The Greek Freak

Giannis Antetekounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, an MVP   candidate in this year’s NBA season played for the Greek national team in the FIBA World Cup held in Seville, Spain in 2014.  The then 19-year old  Giannis played against the Gilas Philippine team scoring a mere three points on a 3-of-4 from the line while grabbing six rebounds but missing all three field goal attempts.  Gilas’ Marc Pingres was matched up with Giannis, scoring seven points.  Greece won over the Philippines 82-70.  As I write this column, Milwaukee is leading the playoff with the Detroit Pistons 3-0.  As a rookie Giannis known as the “Greek Freak” averaged 6.8 points but is currently averaging over 27 points per game.  Don’t look now but Milwaukee could nail its second NBA title. The Bucks has   And this was won only one NBA crown and  this was in   1971 when Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Lucius Allen, Oscar Robertson formed the nucleus of the team.

Elvisaya on tour

Elvisaya departs for Iloilo City today en route to Roxas City  Capiz.  He will perform in the 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary of his cousin  Romeo Uytiepo Buncalan an officer of the Capiz Gun Club.  Another “paryente” is Olympian Nelson Uygongco.  From Iloilo, Elvisaya swings to Bacolod City to finalize his  concert on Father’s Day in the Azucarera Resto Bar.  In  August, Elvisaya joins the other Elvises at Bistro RJ in Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City for the Elvis Night.  In September, Elvisaya will be joined by Jhun Villahermosa, the Frank Sinatra of Cebu, Edison Monternel, Tom Jones of Cebu, Awit Awardee Amie Filomeno and Jun Villarta, 2018 Cebu Pop Music Festival champion.  Rounding the tour will be the Elvis and Friends Christmas Concert at Robinsons Fuente in December.

Did You Know?

LEBRON JAMES was just a junior in high school when sports writers gave him two nicknames, “The Chosen One”  and “King James”.  In his initial season in the NBA, he averaged 20.9 ppg.  while crashing the boards for five rebounds.  He became the youngest player to score 1,000 points in NBA history as well.  Playing for the Cavs, he was the youngest player ever to be named the Rookie of the Year as a 19-year old. This year however, James failed to deliver for  Los Angeles as the Lakers were eliminated for six straight seasons.

THE NEW YORK CITY   Marathon was first held in 1970.  Romania, Transylvania native Fred Lebow organized the marathon with runners doing four laps entirely within Central Park.  It was a low-key affair with each runner paying just US $1 entry fee.  There were 127 participants and only 55 finished.  Today, the New York City marathon boasts of 50,000 runners.