Latin Fusion TV BLOG

Super Bowl XLVI (46) has come and gone! The New york Giants are World champs once again.  The game itself is the most watched event in the world – with larger audiences than the World Cup! Giants vs Patriots – who did you like? What did you learn? Let me dish it out!

Super models are not super spokesmen – that is for sure! Giselle should have been quiet! The players are pros and she is a pro but she should have been less vocal. What do you think?

Games are games and fun is fun – but the Bowl is the game of all games – and guess what? I have watched almost every Super bowl since I was 5 years old – Dallas Cowboys vs Baltimore Colts – with the exception of a couple. I almost never miss it  as I am as old as the Super Bowl itself.  It is the only Championship game that I look forward to.  I am a football fan first – then I have my teams.  None of my teams made the Super Bowl this year!

I was hoping for a Harbaugh Bowl myself – especially since the Cowboys blew their chances this season…  And since none of my yearlong picks came to fruition – I settled for what was supposed to be a great game.  I was disappointed only because it didn’t play out the way it could have – but i did learn some things along the way and i want to pass them along here.  This is what I learned:

1. The super bowl is a good game but can still be boring super  – because, it can be boring; but here is the rest; see the end -
2. You can be down – but don’t count yourself out – Look at the Giants;
3. Do not underestimate your age – Tom Coughlin is the oldest coach to win the Super Bowl;
4. Analysts and naysayers are only guessing – all the analysis and guessing are speculation – they do not determine the outcome;
5. Even the best in the world can make mistakes – Tom Brady, one of the best to play the game, made a mistake on his first play from scrimmage;
6. You have to make plays – especially when it counts;
7. Mistakes don’t cost you the game – even with the early mistake – the Patriots had a chance;
8. Mistakes will cost you the game – you have to make a play, especially when it counts – Hernandez and Welker dropped critical passes late in the game;
9. It is just a game – just like the game of life,
10. Sloppy is still compelling – good game, boring and sloppy, but went down to the wire;
11. Losing, like failure, is an event – losing and failing are events, and does not define who you are:
12. If you do your best – you still might come up short;
13. You gotta make plays – you may make the difference in the outcome;
14. It still “ain’t nothing but a football game” – we place way too much emphasis on the Super Bowl – it is just a game;
15. Games matter – it pays too take your fun serious – ask the Patriots;
16. Winning counts – ask the Giants;
17. If you are a supermodel, it is best to be seen and not  heard – much like children – it is best to be seen and not heard!;
18. The Super Bowl is the greatest game to watch - According to the Nielsen Company, more than 110 million people watched Super Bowl XLVI – http://w.po.st/share/entry/redir?publisherKey=Inquisitr.com-607&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inquisitr.com%2F191129%2Fsuper-bowl-xlvi-was-the-most-watched-show-in-us-history%2F&title=Super%20Bowl%20XLVI%20The%20Most%20Watched%20Show%20in%20US%20History&sharer=copypaste
19. if you have to rely on a prayer -it will be answered – just not the way you want – see hail mary pass;
20. There are more important things in life – ask Payton;
21. The game is a blast – watch it and see’
22. You can bond with family – ask my 10 year old daughter – our first together!

The game is great – the Super Bowl is greater and there is lots to learn – but you must learn to appreciate the fact that it is just a game and that life is just a game also.

Have fun Play hard and dammit – catch the friggin ball! or risk losin it all!

Be blessed and dish it out yourself – Sid

OK, OK, – I have been accused of boring you with some of my most recent posts – so I am turning it over to my buddy Sid and he will be “Dishing it Out” – as it relates to Super Bowl Sunday and Super Bowl XLV (Super Bowl Forty-Five).

Wassup Everybody – I am Sid and I will be dishing it out – Super Bowl style.  Keep up if you dare.

A little history: My pops sat me on his lap one Sunday afternoon and told me we were going to watch this game on tv and my life was changed forever.  This Sunday – I plan to do the same with my daughter.

The game: Super Bowl V (Five), the teams: Dallas Cowboys (the Boys, da Boys, America’s Team) vs Baltimore Colts; the coaches: Don McCaffety and Tom Landry; the result: Cowboys lose in the last 5 seconds; the score: 16 – 13, in favor of the Colts; Most turnovers in a game by winning team (7); thus the aptly named “Blunder Bowl”; only time the game MVP was won by the losing team (Chuck Howley); 1st Superbowl on artificial turf and much more.

