PBA legends photos by Carla Mendoza

I've never met Carla Mendoza, but she's one of my Tweeps (someone put a shotgun to my head and blow out my brains for writing that). She started following me on Twitter sometime around the publication of Pacific Rims, and we've traded hoops thoughts and memories on and off since then.

She's also a photographer, and she recently posted some great shots from a game between some local ballers in Gumaca, Quezon (I know Carla is from Quezon, but I'm not sure this is her hometown) and a team of PBA legends headlined by Johnny Abarrientos and Bong Hawkins. These, of course, are two members of the great 1990s Alaska Milkmen teams that won, among many other championships a Grand Slam of all three conference titles in 1996 PBA season. Also pictured are Jerry Codiñera and big EJ Feihl. That's a lot of size for the Gumaca locals to deal with.

Here are the links to the pictures:
http://thecarlamendoza.com/?p=113
http://thecarlamendoza.com/?p=124

I really like the range of emotions Carla captures in the photos. The Bong Hawkins shot that I've snagged for the top of this post is like a portrait of athletic demise. It's funny to look at, because I've spent a lot of time around Bong and it's hard to catch him looking so weary. He's typically full of laughs and dirty jokes and other types of clean but slighty sordid fun, and he still loves to play. In Alaska practices, more than any other Assistant Coach back in 2007, it seemed like Bong wanted to be out on the court, and he'd throw himself into opportunities to demonstrate footwork or defensive positioning to an active player.

The other pictures are so joyous. The Flying A chasing a loose ball behind one of the Gumaca All-Stars. The behemoth grins of EJ Feihl and The Defense Minister. They make me wish I could have been there.

Great work, Carla. Everyone, follow her on Twitter and visit her website!