Monday, June 02, 2008 Liga Pilipinas formally launched at Casino Español
MAKE way for the country’s newest regional basketball league, the Liga Pilipinas, as it has formally taken off grounds with a different kind of launching last Saturday evening at the Casino Español de Cebu Grand Ballroom.
Representatives of the 14 participating teams, owners and league officials, led by former PBA commissioner Nolie Eala, the president and chief operating officer, unveiled the newest basketball league which will start hostilities on June 11 in Ilocos Sur and in Cagayan de Oro simultaneously.
Liga was formed out of the National Basketball Conference and the Mindanao-Visayas Basketball Association in partnership with NBN-4 and the local government units.
The launching was totally different from the traditional parade of teams at the playing venue. This time, the players were garbed in their formal wear at a ballroom— a practice adopted from European and other foreign leagues.
After a short program with Eala and BAP-SBP vice chairman Ricky Vargas delivering their respective speeches came the highlight of the affair the presentation of the teams—the Ilocos Sur Bravehearts, Baguio Victory, Pampanga Buddies, Taguig Batang Global, Laguna Stallions, Tagaytay-Cavite Heroes, Lipa Barakos, Quezon Red Oilers for the North and the Iloilo Warriors, Cebu Niños, Zamboanga Amores, Ozamiz Cotta, Pagadian Explorers and Misamis Oriental Meteors for the south.
As the team representatives were called, Eala handed them a flag, which represents their membership to the league.
Pinoy Basketbol Inc. vice chairman Gov. Oscar Moreno later joined Eala in declaring the games open and pressing a switch that opened curtains on the stage, showing the jerseys of the 14 teams. (RCM)