Each team had a quarterback controversy with each team having the greatest names in team and football history, the Colts had Johnny Unitas (he and my pops have/had a flat-top haircut) and Earl Morrall and the Cowboys had Craig Morton and Roger Staubach. Unitas started for the Colts and Morton started for the Boys. But Unitas and Staubach “Roger the Dodger” were great!

Today, the Colts have since moved to Indianapolis and have one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history (Payton Manning) and Dallas has of the few Hispanics to ever play quarterback (Tony Romo) and is the home of Cowboy Stadium, which according to many – is the greatest stadium ever built.

OK, OK – enough already….what does that have to do with the Super Bowl or Supper Bowl???

Super Bowl: Because the NFL Championship game is the biggest game and biggest event of the year and will probably surpass viewership of the last world cup. More than 100 million people are expected to watch this game – expecting the largest viewing audience ever.  Crazy numbers – crazy game – crazy fun!

This years Super Bowl pits the Green Bay Packers vs the Pittsburgh Steelers; the Packer Backers vs Steeler Nation; Cheese-heads against the Terrible Towels; the baddest vs the baddest; the oldest vs the oldest; the best vs the best on the biggest stage on earth!

I love football – it is the American game version of James K. Polk’s, “Manifest Destiny” where you conquer one bit of territory at a time.  It is a brutal game with high impact collisions, it is beautiful with the magnificent catches and fast as F@#$ runners and the amazing accuracy of high profile kickers and quarterbacks. Bad-ass Athletes!  The best the world has to offer! Screw the Olympics – this is where it’s at – the Super Bowl!

It has so many real world applications and I will share them here as they relate to the Super Bowl – The world and football can be:

1. tough, unforgiving and sometimes punishing;
2. Mistakes can cost you the game and a mistake in life can cost you your freedom or life;
3. Final – You may or may not get second chances;
4. A game of inches – ever come close to crashing your car?
5. Hard but fun – try it out;
6. Unpredictable – one turnover can change the game, in life – do you know what tomorrow will bring?;
7. Determined by someone else – bad calls by the officials, poor judgment on someone else’s part;
8. A Bad-ass Party – There will be parties every where, in Dallas and in your hometown, and how do you think the winner feels;
9. Disciplined – taking lots of hard work to be successful;
10. Tough – life can be tough;
11. Majestic – ever see the grand canyon or a forest full of evergreens;
12. A time to bond – I have bonded with many athletes and people in life;
13. Filled with exciting moments;
14. Depressing – lots of those in life and watch your team lose the big one; and
15. A whole bunch of other things – Football has real world applications and I could go on for days!!

But for many of us, it is a game – much like life but this is the biggest game of all.  Football rocks, the Super Bowl Rocks and the Super Bowl, to me, is a chance to hold my own Super Bowl Party at my house! Just me – not cuz I’m selfish but because I am a Fan! I’m a frikkin football fan!

I don’t invite no-one but the most ardent of football fans.  So usually I watch it alone.  Not even with my pops – even though he turned me on to the game.

Supper Bowl: I call it my very own “Supper Bowl” Party!  That’s right – I said Supper Bowl! And the fact that I watch the game alone is because I am a football fan! Big time! And I don’t want no distractions or interruptions, period.  I call it the supper bowl cuz I make food enough for a week just to watch one damn game.

I get to prepare, cook, watch guys analyze,  wait for my food, turn up the tv, take a break, drink non-alcoholic beer (I don’t get drunk anymore); I can do what I want how I want when it comes to the super bowl.  I haven’t missed a game in 40 years.

And I do it in the comfort of my own home, because:

1. If I gotta pee – I go pee;
2. If I wanna stop the game – I stop the game (thank God for digital video recording or DVR;
3. If I wanna see a play over and over – I watch it over and over (see previous);
4. If I get bored – I change the channel (thank God for cable);
5. If I wanna be entertained – I watch the commercials – they pay a million bucks for one half minute ad;
6. I love the e-trade babies;
7. If I wanna eat – I eat; and
8. If I wanna drink – I drink!

And I always record the game for later viewing…

The game itself has gay connotations: Packers; tight-end; men in tights; men who slap other men on the butt; one guy that gets right up on another guy who is in a bent over position and then puts both hands right up under his butt; to handle a ball; they squeeze through; they need protection; and there even used to be a team called the Oilers. Funny, huh?

It is masculine, except for the kickers – they usually tackle like sissies; it is brutal; it is hard hitting and it requires lots of hard work.  It is zoological: Seahawks, Eagles, Bears, Ravens, Colts, Falcons.  It is war: Cowboys v Redskins, Titans v Giants; Raiders v Buccaneers (A joke: a boy is dressed as a pirate for Halloween – a man asks: who are you supposed to be?  the boy answers: A pirate – the man asks:  Where are your buccaneers?  the boy replies: On my buckin head!)  Get it!  — Anyway!

