Cristiano Ronaldo wins the 2013 FIFA Ballon D'Or

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Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon D'Or for the 2nd time in his career again, ending his rival, Lionel Messi's 4-year Ballon D'Or run. For 4 years, he lived under the shadows of Messi's success and now that he has won the Ballon D'Or, he couldn't be more happier.

2009 was the last time that Ronaldo won the Ballon D'Or. See, one of the things that made the 2013 Ballon D'Or so special for Ronaldo is that he finally won it "again" after getting beaten up by Messi each year, which really knocked him off. Also, Ronaldo's hat trick against Sweden during last year's decisive World Cup playoff is the one that stood out as 2013's most definining moment in the world of soccer.

As a fan of Ronaldo, I hope he wins back-to-back Ballon D'Or's for 2014 & outperform Messi again. 

this is the link to Cristiano Ronaldo's "2013 Ballon D'Or" article:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cristiano-ronaldo-ends-messi-s-ballon-d-or-award-reign-1.2494862

Raptors against Indiana

The impossible indeed happened.

Yesterday, the Toronto Raptors, who are currently sitting at no. 4 in the Eastern Conference, defeated the best team in the NBA right now, the Indiana Pacers, who posts a record of 25 wins & 5 losses. The Raptors beat them by a score of 95-82 in what many had thought would be an easy win for the Pacers. Indiana's record is now 25 wins & 6 losses while the Raptors' record is now 15 wins & 15 losses, as well as regaining the .500 winning percentage for the first time since 2010.

Before the game, lots of people speculated that the Raptors will lose by 20+ points because, well, it's common sense: Toronto doesn't have a chance to win against Indiana, who wanted to redeem themselves after they came up short in last year's Eastern Conference Finals against the defending NBA champs Miami Heat. With players like Paul George, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Luis Scola & George Hill, it's obvious that Toronto won't be able to achieve victory over Indiana. Instead, the tables had turned for the Raps. They played solid team basketball all throughout the entire game, doing whatever they could to keep up with the Pacers such as answering back with a jumper every time Indiana scores & grabbing as many rebounds as they could so that the ball won't be in Indiana's hands. They also made sure that they won't make any mistakes in the 4th quarter, which is something that the Raps had issues with in the past. In the end, the Raps successfully defended their home court in front of their fans. 

Now the question is, can the Raptors be able to keep their winning streak up? Who knows what will happen next, but for now, they must focus on one goal: make the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

this is the link to Raptors' victory over Indiana article: http://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/2014/01/01/redhot_raptors_hand_indiana_pacers_rare_defeat.html

 

Justin Bieber retiring.

Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber announced a shocking news that was heard all over the world when he announced that he will retire after his upcoming album, "Journals" which will hit the stores next year. 

He announced at Power 106, a radio station in Los Angeles, that he will retire after his upcoming album because he wants to grow as an artist & make his music to be more mature. His fans were begging him not to retire because they feel that life will be dull w/out him. 

I'm not really a fan of Justin Bieber but I think that it's a good idea for him to take a step back from music for now because it will help him grow not just as an artist, but also as a person. It'll also give him a reflection of the things, whether good or bad, that he did throughout his entire career. Take Mark Wahlberg for instance. He used to be a bad boy just like Bieber back in the days (Marky Mark, remember?) but then, he decided to take a step out of music to get himself in to the right direction & now, he's a mature, grown adult & he also has a successful acting career. He even has his own restaurant called, "Walhburgers" in Downtown Toronto. Wahlberg learned from those mistakes that he did & that made him a better person that he is today.

At the end of the day, Justin Bieber made the right choice of taking a hiatus, & that will give himself some time to grow as a person & as an artist. 

This is the link to Justin Bieber's "Retirement" article: 

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/12/18/justin-bieber-retiring-canadian-pop-sensation-says-next-album-will-be-his-last-in-radio-interview/

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is one of the most anticipated movies of 2013. It was already released in theatres on Friday, November 22nd, which was last week. It's also the most popular movie for the holidays. It has tons of fans from around the world (12.8 million combined from Facebook & Twitter)

My opinion: I really want to see this movie because I already saw the first Hunger Games & I also want to see what will happen next in Catching Fire.

this is the link to the "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" article: http://www.vibe.com/article/most-popular-holiday-movie-hunger-games-catching-fire

The Black Mamba will retire as a Laker

At 35, Kobe Bryant is still one of the best players in the NBA. He's also the highest paid player in the NBA.

Yesterday, the 5x NBA Champion signed a 2-year contract extension with the L.A. Lakers worth $48.5 million, and it's something that Lakers fans everywhere are very happy about, including me. Kobe wants to end his career with just 1 team, which is also something that's very rare to see in NBA players today. He wants to make sure that he will end his storied career in Los Angeles, & when he finally reaches the time where he'll announce his retirement, he will definitely be remembered as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. 

this is the link to Kobe Bryant's "Contract Extension" article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2013/11/25/kobe-byrant-los-angeles-lakers-two-year-contract-extension/3698463/

Sony PS4 vs. Xbox One

On November 15th, which was last Friday, Sony launched the PlayStation 4, the successor of the PlayStation 3. This week, Microsoft is going to release the Xbox One to the public. 2006 was the last time that both Sony & Microsoft released their respective consoles. Experts say that both Sony & Microsoft showed a lack of innovation because more people are now in to smartphones in which they can download their favourite games in just seconds. Also, people in their 30s are the most passionate gamers because of how they grew up with the PlayStation 1, the 1st Xbox, and the SEGA Dreamcast in the 90s & early 2000s, & that Sony & Microsoft should be able to keep up w/ the growing trend of smartphones if they both want to earn more profit. 

In my opinion, Sony will do a lot better than Microsoft when it comes to sales because more people preordered the PS4 than the Xbox One, & that Sony will get more positive reviews for the PS4 than Microsoft's Xbox One in terms of the grapics, gaming experience, & many more. Also, as I've said earlier in the 1st paragraph, both Sony & Microsoft should be able to keep up w/ smartphones because it's a lot cheaper compare to gaming consoles & you can download games in just seconds, unlike in consoles where you have to purchase its games in places such as Best Buy, Future Shop, etc. 

Sony officially released the Playstation 4

Today, Sony launched the next generation PlayStation 4, which served as the PlayStation 3's successor. Lots of people waited in lines overnight in stores such as Future Shop, Best Buy, EB Games, and other retail stores so that they can get their hands on the new console. Of course, the people who preordered it have tons of expectations from the PS4, including better graphics and better gaming experience compare to the PS3. Some tech experts even believe that the PS4 will outperform the competition, more specifically, Microsoft's Xbox One, due to the fact that Sony gained more preorders than Microsoft and Nintendo, and how they put Microsoft in to shame during the 2013 E3 Convention by winning the hearts of gamers when they announced that the PS4 will support used games.

7 years ago, Sony took a terrible beating when they launched the PS3. It was very expensive and they also released it a year after the Xbox 360. Sony learned from those mistakes, and they used it as a motivation to do well in building the PS4. Now that the PS4 is available in stores, let's just hope that it will receive some positive reviews from gamers & tech experts. 

this is the link to the Sony PS4 article: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2013/11/13/playstation_4_console_more_evolution_than_revolution_review.html