Dreams come true for Mikee

LONDON – For Philippine National Shooting Association president Mikee Romero, two dreams came true within days of each other but he would’ve relished a triple treat if only Brian Rosario started strong in the skeet event of the Olympic shotgun competition at the Royal Artillery Barracks here last Monday.

Romero got his wish for a PBA franchise and marched with the Philippine delegation at the Olympic opening ceremony – two things in his bucket list. Romero arrived here with wife Sheila last Thursday, joined the Olympic parade the next day and left for home last night to formalize the sale of the Powerade franchise.

While attending the Olympics, Romero was advised that Powerade had formally informed the PBA of the P60 million sale. He personally negotiated the deal with Powerade PBA Governor Ronnie Asuncion. The new franchise will be called Global Port Batang Pier. Romero said he will discuss the team’s future with Tigers coach Bo Perasol as soon as he returns. “We’ll retain Bo if he wants to stay,” said Romero. “We’ve got the 10th pick in the coming PBA draft and we plan to rebuild. We will honor contractual commitments made by Powerade to certain players. We know we’ve got leaders on this team like Gary David and Jvee Casio. We’ll take a long and hard look at the depth of our talent then decide if it will be advantageous to trade or acquire players. It’s a new challenge. My passion is basketball but I also love shooting.”

Romero, 41, played hoops with the De La Salle varsity and has competed in three shooting World Cups in Italy, Australia and Qatar. He held his first shotgun when he was seven during a hunting trip with his grandfather. Romero said the best round he ever fired was a 24, meaning he missed only once in his favorite trap event.

At the opening ceremony, Romero said he stood in line for four hours waiting for his cue but when the call came to join the parade, he forgot about how tired he was. “It was surreal,” he said. “Imagine I made it to the Olympic parade as an official, not as an athlete. When I entered the stadium, it reminded me of the movie ‘Gladiator’ in the arena. The feeling was awesome. I saw the world’s greatest athletes in the parade, including LeBron James.

As for Rosario’s showing, Romero knew it all along that he could score a perfect round. Rosario blasted 22 of 25 clay targets in the first round, 19 in the second and didn’t miss in the third. At the end of three rounds on the first day of skeet shooting, Rosario ranked No. 32 of 36, beating only Switzerland’s Fabio Ramella, Saudi Arabia’s Majed Al Tamimi, Egypt’s Azmauy Mehelba and Peru’s Micolas Pacheco Espinosa. Defending gold medalist Vincent Hancock, a US Army sergeant, went 25-24-25 and missed only once. The last two rounds were completed yesterday. Rosario would’ve been in contention in the last two rounds if only he didn’t falter with a 19 in the third. At the end of three rounds, only three of 36 shooters registered 19 or less. In the third round, Rosario was among only nine of 36 to score a perfect 25, displaying in quantifiable terms his potential.

After Rosario completed eight stations with 25 hits in the third round, Romero stood up in the gallery and punched the air. “I knew it,” he said. “Brian is capable of making a perfect score and proved it. We invested heavily in sending Brian overseas for competition. He must have gone to compete in at least five countries for experience. I think this is the most difficult sport because it’s not just skill that’s involved but also mental toughness. It takes a lot of practice to be proficient.”

Romero said he is optimistic of the future of Philippine shooting. “Brian is only 29 and I think he’ll learn from this experience to shoot better in the next Olympics,” said Romero. “We’re developing a lot of youngsters in their teens and early 20s, sending them to the Southeast Asian Shooting Association competitions. Brian is a skeet shooter and he’ll be a skeet shooter all his life. That’s how it is in shooting. You specialize in an event.”

What buoyed Romero’s spirits was finding out that Rosario is the first Filipino ever to score a perfect round in Olympic shooting. No one else has shot a 25. Rosario is also the first Filipino to compete in skeet since 1972 when Melchor Yap finished 57th and Raymundo Quitoriano 61st of 62.