#labapilipinas

When we thought Gilas 3.0 has formally closed a chapter in Philippine basketball, here comes another: The 4.0 version! Ambilis ano? Parang software lang, o app na kama-kailan lang naglabas ng bug fixes, aba'y naglabas na naman agad ng update. Of course, if that's the case, there's really no reason to complain.

Finally the PBA's 41st season has officially opened before an expected sparse crowd. Not that the #BoycottPBA and #BoycottSMC (okay fine, #TeamSnowBadua) have gained a very significant following and have caused the dent on the gate receipts. Or probably that idea still lingers to some fans, just enough to keep them away even for the opening rites? Well, we all know about typhoon Lando being the culprit for the cancellation last weekend, making the PBA as it were to start 41st year on a wrong foot (and not JuneMar's foot, by the way). Until the move to a Wednesday inaugural looked bleak and seemed very un-PBA!

Thanks for the love mga ka-Gilas fans. I honestly have no idea who nominated me at the #bloggys2015  (and I just checked recently, my Mom's still not on the internet). But whoever you are, I got Liam Neeson for a cameo to say something really special. But before that here's a quick link so you could go straight and vote for this blog:  Vote for Labapilipinas Blog  

The Philippine Basketball Association was supposed to open on Sunday,  October 18th. But we all know it was cancelled. Is this the first time in the 41 years of the league to have an opening day festivity cancelled?

The circus just hit town! How time flies. Six years ago was just like yesterday when we saw Ely Pamatong doing his stunts as he filed his Certificate of Candidacy. Don't look now, he just did the predictable, you guessed it right, doing some flag-torching stunts once again and filing his COC for the 7,645,985th time! But wait, there's more: One who claims to be an alien. A weirdo named Archangel Lucifer. Fifty more names and counting! (Now breathe again). Face palm.

For us Gilas fans we want to believe that this 3.0 version of our Senior Men's Basketball team has overachieved. Of course the gold was just one win away. Or maybe a perfect shooting night away. Or let's say a perfect freethrow shooting night away (how many bricks did we throw at the 15-foot line, at least 11 right?).

A lot of us Gilas fans are sulking in sadness over the finals match loss to China. It's a "Sunday Mourning" back in the Philippines. But we can't be dwelling on this for the rest of time. Monday and a new week is at hand. And it means we all need to go back to business. But how, when the 11-point drubbing is just too fresh in our memories? When what preoccupies our minds right now is the lost chance to go back to the Olympics. So here's how we can go about with this stinging loss.

Ang hirap magsulat. Lalung mahirap din magbasa. Initially makakaramdam ka ng social media withdrawal. Yung parang ayaw mo na muna basahin yung mga titik at talata na hindi pabor o ayon sa gusto mong karanasan. Parang ang hirap buksan uli ng Twitter, ang Facebook. Kahit celphone na kanina pa may nag-aantay na message at nagtatanong na isang kamag-anak na nasa trabaho kung ano na score.

While our Gilas tacticians headed by Coach Tab Baldwin have pretty much prepared a list for tonight’s awaited Gold Medal match with China, we fans are likewise getting ready. How do you prepare for tonight’s final game?  Here’s our Gilas Pilipinas Fan Checklist:

I'm not sure a lot would remember Lionel Richie's classic song Easy and its opening line: Know it sounds funny But I just can't stand the pain... 

This photo speaks a thousand words. No. Millions maybe. The moment we saw this picture of Asi Taulava by FIBA we immediately had our own stories to tell. It's very imposing. And it has elicited a lot of stories from every Filipino.