“HOPING this dream comes true.”
This was the very brief text message I got from Mikee Romero in London last Monday afternoon, following an announcement from the PBA Commissioner’s office.
Only a few seconds earlier, PBA Media Bureau chief Willie Marcial had advised the sports media of the sale and transfer of the Coca Cola franchise to Sultan 900 Inc., a company owned and represented by Mikee Romero, its chair and CEO.
Although the entry of Sultan 900 to the PBA still had to be approved by the board and the process of due diligence completed by Commissioner Chito Salud, I wasted no time in asking Mikee his plans for the team.
He had mentioned previously in one of our phone chats that if he ever gets to take over the Powerade franchise, he would retain head coach Bo Perasol. But what about the players?
Draft day is fast approaching (Aug. 19). After last Monday’s announcement, he should be sitting down with the coaching staff to map out plans for the season which starts this October.
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But Mikee said it was too early to do that. “Although the purchase of Coke’s PBA franchise has been consummated, I will still need the approval of the PBA board before anything else. I hope the PBA board would accept me in their roster of teams and make me fulfill this dream of mine.”
Meanwhile, Mikee said he has to refrain from making comments to the press. Mikee was on his way to the Olympic venue for Brian Rosario’s second day of competition when he touched base with us, 9 a.m. London time.
“Brian shot a 25 over 25 in his third round yesterday. His second round of 19 over 25 blew his chance for any medal because of the strong winds. But his 25 over 25 score was the best and only perfect score a Filipino shooter ever got in the Olympics,” Mikee said.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Filipino shooter Eric Ang finished dead last among the 36 entries (if I remember correctly). I asked Mikee if there was an improvement this year, but I got no answer.
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At long last, people concerned paid some attention to scribes covering the UAAP games at the Mall of Asia Arena who were not given a working area or at the very least designated seats in the venue.
“We were always moving from one seat to another. We were not given permanent seats, kung saan saan lang kami umuupo. When the ticket holder arrives, we’re shooed away,” complained a young scribe.
Such shabby treatment almost prompted a rebellion, according to another scribe who writes for a popular broadsheet, and NU athletic director Junel Baculi and his appointed press relations officer Nap Gutierrez found themselves in the hot seat.
“They said it was a problem of miscommunication but I say it’s a case of arrogance. One photographer sinabihan nila haughtily not to ask questions and just follow the rules, pero ngayon sobrang bait nila.
That was after Baculi and the scribes sat down for a dialogue.
NU is the host of the UAAP this season, the league’s diamond jubilee.
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HOOPVINE: This year’s MVP Mark Caguioa looked so different since the last time I saw him. Is it his new hairdo or his much lighter complexion? One thing that surprised me, after 6 years in the PBA, Rain or Shine has established a big fan base… The RoS fans were cheering almost as loudly as the B-Meg rooters in Game 4 last Sunday.