Amazin race

LAS VEGAS — Flying to the world’s entertainment capital for the five-day Global Hoops Summit is a story in itself.

Last Thursday, two groups took off via different routes to reach the same destination.

The first group was made up of the ABC-TV sports production staff headed by overall director Sienna Olaso. Others in the group were broadcasters Mico Halili and Richard del Rosario, director Dong Capinpuyan, producer Russell Torres and associate producer Darby Ballesteros.

The group’s mission is to cover 24 games of the 10-team Global Hoops Summit, where the Philippine national team is an entry, at the Cox Pavilion on the University of Nevada at Las Vegas campus from July 16 to 21. The Philippines will play five games in the five-day conclave.

The games will be shown on ABC-TV starting July 24.

The ABC team left Manila at around 12 noon via Eva Air with Taipei as its first stop.

The second group was composed of national basketball coach Chot Reyes, assistants Tim Cone and Aboy Castro, trainer Dennis Aenlle and players Mike Cortez, Jay-Jay Helterbrand, Ren-Ren Ritualo, James Yap, Tony de la Cruz, Rich Alvarez, Kerby Raymundo, Sonny Thoss, Billy Mamaril, Kelly Williams and Romel Adducul. I joined this group.

Don Allado’s passport expired last month and couldn’t board the 5 p.m. Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight to Las Vegas through Vancouver with the second group.

Don got his new passport that same afternoon and later took the PAL flight to Los Angeles. His ninong and "miracle worker" Freddie Mendoza found a way for Don to take the evening flight. From Los Angeles, Don then flew an hour to Las Vegas.

A late addition to the team, Dondon Hontiveros, arrives a few hours before the Philippines’ first game against Aoshen of China this morning (Manila time). He’ll sit out the contest. It’s expected that after clearing immigration and customs, Hontiveros will catch the last two quarters of the game.

Upon landing in Taipei for the nine-hour layover, Sienna asked the Eva Air staff behind the check-in counter for a more comfortable seat for Richard, the former PBA cager who has extraordinarily long legs. She was hoping for an exit row, aisle seat for Richard.

Lo and behold, Sienna was given a lot more than what she bargained for. The Eva Air staff said the ABC team of six could take an earlier flight to Los Angeles, cutting the layover from nine hours to only three, and the group would be upgraded to the Evergreen executive class section with access to the VIP Lounge.

On the way to the VIP Lounge, Sienna got a call on her cell phone. It was ABC’s marketing manager Winston de la Cruz who broke the news of the PBA’s three-year renewal of the network as exclusive coveror. Sienna jumped for joy and screamed. Passengers in the terminal probably wondered why she had gone bananas. Sienna couldn’t care less. She was in tears. The long process to decide ABC Sports’ fate was over.

At Los Angeles, the ABC team was back on earth and out of Cloud 9. The group’s America West flight to Las Vegas was scheduled at 7 a.m. the next day and it was only 3 p.m. The thought of the long wait was unbearable–16 long hours. Sienna considered the options–take a six-hour drive to Las Vegas, go to Disneyland, window shop at Rodeo Drive or visit friends and relatives. But the first option was to check if there was an earlier America West flight to accommodate six passengers.

Luckily, there was. And Sienna managed to persuade the America West staff to waive the usual $100 rebooking fee for each ticket. The group was en route to Las Vegas by 5 p.m.

The second group’s straight flight to Vancouver was a breeze. The PAL staff was superb. Purser Tess Picardal made sure each passenger was cared for and service was above par. Charming flight attendant Mayong Garcia was all smiles from takeoff to landing. The food was excellent. I usually take a tranquilizer to sleep off the flight but got to eat all the meals plus a snack and watched a movie, "Guess Who," too.

The wait in Vancouver was two hours and you hardly felt it. It was about 1 p.m. so if you had a good rest on the plane, the arrival was perfect timing. Then it was another two hours plus to Las Vegas.

I even bumped into neighbor Benjie Laurel, brother Francis and sister Marilen Loinez who just came from an Alaskan cruise with their mother and other members of the family at the waiting area in the Vancouver airport.

Believe it or not, the second group landed only a few minutes ahead of the first group which flew in at 6:30 p.m. And to think that the first group would’ve arrived at 8 a.m. the next day if not for Sienna’s switches.

By Friday morning, both groups were settled in at New York New York Hotel and Casino.

Broadcaster Eric Reyes and assistant coach Binky Favis, who flew in separately earlier, joined the group in time for Friday breakfast.

"It was like the amazing race," said Richard. "Our group would’ve won by a mile over any group that started out with the same itinerary. We made it to Las Vegas from Manila via Taipei and Los Angeles more than 20 hours ahead of schedule."

What greeted both groups in Las Vegas was the desert city’s sweltering heat which peaks early and late afternoon. Last Friday, the temperature rose to 113F or about 44 Celsius, way over what we’re used to in the Philippines. Worse, the humidity is virtually zero, meaning your skin dries up quickly if not moisturized properly and your lips start to crack unless smeared with chap-stick. The temperature is expected to soar to 115F this weekend.

But the weather was the least of the delegation’s concerns.

The idea is for the Philippine team to bond, get used to think alike and play on the same page, play hard for flag and country, prepare to reconquer Asia, learn from superior competition to improve and become an example of sportsmanship.

It will be work, work, work for both the first and second groups.