Hammer

Expect only what happens in the fight. That way you'll never be surprised. - recollected from Duncan Idaho, the Swordsmaster of the Ginaz, by Paul


Been quite a long time since my previous post. My excuse this time? Laziness. Plus my official addiction to the popular Korean variety show - Running Man. Hey, call me slow but I really got addicted to it. I was very interested in it in the past, but not at this rate. Watching episodes after episodes (Still I've only watched about 20) at every chance I get. Heh, I was watching another episode when I got home from college today.


Did I mention college? Ya, obviously school's back and holiday's up. I have to congratulate myself for surviving the first two days of the new semester. With a new timetable that's pretty much the same save for a few "minor" but somehow annoying tweaks, it's just school all over again. My class is still intact, my teachers(including a new one) got back and are gonna stay long-term with us (at least till we promote), the school is still standing along Champions Way, the stress and fatigue still continue to pile up, the weather's becoming more and more of a bitch, and I still fall asleep during Math tutorial. Extraordinarily Ordinary.


Still there are stuff the entire J1 cohort is sure worried about when we got back to school on the very first week of this new term. Apparently the most pressing issue for all of us is the release of our summer test results. Look at the title of this post again. Nope I'm not the hammer. I'm getting hammered. I got back my History results first, since it was the first actual lesson of the day. Since the subject's my forte, I'm feeling confident that I can score a 40/60. I'm pretty prepared excluding the South East Asia part, and did the paper without breaking any sweat. I thought I did pretty fine at least. Though the results are still not confirmed since the teachers are reassessing it, I scored a pitiful 33/60. Barely over the passing mark. And that's one of my confident subjects. Sigh... Disappointment...


Next up is H1 Mother Tongue. This time I had really high hopes. I am the top scorer for Chinese in secondary school. Well, I could've been the top. It's because I purposely flopped a test which was set after the O-Level paper, and there's no need to take it seriously anymore. And here in Innova Junior College, undoubtedly, I'm still at the higher end of the bell curve. I'm the king. The public enemy. The target. The pacer. Whatever you call it. I should be at the front somewhere. And the papers are still pretty darn easy this time round. I thought I completely killed it. Here's the thing, "I thought". I did pretty fine in Paper 2, comprising of the comprehension and the close-passage. 57/80. Well, my level of standard though I could've scored more. It was due to careless mistakes everywhere and the stupid summary which I can't hit more than 4/12. Never mind that. Still almost every one I'm closer with scored about the same range as me. There were people who were higher than me. For now, I must emphasise. But the real problem is my Paper 1. Composition. Actually, I was pretty confident of my essay. I know what I'm writing, and I know that I'm gonna score above average. I'm not very strong in writing essays but I do have a flair for it. So I was kinda hoping that the teacher would give out the Paper 1 first before Paper 2. But the paper was placed in front of me and I can't believe the score. 32/60. What? That's my all-time low. Even if I'd played a fool with my essays in the past, I'd never scored this low. And for an essay that I'm confident in, it's complete heresy I must say. I realised my mistake, and I shouldn't be penalised that harshly. C'mon, 32/60? Man, it was a pure embarrassment that I don't even wanna think about it. God, it's Chinese. The one subject which I'm almost guaranteed an A grade. So utterly disappointed.


Well, there's more. H1 Math. This is another easy paper. Besides forgetting a certain formula which appeared in my previous class test, I pretty much did everything without much difficulty. Or I thought so. I was hoping for an A grade if not a B. But there's this ominous feeling I have when I received my paper. Oh. 27/50? How in the world did I get that kinda score. I had done revision with a group of classmates, verified my doubts, revising here and there, and the paper turned out to be rather simple and similar to our tests. 27/50 is outta of my imagination. And the culprit? Mistakes so careless that anyone would have rammed their heads of the brick wall if they have done anything similar to mine. I missed out the entire question 1b, simply because I either didn't spot it, or I rushed to the other questions first. 6 marks flew away. Another mistake: supposed to be an 8, I wrote 7. OMG, how did I do that? If there was any careless mistake I made that rivalled that, it would be when I forget to add the decimal point(just that bloody ) dotin my answer(a correct one) in primary four. That one caused me my FULL MARKS for the EXAM. And careless here and there all around the paper. There goes my hopeful 38/50, coming back with another barely passed grade. 


Could it be because I tweeted "Pride comes before fall. Never forget that." like during the exam period that I got this kind of results? It's so wasted since I could have done way better. How way? WAY way. I feel like I lost a precious opportunity to shine and to prove to my parents that I'm firm and confident in my studies in a JC environment. So I had to strive harder for my Mid-Course examinations (my promotion exam), so as to ensure my promotion to J2, as well as to ensure that my J1 foundation is secure and firm. And there's still Econs and GP papers to arrive soon. And Econs... happened to be the most difficult H2 paper. And the one which I sacrificed my revision time... for my friend's concert. Please lemme pass this time round.... 


And oh yes, Good luck to every other JC students out there having their Block tests this week!


P.S. Oh, did I mention that I've passed my Literature summer test for the first time ever? XD still I barely passed. What's up with the trend of just scraping over the passing mark nowadays?

Yet another loss?

