A sheikh’s passion for basketball

Steve Hontiveros of the Philippine Olympic Committee wonders if Fiba Asia president Sheikh Saud Al Thani might have some Filipino blood in him.
“He’s more passionate about basketball than the average basketball-crazy Filipino,” Steve said, explaining that he has known the Sheikh “for the longest time,” although bowling is Steve’s sport, not basketball.
Steve said he comes to the Philsports Arena primarily to keep his old-time friend company.
“Do you know that he watches all the games scheduled for the day, starting at 2 p.m.? That’s a total of eight hours because there are four games held everyday. He even takes his meals and snacks at the venue, in order not to miss even a small fraction of the action.”
Still, I just couldn’t take Steve’s word for it. I had to confirm his report with my friend Rhea Navarro, who works for the Qatar Basketball Federation and whose big boss is the sheikh himself, who comes from one of the wealthiest families in Qatar.
Rhea nodded.  “Yes, he watches all the games starting  at 2 p.m. You just don’t recognize him because he wears Western clothes. He leaves the Philsports Arena after the last game at  10 p.m.”
Rhea said the sheikh loves and enjoys the sport that much.
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With just a minute or two left in Game 2 of the NBA best-of-seven championship series between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks, and the game looking very much like it was sealed for the Heat, Freddie Herrera stood up from his chair at the National Sports Grill in Greenbelt 3, Makati, and headed for the exit.
Freddie, senior vice president of AirPhil Express, was the special guest during the NBA 3-on-3 press conference  last Friday morning, where Game 2 was being shown “live” on a huge screen.
With the Dallas rally, Freddie decided to return to his seat and finish the game. He was rooting for Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs.
Actually, I was surprised to find out that the cheering for the Mavs was louder than that for the Heat. I would like to think that majority of the Filipinos were rooting for Miami because its coach, Erik Spoelstra, is half-Filipino, and  is much admired and loved by his kababayans. As Solar executives Kayen Zialcita and Tek Solar and I unanimously agreed, Spoelstra is “quite good-looking.”
It goes without saying that he’s a good coach. After all, he brought the Heat to the Finals, didn’t he?
The NBA 3-on-3 will be staged on Philippine shores for the first time from July 1 to 3 with NBA legend Horace Grant gracing the event along with the New York Knicks City Dancers.
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Dr. George Canlas, foremost Filipino orthopedic surgeon and head of Fiba’s medical commission, was faced with an emergency early last week.
Talk ‘N Text assistant coach Nash Racela was brought to his clinic straight from the domestic airport for immediate treatment.
Nash had participated in the cliff diving event during the Tropang Texters’ team building session, which was  also held in Boracay following the PBA All-Stars.
No one could give a clear account of how the accident happened, except that Olsen’s younger brother had miscalculated his jump and landed on the rocks below. He was rushed  to the nearest clinic but there was none in Boracay that could provide adequate medical treatment.
With his injured foot getting more sore and swollen every minute, Nash had to be flown to Manila on the next flight. From the airport, he headed straight to Doc Canlas’ clinic at the St. Luke’s Hospital at Global City.
Seeing the swollen, mangled foot,  Doc Canlas lost no time in having the operating room prepared.
“The bone had torn through the sole of Nash’s foot. It was  a messy, ugly sight,” said the doctor.
The operation took an hour and a half, which is a long time, by Doc Canlas’ standards.
“The good news is, Nash should be ambulating as soon as his injured foot heals.