We are told told that Victorias is a fourth-class city in the province of Negros Occidental. To us and millions of PBA fans around the country, one thing’s for sure, the city will jumpstart what should surely be a first-class PBA best-of-seven Philippine Cup championship series tomorrow.
Victorias is the site of Victorias Milling Company, the country’s largest sugar refinery that enjoyed its heyday when sugar was a big export earner and sugar barons ruled the roost. It is therefore somewhat ironic that in the site of a genuine sweetener like sugar, the San Miguel Beer-Talk ‘N Text series is likely to be full of spice and perhaps nothing that’s nice except the competitive fierceness of what may well transform into a storied rivalry, reminiscent of the glory days of Crispa and Toyota.
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Throw crowd darlings No. 1 and No. 2—Barangay Ginebra and B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados into the pot and you have the potential for a combination of epic rivalries.
Properly projected in media and handled with marketing savvy, this should spur a major turnaround in the PBA’s fortunes, on a consistent basis, at the gate and on television and radio.
There’s so much to weave into this potentially classic series. We learned that in the Victorias Milling chapel is a mural of the “Angry Christ,” painted by international artist Alfonso Ossorio.
While not meaning to be sacrilegious in reference to the mural, the pre-Finals press conference hosted by PBA commissioner Chito Salud at the Gateway Mall at the Araneta Center on Tuesday saw what maybe not anger but certainly bitterness.
This is especially so on the part of two of the most talented and exciting superstars in the pro league—Jay Washington and Kelly Williams.
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When an individual refuses to hide behind nice words that don’t mean much and instead bares his feelings and tells it like it is, he earns our respect and admiration. Which is exactly what Washington did.
His opening line, “I’ve been waiting for this day,” immediately electrified the sportswriters present, as well as the other players. Elaborating just enough, JayWash claimed he had “a rough time starting out with Talk N’ Text.”
Picking it up a notch in the effort to rub it in, he intoned “going to San Miguel was like my saving grace as far as my career in basketball.”
Not content with driving home his feelings, Washington upped it another notch: “Being at San Miguel has been a great experience and I still hold some animosity toward Talk ‘N Text. For me, personally, it’s going to be a hard-fought series. Whatever I have, I’m gonna work. You’ll see it.”
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The response had to come from the man tasked to contain, if not stop, Washington altogether in the series—Kelly Williams.
No promotional or marketing genius could have drawn up the theme that developed as Williams took up the cudgels for the Tropang Texters. His response was measured and reflective of Kelly’s essentially Christian disposition.
But there was something seething within as he looked ahead to a good, old-fashioned face-off.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned in being in the finals before was that there were a lot of words,” Williams said. “You talk the game all day but what it comes down to is playing the game. Everything’s been said. I’m happy to be back (in the Finals) but once that ball gets tossed up on Saturday we’ll see what happens.”
We can’t wait!
Ronnie Nathanielsz, Phil. Daily Inquirer
