Will there be a PH 5 in next ABL season?

You coukd call it a crash course, having spent long hours in front of the television set watching the men’s figure skating event in the Sochi Winter Olympics until the wee hours of the  morning.

I’ve watched practically all the skaters perform and, as the man behind the mike covering the event for television said, “there are good days and there are bad days.” No matter how experienced, accomplished and  prepared a skater is for a competition, there will be times when he suddenly loses his timing, his balance or focus and falls.

Although that doesn’t necessarily mean that all is lost for the skater who  stumbles, it will mean a huge deduction in points. But he could still end up  on top, if he can manage to put the miscue behind him.

The skating rink announcers expressed very high hopes for our very own Michael Martinez who finished 19th in the final phase of the competition.

As IOC representative to the Philippines Mikee Jaworski said, making it to the Olympics is an achievement enough for the 17-year-old Filipino ice skater.

The male announcer said Michael has a lot to be proud of and that he is very talented. He heaped him with superlatives, while the lady announcer said Michael will get better as he matures.

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With the pullout of San Miguel Beer  from the Asean Basketball League (ABL) and with no other Philippine team in sight as replacement, ABL fans are speculating that the demise of the fledgling league is imminent.

Without San Miguel, only 5 member-squads are left (the Indonesian Warriors, the Westports  Malaysian Dragons, the Sports Rev Thailand  Slammers, the Job Street.Com Singapore Slingers and the Saigon Heat). And five teams do not constitute a healthy quorum.

Since the last conference, the ABL has been inactive and chances are, the  league will just quietly fade into the sunset. The Inquirer got it straight from a San Miguel sports official that it is highly unlikely that his company will be fielding a team in the ABL in the near future.

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According to a league insider, the ABL is currently in the process of negotiations with a Philippine team that will complete the six-squad ABL roster.

“There has to be a Philippine team in the league and as soon as arrangements are  formalized, we will announce the identity of this new ABL squad. ABL CEO Anthony Macri said the league will definitely continue, with the next season tentatively scheduled July of this year.”

Our guess is, the ABL could be eyeing one of the teams in the PBA Developmental League.

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HOOPVINE  Everybody in the PBA D-League now calls Hog’s Breath coach Caloy Garcia Yeng Jr. after he  was ejected from the court in Game 1 of the semifinal series for complaining to the referees. Caloy is the assistant of Yeng in Rain or Shine … On television news the other day, it was announced that none of the properties owned by Ma. Teresa Martinez was under mortgage as she claims. The network said they had checked out the claim.