually wake up on this and here's hoping that they allow us to watch the games even if they are nationally televised. Because what's the use of subscribing to WNBA app if you can't watch the games anyway, right?

So here it is, savoring the final year, bought Sue Bird's panini card (believe me when I say her panini card was most expensive one compared to the other panini cards of NBA players that I bought - and being more financially stable and not worrying of blowing huge amount of money, it is so worth it as your remembrance too), and also a shirt which I don't know where it was placed after I asked them to wash it.

And oh, I really hope they make it in the playoffs which means more chances to see Sue Bird play!

How Having Nickeil Alexander-Walker in Yahoo! Fantasy Taught Me about Relationships

My personal reflection during the times I played for Yahoo! Fantasy last season.

With the 82nd pick (5th round on a 18-team league) for the PTR Fantasy League (Fantasy League that I'm playing for), Coffee Gang (my fantasy team name) selects Nickeil Alexander-Walker from the New Orleans Pelicans!

Potential, Promising. I'm sure for those who drafted Nickeil during the 2021-2022 NBA season picked him because of his spectacular performance as the 2020-2021 NBA season concludes and hoping that he can continue to improve his performance the following season. One might think that getting Nickeil might be a steal, or for some they decided to reach to him thinking that he'll be gone before you could choose for the succeeding round.

If we apply this in every prospective or actual relationship, this is one of the things we look for in a prospective partner. Potential that it would work. What you saw based on previous encounters made you think that this person could make you (or your team) better.

Started with a Bang! As the actual 2021-2022 NBA season start, Nickeil didn't disappoint me with his play (translated in respective fantasy points). I'm sure this is the same sentiment as my fellow fantasy players who have him in their respective league they're playing especially Brandon Ingram (Pelican's lead superstar) and Zion Williamson (Pelican's most promising young player) still sidelined. He should get all the playing time he could handle.

Relationship wise, you thought that both of you started off at the right foot and that your relationship will last a lifetime. Perhaps akin to how we wanted to be like Fairy Tales and that there is no obstacle that would get into your way.

Threats, Challenges, Obstacles and Unhealthy Habits. Every fantasy player who have Nickeil knows in their mind that at one point Brandon Ingram will return and this would mean a return to bench for Nickeil. However, that was not the only issue that Nickeil owners encountered. Herbert Jones, the second round draft pick for the Pelicans that season was actually playing well and was slowly taking playing time away from Nickeil. Not only Herbert Jones, but another rookie in the team was also playing so well in the name of Jose Alvarado. Alvarado was an undrafted guard who was known to make sneaky steals by camouflaging on the court which makes opposing points guards unaware of his tactic which leads to opponents turning the ball over. Reading the comments in Fantasy regarding Nickeil would summarize how fantasy owners reacted to the situation. Some are frustrated, felt they wasted a high pick or cut losses by dropping him and picking up another player who is more useful.

Having Nickeil in fantasy during his inconsistency and performances that perhaps makes you want to pull your hair in frustration is akin to what I might have gone through in one of the guys I met online. Uncertainty, challenges and a bunch of wait and see approaches would factor in on whether you would hold on to a player (or prospective relationship) or let go. 

For leagues with fewer teams, Nickeil was already dropped by the time Ingram returned coupled with the rise of Jones and Alvarado for sure. However being in an 18-team league and my ranking is still one of the top in the standings, I was perhaps in the stage where I know there is uncertainty looming towards this player (or prospective relationship status) but because I could still tolerate the situation and I can still function efficiently in life, you seem to brush the issue under the rug, especially if you had the top players and lower drafted players who are paying huge dividends that are performing above or at par with their expected performance. 

Similar to relationship that's I was experiencing, treading the waters, going with the flow because I'm still okay. I'm still doing well. However I noticed that I realized that whenever there are no San Antonio Spurs games (I'm a Spurs fan BTW), I would check the Pelicans' game and watch and root for Nickeil to play well because you felt like you wasted a pick on him and hoping you could salvage any possible value out of him. It was so bad that I was hoping that he played well against the Spurs when they played. Glad the Spurs still won even if he played decently. Rooting for him that bad made you looked desperate into holding on a relationship that perhaps not going anywhere.

Turning point? In every NBA season, trades are always in play which would make you cheer or frown depending on which players would be affected by the trade. Some players could benefit from it, some not. Around mid February, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was one of the players who was traded to Portland Trailblazers in exchange for CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. Imagine the joy the remaining faithful Nickeil Alexander-Walker fantasy owners experienced when that news happens. That means he can have more playing time especially Portland was somewhat doing a fire-sale by trading good players like Normal Powell and with Damian Lillard still sidelined with abdomen injury. 

However, the joy was short-lived. After he arrived in Portland, he was then traded to the Utah Jazz for Elijah Hughes and Joe Ingles. Utah Jazz, who is a playoff contender, certainly would not let a guy like Nickeil Alexander-Walker play major minutes especially they still have ball-dominant guards on the team in Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson.

