Imagine if Gaco registers a triple-double...

Think about it. When SanMigCoffee back-up forward Jerwin Gaco scored 2 points against ROS, Gaconatics all over the planet went nuts:

Eh pano pa kaya if Gaco registers a triple-double? Imagine the insane celebration for GacoNation? MH

The new Barako Energy Cola Commercial.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm totally in favor of companies promoting their PBA teams and players through TVCs. It makes perfect sense. Plus, in the case of Barako Bull's new TVC, they used perfect casting:

Then again, if they used "Epic Mick" Pennisi instead, would the commercial gain more appeal? MH

The New "Lahing Ginebra, Lahing Jaworski" Commercial.

How do you guys feel about the new "Lahing Ginebra, Lahing Jaworski" Commercial?

I think it's a winner. I'm always in favor of corporations promoting their products and their PBA teams/players through TVCs. It makes perfect sense. What makes this TVC even more admirable? It's not only promoting the product and the team. It's sharing the relevance of a Legend. MH

From The Stands Podcast Episode 32: On Calvin Abueva and fixing Petroniverse.

From The Stands Podcast Episode 32: On Calvin Abueva, how Gary and Willie can play together and how Petron can improve.

@chuck_araneta: "If Abueva did not exist, Cliff Hodge is clear front-runner for Rookie of the Year."

@polo_bustamante: "The way Abueva played against Petron, parang Letran pa rin kalaban niya."

@chuck_araneta: "Is Willie Miller benefitting kasi wala si Gary David?"

@polo_bustamante: "I don't know how to work this GlobalPort team around Willie and Gary."

@chuck_araneta: "I think Cabagnot is a lot better when he's looking to attack."

@polo_bustamante: "Petron has so much talent, they can potentially be one of the greatest teams."

Listen to From The Stands Podcast Episode 32 now:

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Download From The Stands Podcast Episode 32 and listen to it later:

http://fromthestands.podbean.com/mf/web/fa2ycw/FTSEp32102012.mp3

Oh and by the way, the From The Stands guys got an awesome shout/out from J.E. Skeets of the world-famous The Basketball Jones podcast:

JE Skeets! Imagine, From The Stands getting love from TBJ! Good job guys! MH

Alaska's dilemma if they drafted Chris Tiu...

If Alaska selected Chris Tiu instead of Calvin Abueva, what would've happened to this product endorsement?

Whew. Good thing for ROS, Chris wasn't endorsing any competing brand of paint before the PBA draft. MH

The Sol Mercado Tee every BoltsFan should have.

Presenting the Sol Mercado Tee every BoltsFan should have:

Cop this #BoltsFam. MH

PBA Fan Art: Air Force Ellis.

What can I say? Man's dream is to fly:

sirwill_14@yahoo.com

Gep Simon Baldeo

@gedrocks

@GeraldASakura

@RafaelJohn05

The faith of Gary David. By James Velasquez.

By James Velasquez

_@jamesvelasquez

When Gary David stepped back on the floor for Global Port Batang Pier practice, he started to reminisce. Sunlight burst through seams of the window screens. Ginormous electric fans inside the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center provided a welcome respite for players who arrived early. Just months ago, Doug Kramer cooled his heels using that ginormous fan. Today, Jason Deutchman did that. Marvin Cruz sat on the spot where JVee Casio used to get taped up. Gary used to exchange silent high fives with Marcio Lassiter before practice started. Today's training session started this way:

Willie Miller: "What's up son?!"

Gary David: "I'm good son!"

They're good guys: Miller, Cruz, Deutchman, AJ Mandani, and the rest of the Global Port Batang Pier. But they're not Gary's guys. Doug Kramer, Sean Anthony, and Celino Cruz went to Barako Bull. JVee Casio was traded to Alaska. Lassiter was sent to Petron Blaze. Bo Perasol is reportedly joining the UP Fighting Maroons’ as consultant. So I suppose for Gary, Global Port just isn’t the same team.