“My father passed away three years ago and I haven’t cried since my father passed away until tonight. This bunch of guys, it was a like a senior year of high school. It was a memorable, lifelong friendships, a lot of great moments. This team was very unique. We love each other, we care for each other and though we aren’t champions this year, we have hearts of champions, and that will always keep us connected.” - Keyon Dooling


It took me more than a hour to place the first alphabet here in this post. I was looking at a few related articles, and the pain kept rushing into my internal organs. More accurately, my heart. If you know me or actually recognise the quote above, and read one of my previous posts, you would know why. So it seems, the Boston Celtics has lost. Their playoff run is over. But after witnessing the teams I support lose again and again, you would wonder what's the big deal about this particular loss. The TRUTH be said, this could mean the end of the new Big Three era of the Boston Celtics. 


Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen assembled in Boston in 2007, bringing another championship banner to the TD Garden. Their seventeenth. And now, we might never see the same core play together as a team anymore. We might never have another opportunity to witness their basketball plays as a team again. Perhaps, this could really be "Farewell".

As I've mentioned in one of my previous posts, I've fell in love with this team. I'm attached to them. Every time they lose a game, especially a really close one or an important one, I'd feel... the pain and my heart would drop. But I'd never stop cheering for them. I might be in school when the game is happening on the floor, but I'll chant "Let's Go Celtics" in my mind. I might be asleep when they are playing, but I'll cheer for them in the night before. I'm absolutely in love with the basketball THEY play, and all the determination, the grit, the willpower they showed in or outside the court. They played with HEART. You can never count them out. There are doubters, the haters, the naysayers and the "true basketball" fans. But the Boston Celtics shut these people's mouths. These people eventually respected them, for giving their all, for playing their hearts out.

But this could really be the end of their beautiful run at the NBA championship together. Five years, five seasons. Their exceptional basketball and team values will be one to be remembered for the ages. Never to be forgotten. Maybe you would think that the NBA should be like having all the highlight dunks, the slashing lay-ups, the cold-blooded 3-pointer at the buzzer, the ankle-breaking dribbles, the fast-break finishes and the sleek step-back fade-away jumper. Sounds like the upcoming OKC vs Heat, huh? But not me. I always felt that basketball has always been a team game and people should contribute to the team and contribute as a team. Good ball movement, the vital pass leading to assists, the flashy pass leading to easy baskets, the screens, the plays and the defense. That's how the Celtics play. That's how I play. I never look to score first and will pass to the guy who can get the easy basket. Not just a playmaker but someone who is willing to make the team better, even at his own expense. 


There are always people jumping onto other teams' bandwagon to support the "winning" teams. The unloyal and winning-driven people who want nothing but wins and the final laugh. The bragging rights. And often more than not, they abuse it. Let's take a look at the team that sent the Celtics out of their playoff runs in 2011 and 2012. The Miami Heat. Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh was assembled as the latest Big Three(apologies to the Spurs trio and the Thunder trio) in Miami, and what did they say when they first got together? Ya, they will win not one, not two, not three, not four... (NBA titles) Well, I can't deny that the fact that they are a great team. You can say all about their flaws and stuff, but it seems everyone wants them to have a showdown with their Western Conference counterparts: Oklahoma City Thunder. That is highly likely to be a battle of the ages, and they are competing for the most prestigious prize in the NBA. No one wants to see an "old, tired, out-of-gas, play-defensive-basketball" Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals(excluding the Celtics fans). Like I said, everyone wants to see the exciting plays. Lebron cutting through everyone and posterizing everybody with a splendid highlight dunk. Kevin Durant hitting that cold-blooded trey at the buzzer in Lebron's face. Serge Ibaka having a block party. Dwyane Wade with that usual slash in lay-up. And the alley-oops everywhere. I can't say that I wouldn't be excited for this kinda stuff either. They'd sure be dazzling. But I want to see the Boston Celtics up there. And THEIR basketball.


But their season has ended. Their era highly likely to be declared over. It is possible that I'll never see the same Boston Celtics(at least the core of it) again. Ya, I already sorta figured it out before the season started. That they would be gone after this season. So I thought I can cheer for them to achieve one last achievement before they leave. And nothing else can be considered a solid achievement besides an NBA championship for the Boston Celtics. Their long-awaited eighteenth banner to be raised and hanged at the TD Garden. But they are so close to reaching the NBA Finals. Denied by injuries, and sometimes fatigue. Outmatched, out-talented and up against a younger team. And against the NBA trend. It is difficult to pull an upset.


I'd twist my ankle again to see the Celtics in the NBA Finals. I'd bang my knee and limp around for a month to see them hang Banner 18. I'd hurt my shoulders to witness their style of basketball again.I'd dislocate my arm to see the same core play together for another NBA season. I'd have a heart-surgery to see every single player who is part of the Boston Celtics have their faces beaming, smiling, pumping their chest, kissing yet another ring, holding the Larry O'Brien trophy, lifting another banner to join the rest near the ceilings at TD Garden, all before they end their championship window.


If anything, I still stand with Celtics Pride overflowing in my organs. I'll never stop supporting the Celtics until the day they stop playing with HEART and bear that pride of being a Celtic when they are on the court. I'll never stop believing and never lose hope. Winning championships is a tradition for the Boston Celtics. Someday banner 18 will be raised. Then 19, 20, 21 and so on...

To the 2007 to 2012 class of the Boston Celtics, whether or not they are staying or leaving: Thanks for the memories. Thanks for restoring the Celtics pride. Thanks for being here. Thanks for everything. You will be missed. 


Somewhere in the near future, a dawn of a new era in Boston may be imminent. Perhaps this is just another beautiful step towards that seemingly so-close-yet-so-far goal. No matter, the fans are still here cheering on. Now and Forever. Let's Go Celtics!!!

#LetsGoCeltics #BleedGreen #ItsAllAbout18 #CelticsNation #CelticsPride #IAmACeltic