PBA Live

I finally caught a PBA game live at the historic Araneta Coliseum last April 1, 2011.

Thanks to my girlfriend's officemate, we had four upper box tickets. So, I tagged along two of my close buddies, Borj & MP.

When we entered and took our seats, the game between Bmeg Derby Ace Llamados against Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters is on the latter part of the first quarter.

First, I tried to accustomed myself to the feel of being present in an actual PBA game. It was a friday and there was a sizable crowd from the upper box seats down to the courtside seats. The seats for general admission are practically all vacant. The big screens at the center top of the coliseum gives the crowd farther from the court a better view of the game including game scores and stats.

The basketball court seems like smaller in actual than in TV. And the PBA players appeared bigger especially Ali Peek.

For some reason, James Yap was not playing and Bmeg doesn't have an import. James Yap was shown on the big screen, so he was injured that day. As for their import, I assumed he was ejected before we arrived.

Given that I'm not a fan of either team, I contented myself in basking in proximity to the first basketball league that I saw, even much earlier than the inter-barangays in our place.

I was looking for the TV crew and saw Sev Sarmienta and Dominic Uy. I think they are in the lower box area.

The crowd is almost exclusively pro-Bmeg. PJ Simon drew the most cheers. The crowd erupted when Simon's basket gave the lead to Bmeg in the 3rd quarter. To the dismay of the crowd, Talk 'N Text prevailed led by their import who took the brunt of crowd's boo. TNT ought to win because Bmeg is playing all-filipino.

But I'm glad that Bmeg did not give up even they are at a disadvantage. I liked what I saw from Kerby Raymundo battling TNT big men and scoring against them. I think Bmeg's missed free throws somehow downed their morale and eventually the momentum they built in keeping the game close.

The fun games in between time-outs was also entertaining.

Coming from the half-time break, I was surprised to see Jimmy Alapag the first player out on court and started practice shooting before the teams came out.

The fans were also entertaining. The TNT fans near the TNT bench are outnumbered but they are animated and lively but they do had their laugh in the end.

I would love to see a live PBA game again soon. Hopefully, much closer to the action. Perhaps, have a picture taken with a player or have an item autographed.

I pray that GF can score more free tickets or I get a my next job soon so that I can buy tickets.