I can go on and on but I will stop here… The game is in two days – I have already gone shopping – and I plan on doing something I have not ever done. I am going to watch the game with my daughter.  She is just now getting to know the game.  She is a doll and I love her.  She has never seen a Super Bowl, but she does like football and this will be a chance to bond with her like never before.

I will cook all kinds of food and we will eat; I will laugh with her and we will yell together at great plays and we will do something together for the very first time!  I love these moments in our life – it will never be forgotten!

So with many million others – I anticipate one of the biggest days of the year, in athletics.  Christmas and Easter are the two biggest days of the year. But I wait for those too. But back to football – I can hardly wait.  I doubt we will be disappointed – I even bet on this game – $15 bucks total, yep that is all!

I will be responsible, I will be home and I will be doing what I like to do more than anything else in the world – hang out with my daughter and watch football. Sharing Life, Love, Faith and God!

I only ask that you do the same – be safe, be responsible and enjoy the game – remember – it is just a game because: Life is more important, love is more important, faith is necessary to go on in this world and God is the greatest gift of all. God gave us the talent, the ability and the opportunity to be better people. He gave us the minds to create the greatest game of all and the biggest stage to enjoy it.

Make this game an opportunity to make new friends, forge stronger relationships and to have fun.  And if you miss it or don’t care for it – cool! This is our blog – write your own and tell me how Futball is the greatest sport – but until then – Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

Oh and I have one final Question – Who the hell is Mary?

I am Sid and I am just “Dishing it Out!”

Laters – Sid

Ever heard of the Harlem Globetrotters? Ever seen them? Ever met them? Do you know what they stand for?  If  you answer yes to any of these questions, you are blessed.

Why do I ask?  Because, and I’m being honest, before today – I had no idea what they really stood for.  Don’t get me wrong, I know who they are, i have seen them and I have even met them – twice.  But before this week, I did not truly understand what they stood for.

To me, They are a family and fun-filled basketball team that entertains audiences worldwide.  I have seen them perform live twice and have met some of the greatest names in Globetrotter History – Curly Neal, Meadowlark Lemon, Gator Rivers, Robert “BabyFace” Page among others.

But these were the only Globetrotters I had met or knew the names of and I did not know what they really stood for.  But I recently had the pleasure of meeting the newest generation of Globetrotters!  I never expected to meet them 35 years later and ask the questions I always wanted to ask.

Moreover,  I did not expect to learn what I learned.

How does it relate to Latin Fusion TV? First of all, Brandy interviewed them and I get to write about them.

If you read our Blog, you know that it is not about us – It is about making the world a better place.  We might write about what we do, but we apply it to spiritual Principles and how we can make the world a better place to live and love – one Blog at a time.

And as I always ask:  What does that have to do with the Harlem Globetrotters. Because they are the “Ambassadors of  Good Will” around the world. And in a small way – so are we.  If you recall, we wrote about influencing others in our last post.  That no matter how you act or what you do – you will influence others (either positively or negatively).  And that we have all been influenced in one way or another by someone.

Well, these guys make an impact globally.  Allow me introduce to you the people we met: Ant, Rocket, Sarge, Squirrel, Slingshot, Hi-Lite, FlightTime, Airport, Turbo, Bones and Coach Clyde along with Director of Player Personnel and Coach “Sweet” Lou Dunbar!

These are great guys – all Basketball players, all “Ambassodors of Good Will,” and all are top notch entertainers.  And, in talking with them – I found the following that I will share:

1. God gives talent – but to develop them takes work;
2. You never know when you will be discovered – some of these guys never expected to be Globetrotters, but;
3. God works in mysterious ways;
4. It is important to have fun;
5. It is important to give back;
6. You must be be willing to learn;
7. It is imperative to be open to new ideas;
8. The world is a great big place;
9. There is no substitute for hard work; and
10. God will reward your efforts in ways you never expected!

There are many more things I can add, but that will be in the next post.  But I will say this – when we were told about the Globetrotters being in San Antonio and offered a chance to meet them – we asked the sponsors (Howard Johnson) if we could interview them.

They did not know us and we were not given an answer – but our host did try to help us out.  We didn’t gripe because as I said – Howard Johnson Corporate did not know who we are.  But they encouraged us to show up. We did, and they were so hospitable and congenial.  The corporate folks at Howard Johnson (HoJo) were very nice, the location at Balcones Heights is very clean and it was all set up for the guests.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the HoJo folks were similar to the Globetrotters – willing to give back to the community.  Hey, we know this is a business, but they do good business and with a smile on their face.  We we met some good people, Dee, Greg, Megan, Daniel, Mr. Ghael and the others from HoJo.

