Restaurant league gets served but…

Rain spoiled the start of the 2004 Inter-Restaurant Basketball League as the kick-off ceremony barely wrapped up before the heavens opened up again late Wednesday night at the Garapan court.

The seven participating teams took their respective positions on the court sans any fanfare as organizers wanted the match between defending Inter-Hotel and Restaurant Basketball League champion Keeraku and Jollibee to start as soon possible.

But it turned out the game didn’t even last half of the first quarter before showers forced officials to cancel the game and that put a damper on the evening’s much-anticipated start to the revamped restaurant basketball league.

The 10:30pm scheduled opening ceremony was delayed for about half an hour as a light drizzle threatened to spoil the night’s activities. When the skies finally cleared, organizers decided to scrap the parade to expedite things and teams were just told to lineup at the Garapan court.

LSG Sky Chef players with their white with blue and yellow trim jerseys took the side nearest to Hafa Adai Beach Hotel, followed by the Angel Wings, whose players unfortunately had no uniforms.

El Segundo, who wore the ever-popular gold and purple home jerseys of the Los Angeles Lakers, was at the third spot and brought not one but two muses – Ella Larin and Leriza Ada.

The darkhorse of this year’s competition, Capricciosa, was next but its players donned company t-shirts and mix-match shorts as their jerseys failed to arrive in time for the opening.

Jollibee players took their place at the left of the halfcourt line and obviously had the most players showing up for the ceremony. They wore white jerseys with black and red trim with the fastfood company’s mascot emblazoned on the front.

This year’s host, Country House, was the second to the last team to be introduced and its players probably scratched their heads after seeing that El Segundo had the same color jerseys that they have. The only noticeable difference was instead of purple County House’s jerseys sported a maroon trim. Country House had Mayuki Yagi as their muse.

Keeraku took the position closest to the Chamolinian Village and its players wore solid maroon colors with the restaurant’s name in bold letters printed in front. Petite Juvy Taitano accompanied the players on the court serving as their muse.

The opening ceremony also honored the managers of participating teams and special guest Becky Castro, manager of Triple J Five Star Wholesale, helped restaurant league president and Country House owner Koichi Tabei in handing out certificates of participation.

Castro and her staff also voted for Best Muse and Best Uniform. Keeraku’s 25-year-old Taitano got the nod for Best Muse, while Jollibee took home the Best Uniform trophy.

Restaurant league coordinator Jake Villanueva said that the make-up for the Keeraku-Jollibee game is tentatively scheduled at 10:30pm on Saturday.

Tonight’s game would feature Country House against LSG Sky Chef. Tip-off is scheduled at 10:30pm. For more information on the ongoing restaurant league, please call Koichi Tabei or Jake Villanueva at 233-1908.