NLEX mission: Beat the San Miguel teams
The PBA version of the NLEX Road Warriors, a blend of freshmen and veteran cagers, their coaches and the important men behind the squad, was presented to the media on Monday night at the C3 Events place in Greenhills.
Main speaker of the evening was Rod Franco, president and CEO of Manila North Tollways Corporation, who traced the three-year history of the team back to the time when they first joined the PBA D-League as a farm team of the Meralco Bolts.
“The Road Warriors played in 7 conferences and won 6 titles,” Franco said.
“Our players have since moved up to different teams in the pros, many of them, like Calvin Abueva, Cliff Hodge, Greg Slaughter, Chris Ellis and Ian Sangalang, making a name for themselves.”
Finally, the NLEX management, in consultation with chair Manny V. Pangilinan and the heads of the other sister-companies, conferred and decided that it was time for NLEX to move up to a higher level of basketball competition.
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“Our goal was actually very modest, even if we were able to form a fairly decent team from an existing franchise,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president and CEO Ramon Fernandez.
“MVP just wanted a decent middle-level finish from NLEX, basta wala lang daw suntukan (no fistfight),” said Fernandez, referring to the incident during the game with Rain or Shine), “and ’wag matalo (must not be beaten) by expansion teams KIA and Blackwater.”
But the next time Fernandez saw MVP again, he got another directive.
“You must also try hard to beat the San Miguel teams,” MVP said.
The Road Warriors are led by veterans Asi Taulava, Mac Cardona, KG Canaleta, Jonas Villanueva, Enrico Villanueva, Wynne Arboleda, Mark Borboran and Pamboy Raymundo.
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Manny Pacquiao’s money man Michael Koncz is scheduled to fly back to General Santos City today after undergoing two operations on his right leg at Cardinal Santos Hospital in Greenhills.
The doctors removed a blood clot in his vein which made it extremely painful for him to walk.
Koncz was supposed to be discharged from the hospital about a week earlier to join the Pacquiao training camp. However, his condition did not improve after the first surgery. He was required to undergo a second operation to find out what was wrong.
When the doctors reopened his leg, they were surprised to find a clot again in the vein. It was as if the first embolism was never removed. Koncz’s leg was swelling up to his thigh so he could not be immediately discharged.
As of Tuesday, the swelling has cleared up and he can walk with minor discomfort. He has been prescribed massive doses of blood thinning medication to avoid another episode of thromboembolism, which usually affects you after a long plane flight because the blood does not circulate in the legs.
