I started watching basketball when I was in 1st year high school. The very first basketball game that I watched was between the 2002 RP team and a foreign team. I forgot what team was that but I think it was Chinese-Taipei. I could still remember my friends and I would watch live PBA games at the Cebu Coliseum, fangirling and crying at championships (only if San Miguel Beermen was on it). We didn't have a decent TV before so there were times that IBC 13 couldn't catch a signal so I turned to our radio and listen to the games.
My very first FIBA experience was in 2010 where I religiously followed the whole tournament in Basketball TV. You can read my blog entry about the FIBA World Championship 2010. =) In 2011 I also followed EuroBasket which is the European counterpart of the FIBA Asia Championship. The Asian championships 2013 was held in Manila and it sucks so bad that I wasn't able to witness it! I was so pre-occupied last year that I didn't know about it until early July.
It has been decades that Philippine basketball is struggling putting our mark AGAIN in the international map but that was put to an end last August 10, 2013. Our last FIBA WC appearance was in 1978 and our last medal in the FIBA Asia Champs was in 1985 where we won the gold medal in Malaysia. We qualified for the 1986 FIBA WC but we weren't able to participate because our country was in a revolution that time. Last August 10, 2013 WAS HISTORY IN THE MAKING. We were in the semis against Korea. Philippines and South Korea were formidable rivals in Asian basketball. You can just research 2002 Asian Games and 2011 FIBA Asia Championships (wasn't able to watch this one).
I was so silent watching the whole game coz I don't want to preempt anything. It was a very close game. The crowd just gave me goosebumps all over my body and wished I was in the arena cheering for Gilas. The semis was an important game for the team because it was our ticket to SPAIN where the FIBA WC 2014 will be held. I was more tensed watching the semis than the finals. =D After consecutive field goals by Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro that sealed our win, the crowd got wild and cheered for our team. While me on the other hand, didn't know what happened in the last minute of the game. It was a blur. What I knew that time was we won and we are going to Spain for the FIBA WC. I cried. I just couldn't believe it but yeah it was real so there. Haha!
You guys might ask what is the big deal about going into the FIBA WC. FIBA World Championships is like the FIFA WORLD CUP in basketball. FIFA World Cup is tagged as the biggest sporting event in the world but this one is for football/soccer while the FIBA World Chanpionship is for basketball. I wish FIBA is as big as FIFA but you know football/soccer is the most played sport in the world so I wouldn't be surprised why FIFA has more attention than FIBA. I was so happy the day after that I watched the game again for the 3rd time in Basketball TV and I still had the same emotion while watching it the first time. I cried again watching the replay. HAHAHAH! It was really a great day for PH basketball and I really hope this will continue in the coming years. Right now I'm missing the tournament already just like how I felt when FIBA WC 2010 ended. I just couldn't imagine our Gilas team banging bodies with my fave European teams, Spain and Lithuania. That would be so AWEESOMMEE! ♥
I really don't want to talk about the finals coz it would bring down the happy atmosphere in the semis. =D Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog. Expect another blog entry next year in time for the FIBA World Championships 2014 in España!!!
Cheers! Go Gilas Pilipinas!!
-Jen
