Christmas day ‘clasico’

MANILA, Philippines — There’s an air of nervous excitement in the Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia camps heading to their “Manila Clasico” clash today.

Tough as it is, this intense rivalry takes an even greater significance and stake as it takes place on Christmas Day at the Smart Araneta and with screaming fans slowly finding their way back in the stands after a long absence due to the pandemic.

“It’s a big game for both teams because after two years, the crowd is back,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero. “There’s a lot of distraction because it’s Christmas Day so we need to have a good focus on the game.”

While bowing to the other is hard to swallow on regular days, losing on Dec. 25 is a lot harder.

“It’s a game you want to win because it certainly ruins your Christmas when you don’t win it. You lose and you go home extra sad on Christmas Day,” said Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone.

The corporate siblings and yet bitter hardcourt rivals haven’t had a “Christmas Clasico” since 2017 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan at the start of the 2017-18 Philippine Cup. Ginebra won that one, 89-98.

And after COVID-19 broke out, the two engaged in a pair of All-Filipino “Bubble Clasico” faceoffs in spectator-less venues in Pampanga. Magnolia prevailed in both, 102-82 in 2020 and 89-79 early this year.

The Gin Kings (3-0) and the Hotshots (2-0) hit the Big Dome at 6:45 p.m. with a capacity crowd in “new normal” terms (around 4,000) expected.

It’s actually a double-Christmas treat for the fans as pacesetting NLEX (4-0) and Phoenix (2-2) provide an equally-explosive showdown in the curtain-raiser at 4 p.m. The Road Warriors look to stay ahead of the pack and set a new franchise-best start of five consecutive victories. The Fuel Masters aim to snap a two-game slide.

Today’s twin-bill kicks off the PBA’s “Season of Joy” two-day special in partnership with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Both Victolero and Cone believe they need not do or say something special to fire up their respective charges.

“I don’t need to motivate my players. Because of the hype, the fans will motivate them already,“ said Victolero.

“The players are super motivated to play against each other and they know how important it is to the fans,” said Cone.