Al Dia Preview: Sanatura Escazu at San Ramon

Nice preview of tonight's game at San Ramon. An early test for both teams.

Juego con Sabor a Final

Sanatura Escazu 20 Limon 0

A new season is upon us.

Our first game of the new season was at Limon. Two days before the game we get a call that there's a concert in the gymnasium scheduled for Saturday afternoon and that we have two options: move the game up to Friday afternoon or push the game back an hour to 9pm. Given the short notice, we didn't feel our players would be able to get their permission from their respective jobs to leave Friday afternoon, so we agreed to a late 9pm start. We offered to flip the game, play at Escazu on Saturday and then visit Limon on the return leg, but that offer was not accepted.

So off we went Saturday afternoon, eager to get our first game under our belts. After stopping for a bite to eat outside of Guapiles, we pulled into Limon just past 8pm. The concert/talent show had been scheduled to end at 8PM, but was still going full steam when we got there. Then we walked into the gymnasium and saw a rather elaborate stage sitting right in the middle of the gym.

So we waited; our team was itching to play against a tough Limon team. At around 8:35, I heard the words that the final contestants would go on stage and then the judges would pick the winner. Okay, we might be all right, I thought...but as soon as the final contestants finished they announced a new act while the judges deliberated. The concert wrapped up at around 9:00 and people started filing out of the gym. The court was still cluttered with the stage, the estimate was that it would be at least an hour before they would get it moved if they started right away (apparently the Cerveceria guys in charge of the stage had left). At 9:15 the refs called the game in our favor.

This is the first game I've won by forfeit and it really sucks. Not just because we spent most of the day driving over to Limon, but rather cause we really wanted to play. After five weeks of beating each other up in practice our guys were eager to see how things looked against a live opponent.

So it was back on the bus, a quick beer pit stop, and back to San Jose, pulling in at 2 AM.

2012-2013 Schedule

Calendario Apertura


#1 at Limon Sabado 25 de noviembre
#2 at San Ramon martes 27 de noviembre

#3 vs Liceo Costa Rica sábado 1 de diciembre
#4 at Barva martes 4 de diciembre
#5 vs Grecia sábado 8 de diciembre
#6 at PZ martes 11 de diciembre
#7 vs Cartago viernes 21 de diciembre
#8 vs Limon sábado 5 de enero
#9 vs San Ramon martes 8 de enero
#10 at Liceo de Costa Rica viernes 11 de enero
#11 vs Barva martes 15 de enero
#12 at Grecia sábado 19 de enero
#13 vs PZ lunes 21 de enero
#14 at Cartago viernes 1 de febrero

Semi-finales 4 a 10 de febrero
Finales 11 a 17 de febrero

Clausura Inicia 21 de marzo

Al Dia Basketball Preview

The newspaper Al Dia changed its format to all sports. While most of the pages are dedicated to soccer, they are making a concerted effort to cover basketball. I've generally found their primary reporter for basketball, Rodolfo Martin, to be inquisitive but respectful, and he seems to make a concerted effort to understand the game.

Arranca el campeonato nacional de baloncesto

Left to Right: Jackie Acuña (Perez Zeledon), Andres Umaña (Grecia), Clifford Smith (Barva), Dave Millinier (Sanatura Escazu), Jerson Myer (Limon), Daniel Simmons (San Ramon)

Off Season Moves

The Basketball Federation in their infinite wisdom, decided to move up the start of the next season four months. I'll leave that for another blog entry...aside from saying it's incredibly stupid and my wife really, really hates it.

So in this condensed offseason, we are starting to see some player movements. This is kind of like college recruiting. Everyone promises everything. I've learned to take everything with a huge grain of salt. Until I see someone walk into a gym, I'm very skeptical of all the talk.

Interestingly enough, the media has started to cover player movements and speculation. Here are some of the offseason developments:

• Kay Martinez and Henry Martinez went from their respective teams to Barva. Henry will be a tough loss for our team. I'm just thankful that he handled it in a professional manner; we had good dialogues with him before he signed. Playing close to home and the opportunity to play with his brother were big factors. Kay bolting from San Ramon to Barva is a much bigger blow; we'll see how they scramble to fill that hole. 

Hermanos Martìnez llegan a FB Barva - YouTube

• Barva cleaned house this offseason, overhauling their roster and only keeping six players. Barva has hired Warren Espinoza, who's been successful overseas in Chile and had a short stint with Liceo de Costa Rica. They decided to cut the cord with franchise cornerstones Isaac St Rose and Amir Alvarado. To be honest, Isaac should have left for greener pastures two or three seasons ago; he has a good enough game that he should have bolted for Europe a long time ago. Besides signing the Martinez brothers, they have also brought in two American players as well as reportedly signing Cristian Chavarria.

ARBA mantiene al equipo campeón - DEPORTES - La Nación

• San Ramon loses Greg Platter and Kay Martinez, which are two key changes to their starting lineup. They've made offers across the league, including to some guys on our squad. We should have more news next week. I love how they frame that they're keeping 90% of their squad, yet they have to replace 40% of their starting lineup.

“Nos enfocamos en lo nuestro” | Solo piensan en el título | Diario Al Día

• The big news for us is that we're moving back to Escazu. That's what I wanted to do last year, but we couldn't reach a deal. Desamparados was a good home, but we had way too many issues with fan support and administrative issues. Now we're focused on finalizing the roster, trying to add the right pieces.

Sanatura se muda a Escazú - DEPORTES - La Nación

National Finals Game 5

Kay Martinez came up big in Game 5.

We lost Game 5 after being up 2-0 in the series. The shock has not worn off. Not that we lost--any of three teams could have easily won the title--but that we were so close to winning the title, only to have it slip through our fingers. Our inability to close out the series up 2-0 on our "home" gym facing a San Ramon team that had played every other day for alms two weeks sealed our fate. Of the three Finals I have lost this has been the toughest to digest.

National Finals Game 4: San Ramon 78 Sanatura 71

An overflowing crowd awaited the fourth game of the National Finals in the San Ramon gym last Friday night. Our leading scorer Michael Jackson watched helplessly from the sidelines while serving out his one-game suspension for striking Greg Platter at the end of Game 3. Henry Martinez started in his place and tallied 19 points, but it wasn't quite enough to pull out the win on the road.