In relationship, perhaps there were times wherein we thought that things would get better, that things would finally go into the direction that we wanted. But it ended up giving false hopes or worse than what you are experiencing right now.

Remaining ounce of Patience. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a Jazz player. What would Utah do with him? Would he play big minutes? Spot minutes or just a bench warmer? By this time the remaining faithful might have given up on him because an experienced team like Utah wouldn't want to mesh their current team and a new comer who is not a superstar would not get immediate minutes in the midst of trying to become more competitive.

You may be wondering, what did I do with him? Hold on. Being patient because in every trade who knows maybe some players would eventually be in better positions (in fantasy basketball terms) than where they had been playing before. I normally do not drop players because I felt that impatience and panic would make you unnecessary drop players that you would eventually regret until you are forced to make a decision with whatever is happening to your team (or life).

Perhaps for some rooting for a prospective relationship to blossom, this might be where patience is starting to wear thin. Hopelessness starting to get bigger day after day. Other aspects of your life are starting to affect you which makes you finally decide to...

Let go. Despite some inactive managers, there are still managers who decided to still hold on. After not playing a single game the week before All-Star game and also just one minute post All-Star game and with my team already clinched the fantasy playoffs and with two regular fantasy seasons remaining for Fantasy playoff positioning despite Nickeil's underwhelming performance as your team's fifth pick, it's time to let go.

Just like in actual or prospective relationships, sometimes letting go is the right thing to do. With my team already in the fantasy playoffs and coasting against the two remaining opponents before fantasy playoffs begin, I know I have to drop him from my team and find another player that is consistently playing. Sometimes we have to accept the fact that we over value something or someone more than what they really are and we sometimes do not realize that there are people in life that we way underestimate and yet they outperform based on our current judgement towards them.

No Regrets. Dropping him two weeks before the fantasy playoffs somehow helped me find a better and more productive player. It also made you stop having this brief obsession with him and wondering if you made the right decision or will the choice haunt you eventually. 

After you made a decision on letting go, things are getting better. You are more relieved at the thought that the struggle, pain and any other negative emotions you've gone through were already gone at last. Even if you learned that the person still wanted you despite the miscommunications and uncertainty you've gone through, with your mind finally decided it's over, any glimmer of hope or potential is already ignored as you know that you cannot afford to wait for the potential or chance to eventually blossom. You've wasted a lot of time in waiting for something that didn't prosper, why wait for another period of time even if the person decided to make changes or attempt to improve it? 

There may be no virtual or actual trophy right now for me to prove that I eventually won, but at least what I have right now is peace, certainty and hope that there are great things ahead of me. 

Updated Fantasy Results: See this page. 

Together Waiting

When my friend from the States told me that he got back with his ex, I was extremely happy that they got back together since I felt like I've been hearing a lot of break-ups here and there whether celebrity or non-celebrity or even a former athlete that I probably had a crush on back then (expansion of this probably in a separate blog).

During conversation, I was asking him about how they got back together etc. because I even told him that it's just nice that they got back together to at least make something positive out of bunch of unfortunate news I'd received whether it's one day late or probably years late. After he told his story, he then told me similar to the lines of "I can't wait for you to tell me your (love) story".

His message made me realized that I was not the only one waiting for my love story to unfold. I may be the main character of the story and the one "obligated" to wait for the story to unfold, but those who wanted you to have that story finally unfold are also waiting for it to happen - sometimes to the point that they are actually becoming more impatient than you and were sometimes the ones who would start jumping guns by matchmaking you with whoever they think is a good match for you.

The point is, if the people around us are patiently waiting for our love story to unfold, maybe we should also be patient enough to wait too. They are not really obliged to join us in waiting for our future partner or spouse, but these people chose to wait with us so that we would get the happy ending we wanted and also what they wanted for us.

Perhaps this is the reason why we sometimes see friends and relatives are crying when the bride is about to walk down the aisle. Aside from knowing that the person is finally getting married to a good spouse, they also know that their patience in waiting for their special person's love story to naturally unfold is very worth it. Since they chose to commit in waiting along side the person, they too know the struggle that this person has been going through.

So even if in a group of friends, we were the only person left single or unmarried, we should know that those people who are truly concerned of our happiness and hoping that you would also have a happy ending like them are also accompanying you in waiting so you wouldn't feel sad and alone. They are the ones who are encouraging you not to force you to forge your own story if it's not yet the right time, but will keep on encouraging you to wait - because they're there for you even if they are in a happy relationship or happily married.

Your Date is not Your Groupmate

Sometimes even after you finished your MBA Degree, there are still times and situations in real life where you can associate the things you've encountered now and the things that you have experienced during your academic life. One example is dating.

