Smokin Joe is KIA coach for one day
As writer-journalist Sol F. Juvida turns a new leaf on Sunday, it is to be met with the rather unsavory news that Joe Lipa has been reportedly sacked as Kia coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
If only for the record, though, it has not really been officially announced that Smokin’ Joe would take over as Kia mentor in the PBA Governors’ Cup blasting off on July 19.
But a source privy to the Kia organization has confirmed to me about Joe’s appointment.
“It was a verbal deal,” said my friend about Smokin’ Joe’s new posting at Kia. “But after Kia lost its first game, Joe lost his job the next day.”
Unofficially, Smokin’ Joe had coached from behind the team bench in Kia’s first game the week past.
It was a well-kept secret, all right. But not to those with a nose for news, who readily got a whiff of Smokin’ Joe’s one-day coaching stint at Kia, formerly Mahindra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup won by San Miguel Beer in a strong follow-up to the Beermen’s conquest of the All-Filipino First Conference.
If Kia would deny about Smokin’ Joe’s reported “misadventure,” no worries. Been there. Old hat.
Did Paul Pierce not get a oneday contract with Boston if only to show he would retire as a Celtic—a Pierce wish?
Life’s like a beach, indeed: It spreads out surprises unevenly in the sand.
And why again do I address Sol F. Juvida as writer-journalist?
Well, there is a whale of a difference between a writer and a journalist. They are worlds apart—a writer writes chiefly with the soul, a journalist chronicles mainly news and, on rare occasions, is tasked to do column-writing.
It is when a journalist starts doing a column that his writing inclination is either unearthed or not. If he doesn’t have “it,” he’d remain just that: a journalist.
You’ve heard it said: “Journalism is literature in a hurry.” That is accorded only to a journalist whose prose is bathed in literary gems.
Sol F. Juvida writes fiction, drama and poetry and did journalism as reporter and columnist for many years. Sol is now deep into another book work. I can’t wait its publication. Happy birthday, sunshine!
Did Paul Pierce not get a oneday contract with Boston if only to show he would retire as a Celtic—a Pierce wish?