Mico
Halili: San.Mig.Coffee…Grand.Slam.Champions!
Ang
sarap ulit-ulitin eh.
Ayun,
nagka-idea ako.
Ire-record
ko, tapos gagawin kong ringtone! J
Ilang
Linggo na ang nakalipas mga kapetids diba?
Masarap
parin ba sa pakiramdam?
Ako,
oo.
Hanggang
ngayon nga binabati parin ako ng mga estudyante ko. Haha (Sipsip)
Hindi
nakakasawang balikan.
Kung
isu-summarize ko ‘tong achievement na’to, it all boils down to 2 words:
HISTORY, DESTINY
History.
3- Peat tapos Grand Slam, saan ka pa?
Hinding-hindi ko talaga pinagsisisihan na, wala akong magawa noong April
4, 2012 na yun, at muli akong nakapanood ng PBA. Yun ang araw ng
pagbabalik-loob ko sa PBA, at mula noon, naging maganda ang takbo ng koponang
ito.
Flashback…
Year
2006 nung huli akong nanood ng Pambansang Liga. Champion pa nga yung Purefoods
Chunkee Giants noon diba? Against Red Bull? Si Marc Pingris ang Finals MVP. Yun
din yung conference kung saan nagtapos ang career ni Eugene Tejada. L
Okay, fast forward…
April 4, 2012, alone in the living room, I turned on the TV, switched
channels until my remote led me to 13 “Uy.. PBA”, I said. I saw Coach Tim Cone,
so I thought, it’s an Alaska game, but when I glanced at the score board, it
showed MERALCO BOLTS vs BMEG LLAMADOS. “Uy, si Coach RG naka-orange, hala, teka
ano ba’to? Anyare?”
So, after six years, yun ang gumulantang sa akin. Coach RG’s now with
Meralco Bolts and my most hated Coach Tim Cone’s now with BMEG LLAMADOS (in
fairness naman, alam ko namang nagpalit sila ng pangalan. Hehe)
Alright, so I sat down and watched the game. It’s the game 2 of
best-of-three Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals series. Llamados won that fight
to force a Game 3.
So dahil naguluhan ako, nagsearch ako and I found out that, that was the
second conference of Coach Tim. First conference was, they topped the elims but
only to be upset by NAGLILIYAB NA KAMAY
ni EL GRANADA.
Mula noon, nagtuloy-tuloy na ang panonood ko ng PBA.
Nakakatuwa lang kasi, nang nanalo sila sa QF, Ginebra naman ang
nakatapat nila sa Semifinals. Astig lang! Naalala ko yung elementary days ko,
na nakikipag-away ako sa mga fans ng Ginebra. Hehe
Fast forward, napataob nila ang Ginebra at si Jackson Vroman. Dahil
doon, nakapasok sila ng Finals upang kaharapin ang TNT Dynasty. Siyempre
underdog ang BMEG kasi apat na taon na silang nga-nga sa Championship, bata pa
yung import na si Denzel Bowles, nangangapa pa sila sa bagong sistema nitong si
Coach Apa, so hindi naman ako nag-e-expect na mag-cha-champion.
PERO, umabot ng Game 7.
Grabe, noon ko nalang ulit naranasan yung ganoong klaseng kaba.
Magkatabi kami ng tatay ko (Sa loob din
kasi ng apat na taon, hindi rin siya nakanood ng PBA, siguro dahil na rin sa
poor reception yung Channel 9 sa amin, tapos sobrang naging busy din siya)
at naiihi sa kaba. Sino ba namang makakalimot dun sa huling mga segundo ng 4th
quarter kung saan, titira ng pinaka-crucial at nakaka-nerbyos na Freethrows si
Denzel Bowles?
Sir Mico was to announce that “Talk
‘N Text is your PBA…. Oh wait, there’s a foul! There’s a foul!” Kelly
Williams fouled Denzel Bowles with BMEG down by 2. Naihi na talaga yung tatay ko dun, so di niya napanood yung unang
freethrow.
