49ers, Fiba and Clarkson on Fil-Am minds

Jordan Clarkson. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP

RENO, Nevada—My wife Lily and I drove up here from Sacramento for a break from babysitting four of our five grandsons.

Our vacation comes after the “Hot August Nights” three weeks ago, when this so-called “Biggest Little City in the World” roared in raucous revelry with restored classic automobiles and early rock and roll.

The cruising and sock hops on downtown streets here are history, giving way to another time warp and nostalgia featuring the music of Engelbert Humperdinck.

We have tickets to see the singing legend from the 1960s belt out “Release Me,” “The Last Waltz” and other hits at Silver Legacy Hotel on Saturday.

A date with Humperdinck, the ageless English balladeer, will cap our stay in this gambling town atop the Sierra Nevada mountains for the Labor Day Weekend, the unofficial end of summer.

Before we joined over 4 million Californians expected to travel more than 50 miles this Labor Day holiday week, the news among Filipino-Americans we know centered on sports and the earthquake in Napa.

They were not thinking about President PNoy’s attempt at dictatorship or corruption-stained presidential wannabe Jejomar Binay.

They were more focused on Team USA to the Fiba World Cup, the signing of part-Filipino Jordan Clarkson by the Los Angeles Lakers and the preseason triumph of the San Francisco 49ers. The football team’s starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick was a former standout at the University of Nevada here.

Clarkson, whose mom Annette is from the Philippines, finally signed the dotted line for the Lakers. Clarkson will receive a fully guaranteed minimum salary for the 2014-15 season at $507,336 and a non-guaranteed $845,059 for 2015-16, totaling $1.35 million. But he will have to play behind Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash at the point.

Jordan’s signing, though, has been eagerly awaited by loyal fans in Southern California, home of the largest base of Pinoy basketball diehards in America.

“I am going nuts,” exclaimed a brother-in-law, Rick Soquerata, by mobile phone from LA.

“My Lakers clique is going nuts,” said Soquerata who is known to wear Lakers regalia from head to foot.

The 49ers won their first preseason game against San Diego, 21-7, at their new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara last Sunday, hours after a 6.1 earthquake inflicted damage and injuries, but no deaths to California’s wine country.

“Except for rattled nerves, we are unscathed,” said a cousin, Robert Dacquel from nearby Vallejo. “On to the Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija Association USA picnic at the Blue Rock Springs Park here on Saturday.”

Dacquel said he is excited by the presence of three “crowd pleasers” for Pinoys in Team USA for the Fiba in Spain.

He was talking about Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings—among the 12 players selected to defend America’s world basketball title beginning this weekend.

Curry, Cousins and Gay will not only spread the Warriors’ and Kings’ brands across the world.

Their presence in the team will make followers, including countless Pinoys from San Francisco to the Oregon border, pay closer attention to the Fiba World Cup since this is not an Olympic year.