PBA IMAGES
Nostalgia was in the air as early as the pre-game introductions.
The fans, who filled the historic Araneta Coliseum to the rafters, felt the glorious memories come back and so did the players themselves.
“It was goosebumps. It brings back memories,” said Allan Caidic, who played for San Miguel Beer from 1993 to 1998, after leading the Beermen over Alaska in the curtain raiser of the PBA Legends: Return of the Rivals even Sunday night. “We used to play Alaska during the mid-1990s. We were rivals.”
“It was like everything came back. We went back to the 90s. Everyone enjoyed. All four teams, the crowd,” said another San Miguel great Olsen Racela, who played for the Beermen from 1997 to 2011.
Caidic and Racela helped the Beermen come away with a 96-83 win in a highly-entertaining and competitive charity game where the real winner were the fans and the PBA Foundation.
“But more than that, more importantly, we were able to help past PBA players who are in need,” the 48-year-old Racela, who now serves as head coach of Far Eastern University and assistant of Barangay Ginebra.
Racela also rekindled his longtime rivalry with Alaska legend Johnny Abarrientos.
“We were rivals ever since high school then, college and the PBA. We were on the same draft and we retired the same year,” said Racela.