This is probably the funniest basketball game I've ever seen! And the best part...it's for a good cause!:)
It's more than just a basketball. It's entertainment! This charity basketball game is a bright idea of Kiefer Ravena, the Ateneo cager, MVP of UUAP, and son of former basketball player and currently Talk N' Text Coach Bong Ravena. Kiefer, together with his friends in basketball (some are celebrities), and Ignite Media worked on this project with less than a month of preparation. With the common goal of helping the victims of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, this team cause-oriented people were able to put a great show.
There are also a lot of company sponsors who contributed to this cause. The voluntary presence of different male celebrities are also of great help to the team. And when it comes to ticket sales, well a lot of girls were actually there so I believe the game has raised enough for Sendong victims. haha! The San Juan Arena seemed to be a bit packed.:)
So there were two teams: Meralco Red and Smart White. To name a few players of Smart White were Kiefer Ravena, Chris Tiu, Jhong Hilario, Rico Blanco, Luis Alandi, Marco Alcaraz, Champ of Hale, and Jose Manalo. For the Meralco Red were John Hall, Nico Salva, Thirdy Ravena, Jai Reyes, Young JV, Gab Valenciano, Tado, and Gerald Anderson. Yeah, it's indeed a starstudded line-up! However, I was expecting Xian Lim to be there as he was originally a part of the line-up. Also, I just need to mention that Vice Ganda came to the event.
the teams
glad that my girls came :)
Gerald took a photo w/ the sick child in front of us
For the halftime, Maynilad sponsored the 3-point Shootout wherein the winner receives Php 5,000.00 cash to be donated to the Sendong victims as well. Those who took part in the 3-point shootout were Chris Ellis of NLEX Road Warriors, Mark Zambrano, James Yap, and Allan Caidic. The winner was Allan Caidic! And I was the one who awarded him haha! Also a "Teach Me How to Dougie" dance contest was conducted wherein participants came from the audience. Some of the players also showed a "sample" of this dance craze. Another halftime game was conducted and I don't know what it's called. They come in pairs and must be able to shoot the most with their partners at a given time. One pair had Chris Tiu and another pair had Bong Ravena. That was probably the longest halftime break ever!
3 point shootout winner Allan Caidic and other contestants: Chris Ellis, James Yap, Mark Zambrano
Then the craziness went on in the 3rd Quarter. Jose Manalo finally arrived. Just when I though that the craziest part of the game was finding Jhong Hilario tumbling first before shooting the ball, I was so wrong! Because when Jose Manalo came, we enevr stopped laughing! He took the microphone and acted like "Budoy", the role of Gerald Anderson in his primetime teleserye. Then Gerald faced him and they both acted like Budoy! Super funny!!! LOL!:)) And it didn't stop there. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, Jose grabbed the whistle of one of the referees and he acted as if he's one. So there, it started the SO NOT SERIOUS game! Shot clocks were stopped, and the referees just let Jose do the calls. Since Smart White was way behind the score of Meralco Red when Jose arrived, Jose decided to manipulate the game to make his team win. He made really funny calls! Like when Chris Tiu made a 3-point shot, Jose signaled that it's 4, and so the barker reannounced it saying "Chris Tiu FOUR!!!" Jose also gave a lot of free throws to his teammates. Another part of the funny game was when Kiefer passed the ball to the opponent intentionally and took the ball into the basket. That was a cool game! How I wish PBA could be that cool too haha!
FAKE Budoy VS REAL Budoy
he's really a referee! LOL!
Kiefer thanking everyone who became a part of the event
two crazies!:)))
Anyway, Smart White won. But the best part of the event was having a lot of people enjoying the game, and having fun together, while at the same time, helping the victims of Typhoon Sendong. I'm so proud that I've been a part of such a good and inspiring enadeavor. Kudos to Kiefer and the whole team who worked on this!:)
