Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk June 1, 2008 LA-Boston Again They were bound to meet again in a historical case of de ja vu. As if scripted by the gods of basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics will be facing off again in the NBA Finals. They have faced off ten times in the history of the NBA Finals with each series always described as classics, and now, they’re at it again. The green against the purple and gold. Both are hands-down, the two most dominant franchises in NBA history whose consistency since 1946 is simply unmatched. I’m not sure if it’s the age gap or era, but we just can’t help but look back and reminisce at the 80’s when talking about the LA-Boston rivalry. I’m sure that the younger NBA fans out there will contest us on this one, but the today’s rivalry is nowhere near the one we followed in the 80’s. But then again, it just started and has a long way to go. The 1980s has been described as the second era of the Lakers and Celtics after Boston’s dominance of the NBA in the ...

Mondays Liga News Update LCP, CEIV Win in Mondays Liga LCP Garments and Cebu Engineering and Industrial Ventures (CEIV) scored big wins to kick off the Mondays Liga 2008 basketball tournament on Monday. LCP defeated Team-C, 57-39, while CEIV crushed Team Monterroyo, 56-41. After a tentative start that saw both teams tied at 10-all at the end of the first period, LCP of playing manager Lander Perez erupted with a big scoring splurge behind the hot hands of Mario “The Silencer” Camingao who drained eight of his game-high 16 points in the period. But it wasn’t a one man show as all five LCP players who saw action in the second period contributed to the scoring spree while limiting Team-C to only 11 points. LCP took a comfortable 33-21 lead at the half and went on cruise control to seal the win. Camingao was backed up by “Big Mac” Macmac’s 12 points. Raphael Madroñero and Jonas Jumalon led Team-C with eight points apiece. In the other game, pre-tournament favorite CEIV of City of Naga Coun...

Bleacher Talk May 25, 2008 Raising The Bar Cebu Boxing is getting busier these days. Ever since the successful Z Gorres–Vic Darchinyan card kicked off the year of big time boxing events for Cebu, it now looks like there’s no stopping Cebu’s local promoters and boxers from maintaining or even raising the bar a notch higher. Never before has Cebu seen a calendar of activities like the one we’re expecting to see for the rest of 2008. In what is getting to be a norm for local boxing, all the succeeding big events for the rest of the year will be showcasing at least a regional championship or a world championship title fight as a main event. A natural feature here is that bringing in foreign opponents to face Cebu’s top boxers in the main event of each card is already something considered as a “given” or a “must have.” Gone are the days when a national championship was the biggest fight available for our top stars. In fact, a Philippine championship doesn’t seem to be a top priority anymore...

Bleacher Talk May 18, 2008 SBP & Legitimacy Basketball fans may not realize it, but quietly taking place in the basketball scene these days is the most crucial part of the ongoing move to unite and establish a genuine national sports association (NSA) for basketball. The BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) has just announced that 19 basketball associations (out of 111) from around the country have been screened and deemed fit to serve as active members of basketball’s mother organization. As active members, these organizations will have voting rights, i.e., a say on the manner with which the sport will be managed from now on. We have always believed that the NSA must be ran and managed by real basketball people, and it sure looks like we’re finally getting there. After a tedious screening process, the likes of the PBA, PBL, UAAP, NCAA, CESAFI and others are recognized as organizations which passed the criteria for one to become an active member of the BAP-SBP. The criteri...

Bleacher Talk May 11, 2008 BEST Experience of Basics & Discipline It’s the kind of summer experience that we never had before when we were younger. It’s more than just a basketball clinic. It’s a clinic where friendship, discipline, skills and growing up are packaged into six days of intense drills and fun games. That in a nutshell is what the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training (BEST) Center is all about. Am I biased? Yes, I surely am. After all, we did handle this year’s activities of the BEST Center as its local partner for the first time. But biased or not, you’ll see that any objective analysis of the BEST clinic sponsored by Milo will bring you the same comments as above. We’ve always been somewhat intrigued with the BEST Center ever since it created an impact on the country’s basketball scene after launching its first program 30 years ago. How good is it? How good are their coaches? Are they the only clinic for basketball? Are they the best? The best way to find ou...

Bleacher Talk May 3, 2008 Back on Track? When one talks about comebacking athletes or sportsmen, the prognosis is almost always negative. Their chances of doing well are always downplayed as they’re already branded as “has beens” or over the hill. In a strange twist of comeback stories, boxers Rodel Mayol and Bert Batawang find themselves in similar situations with a mission to prove that they shouldn’t be considered as part of this lot. They’re hoping to get back on track on their path back to a world championship, facing Thai opponents last night at the Cebu Coliseum. Batawang faced off against Samransak Singmanassak for the WBO Oriental light flyweight championship while Mayol went up against Wisan Sor Suchanya in a non-title bout. Both are hoping that winning last night would re-start their once fledging careers that were interrupted by unfortunate events. Ironically Mayol and Batawang lost to Ulysseus Solis in their respective and unsuccessful attempts to win the IBF world light f...