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By Eddie G. Alinea, Contributor
FOR one-and-a-half decades after acquiring a
franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Sta. Lucia
Realty owner Exequiel “Exie” Robles never granted interviews
with members of the media nor faced them in press conferences in
connection with any of the Realtors’ undertakings.
Even when the Realtors won its first
championship—the 2001 Governor’s Cup—the normally-shy company
president shied away from the glare of the print media, radio and
television, relegating the task of facing the press people to team
manager and PBA board representative Buddy Encarnado.
But after clinching the Philippine Cup last
month, the soft-spoken Robles obliged to the request of a selected
group of sports journalists, who were short of awed with the sharp
and intelligent manner he responded to each and every question
thrown at him.
Having tasted victory after a seven-year
drought, Robles intimated his desire for his team to win the ongoing
Fiesta Cup and score a rare back-to-back championships.
“Well, it’s not a sin to dream, ‘di ba?
Wala namang bayad ang mangarap. And because we are the only team
capable of scoring a sort of grand slam, hindi siguro masama na
mangarap din na makuha ang Fiesta Cup,” said Robles, who took his
firm’s presidency at a tender age of 18 following the family
patriarch’s death.
“But, of course, it’s a tough job. But
everything is tough, especially if you’re aiming for the top. But
it’s now doable, so we’ll try to win the next conference, not
only for the company, but, likewise, for the Sta. Lucia fans, in
particular, and for the basketball-loving Filipino, in general,”
he added.
Sta. Lucia’s recent triumph, he assessed, not
only provided the company added goodwill to its clientele, but, more
than anything else, good for the league itself.
“Mas nakaganda sa liga ang panalo ng team
because of the brand of play PBA players dished out from the time
the conference started until Game 7 of the championship (against
Purefoods),” Robles explained.
“We feel honored to have contributed to the
cause of the league. Naging masaya ang fans sa naging resulta ng
best-of-seven series at sana gan’un din ang mangyari dito sa
Fiesta Cup (Making not only our fans but the entire PBA community
happy is quiet an accomplishment),” he said.
“The result of the quest by the different
teams in the field only proved that the 10 member- teams
participating are balanced in terms of manpower. Imagine us, who
were ranked eighth or ninth in the pre-tournament billing winning
the title against a team that, similarly, was not expected to figure
out in the race for the crown,” said Robles.
“We have doff our hats, not only to our
players, but, likewise, to Purefoods for battling it out in one of
the most exciting best-of-seven title series in the history of the
league. That the championship series drew the big crowd from Game 1
to Game 7 only attested to the kind of game the two teams were able
come up with,” he added.
“Never mind the controversies that attended
the series, which to me should not have been treated as big deal.
Some people said it added interest to the fans. Maybe yes, but
honestly speaking, it was the players’ intensity and determination
that made fans to see the games,” he remarked. “The series
really came as an occasion for the players to really give their
best.”
Robles was referring to the referees’
inconsistent calls, especially midway through the best-of-seven
affair that led to the suspension of the Giants’ hotshot James Yap
and the Realtors’ offensive-defensive threat Joseph Yeo, and the
misunderstanding among members of the board of governors brought
about by a meeting between him and Encarnado, on the one hand, and
commissioner Sonny Barrios, on the other.
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