I realized that sometimes there is a tendency to treat your date like one of your groupmates in a certain project/activity or report. However, there is a huge difference between these two. Like what works with your groupmate or your partner in a schoolwork will really not work well with your date due to various factors:

A. Output

There is no denying that during our academic life, we encountered groupmates who are really loafing to the highest level or those who do not put much effort to contribute to the group. Sometimes the teachers or professors do not care if you are complaining that this person is not doing his/her job - it is such a rarity when you encounter teachers or professors who would encourage you to do peer rating so that you'll at least make sure that the loafer deserves it. All the teachers and professors wanted was an output. Nothing more, nothing less. This means that you can have a good output even if you have unreliable groupmates.

However in dating life, you cannot afford to have a loafing, laid-back or a person who does not like to put an effort into something. If you have that kind of prospective date, your output would always become poor no matter how good you are. If it does look good, it would not be sustainable enough for you to hold on to it.

B. Contribution Level
Have a loafer groupmate? Capable enough to carry the load of the whole group? No problem. In academe life, it is very rarely that you'll encounter an equally distributed workload in doing your part for that group. Sometimes you need to exert more just to have an output; other times, you might be lucky enough that you have a groupmate who is very skilled, diligent and wiling enough to do his/her part more so that you'll have an excellent output despite you not lifting any finger.

To explain my point, imagine a scenario where there are 5 of you in a group. Each of you need to exert 100% effort just to do your 20% share (100%/5) in the group. If each one of you exerted 100% of their effort to do their part, that is perfect. BUT in the real world, it does not happen that way. You would have loafer groupmates, grade conscious and those who are running for honors in one group. What would happen is that those who are running for honors or those who are scared to fail would be exerting more than 100% of their efforts just to make sure they can compensate the lack of effort from their other groupmates. The thing here is that exerting more than your required effort is worth it since you can total the amount of your effort for your group into 100%.

In dating? Using the similar scenario above, instead of 5 in a group, it would be a pair work. In order for a date or relationship to be successful, each one of you need to exert 100% effort just to do your 50% share. The problem in dating is that the one who exerted 100% of their effort to make the dating work CANNOT EXERT MORE EFFORT to compensate the lack of effort from the other person. Exerting more effort to make the date or turn it into a potential relationship would become wasted. It's like you are only allowed to put 50% of water into the tank and you are not allowed to fill everything because it is the other party's responsibility to put the remaining 50% in order to make the tank full. So even if you attempted to put more water to the tank, it would gone into waste because your respective container can no longer hold that much water.

C. Duration
You know the reason why most people who are really doing their part rarely put up a fight or argument with somebody who is a loafer? It's because they know the amount of time and suffering they need to endure with their uncooperative groupmate. If you realized that you end up having a groupmate who is not doing their part, you have the tendency to look at the amount of time left for you to suffer and keep sacrificing to do more. It usually last from hours to at most months (some projects maybe the duration of term of school year for thesis groups). There is a certain mentality that you already know what kind of groupmate he/she is and all you need to do is to get away from that person the next time there is another groupings. In the world of academe, time is definite. That means you are aware how long you are going to suffer at the onset of the problem. Yes, you might complain, but at the back of your head you know your agony with your uncooperative groupmate will end.

In dating, time is uncertain. How long are you going to endure the attitude of another person? How long are you going to be patient with that person to change? Will you hold on or move on?

D. Control
In the world of academe, sometimes when your group is already on the rocks or without the sense of direction or indecisiveness, you can just act like the alpha/leader and lead the group even if there's no clear leader. You have the liberty to bark orders to the group especially when they are passive and would be willing to follow orders. Because at the end of the day, what you really want is for you to produce a decent output no matter what it takes. These groupmates may be pissed off when you are controlling them, but you wouldn't do that if the group is lost in what they are doing right? The thing is the reason your groupmates would be more willing to follow your orders no matter how controlling it is, is because they know they would somehow benefit from it. Would you even do it if you won't get anything from it?

When it comes to dating, there should be no so-called leader. If there is one, it is usually said that the guys are the leaders and the girls would usually become followers. But if the guy is the indecisive one and the girl would not tolerate a guy's indecisiveness, the girl would take charge and the guy might feel that he was being controlled. If in the world of academe, strong personalities can bow down to those who are more capable than them because you both have the same goal (which is to pass), you cannot do that in dating because the problem here is that you might not have the same goal and what would be beneficial for you would not be beneficial to the other person. That's why controlling the other person by leading them to where to go, where to eat would not do you any favors, especially if the girl is the one doing it.

E. Primary Ingredient/s
In school, if you end up having a groupmate who is industrious, intelligent and everything you could ask for an ideal groupmate, you are in for a treat. It's like your life would be in breeze for as long as you do your part of course so that this wonderful groupmate of yours would not get upset at you not doing even a simple task.

In dating, sometimes if both of you have everything that you are looking for in another person, chemistry and connection between two parties is crucial to transition from dating to going into a relationship. So even if you know this gal or guy has everything what you are looking for, but if the two of you cannot find a connection between your likes, interests or even values, the possibility of ending up together would be impossible.