Family life in pandemic

If you’re wondering how some of the country’s power couples in sports are coping with this pandemic, check out Episode 3 of The Philippine Star’s sports talk show “Beyond The Game With The Dean” tomorrow live 8-9 p.m. on The Philippine Star and Pilipino Star Ngayon Facebook pages to get the inside scoop.

We’re gathering four of the most popular couples in sports today to share with us what their family life has been like since COVID-19 became an alarming global threat. The couples are Jimmy and L. J. (Moreno) Alapag, J. C. and Bianca (Gonzalez) Intal, Doug and Chesca (Garcia) Kramer and Marc and Danica (Sotto) Pingris.

“Beyond The Game With The Dean” is an every-other-Monday evening show conceptualized by Star account supervisor Mike Maneze. It’s sponsored by San Miguel Corp., Smart Communications and MG Morris Garages. The first episode featured PBA stars Terrence Romeo, Kiefer Ravena, Scottie Thompson, Beau Belga and Jeron Teng in a lively discussion on “The PBA: Season On The Brink.” Total views were 31,036 with an estimated reach of 137,084. The second episode focused on “Volleyball: What Lies Ahead” and the stars who came to serve were Alyssa Valdez, Michele Gumabao, Mika Reyes, Sisi Rondina and John Vic de Guzman.  Total views zoomed to 81,021 (an increase of 161 percent) with an estimated reach of 274,162 (an increase of 99.9 percent). The spike in numbers was both encouraging and challenging. Now, the focus is to try to do better than the previous episode.

Tomorrow’s show should be another blockbuster. It was just revealed that L. J. is pregnant and we’ll find out how excited the family is with the coming addition. Was it planned? Was it a surprise? How are the children – Ian, Keona and Calen – preparing to welcome the new baby? Of course, we’ll squeeze in basketball questions for Jimmy, like how different was the feeling in winning a championship as a player and a coach, what was more memorable – the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup or the 2014 FIBA World Cup, what’s next in his basketball career?

For J. C. and Bianca, we’ll ask what’s the first thing they’ll do as a family with children Lucia and Carmen once the pandemic is licked. We’ll find out how J. C. felt playing for Gilas at the 2015 FIBA Asia Cup where the Philippines took the silver medal, how he showed support for brother Rex who played for the Philippine men’s indoor volleyball team in the last SEA Games and how competitive Phoenix will be when the PBA reopens with buddy Doug now retired?

We’ll ask Doug and Chesca how they’re dealing with the home schooling of their children Kendra, Scarlett and Gavin, what they miss most as a family during this lockdown and what new hobby they’ve discovered staying home. For Doug, we’ll ask about the mild stroke he suffered in 2016, how he overcame the trauma of learning about the congenital hole in his heart, the faith that brought him back on his feet and the decision of retiring from the PBA on his own terms.

Finally, we’ll check in with Ping and Danica. We’ll ask what bonding activities they’ve been doing at home with their children Mik and Caela and their kasambahay, how they’ve helped frontliners and the less fortunate in this pandemic and what they’re now doing as a family that they never did before. For Ping, we’ll ask about growing up playing barefoot basketball in Pozorrubio, meeting his father for the first time and the lessons he imparts to his children about staying humble.

If you’ve got questions to ask any of our guests, please send them over via email [email protected], Instagram @therealdeanquinito, Twitter @TheDeanQuinito or Facebook @Joaquin Henson and @Quinito Henson and we’ll make sure you get your answers during the show. See you tomorrow for Episode 3.