Big prizes in store - SPORTING CHANCE by Joaquin M. Henson

‘Tis the season to be generous and the National Basketball Association (NBA) is giving away juicy prizes to die for starting this month. It’s easy to win. All you’ve got to do is to watch the NBA Game of the Week on IBC-13 every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and answer three questions:

First, who scored the first basket of the game?

Second, what was the halftime score?

And finally, who was the highest scorer of the game?

The NBA will run the contest once a month. We’ll announce the winners in this column two weeks after the game.

NBA Asia’s Public Relations Director Cheong Sau Ching has sent a boxful of prizes that we’ll be giving away monthly up to March. The prizes are collectors’ items and not available locally.

For starters, these are the prizes we’ve lined up for this Thursday’s game between the Utah Jazz and the Philadelphia 76ers.

First prize– a Utah Jazz purple T-shirt, a Sixers grey long-sleeved sweatshirt, and an authentic Sixers sweat pants (with side buttons)

Second prize- Los Angeles Lakers 2000 NBA Finals VHS commemorative tape, NBA folder (ball texture) and pad, and NBA schedule booklet.

Consolation prizes – 10 NBA schedule booklets, five NBA caps, and five NBA "I Love This Game" CD.

In all, we’ll pick one first prize winner, one second prize winner, and 10 consolation prize winners.

Additionally, the first and second prize winners will get a copy each of Tower Sports’ NBA 2000-01 magazine, hot off the presses. The 58-page, full-color magazine was edited by good friend Henry Liao and features spicy articles by Bert Ramirez, Noel Novicio, Kenneth Gacia, Ed Tolentino, and Butch Maniego. It’s a quality locally-produced magazine that beats a lot of similar NBA publications from Stateside in terms of text, pictures (bought from the NBA), layout (Larry Mallari does another excellent job), and information.

Write your answers to the three questions on a piece of paper and send to "NBA Game to the Week–A Sporting Chance," Philippine STAR, 13th and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Metro Manila, with your name, telephone number, address, and signature. You may mail your entries or bring them straight to the STAR offices, care of "A Sporting Chance."

Just watch the game and note down who scored the first basket, the halftime score, and the highest pointer. That shouldn’t be too difficult. We’ll draw the winners from a box.

As a bonus, Viva Vintage Sports is also conducting a contest of its own during the NBA game. Anthony Suntay and I will ask a question before the start of the game. Viewers can call in their answers and at the end of the show, we’ll announce the winners.

In next month’s contest, we’ll zero in on the Jan. 11 game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Sixers. The first prize will be a Blazers media guidebook, a Sixers long-sleeved shirt, and a Sixers purple sweatshirt.

What are the other prizes in stock? More Lakers 2000 Finals tapes, more "I Love This Game" CDs, NBA rubberized luggage tags, a black NBA hooded sweatshirt, a blue NBA sweatshirt, a Lakers sweatshirt, a Minnesota Timberwolves sweatshirt, a Sacramento Kings sweatshirt and short-sleeved shirt, a Toronto Raptors sweatshirt and long-sleeved shirt, and lots more.

So stay tuned to the NBA and check out "A Sporting Chance" for loads of outstanding giveaways.

That’s not all. Our friends from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Adidas, Nike, and Converse are sending prizes – from T-shirts to balls to calendars to talk-and-text cellphones to watches – for a STAR readers’ contest which we’ll launch in the first week of January. This will be exclusive to the STAR’s sport section.

Stick to "A Sporting Chance" and win valuable prizes. That’s our small way of saying thanks for your support.