Marc Pingris undergoing ‘abstinence’

PAUL Mata of AKTV, the PBA’s TV coveror, didn’t say what the press conference was going to be, but since I was watching Game 3 of the best-of-7 championship series, I thought I might as well drop by.

I was the first to arrive at the venue, a Japanese restaurant near the Red entrance of the Smart Araneta Coliseum. As the other members of the media trickled in and the place started getting filled, I noticed that I didn’t know anyone. They were from the entertainment beat. I was the only one from sports.

Then a lovely lady in a white chiffon mini dress walked in.  The group addressed her as “Danica”.

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Danica Sotto Pingris was the featured celebrity that afternoon. If you still don’t know, she is the wife of B-Meg star Marc Pingris and the daughter of the  Eat Bulaga host Vic “Bossing” Sotto and movie actress Dina Bonnevie.

I’ve known Marc for years and even closely monitored  his cross-continent search for his long-lost French father via the Internet, but this was my very first encounter with his wife of five years, to whom he said he was greatly indebted for successfully tracing his father.

Danica told the group she and Marc now have two children. She gave birth to a girl seven months earlier. Their eldest, a boy, is now 4 years old.

Danica said Marc is a devoted father and husband and theirs is a happy family, although there are the normal conflicts and misunderstandings every now and then.

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“To us the secret of maintaining peace and harmony in the home is to try not to stay angry for long. That’s why we make it a point to resolve our differences before we go to bed at night. That is a house rule we strictly adhere to,” Danica said.

She admitted though that in the last few weeks since the semifinals, she and Marc have been sleeping separately.

“We’re not quarreling,” she clarified. “That’s just the way Marc wants it, at least for the crucial rounds of the conference. He does not want to be distracted.”

According to Danica, Marc is the kind of athlete who imposes a very strict and high level of discipline on himself.

“Just before the semis, he talked to me in earnest. He said he will need my understanding, patience and full cooperation in this all-important period because he might not be able to give me and the kids his usual attention, since he will be fully focused on one task: To win the championship.”

That very same night, Danica said Marc pulled out a mattress from storage and laid it down on the floor beside the matrimonial bed.

“He said he was going to sleep there and we were both to practice self-control, discipline and abstinence temporarily because he wants to channel all his energy to the rigors of the game,” Danica said.

“My brother disputed that belief. Hindi naman daw totoo yon.”

A culinary arts graduate, Mrs. Pingris keeps her husband energized with meals of steak and pasta. “That’s all he wants to eat,” she said.

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PBA habitués will notice that Marc is usually one of the very last players to leave after a game.

“That’s because he never turns down a fan who asks for his autograph, a photo with him, or a buss. No, I don’t get jealous of his fans, they’re our allies.”

Father Vic, she said, has shifted his loyalty to Marc’s team after they got married. Bossing, she said, is a big fan of basketball (and boxing too) and is updated on everything.

“Even if you don’t see him in the venue, he watches the PBA games on TV. He said he’d come to personally cheer for Marc in Game 5. I hope he can make it.”

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HOOPVINE: The Araneta was packed to the rafters last Friday, with tickets hard to find as diamonds. My companion’s eyes filled with tears as she panned her vision  around the upper box and general admission areas. Déjà vu. She was transported back to the glory years of the league…It was hard to find a seat at ringside and I had to watch from the last row of the lower box section but I really didn’t mind. A fairy must have waved a magic wand over the PBA…Many people have noticed Jojo Lastimosa’s absence in the Alaska bench. Has he taken a leave of absence or is he gone for good?