El Presidente was in the building on Thursday night
One of the PBA’s all-time greats, Ramon Fernandez, took time to drop by the Mall of Asia Arena to watch Game Four of the 2018 Philippine Cup semifinals between the San Miguel Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
The current PSC commissioner witnessed how San Miguel — his team from 1988 to 1994 — completely dismantled the Gin Kings, 102-81. Asked about the match, Fernandez quipped that he was bored with what he had seen.
“It was a boring game,” shared the 64-year-old legend. “I like what I saw because San Miguel won, but I didn’t really enjoy the game that much. I would have enjoyed if it was a close game, two-point, three-point game or a one-point game.
“San Miguel wasn’t really playing well, it’s just that Ginebra just played really bad. They could play better than that.”
It’s easy to see where Fernandez was coming from, since he and the thousands in attendance witnessed a massacre, as the Beermen nearly lead by 30 late in the third chapter, 84-55.
Moreover, San Miguel came out firing all cylinders on Thursday night, as they shot an excellent 51.9 percent from the floor — clearly hard-pressed to redeem themselves following their 87-95 loss in Game Three the other night.
But probably the highlight of Fernandez’s visit was that he had some sort of a reunion with an old pal and former rival in Robert “Sonny” Jaworski, who was also in attendance to support, of course, the Barangay.
“Timing lang na nanood din siya at timing din na nasa Manila ako so nakapanood din ako,” said Fernandez of Jaworski, his teammate with Toyota for 11 years.
“We just said hi to each other, kamusta, hi lang.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other,” he admitted, as he and Jaworski exchanged pleasantries and shook hands during a timeout in the first quarter.
Fernandez is optimistic about SMB’s chances of going to the Philippine Cup Finals for the fourth straight time. Asked if he will be able to watch the title series later this March, the four-time league MVP hopes he’ll have the chance.
“Hopefully I should be here during the championship series. I will be going back tomorrow evening so hopefully I’ll catch a few championship games,” expressed Fernandez, who had an illustrious career that spanned for 22 years, where he won a total of 19 championships.
