‘Some people still argue that global warming isn’t real, but I don’t know how else to explain the scorching heat…’
IT’S playoff time for the National Basketball Association and almost every male friend I have has a favorite team (and a favorite player) to root for.
As I said in a Facebook post recently, the Philippines will suffer a great divide: between friends, and even among family members. And I was right — friends started posting the names of their favorite teams (there seems to be a generational divide between Lakers and Warriors fans) and there was also a lively debate around which was the third most popular team among Filipinos.
Two even admitted to a family divide, with uncles rooting for one team against nephews who were rooting for another.
One of the teams being named as the third most popular among Filipinos is the Miami Heat. And that’s not surprising given that it was once coached by Pat Riley (popular among Filipinos); it once had LeBron James on its roster (also popular among some Filipinos ha-ha) and, perhaps most significantly, it is now mentored by Eric Spoelstra, who every Filipino basketball fan knows is half-Filipino.
The Heat actually had to get into the playoffs the hard way. They had to play the Atlanta Hawks for the last seat on the bus of the Eastern Conference, which then meant having to meet the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first-round playoffs. But they did their job and now face the New York Knicks in the second round.
But while I like the Heat myself, it’s actually not the heat from Miami that I have my eyes on. I am actually more docked on the heat from the sun, which is undeniably getting hotter and hotter as the years go by.
Some people still argue that global warming isn’t real, but I don’t know how else to explain the scorching heat that is overwhelming air conditioning units of malls from Luzon to Mindanao.
I was in the Abreeza Mall in Davao City last week, and wow, the mall’s AC units couldn’t keep things comfortably cool, especially in restaurants that had glass windows facing the streets.
The heat is overwhelming vehicle AC units, too. And sometimes, even aircraft AC units as well — aircraft cabins can be so hot when you board them in the afternoons and because domestic flights are so short, by the time the temperature inside the cabin has become comfortable, it’s time for you to deplane!
I never had any doubt that migrating to cooler climes was something I would never do.
Winters depress me, and northern hemisphere societies have too many random shootings, these days at least. But once in a while I get to wish that things weren’t this hot in our islands.
Guess there’s not much we can do about it than to brace for this non-Miami heat!
