Alaska, Tim Cone parting ways Thursday?

HONG KONG— With a 20 percent increase in revenues from P75 million in the 2009-2010 season to P90 million this year under his watch, the PBA board decided to reward PBA commissioner Chito Salud with a one-year tenure extension.
Unlike the practice in previous years, Salud chose to have his contract renewed every year, “because that’s what’s written in the league’s constitution and by-laws,” he said Tuesday over breakfast at the Holiday Inn here.
“When I was appointed last year, the board offered me a three-year contract, but I said we have to follow what’s in the by-laws,” Chito said.
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The PBA board’s annual planning session started shortly after the delegation’s arrival here. This first session under new league chair and Rain or Shine governor Mamerto Mondragon lasted four hours.
Chito said the board also decided to raise the minimum salary of a rookie from P30,000 to P50,000 monthly, starting this season.
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Absent during the nine-course dinner hosted by Smart-PLDT chair Manny V. Pangilinan that same night was Alaska governor Joaqui Trillo. Some of his fellow governors kidded that he might have passed up the dinner for a trip to nearby Macau.
Truth is, Joaqui was in his hotel room nursing a bad cold that rendered him practically deaf during the flight from Manila.
“My ears were hurting all throughout the flight,” Joaqui said over lunch before last Monday’s meeting. “And then somewhere along the way, I heard something pop inside my head and I went deaf.
“For a moment I thought I had a stroke. My hearing later returned.”
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The next morning, I told Joaqui that he missed the P6,000-per-plate dinner the previous night. Joaqui said he had wanted to go but he was so dizzy from all the medicines he had taken.
He said his hearing had cleared, but his cold was still so bad he might have to pass up that evening’s dinner, hosted this time by Coca-Cola’s JB Baylon.
Baylon informed us earlier that he had only five players left with live contracts and that he was not likely to retain the services of the players whose contracts had expired.
The five players with live contract are Sean Anthony, Gary David, Dennis Espino, Jai Reyes and Jay-R Reyes.
JB later told us that he has signed up Fil-Am Alex Crisano and that Coke governor Kenneth Duremdes is suiting up this season.
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Joaqui is scheduled to fly back to Manila Wednesday afternoon to catch the 2 p.m. press conference set by Alaska owner Fred Uytengsu in Makati today.
Uytengsu is expected to announce the retirement of head coach Tim Cone, who gave the franchise a Grand Slam and several championships.
“Coaching fatigue. He wanted to do something different,” said a governor who also informed us that Tim’s assistant, Joel Banal, will replace Cone.