AVOID Metro Manila. That’s what most of our PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) teams want when it comes to resuming their practice games.
Fine. The virus spikes in the metropolis have not really died down steadily. So go to areas with fewer cases of Covid-19 infections. Amid the pandemic, health safety is paramount.
Already, seven of the 12 PBA squads prefer Batangas City, according to PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.
That’s more than a majority, giving Marcial extra reason to rejoice. As a proud son of Batangas, his effort to pitch his all for Batangas isn’t going to waste. The city council ought to award him with a medal of valor for his bountiful love of his hometown.
We don’t see that happening much anymore on many of our kiddos. They just leave their roots, gamble on the asphalt jungle and, once they make it, take roost, delete their past and leave land of birth forever.
Not Marcial. He loves his native soil the way Steph Curry loves his threes. He won’t trade Batangas’ famous kalderetang kambing (goat stew) for the world. And, rabidly boasting of his city’s three basketball arenas as world-class, he pitched for them as doggedly as Noah did for his ark.
So, let’s all welcome Batangas’ wooden courts: Batangas City Coliseum, Lyceum of the Philippines in Batangas and Batangas State University. Certified PBA standards.
Never mind that two teams aren’t leaving Manila, electing to do their thing in the Big City but only after the modified general community quarantine is restored. This is still a free country.
TNT, NLEX and Meralco are also looking at arenas up North, according to Marcial. Possibly in Laoag City? Fine. This is still a free country.
May 18 has been designated for the PBA’s practice blastoffs, with government officials also giving the green light for the Fiba Asia Cup final qualifying in June at Clark Freeport, Pampanga.
A youth-laden Gilas squad needs one win in three games against South Korea and Indonesia to advance to the Fiba continental meet in Jakarta in August. It meets the Koreans twice and the Indons once.
Ah, the long wait for basketball action will soon be over. Patience pays off—almost always.