ALLAN THE MAN

The country’s most beloved son Manny Pacquiao is aware his boxing career lost some glitter after a huge letdown in 2012 that saw him fail to win in two big matches.

“Siyempre natalo tayo sa last fights natin, kailangang mabawi natin `yung trust and confidence sa atin ng tao,” he said.

In quick response to Friday evening’s Cebu ferry disaster where a number of people died and over a hundred still unaccounted for, Globe Telecom immediately sets up two Libreng Tawag centers which victims and families of those affected can use to establish communications with their friends and kins.

The first Libreng Tawag site is at the Pier 4 Terminal in Port Area where about 300 survivors are staying while the second Libreng Tawag center is in Sugbutel, one of the two hostels which house the other survivors.

Rafael Nadal won the Cincinnati Masters for the first time on Sunday, his ninth title of 2013 lifting him to number two in the world and stamping him as one of US Open favorites.

He beat unseeded American John Isner 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/3) to add the Cincinnati crown to the Montreal Masters title he won a week before, his first ever back-to-back hardcourt trophies.

Alaska Aces super rookie Calvin Abueva, Petron Blaze do-it-all forward Arwind Santos and FIBA Asia Mythical Five member Jayson Castro are in a neck-and-neck fight for the season MVP award with one short conference to go in the 38th PBA season.

Castro is already seeded as an official MVP candidate being the Philippine Cup BPC (Best Player of the Conference) winner while Abueva and Santos are making a strong case for themselves being the leaders of the stats race through the first two conferences.

The UAAP Season 76 seniors and women's games scheduled for August 21, Wednesday have been cancelled due to inclement weather, according to UAAP secretary-treasurer Malou Isip of hosts Adamson University.

"Due to the continuous rain and flood around the Metro, we are cancelling the UAAP Basketball Men and Women's games tomorrow," Isip said in a statement Tuesday.

The success of Gilas Pilipinas also opened the door for me to imagine other versions of the team with a clear conscience during my next flight, the 14-hour jaunt from Seoul to New York. 

That’s because we know what the “right” version of the national team was — it was the group that qualified for a FIBA World Cup for the first time since 1978 and had the nation crying tears of joy. So instead, I could entertain myself by imagining strange, themed versions of the Philippine team. Hey, it was either that or watch Sylvester Stallone’s “Bullet to the Head” seven consecutive times.

Gilas Pilipinas did the hard work and brought a measure of redemption to the Philippines’ once-revered status in Asian basketball. That frees us up to goof around and imagine what would happen if the country sent some of the PBA’s most colorful characters and unique talents to compete in FIBA Asia events. Let’s do this.

PART 3: IT'S MORE FUN TEAM PHILIPPINES