No Pacman in PBA Legends’ US tour?
MANILA, Philippines -- Not only are the PBA legends excited over the grand reunion scheduled in four California cities this March, they are also eagerly looking forward to the prospect of playing with boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in San Diego.
I don’t know where this piece of news originated, but this was the talk last Tuesday at Gerry’s Grill Trinoma where owner Jerome Ngo hosted the sendoff for the legends.
They said Pacquiao was not only gracing the last event of the California series in San Diego, he was also going to suit up for one of the teams.
The Manila-based legends, composed of Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Atoy Co, Johnny Abarrientos, Olsen Racela, Hector Calma, Vergel Meneses, Jerry Codiñera, Arthur dela Cruz, Ronnie Magsanoc, Dindo Pumaren, Mon Fernandez, Manny Victorino, Gerry Esplana, Bong Alvarez, Alex Marquez, Bogs Adornado, Robert Jaworski, Manny Paner and Philip Cezar, will play in Union City on March 8, Sacramento on March 9, Carson City on March 15 and San Diego on March 16.
A total of 60 ex-PBA players from Manila and the United States will be seeing action in the event organized by the PBA Legends Foundation USA, headed by Abe King.
But this latest piece of news will certainly leave the PBA legends as well as the Filipinos living in San Diego disappointed.
Wednesday, during the contract-signing between Solar Sports and GMA-7 for the telecast of the Pacquiao-Marquez fight, Manny announced in a phone patch that he will be going straight home to Manila after the bout in Las Vegas.
Solar president Wilson Tieng said this is the usual practice of Manny -- to go straight home immediately after a fight.
I don’t know if he can still be prevailed upon by close friends to make a stopover in San Diego.
In his latest video from Los Angeles, Manny was shown wrapped in winter clothing from head to toe.
He said the temperature has drastically dropped in La Brea, the place where he is training the last few days, and he and the other Filipino boxers in the undercard -- Diosdado Gabi and Gerry Peñalosa -- are still getting acclimatized to the cold weather.
Manny is hoping that this fight -- which he is once again dedicating to the Filipino people -- will help unite all opposing political parties.
The three-day coaches’ clinic to be conducted by Korea’s legendary shooting great Shin Dong Pa and other Korean coaches starts Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
According to BCAP president Chito Narvasa, there are several reasons they thought of getting mentors from South Korea, instead of the United States.
“To start with, Filipino and South Korean players are more or less of similar built, height and weight. We believe Korea’s training methods, especially the one on shooting skills, have something to do with their competitiveness internationally,” Chito said, stressing that Shin continues to be the benchmark of South Korean shooters, in terms of form, movement and accuracy.
“Unlike the flashy Americans, Shin’s shooting style is very simple, but he still gets the same results. His accuracy is quite impressive.”
Chito feels the Koreans’ training methods and coaching philosophies will open up a new avenue for learning.
“While most of us have looked up to the American brand of basketball, which is geared toward excitement and profitability, by turning to a new basketball culture in the same region, we might gain new insights into the way we teach basketball to our players and kids.”
“By interrelating and integrating the two systems, we may come out with a better system for our basketball program.”
Chito has noted that despite the creation of a commercial basketball league in Korea (as well as China for that matter), their national team has remained highly competitive.
Source:inquirer.net
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