Lingayen hoopfest opens today

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

AFTER two postponements due to some problems in the venue’s court and also because of the yuletide season, the province’s first inter-commercial basketball league of the year finally reels off today at Narciso Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) in capital town Lingayen.

The league dubbed as the “First Martina Farm Open Basketball Tournament” was organized by Lingayen’s well-known businessman Engr. Frederick Teodoro.

I  attended  the organizer’s meeting last Thursday afternoon at NRSCC led by the league’s commissioner Fernando H. Romero, assisted by chief coordinator Roberto “Jun” Amado and attended by the participating team managers and coaches to iron out the tourney’s format, rules and regulations, objectives and the pre-game setup.

The  league, although  with only five teams confirmed to participate, can be considered  the most elite basketball tournament thus far for the last 15 years insofar as magnitude of players are concerned because it lured the best players in the province. Region 1 2007 PRISAA champion, the University of Luzon Golden Tigers, will carry the banner of St. Lucy’s  Cataract Eye Care Center while my son Jazy’s squad called Jazy’s Sportswear Pitaki Boyz will be composed mostly of the 2005 Pangasinan PRISAA champion, the University of Pangasinan Webczars.

The other squads are the Capitol Team of former Urbiztondo veem Modesto Operaña, Binmaley’s Stella Maris Hospital and the host Team Lingayen.

According to Romero and Amado, major prizes totaling P60,000 plus trophies and medals are up for grabs with the champion pocketing the P30,000 top prize.

First runner-up wins P20,000 while the second runner-up is worth P10,000.

Romero also said that MVP (Most Valuable Player), Mythical Five and the Muse of the Tournament will also receive incentive prizes and medals.

Amado also said that playing days fall only on Saturdays and Sundays to give the dribblers convenient time for their work and schooling during week days.

Romero and Amado emphasized that the two top teams in the double round robin qualifying rounds automatically enter the semis with the third, fourth and fifth placers battle with each other in the quarter finals.

Two teams enter for the semis after the quarter finals and the best in the quarter finals or ranked number 3 faces team number one with number one earning the twice-to-beat advantage. Number four clashes with number two with number two enjoying also a twice-to-beat edge.

The top two teams after the semis fight for the championship in the best-of-three series while the third and fourth placers battle for third via knockout system.

Admission fee is only five pesos for each spectator.

See you there.

* * * * * * *

It hurts to know and difficult to accept if a team or a group dominates sports competitions, a political race, singing contests, dance competitions and other contests.  It happens very rarely and because of its rarity, it does make it more difficult to swallow and takes time to forget.

It happened in my town Mangaldan during the traditional New Year’s Ball (Jan. 1).  A group called GAP (stands for Garcia-Abalos-Presto streets) ruled all the competitions that the municipal government prepared and sponsored for.

From Miss and Mr. New Year, Best Costume, Biggest Delegation, four out-of-five Dance Contests, the well-prepared GAP group dominated the night affair with much delight but majority losers were joyless.

Observers say the judges were noted to be biased and unfair.

Well, if we take this as an essence of democracy, it is the unusual kind.

(Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments