EVER since the turn of 2024, Philippine sports always gave its most ardent followers something to talk about.
Whether that turns out to be a good thing, or bad, is a completely different story altogether but there’s no denying that this year might just very well be the most eventful the country’s had in a while.
From Carlos Yulo’s golden double at the Olympics to John Amores’ brush with the law, there aren’t any shortage of stories for Pinoy fans from January up until the final weeks of the year in December.
Here we look back at all the major happenings this year by the month.
January: Jared Bahay leaves UP for Ateneo
Coming off a highly-touted high school career with Ateneo de Cebu-Sacred Heart School, Jared Bahay was one of the most sought after freshmen and it was University of the Philippines which initially won the recruitment war.
But with months before UAAP Season 87, the 5’9 guard had a change of heart – moving a couple of blocks away to Ateneo where he joined coach Tab Baldwin to continue his journey with the Jesuits.
Things didn’t turn out the way Bahay wanted in his first season with Ateneo, as the Blue Eagles suffered their worst season under Baldwin, while the Fighting Maroons went on to win the UAAP men’s basketball wars.
Results aside, the Blue Eagles still snagged a major one in Bahay and it would be only fair to expect more from him in the future.
February: Malonzo viral video takes spotlight away from Gilas Pilipinas
Gilas Pilipinas opened its year with a bang with two blowout wins over Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers – months after reclaiming supremacy in the Asian Games.
But those wins were mere afterthought as a viral video of a seemingly intoxicated Jamie Malonzo getting beat up in a fastfood resto circulated online.
This was a start of what was a letdown of a year from Malonzo, as though he did comeback and perform well after this incident – he’s been out with an injury since April and he hasn’t returned since.
March: Melvin Jerusalem brings home World Title to Philippines
Melvin Jerusalem made sure to close out March on a victorious note for the Philippines as he won his second boxing World Championship after beating Yudai Shigeoka for the WBC Minimumweight title.
Jerusalem put an end to a string of misfortunes of Filipino pugs in Japan, from the likes of Marlon Tapales, Jerwin Ancajas, to Jonas Sultan by knocking down Shigeoka twice enroute to take a split-decision win.
The pride of Bukidnon would later defend his belt against Luis Castillo, capping off a banner year.
April: Caloy Yulo bags gold, silver in Doha
Ramping up his preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yulo joined the 16th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar and he certainly made his presence felt.
Yulo took home the gold in parallel bars while taking silver in vault as he continued to gather momentum for the quadrennial games.
Yulo’s 15.200 mark was miles ahead of his contemporaries in Yuan Hsi Hung of Chinese Taipei (14.966) and Caio Souza of Brazil (14.566). He almost made it a double in the vault, but his 15.066 fell short to Artur Davtyan’s 15.166 mark.
He would get his double, though, months later. And it would weigh more than any of the silverware Yulo’s won so far.
May: Creamline kicks off grand slam bid by winning PVL All-Filipino
Creamline was undoubtedly the country’s most successful professional team in all of sports this year and it all started by winning the PVL’s premier conference.
Jema Galanza took the forefront of the Cool Smashers’ attack as they swept their sister team in Choco Mucho Flying Titans in front of a record crowd in the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
This signalled Creamline’s grand slam run as the Cool Smashers handily took the Reinforced and Invitational conferences to formalize the hattrick by September. Unfortunately for them, that historic feat was about to get overshadowed by a certain someone.
June: Meralco gets PBA breakthrough in thrilling finals encounter
After a couple of bridesmaid finishes, Meralco finally took home the big one and they did it by winning the PBA’s crown jewel against the league’s most successful franchise.
The Bolts took down perennial Philippine Cup favorite San Miguel to win their first PBA silverware for the first time since debuting in the league in 2010.
Chris Newsome rose to the occasion and elevated his status among the league’s hierarchy of individual stars as his jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining ultimately won the title for the Bolts.
The win was also a breath of fresh air for the league as the new winner broke the usual Ginebra-SMB-TNT cycle over the past few conferences.
