Vince Carter coming

Vince Carter is coming to the Philippines.

The 6-5 high-flyer will be in the country for only 24 hours on Thursday, in a lightning strike similar to his explosive scoring and spectacular slam-dunking in the NBA. Carter, who joined Jason Kidd on the New Jersey Nets after fruitless years in Toronto, is on a promotional tour for Nike in the Philippines.

Carter’s visit begins with an exclusive luncheon for invited members of the press at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati. Then, he will proceed to Far Eastern University (where his fellow endorser Paul Pierce of the Bostons Celtics first visited). He will also inaugurate a new gym in Sta. Mesa.

This will be first time that Carter will visit the Philippines. His visit comes a few weeks before that of his cousin, Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady, who is scheduled to be here for about 24 hours as well as special guest of the adidas Streetball Challenge Asian finals at the Araneta Coliseum. It seems that each player will be flying in with their entourage via their personal jets.

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The stalemate between the Philippine Basketball Federation and the Basketball Association of the Philippines is far from over, with the countdown for the Southeast Asian Games beginning. The Philippine Sports Commission has not evicted the BAP because it is not clear when the PBF will take over. The PBF successfully held its elections two weeks ago, installing former ABC secretary-general Moying Martelino as president, bringing into the fold many recognized officials of other national basketball bodies. They are now working on getting recognition from FIBA to complete their moves of taking over as the governing body for basketball in the country.

However, that may take a while. In the history of politics in international sports, the governing body is always loathed to step into the affairs of a national sports federation. It has bigger fish to fry, what with the FIBA-Asia tournament in Qatar weeks from now. Besides, sometimes the parent has to step back and let siblings work their differences out. So far, FIBA’s questions regarding accusations made by the Philippine Olympic Committee against the BAP have not been answered. What are the examples of "intransigence" by the BAP, for example?

Aside from this, we are rapidly running out of time. The Southeast Asian Games will be played here in November, and we don’t even know if we will be playing, and who will be representing us.

Again, it is not a question of intention. The community has been disappointed with our performance in international basketball. It is now a question of procedure, and following protocol. Many a trial has been lost merely from improper enforcement of gathering evidence, and inability to prove fault. So far, while we all know that the BAP has not lived up to expectations, the POC has to show the exact rule that says the BAP has not been doing its job. Here, it seems, the trouble lies.

And this is step that cannot be glossed over. While, in the media, it is agreed that there must be change, HOW the change is being implemented is debatable. In any court of law, for example, you have to establish fault first, because it is a violation of law. It is unclear which laws the BAP has broken, and whose laws they are. It is easy to say the BAP is incompetent. But, as in the legal system, it is tedious to prove beyond reasonable doubt. Parallel to our decline in the sport, the world has also gotten stronger. As I’ve written here, China already has a platoon of seven-foot teen-agers training with NBA professionals in several camps in Asia, most notably those like the adidas Superstar Camp, which takes the best kids from Asia and brings them to the United States for further training and scouting by US college coaches. That cannot be denied.

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Meanwhile, the Kenji Kanai case has built a head of steam. The July 16 homicide of the 16-year old basketball player has made the headlines of several Japanese newspapers like the Asahi Shimbun, and was broadcast this week over NHK TV over the entire country. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice are both clamoring for an inquiry, and Kanai’s father, Seiji, will be returning here later this month to gather more evidence and reports on the case to bring back to Japan.

Several Japanese politicians have already taken a personal interest in the case, and are pulling in their colleagues to do so. The young Filipino-Japanese student was well-loved, and showed tremendous potential as a scholar and athlete.

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The Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League (ACIL) will be holding its reunion and fund-raising dinner for batches 1985 to 1987 to raise money for ACIL’s centennial celebration. The dinner will be held at a restaurant at the Power Plant Mall in Makati on Aug. 11 at 7 p.m.