IBeNimages and Words

"Golf is like a love affair. If you don’t take it seriously, it’s not fun. If you take it seriously. It breaks your heart"

If you are serious in golf, I bet you agree with the above quote.
You must have experienced the time when sometimes you think you have
moved to next level, only to find out in your next round, you are back
to square one.

I, for one, take my golf game quite seriously. Having said that,
please don’t assume I’m an accomplished golfer, a single handicapper,
or a scratch golfer. Far from it. But at least, I keep monitoring my
golf game, finding my weak spots, and trying to improve on them.

Finding our weaknesses in life is sometimes difficult. You need to
have a true friend, or a personality indicator test, or a coach to face
you with the reality. In golf, however, if we keep tab on our scores,
your golf statistics can be your true friend for this particular
objective.

Thanks for the marvel of technology, there are plenty of ways to
keep your golf stats updated. One that I have been using for 4 years is
a Palm OS application called as Intelligolf.
This application runs on any PDA or smartphone OS (Winmob, Symbian,
Blackberry), so you can always bring it with your PDA or phone to your
golf round, and enter your stats immediately.

Intelligolf does not only let you record your scores (golf strokes
and putts), but also some other vital statistics such as Green in
Regulations (GIR) percentage, fairway hit percentage, sand saves, and
your handicap. You can also put some notes on each hole on a golf
course. So on a Par 3 hole you may add note like "Blue flag, against wind: 6 Iron".
In short, as long as you bother to record every shot and every facet of
details in your golf round, you will have plenty of information to work
with. I’m not that serious though, but with me keeping my golf scores,
putts, fairway hits and GIRs, I can already identify where I need to
work on my game.

For example, looking at my current stat where I have fairway hits
percentage 53% but only 24% GIR, tell me that I need to hone mroe on my
approach shots. And furthermore, by looking how the GIR percentage is
very much close to my Par percentage (25%, see the graph below), I know
that if I improve my approach shots, I can get more Pars, and will get
my handicap down.

To enable you to scrutinize such data more closely, Intelligolf also
let you to synchronize the data with its desktop application in your
computer. You can produce different types of charts on selected golf
stats you want to see. If you also help your friends to keep their
scores, you can also monitor his game, and calculate his handicap.

I bought the software over the internet, and highly recommend it for
you who are serious in your golf game and enjoy statistics like me.
Drop me an email if you would like to know more about this software and
would like to give it a try. Happy golfing!

Note: I’m transitioning to my new blog@wordpress. Read it here.

I’m currently transitioning this blog contents to my new blog site under Wordpress.com. This
blog authority software enables me to do more customization on my blog (e.g. custom header), and has a lot of features which we can’t find on this friendster blog (blog stats, HTML widgets). Anyway, I will do a "mirroring" between this blog and the new one, until the time my
wordpress site has garnered enough visits. Visit them now!

"In my football management career, I won a lot of trophies, but very few friends"

Ini merupakan kalimat Fabio Capello, manajer baru tim nasional Inggris, yang dengan gamblang menjelaskan gaya kepemimpinannya: keras, tanpa kompromi, tapi suka apa tidak, akrab dengan kesuksesan.

Lahir tanggal 18 Juni 1946 di Pieris, Italia, Capello merupakan salah satu pelatih sepakbola paling sukses di era sepakbola modern. Dalam pentas manajemen klub, mungkin hanya Sir Alex Ferguson atau Jose Mourinho pelatih aktif yang bisa disejajarkan dengannya. Serupa dengan Ferguson dan Mourinho, Capello sudah memenangkan liga domestik, piala liga, sampai piala Champions.

Namun berbeda dengan Ferguson dan Mourinho, Capello memiliki gaya kepemimpinan yang jauh berbeda. Pengamat sepakbola pasti tahu akan Ferguson sebagai "bapak" dari anak-anak tim asuhannya. The father-like figure berhasil membimbing pemain-pemain binaan Manchester United dari kecil sampai menjadi bintang besar. David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, dan Paul Scholes adalah contoh dari pemain binaan Manchester United yang dalam perjalanan karirnya banyak mendapat bimbingan dari Ferguson, bahkan sampai kepada hal-hal yang bersifat pribadi (misalnya campur tangan Ferguson untuk menyarankan David Beckham tidak berkencan dengan Victoria).

