COMMUNITY NEWS
30
SPECTATOR
By Al Mendoza
TWO dreams.
One down.
One to go.
The first one had appeared easy
to achieve. But not quite. We had
to struggle to survive. Us placing a
mere seventh among eight qualifiers
sort of reflected the difficulty of Gilas’
elimination campaign.
I refer to our Fiba World qualifying
finish topped by powerhouse
Australia.
Our fellow qualifiers
from Asia/Oceania are Iran, Japan,
Jordan, South Korea, New Zealand
and China.
As the host, China made it a
no-sweat passage to the Worlds
proper—a bonus to every country
taking pains to stage the quadrennial
meet.
The last time we enjoyed that
honor was in 1978 when we hosted
the event. There were only 16 then;
it’s 32 nations now.
That year, the pros were stilled
barred from playing. Thus, our Fiba
Worlds players then included such
nondescripts like Ramon Cruz, Efren
Manila and Alex Clarino.
The nation’s stars then, like
Robert Jaworski, Ramon Fernandez,
Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Abet Guidaben
and Francis Arnaiz had turned pro
and were playing in the 1975-born
Philippine Basketball Association.
Venues of the 1978 games from
Oct. 1-14 were the now-decrepit
Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila
and the Smart Araneta Coliseum in
Cubao, Q.C.
Yugoslavia beat the Soviet Union
for the title, with Brazil finishing
third over Italy. Drazen Dalipagic
of Yugoslavia was voted the most
valuable player and would proceed
to play in the USA’s NBA.
It took us 36 years before we
could play again in the Fiba Worlds.
We finished second behind Iran in
the 2013 Fiba Asia to make it to the
2014 Spain Worlds where we beat
Senegal for our only win in three
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY March 16 - 31, 2019
Gilas Pilipinas’ impossible mission
in Fiba World Cup
World Cups,
including the 1974 edition in Puerto
Rico.
It is in China from Aug. 31 to
Sept. 15 that we would aim for
our second dream: Advance from
our group by beating two of three
countries—Serbia, Italy and Angola.
Next to impossible as they are all
formidable foes.
But isn’t life, littered with
mysteries, also a case of chasing
dreams? And aren’t most dreams
too hard to achieve or they won’t be
called dreams at all?
Dream on, Gilas. Life’s a beach,
too.
************************
Cebu CC rewrites PAL Interclub
history
THE Cebu Country Club, whose
exclusivity rivals that of Manila Golf
Club’s inside Makati’s Forbes Park,
has just rewritten history in the just-
ended PAL Interclub Golf in Cebu
City.
It was like seeing David slaying
Goliath all over again.
Look, for emerging overall
champion last Saturday, unfancied
Cebu CC became the first team from
a lower division to do it in 31 years,
equaling Aguinaldo’s feat in 1988.
Playing in the second-
division Founders in the four-
bracket tournament behind the
Championship, with Friendship and
Sportswriters bringing up the rear, the
Cebuanos dished off a champion’s
poise right from the starting blocks.
Zooming mightily ahead in the
Founders, CCC
saw itself just a
measly point overall behind defending
champion Southwoods.
Suddenly, the Southwoods’ bid
for a record “5-peat” got seriously
threatened.
Then the giant upset loomed
when CCC, emerging from a brilliant
stint at difficult Mactan, found
the saddle after Round Two as a
beleaguered Southwoods crew got
itself pushed to the ropes staring at
a 4-point deficit.
Even Southwoods’ fellow
Championship teams—Luisita, Del
Monte and Tagaytay Highlands—got
wary of a brewing tsunami aka CCC
set to rearrange the final standings.
Jay Jay Neri, the proud father of
Pio Neri, had aptly summed it up:.
“After CCC played beyond
expectations again in Mactan to
keep its 4-point lead after Round 3,
the team’s battle cry going to Cebu
Country Club in Round 4 was, ‘Not
in our house.’”
Pio, a former Ateneo de Manila
varsity golfer, helped anchor CCC’s
final-day charge with his even-par 36
points that equaled his cousin Bayani
Garcia’s output. Mark Dy hit 35 and
skipper Marco Sarmiento 33.
So devastating was CCC’s
last-round blitzkrieg that Harvey
Sytiongsa’s 32 did not count in the
squad’s massive Round 4 tally of
140 as against Southwoods’ 135
for Cebu’s final 9-point, 516-507
winning margin.
