PBA Press Corps holds awards rites

MANILA, Philippines - The PBA Press Corps, the group of sportswriters who regularly cover the PBA games, is all set to stage its annual awards on Sept. 27 at The Alegria of Holiday Inn Manila Pavilion.

The awarding of the Baby Dalupan Trophy to the Coach of the Year is the highlight of the semi-formal affair set to start at 7:30 p.m.

Other awards to be given are the Executive of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Mr. Quality Minutes, Comeback Player of the Year, Referee of the Year and the All-Rookie Team.

Members of champion team Talk n Text and San Miguel Beer are tipped to get the lion’s share of the awards in the affair presented by Pagcor, Smart Sports, San Miguel Corp. and Coca-Cola.

Coach Chot Reyes, who steered the Tropang Texters to the 2008-09 Philippine Cup title conquest, is the prime candidate for the Coach of the Year award.

He previously won the coveted award in 1993 and 2002.

Coach Baby Dalupan is expected to be on hand to personally award the Dalupan Trophy to the winner.

PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios, board chair Lito Alvarez and other PBA officials are also invited to grace the occasion where veteran sportscasters Ed Picson and Patricia Bermudez-Hizon are the emcees.

Sta. Lucia’s Boyet Fernandez is the current holder of the permanent Dalupan Trophy.

If he fails to retain the Coach of the Year award, Fernandez is to relinquish the permanent trophy to his would-be successor. The Coach of the Year winner also gets a replica of the permanent ware.

The other 07-08 awardees were Buddy Encarnado as Executive of the Year, Arwind Santos as Defensive Player of the Year, Peter June Simon as Mr. Quality Minutes, Mike Hrabak as Comeback Player of the Year, Jess Ferrer Referee of the Year and Ryan Reyes, Chico Lanete, Joe Devance, Doug Kramer and Ronjay Buenafe making up the All-Rookie Team.

They were awarded elegant trophies crafted by Zamora & Sons.