PETRON Blaze and San Mig Coffee, two of the most talented squads on paper, will be slugging it out for the PBA Governors’ Cup title starting Friday, the first time in 13 years that they will do so for a crown but the first time since they have become sister teams.
It was also in the Governors’ Cup in 2000 when these teams last clashed for a title, with Petron, then known as the San Miguel Beermen and handled by Jong Uichico, scoring a 4-1 victory over the Purefoods Hotdogs, now San Mig, and Derrick Brown.
Purefoods entered the league in 1988 with the core of the Philippine team of that decade made up of eventual four-time MVP Alvin Patrimonio, Jojo Lastimosa and Jerry Codiñera, immediately entering the All-Filipino Finals where they lost to Ginebra .
The San Miguel franchise is the winningest in the league, the only remaining pioneer which has won 19 titles in 26 cracks at a crown.
Before, San Miguel Corp. only had Ginebra as its sister team, but bought into Coca-Cola early in 2000 and then Purefoods from the Ayala Group in May 2001.
Shortly after that, San Miguel also acquired the PBA franchises of both companies before selling the Coca-Cola franchise to the multinational firm that acquired the company.