The Return of the Kings

From this night and for the days that will follow, the agonizing years that went before those will finally put into bed—but not without reminding the horde of fans the days and nights that fell to disquiet. Fans will be filled by endless and relentless clichés, from referencing movies that suited Ginebra's latest conquest and to realize the fitting end to an era that transcended basketball and trends. This piece is no exception.

Champions!

The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings at long last!

For the better part of this decade, hardly we thought of the words Ginebra and champion adjoined on the same sentence. With Tim Cone at the helm, we could probably have to get used to it. It took him, the heartbreak kids' Great White Hope, to turn things around for the moribund Kings. Cone has his Messianic touch in full display like the sage in white robe and staff.  But unlike the sagacious Gandalf, Cone need not face death. Uncertainty, however, was the cup of tea for him moving to Ginebra at the start of the season in trying to revitalized a franchise left for dead.

Through heartbreaks and humiliations, for that long 8-year stretch, one would be surprised that they remain to be the league's biggest draw. The Ginebra as the most popular team suffered blow after blow from the fruitless campaigns it had after winning the Fiesta Conference diadem back in 2008. Slowly, other teams are inching closer to challenge the Kings as the darling of the crowd. On a steadfast rate, others became a regular fixture on the biggest stage of the tournament. 

Kangkong.

Bora.

Haters kicked hard when them men were down. They feasted at the team's failure after failure...and more failure like it's the greatest feeling the sporting world has to offer. The laughing stock they became cancelled off whatever significance they meant to the league.

But tonight, destiny has toyed on them more than enough. 

(Video courtesy of TV5, PBA, and the uploader)

Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand, LA Tenorio and the rest of the Kings are lords of the rings once more!

 Together, they found their niche. In the elusive quest for their turn at the coronation, their stars shone as their triumvirate put the adage back in their storied careers. They earned their wares and more so ensured a potent winning tradition in the offing by guiding their wonder boy, Scottie Thompson to the biggest test of the youngster's own career. They made sure Scottie saw all of these—the loss, the struggles. And this sweet victory to remind the heir to the throne all of the sacrifices he will eventually have to endure will reap a reward so sweet. 

Perhaps, none of these would have happened if not for the heroics of someone from three months back, we never ever knew existed.

Justin Brownlee grew up idolizing both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Two of the best that ever did it. Jordan and Bryant both made a career perfectly epitomizing what winning is all about. Both thrived on the testiest of moments basketball has ever imposed. Back in the 90's, a similarly Messianic import in Chris King brought Gordon's Gin (what Ginebra is formerly known of) to promised land. Just like what they did, Brownlee took this defining moment to realize a dream. The waning 5.5 seconds seemed forever to end but perhaps much more longer in the mind of Justin.

He, though, was prepared.

Brownlee, on his Aragorn-esque calm demeanor, took the pass and ensured he's eye to eye with his nemesis—the just crowned best import Allen Durham. He took his dribble on top of the arc, he measured the opponent that followed. But he's all squared up. Durham stabbed, but not enough to distract Justin's will. Again, he's all squared up. When he took the rebound and sued for timeout after a Durham miss, he knew he will take that last shot—regardless how Coach Tim Cone designs it on the play that ensued. 

The sea of flashlights emanating from the cell phones of the fans in attendance held their breath as Brownlee heaved the last shot of the season. It was beautiful...the airborne ball passing through the glimmer of the lights on a perfectly arced shot three pointer glides, kept afloat by the blood, sweat, tears of the players and fans alike. The ball must've gotten a mind of its own it could no longer bear the malady of another losing season if it will not be able to make it. "It must go in!", so thought the basketball. In the sea of Ginebra crowd, the ball rolls off perfect release, off perfectly timed Brownlee shot that scripted its way to the legends of not only that off Ginebra's but off the PBA at large. 

Swooosh!

BAAAAAAANG!

Eruption ensued 8 years in the making.

The long bomb that detonated at the buzzer sent the partisan Ginebra crowd screaming at the top of their lungs. The jubilant Barangay finally back on top! This was a joyous emancipation from the curse. Cursed for being the most loved sans fulfillment of expectations. 

