Following the bouncing balls

When one is faced with so much to do in so little time, it’s so easy to miss out on the simple pleasures, one of which is watching sporting events. Fortunately for me, I was able to flex my schedule a little in the past two weeks amidst all the deadlines and witness some astounding tennis action courtesy of the Australian Open held in Melbourne, and playoff basketball action of the PBA. There was also some American Football and UAAP Volleyball that took place, the scores of which I took note, but I was not able to catch much of the actual games, relying on updates online instead.

The best thing about being a sports fan is that there is so much going on everywhere, everyday. How convenient it has become to be a basketball fan in the Philippines, where there is a TV station that is actually dedicated to showing nothing but basketball, current NBA and European games, as well as Hardwood Classics, and another that shows some of the Greatest Games in PBA history. Being a Laker fan, though, has made me into a token NBA fan this season, checking the highlights from time to time, but not as focused as in some seasons past, when the Lakers were actually doing the highlights and not getting “highlighted on.”

Tennis is one of my favorite sports to watch, particularly the men’s and women’s singles events. The Grand Slam tournaments bring out the best in the players and the precision, power, and determination shown throughout is astounding. Watching ladies muscle their way to victory, in a manner that the ‘70s and ‘80s men’s participants would have trouble with, is impressive. The men, for their part, hit the ball so hard, the action looks fast even on slow-mo. There were upsets (whenever Serena Williams loses, that’s an upset), expected results (Rafael Nadal owns Roger Federer), up-and-comers who made waves en route to their highest finishes, and new champions (China’s Li Na and Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka), which shows that the sport is changing, despite many of the players, especially among the men, constantly being among the best for many years. The French Open comes in May.

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In the PBA, the elimination round of the Philippine Cup came to an end as teams finished off their fourteen games apiece, with Alaska and Meralco having to play a fifteenth game to determine which team would make it to the quarterfinals as the eighth and lowest seed. I did play-by-play for that knockout game last 20 January 2014, and it was truly a battle, as Meralco refused to accept what looked like certain defeat in the final minutes, cutting the deficit down from five to just one on a Gary David three-pointer, where he was fouled and made the bonus free throw. Alaska, however, held on and was rewarded with a quarterfinal matchup against number-one seeded Barangay Ginebra.

For the quarterfinal round, Rain or Shine, the second seed, needed to win only once against upstart Global Port, seventh, and Ginebra was in the same situation against Alaska, to move on to the Semis. ROS immediately dispatched of the Batang Pier, winning 106-96. Ginebra, however, was pushed to a second game, after Alaska prevailed once, 104-97. In their second game, Ginebra practically won the game in the first quarter, leading by eighteen after twelve minutes, 39-21. The Barangay led by as much as thirty-one, and eventually won by thirteen.

For the four other quarterfinal qualifiers, two best-of-three matchups were held. Petron (third) was matched up against tough Barako Energy (sixth), where Petron prevailed in two hard-fought games, with Barako unable to force a third. Talk ‘N Text, the fourth-seed, and San Mig Coffee, the fifth, split their first two games. On 26 January 2013, San Mig won the rubber match, 90-82, to dethrone three-time defending champ TNT and secure a Semis challenge against Barangay Ginebra, but not without much protest from TNT, which felt it got the raw end of the referees’ calls (or non-calls), particularly in the fourth quarter.

As it now stands, Ginebra and San Mig Coffee, in a match-up dubbed the Manila Clasico, will battle in a best-of-seven series for a Finals slot, while Rain or Shine, which is on a magnificent eight-game winning streak, will engage Petron Blaze in a similar series. The PBA will hold its “PBA everyday” Semis format starting 27 January 2014, where one game will be played each day, with each matchup alternating, starting with Game 1 of ROS-Petron at the Mall of Asia Arena.

NFL fans are eagerly anticipating Superbowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, which will be held on 03 February 2014 (Manila time). UFL action continues with games every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and UAAP Volleyball is held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Many of the football and volleyball matches are televised. Even sports that don’t use balls, but where balls do count, are on tap. MMA tournaments are happening every couple of months. The Ronda Pilipinas cycling race kicks off on 01 February 2014. There is just no stopping sports action from coming to us, and all we have to do is seek it out, whether live or on TV. 2014 has started out well for sports fans. I’m looking forward to more magnificent sporting events in the months to come.

You can follow Charlie on Twitter @CharlieC.