GRABE! Hanggang ngayon, habang nagsusulat
ako kinikilabutan pa rin ako pag naaalala ko yun. Tapos, nung na-shoot niya
yung dalawang FT’s na yun, nakatira pa si Jason Castro at napapigil hininga pa
ako dun, buti ‘di pumasok, kaya nagta-ta-talon kami ng tatay ko. Pero syempre,
hindi natapos sa talon yun, eh nakita pa namin si CAP ALVIN na sinalubong at
niyakap si Bowles, tapos kanya-kanyang yakapan ng mga players. Haaay.. sarap maalala.
That game went into overtime, and as we could all remember Bowles, being
cheered by his Mama Bowles and the mammoth crowd in the Araneta, dominated that
end game.
That’s DESTINY over DYNASTY.
Grabeng pagbabalik-loob yun! Sa apat na taon na naisantabi ko ang
paborito kong koponan eh, ganito ka sarap yung naging pag-welcome nila sa akin.
Doon din ako nag-umpisang mag-blog.
BMEG entered the next conference with Marqus Blakely as their import.
Tagged as the ‘Beast’ and ‘Mr. Everything’, he led Llamados to its 2nd
Finals appearance on that season to face the young Rain or Shine team headed by
Coach Yeng Guiao.
That was ‘ouch’ for me, most specially seeing Blakely fouled early in
the fourth and James Yap and PJ Simon missed open one-handed-shots.
“Wala na, ROS na ‘to.”
- 2012 BMEG’s Record :
Quarterfinalist – Champion – Runner Up
Mula noon ay hindi na talaga ako
muling natigil sa panonood ng PBA. BUmalik talaga yung pagka-enthusiast ko sa
basketball, lalong-lalo na ang pagsubaybay ko sa paborito kong koponan.
-2013 SMCM’s Record
: Semifinalist – Semifinalist – Champion
: Survived 2 do-or-die games (Gov. Cup semi-finals to finals)
Before entering the next season, San Mig Super Coffee Mixers acquired
three rookies, 2nd Pick overall Ian Sangalang, together with Justin
Chua, Justin Melton and JR Cawaling. A few days after the draft,
Justin Chua was eventually traded to GlobalPort in exchange
for Isaac Holstein, the 7th pick overall of GlobalPort.
2014 All Filipino Cup
They faced Rain or Shine once again in the FINALS,
but this time, no import to rely on. Unlike their first meeting, this series
only went into six games, where San Mig Super Coffee Mixers got its back to
back championship title with Marc Barroca was named as the Finals MVP. Oh, anong naaalala niyo? Siyempre
hindi makukumpleto ang kwento ng seryeng ito ng hindi mababanggit ang
panandaliang WALK-OUT ng ROS.
Finals
MVP – Marc “Coffee Prince” Barroca
Dito
natuloy ang inasam kong back – to – back
championship 2 years ago.
2014 Commissioner’s Cup – Dito natin
nakamit ang THREE-PEAT.
Twelfth franchise championship,
three straight under Coach Tim as he surpassed the legendary Coach Baby
Dalupan.
Finals MVP – James Yap
2014 Governor’s Cup – Grand Slam!
Finals MVP - James Yap, with an average
of 16.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in this series.
-2013 SMCM’s
Record: Champion – Champion – Champion :
Survived 7 do-or-die games
Napakasarap balik-balikan ng mga pangyayari.
Nine
straight do – or – die games ang nalampasan ng team.
Iba’t
– ibang klaseng karanasan ang natamo nila doon.
Andun
na yung tambakan, andun na yung naghabol ng malaking lamang, meron ding
dikit-dikit mula umpisa hanggang sa matapos, may mga controversial ending at
meron din namang lop-sided.
Destiny.
The Dean Mr. Quinito Henson said. “It’s
DESTINY.” “San Mig Coffee is destined to win this grand slam.”
There are a lot of buzzes out there
that this History isn’t legit. #RefereeMagic #Refolyo #AsaSaRef
Oh well, kwento niyo nalang sa
pagong. Lol!
I strongly believe that everything
happens for a reason, has its own time and season.
