It was a good news-bad news weekend for all true hardcore hoops junkies. Sunday was the opening day of the Fr Martin Cup Open Division tournament, meaning players from the A Teams of various schools could now compete alongside their varsity aspirants. This promises to be a showcase of the present and future of college hoops and gives the normally pampered regular varsity players a taste of real hardcore hoops action.

On the other hand, the Southeast Asian Games have officially begun and in a manner nearly as quiet as the near-silent start of the FMC Open. Once upon a time the SEA Games was a big to-do. In 1991, the last time the Philippines hosted the biennial event, there was much fanfare in the opening ceremonies, with the usual plethora of stars, politicians, media and fans. Now nary a word was heard.

Thanks to all of the healthy stuff I take (yeast, hops, malt, barley...) I have determined the reason for the seeming indifference to this year's SEA Games: no basketball. That's right, thanks to the row between the Basketball Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Olympic Committee, two organizations (I use the term loosely, Praxedes) who know next to nothing about the sport of basketball anyway, the favorite sport of the host country will not be an event in the SEA Games this year.

How did it come it come to this? Think back to around this same time last year to the FIBA Stankovic Cup, one of those regional hoops tournaments in which the Philippines participates. With teams from Japan, Taiwan, Central Asia and even Russia, I recall, the Philippines, through the BAP, sent the mighty Philipppine College of Criminology varsity squad to do battle against these powerhouses. Needless to say the PCCr boys had their backsides handed to them every game, sometimes to the tune of 100-plus point deficits. How could the Philippines not muster a decent enough team to represent the country in its favorite sport in an international tournament against top competition?

We could have sent a team of say, UAAP and NCAA All Stars at least, or a PBL All Star Selection, maybe beefed them up with two or three PBA stars. Certainly we would not have been as thoroughly embarassed as we were. Naturally all true lovers of Philippine hoopdom were in an uproar and demanded heads to roll. The BAP being the lead agency in charge of basketball in the country was of course the prime target. It was all downhill from there as the brouhaha degenerated into nothing more than a turf war, even reaching the courts of law. The most immediate and sorriest outcome of this mess is what we have now, or NOT have as the case may be: No basketball in the SEA Games.

Thank St Michael we at least have the FMC Open. Familiar college stars like Jojo Duncil, Bam Gamalinda and Dylan Ababou are mxing it up with future stars Pong Escobal, Ron Cabagnot and Ronnie Bughao. THIS is the kind of basketball that almost makes me forget the current sorry state of Pinoy hoops. This is where everyone plays their hearts out, where the love of the game and the purity of the sport are on sublime display, away from the big crowds and the bright lights.

So even as I bemoan the absence of basketball in the SEA Games, I raise a toast to this latest generation of hardcore players for keeping the faith and reminding all true hoops junkies that all is not lost.