My felicitations go to the other
CCC team members Mark Gonzalez,
Nino Mendoza, JJ Alvarez, Eric Deen,
Hugo Saurat and team manager
Peter Po. Well done, mates. Cheers!
***************************
*
For Ray Butch ‘Elvis’ Gamboa,
the show must go on
RAY Butch “Elvis” Gamboa,
the father of automotive shows on
Philippine TV, has just staged his
fabled STV Golf Cup. But this time,
it was with a tinge of sadness.
Elvis has remained unwell.
Thus, for the first time in
eight editions of his much-awaited
tournament reserved only for his
select friends from the car industry,
motoring media and allied sectors,
Elvis wasn’t around.
He missed both the ceremonial
tee shots and the awarding rites that
he had both beautifully hosted the
last seven straight years in his own
inimitable style.
There were calls for him to
postpone the event until he is fully
recovered.
He refused—vehemently.
“The show must go on,” was his
strict order to Jenny Bleza, Elvis’s
most trusted lieutenant since STV’s
Day One.
“My Dad was already in the car
this morning all set to join us here,”
said Wie, Elvis’s equally-handsome
son during the closing ceremonies.
“But his doctors stopped him at the
last minute.”
Yes, Elvis may be absent, but in
spirit, he was very much with us last
Friday at Silang’s Riviera.
“Although I don’t play golf
anymore, I have not sold my share at
Riviera so that I could have a course
to hold the STV Golf for people I hold
dear as long as I am able,” Elvis said
to me once.
As usual, the awarding ceremony
was as fun-filled as did the 18-hole
round.
This is the only tournament in
the world that gives three prizes
simultaneously to each raffle winner.
Gerry Aquino, Jake P. Ayson and
I left Riviera last. But not after we
had killed Jura and Johnnie “Double
Black” Black.
Danny “Sir John” Isla would
have stayed with us but for another
golf round the next morning with his
515 mates at Alabang Country Club.
Sir John took home Spencer
Yu’s elegant BMW golf bag but Tey
Sornet won Spencer’s BMW state-of-
the-art mountain bike worth nearly a
hundred thousand bucks.
“Life is really good as the prize
is an advanced birthday gift to me
(March 28),” said Tey.
Before Gerry, Jake and I drifted
into the night, we prayed for Elvis to
be with us next year.
Without Elvis, a party can become
as dry as an empty building.
Maidana in far better shape, wants to face Pacquiao
Marcos Maidana is bringing
his weight down gradually as a
fight against Manny Pacquiao
continues to create headlines.
Training alongside former
world champion Rances ‘Kid
Blast’
Barthemely
recently,
Maidana has lots a considerable
amount of weight.
Videos of Maidana punching
have gone viral over the past
month as ‘Chino’ gets back to
explosive best.
Maidana is set for a comeback
in 2019, five years after retiring
following a double defeat to Floyd
Mayweather.
Making a whopping eight
figures for his exploits against
Mayweather, the Argentinian
walked off into the sunset to drink
alcohol and smoke cigars.
Now, the likable former two-
weight champion is planning
to challenge some of the best
welterweights on the planet.
Pacquiao is currently linked
to a rematch with Mayweather
himself. If that fight doesn’t come
off, Maidana is seen as a viable
Pay-Per-View replacement for
Showtime.
Both fighters compete with
Al Haymon, meaning the clash
will be relatively easy to make if
Mayweather decides against a
comeback of his own.
One man who would like to
see it happen is ex-Pacquiao
strength trainer Alex Ariza. The
coach, who has worked with
Maidana, was asked his opinion
in a recent chat with Fighthype.
com.
“I think this is a great fight
right now just because Manny is
showing signs of reviving himself
and getting back into it,” Ariza
told Fighthype.
“I just think that would be a
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great fight. He’s got that style that
throws a lot of punches. Manny
is getting back into his groove
again. I think everyone would like
to see that one.
“You’ve got the Philippines
and Argentina. If you want to
see a big fight, that’s a big fight.
That’s the fight he (Maidana) told
me he wants.
“Yeah, the first time he called
me when he came out here, he
wants to fight Pacquiao. But
you’ve got to earn that fight by
wiping people out.