Nung na-shoot ni Denzel Bowles yung
two pressure-packed free throws;
Nung natalo tayo ng Rain or Shine sa
Finals, kung saan nag early exit si Blakely, tapos hindi na-shoot ni James at
PJ yung mga open jump shots nila in crucial minutes;
Yung pagbalik ni Blakely, he got his
Best Import award, tapos nag champion tayo against Petron, ang naging umpisa ng
sunod-sunod na championships;
Yung pagka-panalo sa Rain or Shine
nung All Filipino Cup? Hindi rin naging madali yun para sa team. Kung maaalala
natin, nung nagtapat sila sa elimination round December 2013, tinambakan ng ROS
ang San Mig noon. Grabe yun. Parang bagsak yung mundo ko nun kasi, sabi ko sa
sarili ko, “kelan ba tayo makakabawi sa ROS na yan?” Massacre yun eh. Pero
anong nangyari sa pagbubukas ng 2014? Tuloy-tuloy ang panalo, hanggang say un
nga, nakarating sa Finals at sila pa ang nagkaharap. San Mig Coffee won that
conference. Para bang, simula nung December 2013 Massacre eh, sinabi nila sa
sarili nilang “Di na kami muling magpapa-bully sa inyo.” ;
How about Commissioner’s Cup? When
I’m about to give up, seeing our import not as competitive as I expected, our
locals proved that “HINDI KAMI ASA SA IMPORT.” Dynasty vs. Dominance. Malinis
yung record ng TNT diba? San Mig Coffee lang ang nakatalo sa kanila, sa
championship pa. THREE-Peat! ;
At higit sa lahat, nung Governor’s
Cup 2014; naging madali ba ang lahat? Hindi! Anong team ang nakalaban nung
quarterfinals? SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN lang naman. Eh nung semifinals? TALK ‘N TEXT
lang naman. Almost everybody expected that this series should be in the Finals.
Power house team yan eh, besides, TNT has a motive for revenge. Pero, hindi.
Dito sila nagtagpo sa semis and that was a very HARD test for the Mixers. Isa
na namang do-or-die ang nalampasan ng team upang kaharapin ang Rain Or Shine.
Sabi nga nila, the Painters is the
best team to slam Mixer’s Grand Slam dream. The perfect ‘villain’s role’ ika
nga, sa katauhan ni COACH YENG GUIAO, ni Beau Belga, ni Paul Lee, ni Raymond
Almazan, ni Ryan Arana at ni Jireh Ibanez. Tipo ng coach na mapapa-inom ka ng
isang pitsel na tubig sa anghang; mga tipo ng players na mapapa- “naku po” ka
sa angas at lakas. Si Jeff Chan at Chris Tiu na mukhang maaamo pero mabangis
din. At yung mga second to third unit na handang maglaro anytime. WHAT A CAST
diba?
Pero nothing’s gonna stop DESTINY,
if it’s partnered with healthy bodies, prepared minds, determined hearts and
strong faith. For all the hardships they went thru, for all the 9 do-or-die
games they’ve overcome and for all the sacrifices they had faced, this is the
sweet destiny they really deserved. How lucky… nah…erase… How BLESSED we are, I
am as a fan, to be able to witness this rare peat that a team could ever have.
This, I would keep forever and will be told to my anaks, pamangkins, apos and anak ng apos.
SMSCM GRAND SLAM SONG
Yeah, it’s not easy
Scenes went shaky
Every loss, it feels so heavy!
Many lapses encountered
Injuries that bothered
But with a lot of heart
They still played hard…
Chorus:
Now, they are here, destiny (history)
Road that’s narrow, a lot of sorrow!
They will fight until the end
Will play fair, score and defend!
Different bodies, different minds
United together, they’ll stand
Going strong thru the test
“Do your best, beat the best and
be the best!”
II.
Gone thru changes,
Different system
Hard adjustment,
With new faces
Unexpected, things got twisted
But their heart and spirit remained…
As one…
Refrain:
This is the time…
We now see the light that shines!
Refrain:
When everything gets tough
(When everything gets tough)
And if the road is going rough
They hold on to each other
Sometimes their strength looks not enough
(Sometimes their strength looks not enough)
But showed their HEART’s not giving up
And hold on to each other…
Coz’ They believe nothing’s gonna stop that.
Nothing’s gonna step them
Nothing’s gonna stop their dream.
Now they’re written in HISTORY!