July: Terrafirma breaks core as Ginebra parts ways with Standhardinger
In a month where Gilas Pilipinas beat Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the ultimate buzz of the month came with yet another lopsided trade in the PBA.
Fresh off a promising All-Filipino conference, Terrafirma ‘decided’ to break its competitive core which made it all the way to a knockout quarterfinals the conference before in a trade with Barangay Ginebra which involved established - albeit older - stars in Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
The trade saw Dyip receive the two aforementioned stars for Stephen Holt and Isaac Go, two guys integral to the team’s solid run in the conference before.
It would’ve been fine in itself, but the ultimate kicker was the pick swap which had Ginebra moving up to third overall to get RJ Abarrientos for their 10th overall pick which turned out to be Mark Nonoy.
Can you imagine if Terrafirma decided to keep its core and built a team around Abarrientos? Well, that’s all we can do now, imagine.
August: Carlos Yulo wins historic two gold medals at Paris Olympics
In just two days in August, Carlos Yulo changed the Philippine sporting landscape altogether – and with it, he also changed his life.
Yulo made history by winning two gold medals for the Philippines in consecutive days in the 2024 Paris Olympics when he ruled the floor and vault events in the artistic gymnastics competition.
Yulo dominated the headlines for the entirety of the month, most of it good, some we’d rather not touch, but there’s no denying that August 2024 might just very well be the most important day in Philippine sports – and it’s all because of Yulo.
September: John Amores charged with frustrated homicide
It’s very rare to see sports and crime coincide, but that’s exactly what happened on the afternoon of September 25 when a barangay CCTV caught NorthPort’s John Amores shooting his opponent in a basketball game which had a 4,000 peso side bet.
Amores and his brother were charged with frustrated homicide, all but putting to an end a once-promising career which was riddled with outbursts, controversies and wasted second chances.
The PBA and NorthPort might have been lenient with Amores soon after, but it was the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) which put an end to the former JRU Heavy Bomber’s pro career as he got his license revoked last December.
October: The Spitgate
Did La Salle coach Topex Robinson spit on UP’s Reyland Torres in a heated first-round encounter between the two rival schools last October?
That was the question a lot of people were asking midway through October as that “spitgate” hogged the spotlight in a relatively tamer month for Philippine sports, weeks after Amores’ outburst.
The UAAP cleared Robinson of any wrongdoing, as the La Salle coach admitted to getting heated with Torres, but vehemently denied spitting at him – stating that it’s against everything he worked for over the past few years.
It did turn up the rivalry between the two teams a notch, with coaches avoiding handshakes, fans getting highly involved and the two squads putting together great basketball together up until the finals.
November: Gilas Pilipinas wraps up year with historic win over New Zealand, Asia Cup berth
2024 was a good year for Gilas Pilipinas, and the boys of coach Tim Cone made sure to end it right by claiming the scalp of New Zealand, beating the Tall Blacks for the first time in history.
In that game, Kai Sotto continued to show why he’s the future of this program by lording over the physical Kiwis in the paint, while Justin Brownlee showed little signs of slowing down by leading the Gilas offense.
Days later, Gilas proved that complacency isn’t in their vocabulary by routing Hong Kong to claim the Asia Cup berth and end the year with a 5-2 record, their only two losses coming from higher ranked teams like Georgia and Brazil without Sotto.
December: Mapua ends 33 years of futility, UP reclaims crown
December was ultimately the coronation of two proud institutions in the collegiate scene.
Over at the NCAA, Mapua ended 33 years of frustration by sweeping the highly favored College of St. Benilde behind the very able partnership of Clint Escamis and Randy Alcantara.
It was the Cardinals’ first since 1991 – or since Alcantara was a player himself alongside the likes of Magnolia coach Chito Victolero and the now retired Benny Cheng.
A week later, it was the UP Fighting Maroons’ turn to have their own bonfire after outlasting Kevin Quiambao and the rest of the La Salle Green Archers in a memorable three-game showdown.
Third time proved to be a charm for the Fighting Maroons as they finally returned to the promised land after back to back years of bridesmaid finishes.
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