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By leo.flor, August 13, 2012 12:34

If you’ve read other articles in this blog, you might know that once I like a particular product, I usually start collecting a variety of the same (e.g. shoes, gloves, snowboarding socks), such is the case with Nike Dri-Fit shirts.   I find nothing more comfortable to play sports in.  I hypothesize, for example, that I would shoot a lower percentage while playing basketball if I had to wear a regular cotton tank-top or t-shirt vs a Dri-fit shirt (because bio-mechanics would be restricted by clothes sticking to me).   I also wear long sleeve Dri-fit shirts as a base layer when I snowboard because sweating leads to freezing.

Here’s another tip, I wear Dri-fit under my dress-shirt when I go to work.  It’s been a hot and humid summer and I am noticeably more comfortable in the office when I have a dri-fit on.   Put one on under your club gear when you go out on the town so you don’t end up a sweaty, hot mess.

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By leo.flor, February 8, 2012 01:39

A short post to congratulate the New York Football Giants on winning another Superbowl.  I’m lucky that I root for an NFL team that has had success in my lifetime, something I can’t say about any NBA teams that I’ve passionately cheered for.  I’ve liked the Giants since I figured out how football is played while living in the Tri-State Area.  It’s fortunate that not only does my wife enjoy watching football as much as I do, she may be an even bigger Giants fan that I am.  I have never seen the Giants play in the Meadowlands, old or new, whereas she sat in MetLife Stadium through the entire last game that the Giants lost this season (yes that putrid effort against the Redskins).  (I first took her to see the Giants live in Ford Field, Detroit in 2007, that team also won the Superbowl).

I like to consider myself an educated fan and as such I like to root for athletes I perceive to be intelligent and humble (I have no idea what these guys are like in their day-to-day lives but they come across as men of substance).  For example, my favorite basketball player is Steve Nash.  A sweet passing game is a beautiful thing to behold and makes teammates better.  Not only is he a two time NBA MVP, he plays soccer, makes films (including a great ESPN documentary on Canadian Terry Fox) and even skateboards.  Also a very socially conscious individual.

The New York Giants were blessed by the football gods to get Eli Manning.  Early in his career he was perceived to be disinterested  because of his body language and quiet personality, even called out by teammate Tiki Barber.  But it seems that calm demeanor serves him just fine.  His performance in the 4th quarter of the two biggest games he’s played allowed him to succeed where others might have folded under pressure.  He doesn’t comes across as an arrogant professional athlete or diva like other NFL players.  I don’t recall seeing him throw a fit when a receiver drops a pass or runs the wrong route or someone misses a block.  In interviews, he always credits his team before himself.  It’s documented that he goes beyond mandatory meetings and leads his own film sessions with his receivers.

His and hers Eli Manning jerseys.

Thanks Giants and Eli Manning for giving us a season we won’t soon forget.

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By leo.flor, December 19, 2011 07:21

One thing people might not know about me is that I practice yoga regularly (~4 times a week).  In the morning before work and always before exerting myself physically (running, playing sports or snowboarding).

My routine borrows poses learned from two Yoga instructors.  The first was the only real instructor I had, it’s been so long ago since her early morning classes at the Sports Clubs of Canada that I forget her name but she was born to be a yogi.   Her voice was so soothing and I credit her with teaching me how to visualize my breathing (the most important aspect of yoga in my opinion).  The second set of poses I learned from Eoin Finn’s DVD.  He’s a surfer and I conjecture this translates to snowboarding.   After all, conditioning my body to be a better snowboarder was a primary incentive for getting into yoga.

Recently I’ve been experimenting with using an electric blanket.  It’s nothing fancy , picked it up at Shopper’s Drug Mart.  I apply it directly or wrap it around a particularly tight or problematic body part while holding a pose that also targets the area. I call it localized hot yoga.

I credit my general good physical state to my yoga ritual, certainly it’s not due to my diet, sleep or drinking habits.  To me, yoga is the fountain of youth.  It keeps my body feeling young and speeds up recovery time.   Something crucial to focus on as the years continue to add up.  I’m in better shape now than at any other point in my life and it’s because of yoga.

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By leo.flor, January 4, 2011 16:27

As posted earlier, I am loving Kobe’s shoes.  The opportunity came up for me to grab a second pair at a fraction of the cost and so I had NO CHOICE but to scoop them up.

While they are not my favorite colour/design (I’m not a Laker fan), they will help preserve my other ones which were starting to get in rough shape.  When I play ball, I don’t notice it but my feet have a tendency brush against each other.  How this happens and I don’t trip, I have no idea but the evidence is in all of my ball shoes including these.