Brownlee arrived in Ginebra's army of the dead and to say that these squad was released from their curse would have been an understatement. Released from their own chains, just how Aragorn did it in the Paths of the Dead. Together,  they reclaimed the throne in such dramatic fashion another lifetime would never be enough to removed this kind of memory etched permanently to the minds of the die hard fans.

It was a fitting end, too, for the longest–running backcourt pair in the PBA spanning 16 years. From the fastest, most furious Helterbrand–Caguioa that we can remember, none of those highlights would trump how they reached the finish line in such winning way. 

Ginebra rode every symphonic symbolism of this championship to the hilt, against a worthy opponent in Meralco equally-deserving of the glory the Kings just romped. Destiny chose Ginebra, however. Perhaps, more than the basketball flare and skills, their story of triumph rekindles the flame once lost in the murky shadows of 8-year drought. 

And for these Kings that wandered in oblivion for a very long while, their crowns remind us that victory awaits no matter how 8 years long. 

"Never Say Die! Never They Did."

The Fast and the Furious!—Their tales, success and struggles...and the last ride together

When their run is no longer fast and fury is only in the mind, the reminiscent past bore the glare of what used to be the greatest scene at the fast break. The dizzying and blitzing to and from that kicked in the heartbeat relentlessly. The grace and ruthlessness combined of their high-octane  offense left their trail ablaze and kept us drowned off the fire it sparked. For as long as one local hoopster could muster, the memories of what was once the best running mates that lorded it over, it's only a matter of time till we will be making poetries and songs for the explosive and exploitative "Fast and the Furious".

Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa are all heart and soul. Diminutive yet fleeting. Reckless yet full of grace. The one displays the coolness of ice, the other exudes the breathe of the dragon. Together, they wrecked havoc like no other pair did. They have the swag straight outta Eagle Rock, Los Angeles that thrusted them into the limelight. They're nasty and maangas, it would seem to feel that their confidence runs as fast and furious as they do on the court. They have enamored the millions of basketball fans because they have,  and it was never fate nor byproduct of marketing machinations that catapulted them to it. They became household names and the glitz and the fad they brought akin to that Allen Iverson's hip-hop invasion in the NBA was notably era-defining that drove crazy fans to the filled rafters of each league venue. PBA was never the same again.

Helterbrand and Caguioa are both champions and heartbreak kids of the league and this authenticity made their lore even worthy of exploration. Together, they transcended the league like no other backcourt pair ever achieved. On a regular basis, we see generational players come but they do as an individual. Never seen was a duo that while individually great, a synergetic bond seemed to make them doubly spectacular. Together, they created a harmony in the mold of Simon and Garfunkel. Never in the history of the PBA that a backcourt tandem of 15 years of partnership would take an MVP award for each other while incessantly bucking the changes that beleaguered their team. 

Fans, some of them have grown impatient and seen shifting allegiance. The hardcores, perhaps those that were rooted since the Jaworski era remained—but not without the pain. Not without the cost of frustrated years and humiliation from the ever jeering league minorities. Kangkong, yes the water plant, made it to the Ginebra lore albeit unceremoniously. All these years, the salt rubbed on the wounds of Caguioa and Helterbrand only grew much harder to suck up. Helpless and dazed while father time inching by the day, such insufferable moments brought more questions than answers to their leadership.

But most of the fans remained, mostly waiting for the Kings, for the Fast and Furious to become relevant again. The changing of personnel surrounding the two happened rather quickly and in succession. "Kami na lang natira!" Caguioa exclaimed, much like lamenting that as holdovers, the two find it hard to get the perfect blend that made them successful before. They brought in pieces that they embraced wholeheartedly—even if it meant the realization that this team slowly slips from their cudgels. But both never cared, they wanted to win as a benchwarmer than top score as a bottom-feeder. 

That game 5 decider between Ginebra Gin Kings and the San Miguel Beermen will be best remembered not for its sheer vindication that indeed the crowd-favorite is back to its elite status, but for its touching scene where Caguioa and Helterbrand hugged at midcourt. It was nothing new, at every basket they made during their heydays, hugs and high fives seemed to punctuate the spectacle of their on-court exploits. As the cameras closed in to extract this moving scene shared by the tandem no less, it is pure emotions brimming for explosion any moment and it was best shared with the predominant Ginebra crowd who with them gutted it all out so many fruitless years. In what could be the few remaining instance we will ever see them on the court, flashes of bandanas in the heads, blonde and mohawk speedsters used to run over the competition in utter obliteration. And just so much affection to the dynamic duo that is due for a curtain call.

