Philippine Showbiz Today 23 SPORTS ert ) Jaworski started it all ,” added Arnaiz .
Basketball
October 22 - November 7 , 2017
PBA Hall of Famer Francis Arnaiz is best known as part of the original “ Never Say Die ( NSD )” Ginebra San Miguel team during his heydays . He got the chance to see their successors , the first time in more than a decade .
“ Mr . Clutch ” saw firsthand how Ginebra pulled off a pulsating win in Game 2 of the 2017 PBA Governors ’ Cup Finals . Arnaiz is happy to see how the “ NSD ” culture remains intact to this day .
“ Absolutely ,” Arnaiz said when asked if he sees the same “ Never Say Die ” attitude on the present team .
“ Ang nag umpisa niyan si Jaworski . It all started when we joined Ginebra . It is unbelievable that the fans are still there . Grabe ! Home court advantage parati ang Ginebra . It seems lahat ng tao sa kanila .”
“ Surprised ? I ’ m not sure . I am just happy that Senator ( Rob-
Asia ’ s first Grandmaster ( GM ) Eugene Torre completed a clean nine-round sweep to take the top honors in the 8th Asian Seniors Championship held at the Waipuna Conference Center in Auckland , New Zealand .
The tournament was sanctioned by the International Chess Federation .
He opened his campaign with a victory over eighth seed David Lovejoy of Australia then posted impressive wins over Anthony Booth of New Zealand in the second round , Rahman Yussof of Brunei Darussalam in the third , Filipino Edmundo Legaspi in the fourth and Pricha Srivatanakul of Thailand in the fifth .
The 66-year old Torre also
PBA : Arnaiz happy Ginebra ‘ Never Say Die ’ culture still alive
Former Ginebra teammates Robert Jaworski ( left ) and Francis Arnaiz watch the PBA Governors ’ Cup Finals Game 2 og Ginebra and Meralco at Smart Araneta Coliseum , October 15 , 2017 ( MB photo | Rio Leonelle Deluvio )
Philippine Showbiz Today 23 SPORTS ert ) Jaworski started it all ,” added Arnaiz .
Playing most of his career with Toyota before the team disbanded in 1984 , Arnaiz followed Jaworski to form Gilbey ’ s Gin ( now known as Ginebra ). It reprised their backcourt tandem which lasted for three more years before Arnaiz retired from the playing pro ball .
Arnaiz recalls how they carried the “ Never Say Die ” attitude and how it was similar to the 2017 Gin Kings .
“ Ganito lang ‘ yan eh . There are a lot of things you cannot foresee in the game . You don ’ t know sino mananalo . The only thing you can control in the game is effort ,” Arnaiz said .
“ Yun lang eh . I see that in this team . They are ‘ Never Say Die ’— they still have it .”
Arnaiz is a 9-time PBA champion and fought many wars in the league . He was best remembered as part of the famed Toyota vs Crispa rivalry .
As for the 2017 PBA Governors Cup Finals , he believes game 3 is the most important one in any best-of-seven series .
“ In the best-of-seven , the most important is the Game 3 . Pag nanalo ng Game 3 ‘ yan , the chances are it ’ s over . If they lose Game 3 , it is 2-1 … malapit na masyado ,” Arnaiz pointed out . “ Meralco is a very good team also . It could have gone either way tonight .”
His former backcourt tandem would attest that the series is not over until the fat lady sings .
“ It is not over until it is over but they got to do it ,” said Jaworski . “ You only win it by going together and working hard . That ’ s it ! No secret to tell .” ●
- E . Hernandez , MB
GM Torre tops 8th Asian Seniors Championship outclassed second seed Ewen Green of New Zealand ( sixth ), Malcolm McFarland of Guam ( seventh ), Peter Goffin of New Zealand ( eighth ) and Grant Kerr of New Zealand ( ninth ).
Green and Legaspi were in a twoway tie for second with 6.5 points each .
But Green grabbed the second place plum via superior tiebreak points and the country ’ s first woman grandmaster Janelle Mae
Asia ’ s first grand master Eugene Torre ( standing , far right )
leaving Legaspi in Frayna ( seated left ) during the grand finals of the 24th Shell third National Youth Active Chess Championship .
Ẏussof placed fourth with 5.5 points followed by Lovejoy in fifth with five points .
Meanwhile , GM Joey Antonio grabbed the solo lead with a perfect four points in the 2017 International Open Chess Championship being held at the Osborne Hall in Bacolod City .
Antonio clobbered National Master Merben Roque in the third round and Edsel Montoya in the fourth round .
Sharing the No . 2 spot are GM Srinath Narayanan of India , GM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam and GM Nigel Short of Great Britain with 3.5 points each .
Antonio will be playing Short in the fifth round in the tournament that offers $ 3,000 to the champion and $ 2,500 to the runner-up . ●
- E . C . Noguera , TMT
TV5 is alive and kicking , teams up with sports giant
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Vincent “ Chot ”
Reyes , TV5 president , insists that the struggling network is “ alive and kicking ” and has , in fact , just inked a four-year deal with worldwide sports giant , ESPN .
According to Reyes , the new partnership will allow TV5 “ to position itself clearly ” in the busy marketplace , teeming with new players and platforms .
Reyes was president of Media5 , the sales and marketing arm of TV5 . “ In that capacity , I went around and got to talk to advertisers , media partners , agencies .”
The same question kept replaying like a broken record : “ What does TV5 stand for ?”
“ It has always been hard to define ,” admits Reyes , who joined
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the struggling channel four years ago . “ Now , part of my job as president is to identify our positioning in the minds of advertisers and consumers .”
In spite of all their efforts , the
TV5 ’ s Chot Reyes with ESPN ’ s Emma Barnes
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network found itself in the same dilemma over and over again . “ It didn ’ t work … not only ratings-wise , but also from a business and profit perspective . In the last seven years , we ’ ve realized that being the No . 3 network in the Philippines is simply not profitable .”
Joining forces with ESPN makes “ good business sense .” “ We wanted to find a niche , where we can compete and have a chance to be No . 1 .”
Reyes clarifies that although Jasmine Curtis-Smith is no longer tied down with TV5 , she has a project for D5 Studio , the online series “ Forever Sucks .”
TV5 ’ s biggest ( and only ) headliner now , Derek Ramsay , can easily fit in the ESPN5 programming
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grid , Reyes says .
“ Derek reflects the ESPN brand ,” Reyes notes . “ He is a sportsman . He is into Frisbee , rugby , beach football . In the past , he did sports and action shows for the network . He even covered the London Olympics for us five years ago .”
A trickier proposition would be Cannes-winning director Brillante Ma Mendoza ’ s endeavors with TV5 .
Sports 5 has been rebranded as ESPN 5 , “ to encompass all sports coverages on TV5 .”
ESPN 5 and the “ SportsCenter Philippine Edition ” will air on the network ’ s free TV channels : TV5 and Aksyon 41 . ●
- B . San Diego , Jr , Inq .
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