Thumbs down to the UP Fighting Maroons, who lured their fans into getting their hopes up with an improved team featuring rookie Fil-Am Mike Silungan, whom Coach Aboy Castro described as a cross between James Yap and Dondon Hontiveros. True to form, they got plastered by La Salle. They should just go ahead and change their name to the UP Sucking Maroons.

• Whenever I went out drinking with a boss from my old office and talk turns to UAAP basketball, he would always bring up how dominant Ateneo’s Danny Francisco was even against UP’s Benjie Paras, even though we were both Maroons fans. One of the biggest questions in Philippine basketball history, in my mind, was always how Francisco’s career would have turned out if he didn’t have the career-ending heart condition. Would he have been consistently dominant, like Alvin Patrimonio? Would he have been maddeningly up-and-down, like Benjie Paras? Would he have been the poster boy for wasted potential, like Jun Limpot? Or would he have been a bust like Alex Araneta? It’s a shame that we’ll never know.
  
  In his latest story for Inbound Pass, Charlie Cuna writes about another player who remains legendary for his college exploits: Eddie Viaplana, the De La Salle hotshot who shared the backcourt with “The Bullet” Dindo Pumaren. Viaplana blew out his knee before getting to the PBA. We’ll never know how good he could have been: was he going to be another Caidic? Or maybe he was an Apet Jao or a Joey Guanio. Or somewhere in between, like a Naning Valenciano.


• My buddy Toff Rada argues that basketball is an essential skill for the incoming Philippine president now that the White House is occupied by an avid baller, and details the basketball credentials of presidential candidates Noynoy Aquino, Erap Estrada, Dick Gordon, and Gibo Teodoro. If you could assign basketball teams to each, Aquino would definitely be Purefoods (James Yap, after all, is his brother-in law), Teodoro, the so-called political son of Dandinng Cojuangco, would share his uncle’s favorite San Miguel, Erap would probably be have to take Ginebra because Johnny Walker Blue Label isn’t available, and Dick Gordon is a true-blue Eagle. By the way, is anyone else surprised that all these years, Manny Villar didn’t try to bankroll the UP Fighting Maroons just for the exposure he’ll get? I mean, it didn’t take him long to become the top patron of billiards in the country, and he’s gotten to be close to Pacquiao too. I wonder why he didn’t bother ‘investing’ in basketball.


• Carlos Acevedo of the boxing blog The Cruelest Sport eavesdropped on the hilarious negotiations for the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather superfight. Seriously though, Bob Arum is reportedly in town to discuss the final details of the fight with the Pac-Man.


• An American boxing promoter in Cebu was arrested this week for bringing an underage girl into a hotel room. Which reminds me of one of Manila Vanilla’s posts from when he first arrived in the country: “Whenever you pass a middle-aged white man in Manila, you're faced with that all-too-common conundrum: Was he a missionary or a sex tourist?”


• Speaking of boxing, did you guys catch the sensational knockout by Danny Green over Roy Jones?

UE Red Warriors

Looking back: UE had a fun run through Season 72, led by the spectacular Paul Lee and the solid frontcourt of Elmer Espiritu, Pari Llagas, and Val Acuña. The Warriors gave Ateneo a good scare in the Finals with a huge game 2 victory, but faded away in game 3.

Looking forward: Espiritu, Llagas, and Acuña will be leaving the team, which means that UE’s front line will be paper-thin, unless coach Lawrence Chongson is able to recruit quality big men. Chongson, meanwhile, has enough guards in his rotation to start a security agency.

Analysis: While both Chongson and fellow Tsinoy coach Alfrancis Chua rock the long hair, the UE mentor should consider asking Chua for hair care advice. Chua has nice, moisturized locks while Chongson’s hair is dry.