“Plastik naman kung sasabihin kong hindi ako nanibago," David, days removed from a stinging opening day loss to Ginebra, admitted. "Siyempre nami-miss ko rin yung dati kong mga kakampi. Expected ko naman na mag-a-adjust pa ako, pero alam ko expectations sa akin ng coach ko, ng team ko. Responsibilidad ko na tumugon.”

The Powerade Phenomenon. A surreal experience. A near-Cinderella finish. With his guys, David shot his way to superstardom, he torched the scoreboard and struck fear into the hearts of PBA contenders. That team will always be close to Gary's heart. “Hinding-hindi ko makakalimutan lahat ng na-accomplish namin.”

Memories can be traced back to desire. Desire can be traced back to faith. Gary believes faith allowed Powerade to go the distance. It was a faith that empowered him to score on defenders time and again. That faith inspired rookies Casio and Lassiter. That faith energized Kramer and Anthony. That very same faith will now push David, with a new set of guys, on a new PBA team, to compete.

“Nakikita ko na may potential pa rin ang team ko,” Gary said. Notice the term Ang Team Ko. This is now his team. These are now his guys. He's all-in. “Gusto ko yung tapang ni AJ. Gusto ko yung shooting ni Jason. Siyempre andiyan din si Willie. Nag-usap na kami na hati kami sa responsibility. Andiyan din sina Rey, Rabeh, Jondan. Kailangan lang talaga naming gawin, dumepensa.”

Gary headed for the showers after practice. But he stopped to check on Mandani who sat alone by the end of the bench. Then, he chatted with Cruz. Afterwards, he exchanged high-fives with Jondan Salvador and Rommel Adducul. Suddenly, he felt that Powerade-feeling all over again. Players may change. The game, however, remains the same. You win when everybody believes in everyone. You win when you have faith. 

“Basta tiwala lang," Gary concluded. "Tiwala kami sa isa’t isa.” JV

The Showdown between Dondon Hontiveros and a SLAM Writer for Sarah G....

Yesterday, we shared the brewing showdown between two huge Sarah Geronimo fans: Alaska's Dondon Hontiveros and SLAM Philippines writer Robi Raya. 

I told Robi he had to top Dondon's YouTube Clip with Sarah G....

So Robi came up with his Sarah Banana idea...

Which leads to this:

and now this:

 which tweeps are now re-tweeting like this:

Your move Dondon. MH

Ginebra rookies try Magical Egg of Victory.

Former ROS import Jamelle Cornley proved it last season. Balut - the Magical Egg of Victory - is the key to winning a PBA championship. Well, it's not the only key. But it's probably part of the winning formula. So it must be a good idea to make all rookies try it.

Ginebra rookie Keith "Van Damme" Jensen seemed to like Balut:

I'm not sure Air Force Ellis felt the same:

Mayday! Mayday! Houston, we have a problem! MH

Benjie Paras = Jason Statham ?

PBA fan Mark Roldan believes PBA legend and AKTV Center host Benjie Paras looks like Hollywood action star Jason Statham:

So here's Benjie...

This is Jason...

And finally, The Tower of Power and The Transporter side by side:

Because this might end up on AKTV Center tomorrow, which means makikita 'to ni Benjie, let me say this: We all know Benjie Paras can act. But can Jason Statham dunk? MH

The Kraken needs to work on his finger-wag.

Last night, Petron rookie JuneMar Fajardo rocked the Big Dome with a put-back slam over SanMigCoffee's Yancy De Ocampo. Yes! That's the way to Release The Kraken!

But after slamming the ball, the towering JuneMar gingerly pointed at Yancy. Pigil. Medyo shy pa. Hang-kyut tuloy tignan. Hindi pang-Kraken. JuneMar, ask your older teammates in Petron how it's done. Don't worry. Tuturuan ka nila. So the next time you slam the ball over The Big Slow, you'll know how to point at Yancy in true Release-The-Kraken-Style. MH

A PBA star and a SLAM writer are both crazy for Sarah G!