Caguioa and Helterbrand will vie for the crown—perhaps for the last time together. It may not be theirs to carry it seemed, as new breeds of the Gin Kings already leading them on the regular. But them to be crowned in front of the horde of Ginebra fanatics would touch nerves and emotions again. The crown that eluded them after some successes at the helm. For some, the fast and the furious has stayed too long and it would seem that it hurts us seeing them unable to run at the break like we were pampered to see. But we would weep in the height of emotions nonetheless, to see them pocket another crown at the tail end of their illustrious career.

This Finals duel between the crowd-darlings Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Meralco Bolts will sideshow perhaps the last duel amongst the finest guards of the early 2000's. Caguioa, Helterbrand and Jimmy Alapag all figured prominently during the past decade and it will be an epic scene to see them go at it for the last time. Alapag will be enshrined in the legendary annals of PBA when he decides to hang it up just like his two fierce rivals. Before Alapag stabbed the hearts of the likes of JJ Barea and those Korean sharpshooters in the international scene, one must remember that he had to go through Mark and Jayjay in the PBA. The competition they presented made Alapag such skilled and ruthless playmaker. 

Perhaps, at any part of this championship series we may see the checkpoint for both Caguioa and Helterbrand ala Toretto (Vin Diesel) and O'Conner (Paul Walker) at the end of FF7. The former stayed course while the latter took the other direction. In the momentous revisit of the car chase and mileage, fast breaks and long bombs, the basketball rendition of this movie franchise could never ran out of allegory to share—not even their endings were spared.

"One last ride!" Says Helterbrand, "Just like the movies!" 

And to here, the musn't missed final lap for "The Fast and the Furious" deserves every waning second to be witnessed by all that rode with them.

On GPH – CPP-NPA-NDF pursuit of peace

So it is finally here! 

The delegations for both the GPH and the CPP-NPA-NDF have finally met in Oslo, Norway for the long and outstanding peace talks that shall pave the way for a just and lasting peace. It is with great expectation that both parties will be in painstaking state to craft an antidote to the socio-economic conditions that had prevented the progress of our motherland—which also triggered this decades long, worn out and protracted civil war that already claimed so many lives from both sides.

President Rodrigo Duterte will be represented by negotiators led no less by DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello, many considered him a maverick of peace process and has maintained amiable relationship with the other side of the panel. Duterte choosing Bello to lead the talks for the Philippine Government is indicative of his sincerity to finally put this warring at the countryside to bed. 

On the Reds side of course will be Jose Maria Sison leading a multi-decade core group of cadres that led the revolutionary movement under the banner of CPP-NPA-NDF. Joma or JMS, of course is either the hero or the heel of our political history depending on which side of the political spectrum you are on. Often vilified and demonize for his ideology, yet none of the regimes that sprouted post-Ferdinand Marcos era has figured out to put Joma dead on his tracks. 

JMS is no evil! Only a right-wing, oppressive oligarch with an insatiable tongue to boot lick the imperialist gods can say he is so. JMS for decades now has been the face of the longest–running Maoist revolution. And it would be an understatement that as long as the country is ruled by leaders that had sold their souls to the imperialist gods, we can only expect them to discredit JMS and his ideology furthermore. 

Benito Tiamzon, if the media's claim him to be a high cadre official that he is, then his gesture upon being reunited with JMS for almost three decades in Oslo speaks highly of the revered CPP founder. Tiamzon referred to JMS as the "tanglaw" or the guiding star of the Philippine revolution. That even on exile, Tiamzon implied the contributions made by JMS to the revolutionary cause had made it to what it is today. Still in fighting form, and to borrow Tiamzon's wife, Wilma's own lines, "Hindi matalo-talo!" We are here today in talks of peace because of the continuous exposés made by the Left as to why the status quo remain oppressive and exploitative—or probably a lot worse than it ever was. 

