INQUIRER Sports

I WANTED TO WRITE ABOUT ghosts and other spooky stuff experienced by popular sports personalities like I always do at this time of the year.

But this time I came up empty-handed. No one, it seems, had eerie, spine-tingling supernatural tales to tell anymore.

Like the near-death experience recounted by Tanduay’s Sonny Reyes years ago while on a picnic with his family at a beach resort. Sonny “saw” his entire life flash before his eyes as he was drowning.

Sonny lived to tell the tale, although he died of a heart attack after playing golf some years later. The incident had changed his entire perspective of death and when it was time for him to go, he did not harbor fears of the unknown.

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You might have heard this from me before but I don’t mind relating the experience of DLSU coach Dindo Pumaren a second time. Dindo was driving along Katipunan bridge late one night when he happened to glance at his rear view mirror. To his horror, he saw the image of a young boy in the back seat right behind him.

Dindo shut his eyes tightly, hoping the specter would go away. When he slowly opened them again, the boy was still there!

Dindo stepped on the gas, looking straight ahead of him. He later sold the vehicle.

If I’m not mistaken, it was also on the Katipunan bridge that football player Chris Monfort figured in a vehicular accident that killed him. For all we know, Chris could have seen the boy ghost too.

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Since we’re on the subject of ghosts, I wonder if the new occupants of the former PBA office at the PSC Complex are also being haunted by mysterious entities.

I was a witness when the office was exorcised by a famous ghostbuster who confirmed that the place was indeed inhabited by menacing spooks. The spooks disappeared when the PBA moved to its present office in Libis, Quezon City.

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Did you know that weigh-ins are also required in some wushu events?

I only found this out recently after the Filipino contingent in the recent 10th Wushu World Championship in Toronto, Canada, was not allowed to participate for arriving late for the weigh-in, which is required in the Sanshou event.

Only one athlete, Stephanie Agbay, was able to compete. Taolu, where she finished 11th, did not require a weigh-in.

It was a waste of time, money and effort but no one blamed the NSA since it was the association that shouldered all the expenses.

Insiders said the costly oversight never happened before. Tan Si Ling, who led the RP group in Toronto, is one of two new presidents elected by the federation. The other is Tai Lian.

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HOOPVINE:Best wishes to Barako Bull team manager Jay Llanos Dee and his bride, the former Stephanie Yu. Jay and Steph recently tied the knot at the San Sebastian Church with former President Joseph Estrada, Barako Bull owner George Chua, and mother Lily Monteverde among the principal sponsors… My condolences to Lambert Ramos whose wife Vilma passed away recently after a lingering illness. Her remains lie in state at the Della Strada Parish in Katipunan.