SAN ANTONIO – It was totally unexpected that La Salle senior men’s basketball head coach Juno Sauler and assistant coaches Allan Caidic and Jun Limpot and this writer would spend one more night here, not that I minded because I’m a huge Alamo fan. American Airlines pulled out flight No. 1392 because of an unspecified mechanical problem, stranding over 100 passengers bound for Dallas last Sunday.
The day began on a sentimental note as San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland and his five-year-old son Press swung by the Omni Hotel on Colonnade Boulevard to say goodbye to us. Engelland arranged for the La Salle coaches to observe the Spurs practices from Monday to Saturday and watch the games against Orlando last Tuesday and Houston last Thursday. The coaches said they had never experienced the kind of access that Engelland provided.
We arrived here on a Sunday morning. Engelland booked us at the Omni Hotel and hosted lunch at his favorite Mexican restaurant Pappasito’s the day we flew in. Then, he toured us around the Spurs practice facility which includes two full-sized basketball courts side by side like the set-up at the RFM Gym. There were six goals or shooting stations on both courts. During the visit, we bumped into Aron Baynes, one of two Australians on the Spurs roster (the other is guard Patty Mills). Baynes has a striking resemblance to PBA forward Jondan Salvador.
You wouldn’t find the practice facility unless you were told where to go. It’s a private, well-secured place and that’s how the Spurs like it. Other features of the facility include an underwater treadmill, a fully-equipped fitness gym with speedballs for sharpening reflexes (former world boxing champion Jesse James Leija trained Tim Duncan in boxing in the offseason), sauna, a swimming pool, an inclined outdoor ramp for running up and down, a viewing room, coaches and executive offices and a shooting aid called The Gun which throws balls towards a shooter from a cylinder and has a protective net around the basket to force a high trajectory of shots.
During the week of practices, Engelland introduced us to general manager R. C. Buford, coach Gregg Popovich, assistant coaches Jim Boylen, Ime Udoka and Sean Marks, WNBA legend Becky Hammon, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. After practice last Saturday, recent Manila visitor Matt Bonner invited us to the viewing room where he filmed each of us talking about Engelland for a “mockumentary†he is producing.
The Spurs hospitality was incredible. We were treated royally from Day 1. Team owner Peter Holt allowed us to use his front row, courtside, floor-level seats for the Orlando game. David Robinson sat behind on the second row. And for the Houston game, Buford provided seats in his private box. One night, Spurs director media services Tom James hosted dinner at La Tuna, an open-air Mexican downtown restaurant. Engelland, internal communications coordinator Tanya Navalta (a Filipina) and Spurs intern Ben Sullivan joined the dinner. Another night, Engelland took us to Rudy’s, popular family-oriented barbecue chicken, beef, turkey and ribs place. Engelland also received us at his home with his wife Jessica, son Press and one-year-old son Path (named in honor of his mother Claire’s People Assisting The Homeless or PATH project in Los Angeles).
Since the Spurs had Friday off, Buford arranged for the coaches to observe the practice of the University of Texas varsity in Austin. Sauler said he learned a lot from Texas coach Rick Barnes. The La Salle coaches also made time to drop by the Filipino Basketball League games at the Jesse James Leija gym on Travis Avenue. Navalta’s parents Jun and Tess made the visitors feel even more at home by taking them to a Filipino restaurant near the Randolph Air Base.
The group was cleared to board flight No. 1392 for Dallas last Sunday early afternoon when the announcement came. Alas, the flight was cancelled. A 1-800 phone number was provided for the stranded passengers to call for rebooking. Initially, the passengers were told they could board an 8:30 p.m. flight or seven hours later to Dallas but that, too, was scratched. The coaches were previously booked to leave San Antonio for Dallas at 1:35 p.m. then fly from Dallas to San Francisco at 2:45 p.m. We were on the phone for about an hour with an American Airlines attendant until our new schedule was confirmed. We would spend an extra night at the Drury Inn near the airport with a dinner coupon of $12 at Applebee’s.
Originally, we planned to leave San Francisco for Manila on Sunday night. But Allan’s friend William Co invited the group to spend a night in San Francisco. If we went ahead to try to connect to the PAL flight last Sunday, we wouldn’t have made it because of the American Airlines cancellation.
We were in the airport for over five hours before we took the shuttle to the Drury. That was how long it took to rebook and reissue boarding passes. We had to bring our checked-in bags out of the terminal with us. It was a damper to a wonderful trip but something that couldn’t have been avoided. Nobody wanted it to happen. American Airlines, the airport ground staff – including the 67-year-old Ilonggo who attended to us at curbside – and the friendly San Antonio folk did all they could to make it easy for us to adjust to the unexpected overnight stay.
Luckily, Navalta’s parents Tess and Jun and Tanya herself were free Sunday afternoon to take us around the city. I’m writing this close to midnight and in about three hours, we’ll be heading back to the airport to catch the flight to Dallas then to San Francisco and finally to Manila. I’m praying there will be no more delays.