Is This The End Of The World As We Know It?

Yesterday’s game between Ginebra and Red Bull and I found myself cheering for Red Bull. Not just for Cyrus Baguio but for the whole Red Bull team. Did the world just turned upside down?

Is this the end of my love affair with the Ginebra franchise?

I had been a loyal Ginebra fan and I never imagined that my falling out with my PBA team (if and when it comes to that) would be as… unexciting as this. I’ve always imagined that I will only stop supporting Ginebra when they do something really, really bad to get me angry with them. Not like this, when I find myself just cheering for the opposing team.

Well, truth to tell, I sort of predicted that my days of my being a Ginebra fan are numbered. It started with Jong Uichico’s appointment as Head Coach, because no other coach in the PBA pisses me off more than Jong Uichico (I hate Tim Cone, but at least I respect his talents as a coach. He just had the unfortunate job of coaching Alaska). I don’t like his coaching style, and I see no reason for them to replace Siot Tanquincen. For me, Uichico represent everything that is un-Ginebra; to wit, his utter lack of charisma.

In my paranoid world, Uichico uses deceipt, manipulation and black mail to encroach the Ginebra coaching job. Because there’s just no way he qualifies for the job better than Siot.

Disclaimer: the above statement is purely for exaggeration purposes only. In case the Legal team of San Miguel Corporation stumble upon this blog, let it be known that my opinions here have no value whatsoever and does not, in any way, diminish the Corporation’s and Mr. Uichico’s reputations. Just so we are all clear and to prevent any legal issues arising out of my paranoid ramblings.

Anyway…

Acquiring Rudy Hatfield, Rafy Reavis and Johnny Abbarientos were also moves that I never approved of (like the franchise gives a damn). Ok, so maybe I’m a little hard to please. But I think the inclusions of these players were done to make Ginebra the team to beat this season. Nothing wrong with that, especially if you’re the shareholders, but I want my team to be the underdog dammit! I don’t want my team to be strong in paper and then falter on their campaign as the season progresses, I want them to overachieve, to overcome tremendous odds. I want the never-say-die spirit – and you can only show that if you have your backs against the wall and not when most people think that it’s your competition to lose.

So maybe my arguments don’t make any sense. You know what? Forget everything I said above. All I really wanted to say is that I don’t think I’ll be supporting the Gins that much this season. I’ll still be watching, of course, but not just because of Ginebra. That’s it.

This basketball fanatic is just happy to be watching PBA again. (and I'm also thankful for channel 34 on the cable, the basketball channel.)