Streak Shooter

(photo courtesy of Judith Caringal's FB page) ONE of the Philippines' most underrated sports broadcasters has just called it a career. Enrico "Rick" Yap Santos retired from the government-owned Radyo Pilipinas 2 918 (formerly DZSR Sports Radio) on Friday after more than 30 years as production supervisor and station manager. His last broadcast came when he did the 3 pm sports news roundup on his station. Santos began his broadcasting career in government radio way back in the 70s during the time of the National Media Production Center during the Marcos administration. After the EDSA Revolution in 1986, Tito Rick became part of the fledging DZSR or DZFM Sports Radio which initially was on 738 khz before moving to 918 khz, trading frequencies with Radyo ng Bayan (now Radyo Pilipinas 1). During his long career with Sports Radio, Santos was sent to cover a lot of sports events like the Asian Games, SEA Games, Olympics, boxing bouts and his favorite event, the Ma...

THE Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) under the Duterte administration has been getting a lot of flak lately because of some major booboos, including the case of Undersecretary Mocha Uson and the big mouths of the Tulfo brothers over Radyo Pilipinas. But if there's one thing that PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar has done right, then it has to be the way government FM radio sounds a little better thanks to the two new stations FM1 on 87.5 and FM2 on 104.3 (the former Business Radio). Surveys have shown that both stations are giving their private counterparts a run for their money because of their music choices, plus the fact that both stations are run almost similar to the Tiger 22 stations like Magic 89.9, Wave 891, Jam 88.3 and the old 99.5 RT. Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) director Bong "Sonny B" Aportadera and his deputy, Carlo Jose, both came from the Tiger 22 group and what they have done with their former company is what they are do...

THROUGH the broadcasting might of ESPN and the efforts of writers Jackie MacMullan and Raef Bartholomew, the documentary Basketball: A Love Story currently being shown on the ESPN2 channel is a must-view for the hardcore hoops fan. This documentary is based on the book of the same name written by the two which they first revealed when they appeared as guests on the show The Jump hosted by Rachel Nichols. After watching the first few episodes, I couldn't help but observe some similarities between American and Philippine basketball especially since it was the Americans who helped introduce the sport to Filipinos in the early part of the 19th century and which explains why the Philippines is really a basketball-crazy country despite obvious height limitations. First, if you observe the rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers against the Boston Celtics, it holds similarities to the Crispa vs Toyota rivalry that dominated the PBA in the 70s. The Toyota squad was the glamour squa...

SUNDAYS is normally a day for people to relax at home and watch some television so the two giant networks ABS-CBN and GMA 7 are trying to out-rate each other even more with the kind of programming they offer to the viewers on the Lord's day. Most of the time, both stations air dubbed movies on three time slots that are considered dead, meaning that people are usually not watching TV: the 10 am slot where people go to Mass, the 3:30 pm slot where they are usually taking siesta or going out to the mall and the 10:30 pm slot when people are already asleep and preparing for work the next day. Occasionally though, viewers can watch the occasional monthly special on either ABS-CBN or GMA. And based on my observations, the Kapamilya network gets the jump on the Kapuso network because of the quality of specials being aired. In the 10 am slot, ABS-CBN usually airs beauty pageants and awards presentations but one Sunday special that stands out is G Diaries, which airs on the second ...

PHILIPPINE basketball has lost a great voice in Rolly Manlapaz who died at age 53 (not 58 as I previously posted earlier) due to ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. So many tributes have been posted on social media for Manlapaz who started his career as a coliseum announcer (or barker in everyday lingo) in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association in 1998. Prior to his MBA stint, Manlapaz was a radio DJ who was known by his monikers such as Harry Nolan and Jellybean. He played New Wave on DWXB, dance music on 89 DMZ and classic hits on DZRJ FM. When the MBA folded up, he moved to the PBA where his ad-libbing style got the ire of some PBA officials. He was even castigated for saying in public the quotient system that Talk n Text needed to win over Red Bull to make the semifinals of a PBA Invitational tournament in 2003. Manlapaz was eventually suspended but made his way back to the pro league in 2012 when Boyet Sison left for greener pastures. Manlapaz was the barker when ...

A few days ago, I went to Target while I was on my lunch break from my supermarket duty to buy the eagerly awaited book Basketball: A Love Story, written by veteran sportswriter Jackie MacMullan and Pinoy basketball author Rafe Bartholomew, best remembered for his book on Pinoy hoops Pacific Rims which came out in 2010. The book contains interviews with well-known basketball personalities related to the NBA, Olympics, women's basketball, US college basketball and even how NBA players back then reacted to being victims of racism. The third author of the book, Dan Klores, turned the book into a documentary series that was shown on ESPN2 in the US a few days after the book was released. All the episodes can be viewed here in the US via the ESPN+ streaming service available on the ESPN App. As I write this, I finished reading the first 118 pages of the book and I was able to discover some things that I never knew, such as how women's college basketball took off with the Im...

ABS-CBN Sports and NBA Asia have already released the initial schedule of televised games for the NBA's new season which opens in a few weeks' time. Only the Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics duel on Opening Night will be shown on ABS-CBN S+A on October 17 starting at 8 am. This game will feature Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back in action for the Celtics after injuries kept them out of the playoffs last April. The Sixers will have an intact roster led by Joel Embiid, Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons and JJ Redick as they try to take the next step after making the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season, falling to Boston in five games. If you want to watch the other Opening Night game between the defending champion Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 17 at 10:30 am, it will be shown only on Basketball TV and NBA Premium. And as you know by now, the ABS-CBN Sports vs Solar Entertainment controversy over carriage fees is still pending in court...

Philippine sports has lost a brilliant voice in Rolly Africa Manlapaz after he passed away at the age of 58 due to Lou Gehrig's disease. A few days before his death, I saw an Instagram picture of Manlapaz in his hospital bed and I noticed that he has grown a mustache and beard while also losing a lot of weight. Manlapaz has been sorely missed in the UAAP games since the league opened this month. Three barkers -- Noel Vilar, Richard Campos and Edwin "Rick Stryker" Logina -- have alternated in that role in his absence. Sadly, all three of them could not match the booming voice and charisma of Manlapaz, who has a lot of fans in the college leagues but PBA officials have long disliked his style and he left the pro league for good in 2013. Before being a barker starting with the defunct MBA, Manlapaz was a radio DJ for such FM stations as 89 DMZ, WXB 102 and RJ FM and even worked for Filoil Flying V as its sports manager aside from his duties as barker for the Pres...