Perils of Being a Visionary

     Being a visionary is tough. By definition you alone (or at most, a couple of people) see the vision of greatness you have in mind and most of the time, you're labelled as insane, arrogant or foolish. (Props to you if you get all 3.)

     When Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) took over the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), he saw a grand vision. He then put us on the road to that vision by setting up the Gilas program. Gilas 1 was the 1st crack. Rajko Toroman, himself a trail blazer who led Iran to the Olympics, gathered a group of amateur stars to form a national team who would play only for the national team. It was ambitious. Gilas 1? A fourth place finish, courtesy of yet again a heartbreaking loss to Korea, was the Philippines' best FIBA Asia finish since 1985. No Olympic berth? No PBA stars? Internet 'experts' and 'pundits' had a field day.

     "Insane, arrogant and foolish," they said. They didn't get it.

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Cooking Up a Champion

     Chefs worth their salt always seek to modernize their dishes. They know its importance in order to stay relevant, hip and most importantly, competitive. Before this sports blog gets confused for a food blog, let me get into it now.

     One of the keys to modernizing a dish is to tweak the cooking method. After braising the adobo, you can choose to fry or even grill the meat. Change up the method and you change up textures and taste to improve the dish. As Coach Luigi Trillo stepped in as the Alaska Aces coach, he made it known the Triangle Offense would be back. What he did, though, was tweak it. Same principles but their offensive plays no longer always started at the post. A double high screen here, a cut there, it was clear this wasn't your dad's triangle. Even triangle pioneer Tim Cone admitted, "They're (Aces) doing things we don't do. He (Trillo) has made it into his own."

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