you know me, ever since i started watching local basketball (circa 1985), Ginebra na 'ko. actually it was still Anejo Rhum that time pero Jaworski-led na yung La Tondena franchise. eh si Jawo pa madami talagang followers yan, mostly masa. napaka-charismatic. though nawalan lang ako ng amor sa kanya when he ran for senator in 1998 i think. come on BigJ, you're not born to serve that way. feeling ko he took advantage of his fame, being the Living Legend of the PBA, to grab a seat in the Senate.. i remember the early days when we watched PBA sa Ultra, grabe ang mga fans ng Ginebra. literally from all sorts and walks of life: may naka maayos na damit, long sleeves and kurbata, merong mga naka-tshirts lang, and yes, you wouldn't believe that there are those who just wear sando and slippers inside the coliseum! pero mga nasa bleachers area na yun. sila ang nagpapa-simula ng chants na "Ja-wors-kiii, Ja-wors-kiii" at "Gi-neb-braaa, Gi-neb-braaa" and the rest of the people will chant along. you might actually think they're crazy but if you're inside the venue, believe me you will actually be carried away by their overflowing enthusiasm, rooted simply from their following. kakatuwa nga. naalala ko nung una akong napa-chant, it felt like heaven haha. masarap ang feeling ;p. on the not-so-good side though, sila rin nagpa-umpisa nung mga batuhan ng barya pag hindi nagustuhan ang tawag ng mga referees (obviously against the masa team). oh man, how many times did it happen before. yun nga lang sa mga ganong games, swerte ang janitors sa court kasi pupulutin niya lahat ng mga baryang inihagis ng barangay hehe :D there was a time too that the coliseum administrator were forced to put a barrier (they call it chicken wire i think) between one viewing section and another. paano ba naman, yung mga nagbayad lang ng murang tickets tumatalon papuntang section na medyo mahal (maabilidad talaga ang pinoy diba? haha). eh how can you stop a handful of people nang ganon ganon lang? it's nearly impossible doing that. baka pag pinigil mo sila mabanatan ka pa at makuha pa yung damit mo, pero iiwan naman nila yung sando at tsinelas nila sayo eh hehe..
though it is undeniable, and a fact, that Ginebra brings the crowd to PBA games kahit saan pa mang venue yan. laging jampacked. which translates of course to money (kaching kaching!) para sa first commercial-based pro league in Asia. and i'm proud to say i've been to their games wherein naging record crowd attendance kami hehe. like last Sunday, there were almost 18,000 in attendance, eh Araneta Coliseum has roughly 12-13K seating capacity only. madami dyan nakatayo throughout the game and believe me they don't mind. i've had my share of that experience before and, yes, i did not mind.. basta the crowd is incomparable to games may Ginebra man o wala (Mr. Commisioner, don't ever deny that). sa dami ng fans, they are actually called "Barangay Ginebra", "Barangay Big Dome", and the sixth man of the Gin Kings :) i think what contributed mainly on how they have a huge following is the never-say-die attitude of the team, even nung Jaworski era pa. their players before are not the cream of the crop, mind you, (unlike now) but that feeling of being an underdog amongst the giants, man, that's what pinoys want diba? ganyan ang feeling natin minsan esp when we're abroad but no matter how underdog we feel we still held our heads high and show them we've got something inside us to be proud of. and fight we do. yan ang spirit. yan ang barangay..
sabi nila dati, ang pinoy daw kahit walang pera, maghahanda at maghahanda yan pag Pasko at birthday. kahit nga mangutang pa basta may mailagay sa hapag kainan. i think pwede nang idagdag dyan sa listahan pag may laro ang Ginebra. lumalabas ang pera ng mga tao (at least for us who follow local basketball). makikita mo sa crowd attendance eh..
anyway, back to the on-going series, yes it's all even. down to best of three series na toh. i was disappointed with their back-to-back loss nung games 2 and 3. victory was at hand nung game 2, pero nung last 1.1 seconds nakatira pa si Cardona ng 3-point shot. ayun talo tuloy. Mark "The Spark" Caguiao, man he's leading this team to where they need to be. he's all business! if i'm not mistaken he's averaging 27 points a game in this semifinal series. and tonight, he bagged 35 points. 3 in the last 4 games he breaks the 30-point barrier. he's currently the scoring leader sa conference na toh.. when it comes to work ethics, Rudy Hatfield is the man. things you do on court which are not tallied on statsheets are his expertise (hussle, transition defense, intensity), aside from rebounding and offense. he leads all players in rebounding, lalo na sa offensive end.. how about JayJay Helterbrand dishing out an avegae of 16 assists per game in their last 4 outings. that's like Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns!
after the game, i immediately planned on watching game 6 sa Sunday but then i realized first game pala sila so pass muna.. kitakits na lang sa finals hehe ;p.
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yep, that's me on the court. literally ;p.
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with my kuya yoyong.. temyong at yoyong, ang saya diba? ;p.
hindi naman halatang die-hard Ginebra fans kami ng kuya ko hehe. this is during one of their games last year against DeadBull este RedBull. wala lang naman, we just got 2 of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) officials' seats, as in literally on the court :) wala, malakas eh hehe. hindi sya gaanong malapit noh? ;p. pwede nga akong gumawa ng eksena habang naglalaro sila para ma-focus ako ng camera at lumabas sa TV hahaha. sigurado dadamputin din ako ng security so i opted not to ;p.