Jose Mourinho juga merupakan figur yang dikenal "akrab" dengan timnya. Jose selalu terlihat melindungi anak buahnya di luar dan di dalam lapangan. Dan sebaliknya, anak buah Jose Mourinho terlihat loyal dan gencar untuk membela pelatih mereka juga. Salah satu contoh adalah pada saat karir Mourinho di Chelsea dalam gonjang-ganjing karena memburuknya hubungannya dengan Abramovich, Didier Drogba dan Frank Lampard berulang kali menyatakan di depan pers kalau Jose masih yang terbaik untuk Chelsea. Bahkan, setelah akhirnya Jose hengkang, Didier Drogba pun sempat menyatakan secara terbuka bahwa ia ingin ikut cabut dari Chelsea.

Bagaimana dengan Capello? Sesuai dengan julukannya "Don Fabio" — mengacu pada sifat kerasnya yang bak Mafia Italia, Capello menjalin hubungan dengan anggota timnya dalam kerangka profesionalisme belaka. Emerson, pemain yang sering diboyong Capello ke mana pun ia pergi (AS Roma, Real Madrid dan Juventus), mengungkapkan, "ketika saya datang ke klub baru, banyak pemain di klub tersebut yang berusaha mendekati saya. Karena mereka pikir saya dekat dengan Capello. Padahal, tidak sama sekali. Hubungan saya dengan Capello murni profesional dan mengenai sepakbola. Tidak lebih".

Capello dalam memimpin sangat pragmatis. Dia tidak berusaha dekat dengan satu atau dua pemain untuk menjadikannya sebagai pilar tim, atau yang kadang berbuah ekses julukan negatif "pemain anak emas". Capello hanya melihat bagus-tidaknya pemain dari performa nya di lapangan dan pada sesi latihan. Capello suka pada pemain-pemain yang serius, bekerja keras dan berdedikasi. Karena tidak bias dengan "keakraban personal" yang sering mewarnai hubungan antara manajer dan anak buah, Capello dengan mudah dapat mengkritik ataupun membangku cadangkan pemain bintang di dalam klub yang diasuhnya seperti halnya Fransesco Totti di Roma, Del Piero di Juventus, ataupun Ronaldo di Real Madrid.

Di luar dari segala kekerasan sikap tersebut, satu hal yang tidak dapat dibantah adalah Capello berarti "Juara". Di seluruh tim yang dibesutnya sejak membela "the undefeated" AC Milan (dengan trio Belanda nya di awal 90 an), Capello tidak pernah gagal. AC Milan, AS Roma, Juventus, dan Real Madrid diboyongnya menjadi juara, minimal juara liga domestik.

Sikap kerasnya ini lah yang membuat England Football Association melirik Capello. Di tengah kesan pemain-pemain bintang Inggris yang lebih banyak berkesan celebrity daripada pesepakbola, Capello menurut saya adalah pilihan yang tepat. Hard nosed leadership, atau terjemahan bebasnya mungkin adalah "Kepemimpinan tanpa tedeng aling aling", akan membawa disiplin, struktur dan kerja keras sebagai tema utama dari Tim Inggris. Tidak ada yang di istimewakan, tidak ada yang menjadi anak kesayangan, yang ada hanyalah "hard work" and "result".

Kalau di sepanjang karirnya Capello selalu akrab dengan piala, bukankah ini saat yang tepat untuk mengharapkan hal yang sama untuk tim nasional Inggris?

Moment of reflection: Pernahkah anda memiliki pimpinan di organisasi anda yang menganut gaya kepemimpinan seperti ini? Kalau pernah, saya yakin pasti banyak dari anda bete, sebal dan menyumpah serapah pimpinan seperti ini. Ia jarang menanyakan kabar keluarga anda, tidak pernah berbicara basa basi, dan selalu menuntut anda untuk bekerja keras. Wajar sih kalau sebel, tapi coba merenung lagi, mungkin pimpinan Anda adalah "the other Capello"? Maybe that’s what needed for organization? Maybe that’s the right way to deliver results?

It’s been more than a year since I owned Sony PSP. In short, I found the system is a gem. It has no “zen of implicity” like iPod for its multimedia features, but for gaming (which is its primary mission), Sony PSP excels in every aspects. The screen is brilliant, the operating system is genius (clue: the instant “on-and-off” really helps for dedicated-gamers- without-dedicated –time-for-gaming like me), the game pads are comfortable (of course still can’t beat the comfy of Sony Playstation Dual Shock controller), and the battery life is good enough for a short trip companion.

But what is a great game system without the support of great games?

Through a year of use, I can share the list of Top 5 Games in PSP based on my gaming experience. I subjectively judged this ranking from the following criteria:

• On-the-go Playability. A game for a mobile game console should be playable while you are on the go. Having a game which holds you intensively up for 30 minutes before you can actually take a break is just silly. And a straight ‘vanilla’ port from an excellent game in Playstation console does not cut either.
• Tilt. You have enough interests in this world to keep you away from playing games. The game should carry enough carrots and challenges to bring you back for more.
• Presentations. The big and gorgeus screen of PSP should not be wasted with mediocre presentations.

Ok now, drum rolls…. here they are my Top 5 PSP Games so far (moving from number five to the top):

5. Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts). Even though my favourite boxer of all time, Oscar De La Hoya has retired, at least I still can preserve his legacy through this game. Playing in its addictive career mode, I successfully made De La Hoya as champions in three weight classes, and made him the best pound-for-pound fighter. I also broke record of fastest and most Knock Outs with him. Not to mention is bulk of dollars reaped by playing him through out the ranks. Clearly, I delved this game quite intensively. Aside from its top-notch presentation (as Electronic Arts always do), what I like most from this game is the strategic element of the game play which require you to  adjust your fighting style depending on your opponents. Jabbing out the opponents never comes as satisfying as laying them down in the canvas with this game. Great stuff.

4. Ridge Racers (Namco). Despite its stature as one of the first games available when the system was launched, Ridge Racer still possibly holds up as one of the best-looking game in PSP. While you are drifting around the corners, Namco provides you with gorgeous surrounding scenery and objects (helicopters and water falls, anyone?).  But the trade mark of this game lies in its addictive gameplay. You move up the ranks through beating the tracks and intelligent opponents. On the hardest level, most of the times what you need is just a perfect race. A simple mistake costs you a spot in the race, which means failure to the next level and next car. No need to worry about lack of authentic cars, the range of beautiful fictional cars in Ridge Racer surely brings you back to unlock them for more!

3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (Konami). Eh, no top spot for Pro Evolution Soccer/Winning Eleven? Even though 75% percent of my gaming time in Playstation and Playstation 2 console spent for this game, unfortunately for PSP, this is not the case. The reason is simply because playing this game in PSP needs dedication. You have to watch the action closely and mash your thumbs in rapid movement. This does give your eyes sore and your palm numbs to play this on extended period of time. So, unless you have spare time and focus for playing this, please steer away. This is the main reason why this game is not ranked in top spot. Other than that, the gameplay is still as superb as ever. You can still find every match is different to another, and every goal is appreciated. The lasting appeal of this game is still as much as its counterpart in traditional console.

2. Star Wars Lego II: The Original Trilogy (Lucas Arts). The joined forces of two my childhood favourites: Lego and Star Wars should be deadly in any form.  Combined with excellent gameplay and intriguing puzzles, Star Wars Lego II comes up as a true winner. This is one of the few games which I keep on playing even though I have actually finished it. The unlockable Star Wars characters and vehicles are so tempting to be missed (any Star Wars fan must crave for piloting a Millennium Falcon). And the mission-based gameplay is really suitable for gamers on the go. You can switch off the game anytime when you are stuck without have to worry the time is not on your side. And during your ‘meditation’, somehow those untried ‘strategy’ or ‘route’ pops up in your mind. You switch on the PSP, and voila! You’re through to the next levels! May the force be with you, my young Padawan.

1. Hot Shots Golf (Sony Computer Entertainment America). I understand this may be a surprise winner for you. And to be perfectly honest, it is also for me. But really, this is how a mobile game should be. Instantly playable, but with enough depth to delve into. You can pick up this game anytime you want, and just play for a round (can be 9 holes game) against a computer-AI opponent for merely 5-10 minutes. Even though the golf game is set on cartoonish setting, but there is plenty of realism here. The winds, the slopes and the grass conditions do affect the outcome of your shots. The detailed stats keeper (Fairway hits, GIRs percentage, longest drive, best round, longest chip in, etc) make me keep back to play for this game just for the sake of breaking my own records.  There are also six unlockable courses and plethora of characters items (golf clubs, attire, accessories, balls, etc) to be found in this game—adding reasons to play this game more and more. And because of those reasons, this is the ONLY game that remains on my PSP’s memory stick since I installed it. Indeed an instant breath of fresh air when you need it, whether you’re on queue line, on traffic jams, or simply on your weekend coach. Genius.