The Philippines' Incredible Shrinking Basketball Players

Now, what better symbol of hoping against hope is there than our love for basketball?

We may not have any chance of winning in - some say, even qualifying for - the Olympics, but hey, what's the harm in trying? It's like winning in the lotto... if you don't have a ticket, then you definitely can't win. But if you buy even just one ticket, then you have a chance. And then you have the luxury of imagining the possibilities.

Ah, and here at home, we can make the fantasy a little more real by simply tweaking the rules so that larger foreign-born players won't seem so tall. Check out this piece on the incredible shrinking basketball players in the Philippines.

And here's a podcast interview with the author of the same article. Note: The main interview starts somewhere in middle of the program, so load it up first then just forward to the middle of the bar.

* Featured painting: Guwardiya (36"x26" Oil on Handmade Paper by Manny Garibay).