Pugs miss big payday

ABOARD a midnight flight from Manila to Incheon, Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) president Ricky Vargas was quietly praying  that  the millions  his  association  had  set  aside would  go  to  the purpose for which they were  intended.

The Abap, where Vargas is serving his second term, had  dangled  P3 million for every gold medal won, a million  for a silver, and P500,000 for a bronze in the 17th Asian Games.

As Vargas was  mulling on  the color  of  the  medals  he  would  be presenting  to his countrymen  and his boss, Manny V. Pangilinan,  four   of  the  boxers  were getting ready for  the  semifinal  round last Thursday. The  four—Charly Suarez, Mark Barriga, Willie Lopez and  Mario Fernandez—were already assured of a bronze each.

There was a reason  for  the Abap  head to  be  upbeat  when  he arrived  in   Incheon.

However, and very sadly, cookies   have a  way of crumbling  no matter how  hard  you pray. Of  the four bronze  medalists, only Suarez advanced  to  the  next  round.

But  that’s  as  far  as he  got. He did  not  win  the gold  that every Filipino  had  aspired    for. I respected Vargas’ disappointment  and  did  not  bother  him  for  an  interview.

By Saturday  morning,  when I assumed  the  clouds  have  cleared  a  bit, I looked for  him. Abap secretary general Pato Gregorio said he  had  taken  the  early flight back to Manila.

“Ricky was  not angry nor frustrated. What he  felt  was panghihinayang. A  gold will go a long  way  in alleviating  the  plight of  the  impoverished boxers,” said Gregorio.

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While  the Asian Games  was ongoing,  PBA Grand Slam team San Mig Super Coffee was also engaged in a competition of its  own in  Seoul.

The Coffee Mixers  had  been invited to participate in a tuneup series with a commercial team  from  the Korean Basketball League which opens  its new season this October, just like  the PBA.

“We’ve played three games against  the Koreans. We got blown out by 20, 30 and even as  much as 40 points,” related the very  disappointed team manager Alvin Patrimonio who was with  his  team at Hayseung Gymnasium to watch   the last Gilas Pilipinas  match  against Mongolia.

The Mongolians led  in  the first quarter  but we  caught up with them in  the  second.  Although Marcus Douthit  obviously  didn’t  come out  to play  and got himself  thrown  out, we managed to overcome  the opponent  and  win   the game, finishing seventh overall.

San Mig Coffee governor Rene Pardo   said the  big losses by his team were to be expected  because the Koreans  had American  imports.

While in Korea, Gregorio, also the PBA chair,  and commissioner Chito Salud took time out  to meet with KBL officials. They started   doing  some  spade work  to pave  the  way for  their  plans for the  third   conference, which  is  to hire Asian  imports.

“The talks  look very promising,” said Gregorio.