But more important, we were granted an interview, we were given the opportunity to mingle with the crowd, take photos and speak with everyone there.  Their philosophy is the same as ours – treat people right and be good to the community.  Just like the Globetrotters! It was an awesome day – we even went to the game later that night.  But it was an experience – I even found out that some kids had never even heard of the Globetrotters – and that was a  shock to me…We grew up on them.

The gist of all of this is: It is important to Trust in God, work hard, utilize His gifts and your talent and give back to the community in some way or another!  You will Reap what you Sow – it is proven! And it is a beautiful thing!

Stay tuned for our next post where I will share the importance of having fun and enjoying life (even while you are working) – because for two hours during the day and two hours at night and taking time out of our busy schedule to have fun, we did just that! We were entertained – but boy, did we have fun!

And the Globetrotters reminded me to smile!

We have photos posted in the gallery and a video on www.LatinFusionTV.com.  Check em both out.

Take care, God Bless and Cool Runnings – Michael

The Rangers are Strangers, No More!

If you are not a baseball fan, then you may not know what I am talking about – so i will explain.  The Texas Rangers are going to the World Series. That is the world championship of American Baseball.  I know a lot of you like cricket and think that baseball is boring – and it can be – unless you played. Then it gets in you and it stays in you and you learn to appreciate the game like no other. I am a football fan first – but I love to watch baseball.  And now…

Strangers no More! What does that mean?  I have always called the Texas Rangers – the Texas Strangers because in all of their years as a franchise – they are one of three teams to have never made the World Series.  We were, in fact, Strangers to the big dance.  No More!

Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, winning the Pennant.  They are the American League Champions.  Strangers no More!  I like the sound of that.  But why should you or I care?  Here is why?

I can relate.  I am sure that so can some of you.  Here are just a few items of interest:

1. Stay true to what you believe and it pays off. Michael Young has played for 11 seasons and more than 1500 games and he finally made it to the postseason and now the World Series.   He is even the franchises’ all time leading hitter.
2. We have to learn to trust our instincts and our teammates. In the locker room he has a sign that says: I trust my team and I trust myself.
3. Surround yourself with good people and good things will happen!  It takes a team to succeed.  One Clydesdale can pull 2000 lbs.  Two Clydesdale horses can pull 10,000.  They work together.
4. Give the Glory to God and to Jesus Christ. Josh Hamilton is in recovery – just like me.    I struggle at times, but God still deserves the credit – I wouldn’t be coming up on 7 years clean and sober if it wasn’t for God and Jesus Christ. Period.  Josh Hamilton gave the glory to God and Jesus Christ for his success.
5. Work hard and it pays off!  Josh is the American League Most Valuable Player.  He earned it.
6. Persistence pays off.  Nolan Ryan is the new owner.  It took him until August until the deal was done.  That means he worked on the deal since Spring Training. Now he is a proud owner of a winning franchise.
7. Time is a gentleman!  Nolan Ryan waited 41 years to return to the World Series.
8. Change can make a difference!  Colby Lewis pitched a great game tonight.  Since 2002, he has played with 3 different teams and even played in Japan.  Now he gets a chance to play in the Big Game.  Tell me that he expected this and I will call you a fibber.  Even he didn’t expect this.  The only thing constant is change and Change can make a difference!
9. Believe.  The sign reads: We Believe.  The Fans, the players, the coaches and ownership all started with a belief.  The belief has turned into a reality.  Believe it and it will be real!
10. There is always one more game to play.  They haven’t won the World Series, in fact they haven’t even played Game 1 yet.  So like in life – there is always one more game to play; one more thing to do and one more something to be done.  Stay with it and leave the rest to God!

Hey, I wish my team well.  I hope to be cheering their victory in the Series, but until then – I congratulate them on a job well done – for now.

Life will go on whether they win the series or not.  I will always root for the Rangers!  And I will no longer call them the Strangers! No More!

I am honored that they are from Texas and I am glad that Nolan Ryan is the owner.  I watched him pitch as a kid.  And now – They have earned the right to represent.  I wish them all the best and I know that if they do what they did against the Yankees – I expect them to win it all! And that is worth the wait!

And the Rangers are Strangers no more!

Until the Series begins – Take care, God Bless and Cool Runnings, mon.

Michael Arellano -

email me at latinfusiontv@gmail.com