Chot's fashion sense

No doubt about it, Talk ‘N’ Text coach Chot Reyes is the PBA’s best dresser.

He’s the only one who can get away with wearing mustard shoes and still make fashions sense.

In the title-clinching Game 6 of the recent PBA Philippine Cup finals, Reyes wore a yellow (with orange stripes) shirt from the US Express store for the first time. So it wasn’t like a good-luck or a favorite shirt. He wore a pair of “7” black jeans to go with the long-sleeved shirt. For shoes, Reyes put on his black Italian Tod’s – the same pair he wore in Game 2 which the Texters won.

“Nothing superstitious although I wore the same shoes when we won Game 2,” said Reyes.

Right after Game 6, the Texters celebrated their victory over dinner at Kamayan EDSA with family, friends and fans. Then, the team decided to congregate at the Kyss Lounge on Makati Avenue - no family, no fans, just the players and coaching staff.

“Ranidel (de Ocampo) took home his family in Las Piñas then drove back to Makati,” said Reyes. “We just wanted to enjoy the moment - the entire team. Everyone worked so hard for the victory.”

Reyes said the Kyss party broke up at about 2:30 a.m. and he didn’t hit the sack until about 5 a.m. When Reyes woke up just a few hours later, at about nine or 10 a.m., the first thing he did was to watch the video of Game 6, reliving the memory of the night before. Then it was lunch with the family and hanging out with wife Cherry at Essensuals Toni and Guy in Makati. For dinner, Reyes and his family got together with the clan in his cousin Martin’s home at Acropolis. Martin is the son of Reyes’ uncle Rene, brother of his late father Gilbert. Throughout the series, Reyes’ relatives showed their support by watching at courtside – especially his aunts Mely, Brenda and Susan.

Reyes said there isn’t time to enjoy the championship because the opening of the second conference is just around the corner – Feb. 18 in Laoag, to be exact. So it’s back to the gym to prepare for the coming tournament where nine PBA teams are allowed to play one import with a ceiling of 6-4 and Smart Gilas will compete in Barako Bull’s place with 6-10 Marcus Douthit.

Reyes said the Tropa’s import Paul Harris, cleared to play after measuring 6-3 3/8, has the ability to produce in multiple positions. Although he’s basically a three, Harris has even played power forward in the NBA D-League. Harris is quick off the dribble, rebounds, scores and defends tough. Coaching consultant Norman Black personally went to the US to scout and sign up Harris.

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The Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) will stage an Awards Night to honor the country’s 100 greatest athletes and it promises to be an affair to remember.

SCOOP president Eddie Alinea said the Awards Night will coincide with the 100th anniversary of Philippine sports, dating back to when the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) was founded in 1911. Alinea said “the grand party of the millennium will trace the heroics of the finest 100 athletes the country has produced since organized sports was established through the creation of the PAAF.”

Alinea added that “the Awards Night will be the product of research and examination of sports from the time Regino Ylanan did the country proud by scooping up three gold medals in the inaugural staging of the Far Eastern Games by ruling the shot put, discus throw and pentathlon events, in the process crowing himself Asia’s first Man of Steel.”

From the list of 100, one will be named the Greatest Filipino Athlete of the Century.

Alinea said past SCOOP presidents Beth Celis, Al Mendoza, Barry Pascua, Jimmy Cantor, Andy Sevilla, Ron de los Reyes and Bill Velasco will determine the 100 athletes with senior sports editors and columnists.

Among the shoo-ins to make the elite roster are Manny Pacquiao, Paeng Nepomuceno, Pancho Villa, Flash Elorde, Caloy Loyzaga, Teofilo Yldefonso, Simeon Toribio, Cely and Anthony Villanueva, Bong Coo, Onyok Velasco, Lydia de Vega, Mona Sulaiman, Dodjie Laurel, Jethro Dionisio, Salvador del Rosario, Arianne Cerdena, Efren (Bata) Reyes, Robert Jaworski, Francisco Bustamante, Eugene Torre, Miguel White, Eric Buhain, Elias Ordiales, Felicisimo Ampon, Frankie Miñoza, Leopoldo Serrantes, Roel Velasco, Elma Muros, Paulino Alcantara, Bea Lucero, Stephen Fernandez, Mikee Cojuangco, Ral Rosario, Miguel Molina, Inocencia Solis, Chito Feliciano, Ramon Fernandez and Ceferino Garcia.

Choosing the greatest Filipino athlete ever won’t be easy. It will probably come down to a choice between Nepomuceno and Pacquiao.