NBA Time

For all basketball fans, the months of May and June are the most awaited of all. It’s NBA Playoffs time. No other basketball activity is watched by the whole basketball world, and it’s not surprising to see that no other basketball league ever conflicts with the NBA Playoffs out of both respect and fear that they’ll be “outwatched.” Funny but following the NBA has been one enjoyable ride through all these years. Yes, this may reflect my age but that’s just the way it is.

I can still remember the days when we were still kids and my father would always talk about the greatness of the Lakers of the 70s that featured Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. My father would also make special mention of the workhorses like Gail Goodrich, Bill Havlicek, Earl Monroe and the young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With this as a bias, I grew up admiring the Lakers even if I couldn’t even “see” them. The Celtics were also another top-mention but since they didn’t dominate the 70s in the same way that they did the 60s, the Lakers would be the talk of the town. All news came through the newspapers “Bulletin Today” and “Times Journal” which we could read on a delayed “telecast.” Living up there far from the city meant that we would receive our papers after lunch since these were to be delivered from the city. Watching NBA on TV was even more “delayed.” For starters, the TV stations that we could receive were the transmissions from the Bacolod stations. And it would be a big event to know if a game was on air.

The 80s saw more TV coverages on local TV although these were also delayed, but a lot better than the skeds of the 70s. Those who could watch live games on TV were those who lived in the American bases Clark and Subic. Before cable TV became the in thing, Manila households installed arrow-shaped UHF antennas on their roofs just to be able to catch the broadcasts of the FEN Network, the TV network set up for Clark and Subic.

The 90s saw the advent of satellite TV and “On the Boulevard.” With the sprouting of satellite dishes that were affordable for a few, same day telecasts were now common in some households and commercial places. The more enterprising of the lot (restaurants and bars) would record these telecasts, then re-air this on their wide screen TVs later in the evening of the same day. “On the Boulevard” was a big hit with a throng of young professionals and students flocking together for dinner and beer, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Many other bars and restaurants did the same gimmick, complete with radio ads, plugs and come-ons to lure basketball fans. All these places would be packed especially on evenings of all games of the NBA Finals. It was thus common for basketball fans to know the results of the games before the news hit the press. Others would even go through the black market where recorded games from satellite TV transmissions were rented out on VHS or Betamax tapes. There were talks that doing all these were bending the copyright laws of TV broadcasts, but I’m sure it was something the NBA didn’t mind. After all, it was the NBA that benefited from all these.

Today is already something else. Live telecasts of NBA games is now the norm via cable TV (BTV, ESPN, GMA and Star Sports). Internet streaming is also available for those glued to their computers. For those who can’t watch the games live on TV, they rush to sports websites to get updates and results. You Tube is a hit for highlight plays of the day. The games played in the morning are always replayed on the evening of the same day, topped with special news reports, highlights and analysis on different NBA-related shows. The newspaper’s sports page is now considered “stale” and only serves to confirm whatever happened the day before. The most amazing feat in all this is that the NBA’s reach has now gone down to the masses and is no longer an option only for the rich. Thanks to technology, the NBA is just a click away and is no longer a foreign object in outer space.

So what else can possibly happen? How about an NBA game here in Cebu?

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Time-out: Happy Fiesta to the wonderful people of Lilo-an! >>> You can reach me at [email protected].