Let me start off by stating that talented basketball writer Robi Raya is, by far, the biggest Sarah Geronimo fan on the SLAM Philippines staff:

But Robi, I have news for you. I think Alaska's DonDon Hontiveros is an even bigger Sarah G. fan:

Bigat ng kalaban mo Robi. Bi-gat. DonDon not only tweets about the Pop Princess, he even went home to Cebu to hang-out with Sarah G:

I'm sorry Robi, kung ayaw mo pa rin maniwala, here's the actual YouTube video to prove it:

Advantage: DonDon Hontiveros. But it's never over til it's over. Step it up Big Shot Rob. Just do it! For Sarah G! MH

And here's Hodge, really Keeping Calm and Cliffin' On.

Last night, I gave the hyper-energetic Cliff Hodge 5 words of advice:

This morning, I guess Cliff took that advice to heart. Here's Hodge, at the airport on their way to Davao, really Keeping Calm and really Cliffin' On:

I think we can all agree; even hard workers like Cliff deserve to nap like a boss. MH

Yo Hodge, Keep Calm and Cliff On.

During the game between Meralco and Alaska, Meralco rookie Cliff Hodge almost saw his expensive braces fly off. Alaska's Gabby Espinas hit Hodge on the mouth with a swinging elbow. Fortunately for Hodge, and fortunately for Gabby's elbow, Espinas wasn't completely on target. Just imagine: steel braces + flying elbow = gruesome scene.

Cliff is sort of a Rudy Hatfield with younger lungs. Cliff is sort of a Sean Anthony who can dunk. So for many grizzled vets, Cliff will be sort of annoying. 19 points 8 rebounds in his first game. 20 points 11 rebounds 2 blocks in his second game. Hmmm, I guess this won't be the last swinging elbow Hodge will encounter.

So Benjie Paras has two words of advice for the hyper-energetic rookie: Mouth Piece.

I simply have 5 words of advice for Hodge: Keep Calm and Cliff On. MH

The Gaconatics Journal. Issue #1.

Incredible PBA Fan Artist Hael Pinat sent me this. An imaginary pack of PBA trading cards (by the way, there are real PBA trading cards for sale in Araneta during games) featuring Jonas Villanueva, Jerwin Gaco, Anne Curtis and, ehe, myself.

Naturally, iisa lang ang tunay na valuable card from this fictional pack. Nope sorry. Not Anne. Even if yung nunal niya has more charisma than me, Jonas and Jerwin combined. Anyway, ang tunay na Gaconatic, alam na ang sagot diyan.

Can Anne Curtis score 2 points in 1 minute? No. Because only Gaco can! MH

The return of The Kraken and Zeus-Maryosep.

June Mar Fajardo will play his second game in the PBA tonight vs Barako. In his first game, The Kraken had 9 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks. Will Petron's towering rookie perform better against the bone-crushing frontline of Mick Pennisi, Enrico Villanueva and Doug Kramer? I have a feeling he will. I also have a feeling this guy will be back:

Amen to this photo from JayJay Helterbrand's The Good News.

You come across many photos and Facebook. Some you simply ignore. Others you notice. And then there are photos you simply must share. It would be a cybercrime not to. While there are very spiritual reasons to support JayJay Helterbrand's t-shirt venture "The Good News", we can also decide to get a shirt for the simplest of reasons. Sabi ni Sam eh.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TheGoodNews

Rabenched: Fans react to Rabeh Al-Hussaini being benched.

It's interesting that GlobalPort's move to bench Rabeh Al-Hussaini vs Air21 last October 7 drew mixed reactions from fans. Some agreed with the move. Some didn't. That fans instantly gave feedback suggested that Rabeh, even if some fans criticize him, remains a relevant player. And if you're Rabeh, that's a good thing.

Here are some reactions from Twitter:

Note: GlobalPort's next game is on Friday October 12 at the Big Dome. vs TNT. MH