MENDOZA...

96-87 win was officially recorded, I texted this to a friend: “Gilas is WELL Done against Great WALL.” When you are overwhelmed by emotions, when you are overtaken by madness, to be corny again is perfectly all right. When was the last time we beat China? Or did we even beat China before? The first time China played us after China opened its doors to the world was in 1974 (or was it 1975?). I was still with Bulletin and I scooped everybody about China’s impending basketball friendly against us in Manila. I sniffed the news from Fr. Edgar Martin, an esteemed basketball official who was my beer buddy at the old Rizal Memorial Café along Vito Cruz Ave. Manila fronting the historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum. “It’s not yet confirmed, Al, so don’t do anything stupid, OK?” Fr. Martin said, his speech already a bit beerish. “Taiwan might get mad with a premature story about it and Taiwan might cancel a promised rice assistance to us.”

When I got to the office, I told the story to Lito Fernandez, my sports editor. He broke the scoop to Teddy Owen, our news editor.

When Lito got back to me, he said, “Proceed with the story.” It landed on page one. At our watering hole the next day, Fr. Martin, his eyes sharp as a chainsaw, barked at me: “You sonafabitch! Go to hell!”

His way of evening up matters with me after he got a tongue-lashing from Lito Puyat, then the president of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

Hey, Spar Lito and Father Martin, enjoy your beers up there, will ya?

Our own partying down here might last up to Christmas.