JMS pointed out that the failure of peace talks in the past administrations dating from Cory Aquino to his son Noynoy Aquino had something to do with their insecurities from the military forces. While military must be answerable to the commander-in-chief, their actuations change the second they feel that the government shows warmth and acceptance to the forces of the Left.   In a political way, the military is oriented to be in the side of the rightists and whichever imperial monsters feeding its armament. And this is the reason why these past administrations never took the peace talks with the left seriously. Surprisingly, only Fidel Ramos, a military general before he joined the Philippine political fray, has made such tremendous achievement as far as talking to the Reds are concerned. Only in his term as President where the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) was created and observed. JMS viewed Ramos as someone confident enough to deflect any coup attempts by the military as he knew how it is being an ex-general himself. Which brings us to how President Duterte acted so strangely the past month regarding with his relationship with the Left. His actions obviously was a way to appease the military that almost to the detriment of the peace talks as the antagonism between him and JMS took the media in frenzy—to the gleeful cheer of the oligarchs and right-wingers who hope that these talks would eventually bog down. 

The impasse on the peace talks of the previous regimes only speak of their political motivation and made a joke out of the supposed serious undertaking. A lot of the ridiculous demands on the government's side, like the JASIG-protected negotiators to surrender first before joining the talks are one of the many preconditions that made it impossible for the process to advance to start with. Also, putting well-known anti-revolutionary personalities to the peace talks of before only made it worse. 

Both sides are poised to turn the tables now! Optimism brew even after the exchanges of tirades of the leaders of both sides may have seemed dampen the warmth seen at the beginning of the preliminary talks. Duterte already reassured NDFP through Satur Ocampo not to mind what he said in the media against JMS and in his own showing of goodwill, JMS still showed reverence to Duterte in his opening speech at the beginning of the peace talks in Oslo. Both leaders looked to bury the hatchet and set their prides aside in order to achieve something no regimes had ever accomplished. 

#RevolutionGo 

Talo Na Naman Ang Ginebra

Umpisa pa lang, ang kabog sa dibdib ko

Ay dinaig pa ang talbog ng bolang wari'y 

Magdudulot ng kumbulsyon

Umpisa pa lang, medyo ramdam ko na

Ang padehadong tagpo na lagi'y daloy 

Ng iyong laro sa liga.

Wala namang masama na sumandig na 

Lamang sa pananalig

Tiim-bagang napapapikit at ngiwi, 

Sa mga galawang hindi ka makapagtimpi

Sa mga nasayang na bola, buslong hindi man

Lang maging puntos

Gaya ng pag-ibig ko sa 'yo, ni ayaw umusad

Ni ayaw tumagos.

Nasayang nga ba ang panahon ko sa 'yo?

Ako nga ba'y kumuha ng batong ipupukpok 

sa ulo ko?

Ang ligalig at pighati sa tuwing mamasdan kang 

Unti-unting nilalampaso, tinatambakan

Hindi ba't sakit lamang sa puso ang

Puede nitong kahinatnan?

Kinse. Bente...minsan pa nga, trenta!

Tambak ka na nga sa puntos, tambak ka pa

Sa Alaska. 

Pero, tangina! Daig mo pa sadista!

Talagang tutok ka pa't kumukuyakoy pa!

Pero bakit laging ganoon? Andoon pa rin ako?

Kahit noong panahon ni Jawo hanggang ngayong era ni Caguioa.

Aasa sa himala, aasa sa panaka-nakang ragasa.

Ang makita kang pumalag at gapangin man lang

Ang di maubus-ubos na lamang.

Marahil gaya ng damdaming iginugupo ng 

Mga hinaing na kailanma'y di ka magiging akin

Magkakasya sa mumunting saya, 

Makukuntento sa panumandaling ligaya.

Hindi mo na iisiping sa huli'y muli'y mabibigo

Ang makita kang lumaba'y mistulang 

Pakunsuwelo de bobo.

O di kaya'y ito talaga ang tagpong 

Ipagpapatayan mo?

Na malanghap ang espiritu ng hindi pagbitaw,

Na danasin ang pagbulusok at pag-angat

Sa nagdedeliryong damdaming walang 

Gatol sa paghiyaw.

Ayan na nga, muli'y talo sa huli

Alumpihit kang tatayo sa upuang

Sumalo lahat ng nerbiyos mo't puwersa

Ang mala tsubibong saksi ng iyong

Lungkot st saya.

