Hashtag: Oh Cutie Pie!

It's been a while. Well, maybe a month. No, double that!

Sobrang naging busy yung holidays. And as expected the laundries were as horrendous as the EDSA traffic. Perhaps as endless it seems as the queue in the MRT everyday.

But nonetheless we're back to regular programming.

Recently your resident sports launderer was preoccupied with some intense training preparations. I was like a Tab Baldwin to my preschooler preparing for a very important competition. My son—feeling like a Terrence Romeo, a greenhorn to competitions outside the four walls of the PBA—had to face other students beyond the comforts of his little school. The past month was intense. The time to prepare was short. Not even close to the length the Chinese prepared for last year's Fiba Asia joust. And just like in any school, the academic part was business as usual. So juggling between lessons and practice was the norm. Like Coach Tab calling his training pool to Monday practices while teams endure the rigors of an on-going PBA season. So finally we had a camp in Lithuania. Followed by some tune-ups with some New Zealand clubs. We joined the Jones Cup too. And finally a pocket tournament back home.

Oh wait, what the heck did I just say there?

But the truth is, my my son was just joining a Story Telling contest.

Seriously it was a fun experience for my son and myself. Sans the dyeing of the hair, my son felt like a Terrence Romeo. Wowing the crowd on his first foray. There were jitters. But the Tab Baldwin in me showed some zen-like aura. And boy was I so happy to see my kid focus and bring his A-game during the day of reckoning!

Save for an un-charged bus and a last minute repair on the net during warm-ups, the experience was just like Gilas Pilipinas. Maybe because we also brought home a silver. So Gilas-esque, right? (Say that again please, Gilas-esque without saying the s-e-x word, you know kids are still awake).

But wait. I was surprised that my son had other thing in mind.

I thought he was thinking about the Olympic berth. Oh no, maybe he will be an Olympian someday (at least in the field of public speaking).

He said, "If I were the judge I won't make a mistake." I immediately answered and asked the reason why. I assured him he did great and a silver medal was equally awesome which will make Mr. Manny Pangilinan continue supporting our cause. But he expounded, "Maybe the judge was Steve Harvey!"

Perplexed, I had to ask: "Why'd you say that?"

"Remember the Miss Universe," he asked me back. "I think I should've won a gold there!"

Ka-boom! But the thing reminds me a lot about some PBA fans when losing. Or perhaps a lot of our politicos not winning a seat! Walang natatalo as always. (Of course I had to process that with my son afterwards—not the Miss Universe thing, I know what you're thinking—but the right attitude and mindset about winning and losing all in the name of fair play.)

Moving on. Now, almost everybody heard about the news. Glad that our prayers from this post had been answered!  Ohyeah, we are finally hosting one of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. And well, our wish was granted and looks like we're having an NBA-flavored treat! Now my prayer continues:

That all schools will eventually synchronize with the ASEAN academic schedule. So that classes start late July or early August next school year. 

Otherwise, Houston we have a problem! 

PS.

Since we are hosting one of the OQTs, why not make the official hashtag sound a little bit more unique.

And cute.

Hence: #OhCutiePhi (OQTPhi)

That's enough! Happy to see you back here, mga ka-fans! See you around.

... follow @labapilipinas on twitter for more sports laundering!