My downfall is that with my other shoes, this area where my feet brush each other is usually hard plastic or leather but because they are fabric on the Kobe shoes, they wore down much faster, that’s from only 30 hours of basketball.  With these new ones, I’ve resorted to putting tape on the area to help preserve them.

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By leo.flor, October 19, 2010 14:56

I have been on the high-top bandwagon since early Nike Flights and Patrick Ewing shoes.  The association between high-top sneakers and basketball just seems logical, but for me it has to do with spraining my ankle pretty badly in high school, I had concluded that high-tops were better for protection and support.

My paradigm-shift and the reason for experimenting with low-tops for basketball came from a conversation with my buddy Mark who I play ball with (who has Kobes).  We both play a similar style of ball, the speed game mixed with trying to wear out your defender by running constantly.  He remarked at how light they were and how much easier it was for him to cut.  I asked about ankle support and he deemed it a non-issue, they were just as supportive as any high-top.

In researching the shoe after this conversation, I had discovered that Kobe Bryant got the inspiration for this design of shoe from watching soccer.  He had observed that these athletes could make very sharp cuts because of the low cut on soccer cleats.

Both Kobe and Mark were absolutely right, so far.  I’ve only tested the shoe with about 10 hours of basketball but its like a blind man who can all of a sudden see.  I literally feel like I can jump higher and run faster.  I feel like I can change directions quickly and I’m still comfortable landing from jumps.  Seriously contemplating getting a 2nd pair.  Or maybe I’ll try out Steve Nash’s (my favorite player) shoe which is also low-cut and has the added benefit of being constructed out of recycled post-consumer product waste (also Mark’s suggestion).

From the pictures you may notice that the padding in the Achilles area is pretty thick, this helps hold the heel firmly into the shoe.  The construction of the rest of the shoe is using Nike’s flywire technology which helps the shoe feel snug around your whole foot.  I don’t know if it’s my wide foot but there must still be some space near my pinky toe, it gets a little raw.

Even good technology in the tread of the shoe, they grip the floor pretty well.  And check out the carbon fiber styling.  You may also see a small chunk of rubber missing on the sole.  A durability issue perhaps?

Kobe requested that Nike make the shoe even lighter than earlier versions.  At 10 oz. they are lighter than my running shoes and almost as light as my trainers (7 oz.).  My philosophy is why work out and lift weights when you can just own light things.  Just kidding, maybe.

This version of the shoe called out to me.  The colour styling is that of the late NBA Seattle Supersonics (who moved to Oklahoma City) and I was in Seattle when I bought them.  Also how could I not get the “Rice” edition being that I’m Filipino.  (Though this shoe was made for Rice High School, a Nike sponsored school in Harlem, New York City).

There was a brief period in my life when the Seattle Supersonics were my home team (a time when Kevin Garnett still played on Minnesota, damn I’m old).  RIP Sonics.

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By leo.flor, August 26, 2010 09:53

When I was in high school I had the great fortune of playing on our Bantam Basketball team.  It was lucky because the guys on our team had been playing together since they were young kids which meant that in terms of team chemistry, this group had a great advantage.

The team only lost two games that year, once in regular season and once in the finals, both to the same team.  Mind you I was the last guy off the bench, I made the team on hustle and defense.  Our starters killed other teams’ starters and I got more playing time than I probably would have otherwise.  I sometimes like to think that practicing against my defense made them better.

Anyway, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I am/was a basketball star but I do feel a great deal of accomplishment having played in a Toronto city final.  It is a great feeling to accomplish something as a team.

One day I came home from university and visited my high school.  There’s a ball in the display case and a picture of the team.  I can see my signature on the ball but for the picture, they have someone else’s name instead of mine.  This used to bother me until I realized that it’s really only me who would care or notice.  I know I was a part of it and that’s all that should matter.  (Actually pulling out the old yearbook and finding this picture, I forgot that the yearbook got it wrong too.)

Either way, neither of these mistakes will take away from the experiences I remember from being on that team.  Of course it was great because we were winning all the time.  The fun times were not only on the court but also when we would all hang out, it was a great perk that we got to skip classes to go to games.  We would travel on the TTC together to go to away games which was jokes in itself; a bunch of guys on the subway then wandering through random high schools trying to look all tough and of course checking out girls.

When I play any team sport I focus on what can I do best to contribute to the team’s success.  There’s nothing that can keep me up at night like knowing I missed a play or made some error that contributed to my team losing.  Not everyone has what it takes to be the superstar, but anyone can learn to be a good team player.