Tuwing talo ang Ginebra, ika'y naaalala

Dahil anumang pilit kong habulin ka,

Anumang pilit kong sumubsob at magkumahog

Habang animo'y abot-kamay na kita

Para kang siya, siya na pag nakamtan mo'y

Kampeonato ngang talaga

Ngunit gaya nga ng never-say-die ng Ginebra

Sa paghabol ay masaya, sa pag-asa'y matutulala

Ngunit gaya ng laging ending ng pagragasa

Sa huli'y susukuan ka rin, gaya ng ganap nating dalawa.

The Closer Closes it Out

Purple—represents all your bruises, injuries accumulated over 20 years of basketball.  The quixotic approach to a game that made it as if it's life and death regardless of what’s on the line. The mark of a true warrior. 

Gold—symbolizes your triumph as one of the greatest. Career that's nothing short of greatness and competitiveness. The color of a true winner.

Photo credit to the owner

Today, the world of basketball will be painted Purple and Gold for the last time by the one and only Kobe Bryant. The legend that defined the true meaning of competitiveness and no quit. He is the basketball demigod that ruled the league for the better part of the 21st Century. On his announced coup de grace on the hard court, Bryant will take with him all of what he has meant to the game of basketball. For all the fans of the opposing teams he left heartbroken through the years with his conquests, now they will be enjoined by all Lakers fans around the world that he pampered and walked in absolute pride through his winning ways.

You finally gave in, huh!

Of course!

You finally embraced these all! With you leaving, you've finally let go of the ultra-competitiveness that a lot of the weaker minds and guts getting rubbed the wrong way. The refreshing tone devoid of the scowl and seriousness of a game-faced Kobe reflected his genuine acceptance that this is finally it.

For us fans, Kobe was our generational kid. After the glorious Michael Jordan era, kids my age during the 90's found the continuity of basketball idolatry in Bryant's soul. It persisted when everyone seemed lost at the game's purity amid the shift to the distractive commercialized nature of the NBA.

Photo credit to the owner

Unlike Jordan, Kobe will always be perceived as the brash kid that took his lanky 6'6 frame to the big league. Jordan will forever be the standard. The yardstick to any run for greatness that there is to transpire. But Kobe showed how it is done! Anything short of it does not deserve to be mentioned on the same breath as those two. Kobe, in that respect, validated how difficult the status to be named king of the basketball world. Because self-proclamation and aggrandizement would never win the respect of the world even if one's equipped with such amiability and magnanimity. Those two? They destroyed every living fighting spirit of their oppositions and kicked it at that. That's how their legends had grown.

Kobe's career wasn't predicated to build a legacy outside winning. In turn, it made him unsociable and disconnected in variety of ways.

Media only made matters worse for Kobe—they vilified, demonized and made him look as self-absorbed and self-obsessed. When all what he wanted to be is to be the best of them all. How can one fault him for being obsessed about winning? Wasn't this the purpose of the sport, and any other competition for that matter, to begin with? 

Kobe elevated the league's competitiveness when all other stars are far more concern about their ghetto life at the underground hip-hop scene. While he himself did get a share of this excessiveness, Kobe knew his purpose is more on the basketball side of things and not on the illusory spot light as the result of NBA popularity. He had those—the marketing, the endorsements, the shenanigans of being popular, the controversies—but it sure as hell he made basketball as the number one priority.

The league and the world have honored your greatness all year long with your farewell tour and looking back, it was easy to presume how much the league was itching to get rid of you. But you were right all along. Your drive, your maniacal approach to even games you're not supposed to be hardcore with had all paid off. This is how much the sentiments tilted in your favor—by winning, by giving the best out of yourself—the absolution of the world only reminded all of us that only through winning can we only become legendary. 

Photo credit to the owner

So finally, Kobe's leaving! And at the center of it all is his and ours refusal to let go. This is his basketball that made to become our brand of basketball which is competitive, relentless, and pure. The type that questions lack of integrity, and calls out mediocrity from people that existed to give basketball a bad name. He played through the pain to remind us what basketball meant to a lot of people that there's no room for disgracing it by not giving it all.

Kobe is forever. His basketball is eternal.

Lights out. Mamba out.