UFO basketball league starts

The 5th Annual United Filipino Organization Basketball League unfurled yesterday amid a lot of fanfare at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Dubbed as the 2004 San Miguel Cup, the kick-off was attended by local dignitaries led by Philippine Consul Wenceslao Gayola, Pacific Trading Co. General Manager Charles Cepeda, McDonald’s Saipan owner Joe Ayuyu, and BANMI president Mike Muna.

The team parade survived the absence of Cavite-Pacific Islands Club, after the hoteliers begged off from the opening rites (the bulk of the team is made up of waiters from PIC), and had the familiar luster despite three teams making do with makeshift jerseys.

Defending champion Visminda-Country House was the first team to enter the building with lucky Banjo Basila escorting not one but two beauties, Beverly Sarco and Kahra Atalig.

Danny Bicera sponsored the team’s opening day jerseys, which were emblazoned with his restaurant’s name on the front.

The orange-clad Cabalen-RP Construction team followed suit with recent Marianas High School valedictorian Paul Magcalas acting as Romeo to pretty teenager Madelyn Lopez’s Juliet.

Mylene Cunanan, meanwhile, made up for SIP-Verizon’s lack of uniforms, as the petite Tambayan waitress walked in together with the three-time champs. Next in the parade was LIPS-JAM with their New Jersey Nets-inspired jerseys and muse Myra Santos in tow.

MDX Amateur Radio Group was another of those teams that fell victim to shipment delays and had to do with white shirts and utilitarian jeans as their uniform. Good thing Trichelle Manlapaz was there to distract the crowd.

The youngest muse, Judy Ann Tiples, ended up with Laguna-GEC Pawnshop, which hope they won’t befall the same fate as the Lakers only because they copied the team’s purple and blue.

Bicol Express was next in the pecking order and their simple white uniforms with red trim matched perfectly with their inspiration for the day Myrielle Wagan. SMF-Seabridge, meanwhile, shunned their trademark yellow colors opting for purple jerseys instead. Their candidate for Best Muse was Charmaine Gutierrez.

Last year’s Best Uniform winner didn’t mess up with their winning formula and Bayani players strolled into the gym wearing their familiar blue-and-white jerseys with the letters B-A-Y-A-N-I clearly written on their chests. The team also pinned its hopes for a repeat in the Best Muse plum on Shanne Joseph.

Giselle Dela Rosa headlined the Johnny-come-lately of this year’s competition, MAFILWA-McDonald’s, while FASA-CNC brought in Myra Grace Capilitan as their candidate for the Best Muse award.

MAFILWA players wore black t-shirts with McDonald’s golden arches printed in the front. FASA players donned uniforms based loosely on the jerseys of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Don’t let their numbers fool you, but Bartenders Association really is fielding a team this year despite only three of them, including muse Adora Pamular, showing up in the opening.

Like PIC, players of Bartenders were tied up for Sunday Brunches celebrating Father’s Day.

Following the customary opening remarks, keynote speeches, and special messages delivered by the day’s VIPs, the organizers finally got around to awarding the Best Muse and Best Uniform awards with the help from judges Ayuyu, Cepeda, and Muna.

With the roar of the crowd replacing the usual drum roll, 19-year-old NMC student Madelyn Lopez of Cabalen was named Best Muse. Bayani, meanwhile, did bag its second straight Best Uniform award.