Selina Dagdag-Alas tilted her head and gently rested it on her right hand while her eyes were fixed on her husband, NLEX playmaker Kevin Alas.
At the moment, Kevin was telling One Sports Profiles the best words to describe her.
“She glorifies the Lord in whatever she does. Sa pagiging wife, sa pagiging mother,” said Kevin.
Such a romantic gaze was usually associated early on in the partnership, where it was still all butterflies and the couple still looked at each other — and the world — through rose-colored lenses.
But, seven years on, Kevin and Selina still gaze at each other that way, their love just made even stronger by the slew of challenges that came their way.
As Kevin continued to answer questions, Selina looked on, her mouth agape in incredulity.
“Wow!” said the former Ateneo courtside reporter with a hearty smile and dreamy eyes, as if she just gained a new level of appreciation for her hubby.
But this is not the first time Kevin impressed Selina.
Kevin had Selina at ‘Boy Meets Girl’
The first instance was when Kevin was still relentlessly pursuing Selina.
Kevin knew of Selina when he was still in college. He was a player for the Letran Knights in the NCAA, while she was a courtside reporter for her school, Ateneo, in the UAAP.
As they did their stuff in different leagues, there was no chance for them to cross paths. Not until they were both in the PBA, with Kevin already with the Road Warriors and Selina doing the reporting for the league.
Now, for their meet-cute: Kevin, ever the early bird, saw Selina at the players’ entrance in the Mall of Asia Arena, seeming to prepare for her interviews for the game.
It was love at first sight, confessed Kevin.
“That’s the first time I saw her in person. Hanggang ngayon, ikinukwento ko sa kaniyang ‘Na-love at first sight ako sa’yo.’ Lagi kong sinasabi sa kaniya. Binibiro niya ako palaging, ‘Binobola mo lang ako.’ Of course, I was sincere,” said Kevin.
Kevin took the opportunity to talk to her. Then, he found his wingman in his then teammate, who happened to be Selina’s schoolmate in Ateneo, Juami Tiongson.
“I remember [saying], ‘Uy, ang aga mo, ah?’ ‘Yun ‘yung una kong sinabi sa kaniya,” shared Kevin.
“Eventually, I went to the locker room to prepare. Teammate ko pa si Juami (Tiongson) noon. Si Juami, schoolmate ni Selina. Tinanong ko siya kung may boyfriend ba si Selina at the time. ‘Pag sinabi ni Juami na mayroon, I wouldn’t pursue Selina. Praise God, Selina was single at the time. Blessing ‘yun,” he went on.
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Juami was the one who introduced Kevin to Selina.
“Paglabas sa Mall of Asia Arena, mayroong hallway papasok ng court. Sakto, ipinakilala ako ni Juami doon. Nagkataon lang, tinawag ako: ‘Uy, ipapakilala kita. Kevin, si Selina; Selina, si Kevin.’ Ganoon lang,” said Kevin.
While it was love at first sight for Kevin, it took a while for Selina to reciprocate the feeling, especially if she had to turn to Google to know what he looked like.
(Selina Dagdag-Alas on her first date with now husband Kevin Alas: "Nagulat ako when there were people approaching him na, people were asking for pictures. I mean, I knew he was a basketball player, but I didn’t know that he was that famous.")
Being new to the PBA, Selina admitted that she was only familiar with the players coming from her school, as well as the other universities in the UAAP.
Now picturing Kevin as she prepared for her reports, she had to turn to someone to help her talk to him. That person was Juami.
It turned out that it was Selina, without her knowing, paved the way for her to be introduced to her now husband.
“I wasn’t so familiar with Kevin, but I knew he was on my list of people to interview that day. Since I didn’t know how he looked like, I googled him pa,” bared Selina.
“And then I saw his picture. When I was trying to look for him, siyempre nahihiya ako kasi I was so new to the league. I went to the dugout and then, I saw a familiar face, si Juami.”
“Si Juami ang nag-introduce sa’min. Ipinatawag ko siya kay Juami, and that’s when I interviewed him pre-game. That’s how we first met,” she added, sharing her side of the story.
There was no time to process if there was an instant spark as she was busy researching for her reports. It didn’t help that basketball players did not have much of a good reputation when it comes to girls.
“I didn’t have time to have a first impression kasi ang dami kong ginoogle na faces. I was googling so many faces. I was trying to familiarize myself with as much players as I could. So I didn’t really have time to have a first impression,” said Selina.
“And then, that time, I wasn’t really looking at any player with a romantic perspective. Parang having a basketball player as husband was the last thing on my mind, kumbaga.”
With basketball players attracting much attention from squealing fans due to their looks and skills on the court, they then get stereotyped as “basket-boleros” who also play with girls’ feelings.
“I think that’s why I didn’t imagine myself ending up with a basketball player. Kasi, ‘di ba, there’s that cliche na ‘pag basketball player, they can be, uh, well…” laughed Selina.
But Kevin was determined to prove his pure intentions, even if Selina did not immediately give him his number or reply to his messages.
It took a month or two before Selina’s response came. And the first time that Selina agreed to go out with him, she brought friends with her as chaperones.
“I didn’t want to go with him alone kasi parang date na agad ‘yung dating. Siyempre, I didn’t know this person,” said Selina.
(Selina Dagdag-Alas: "It was a slow build-up. Tapos, eventually, 'Wow! This guy is so persistent!'")
Selina was not as interested in Kevin at first, but his persistence won her over.
“It wasn’t an instant attraction kind of thing. Because I remember, he would message me after and then, hindi ako mag-re-reply kaagad. I was still kind of sakto lang. I wasn’t too excited still kumbaga of dating a basketball player. He would message me after, sometimes I would reply, sometimes I won’t,” said Selina.
“I would say ‘Why do you keep updating me? I’m not your girlfriend.’ Sabi ko sa kaniya, ‘Stop updating me.’ But he was so matiyaga, he was so persistent. And in a way, kahit I responded like that, I found it funny and amusing. Napaka-good-natured naman ng taong ‘to,” she shared, smiling.
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After a month or two, Selina decided to let Kevin read a book, Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris, which she described as a “Christian book about how God designed a man and a woman to court or to date.”
If Kevin really wanted to pursue her, they must be aligned in the values that she upholds.
“I knew what I wanted. I know I wanted to have a life that glorified the Lord. I wanted to have a marriage centered in God. I knew that was the only way you can have a truly joyful relationship. I also want to get a gauge of what his views were when it comes to marriage, when it comes to dating,” she said.
Kevin usually replies to Selina’s message almost immediately. But not this time. Selina concluded that Kevin was not as serious in courting her.
She later learned the real reason why his response came in late – he actually bought the book.
“I asked him if he read this book. If he’s interested in reading this book. Tapos biglang ‘di na siya nag-reply. Eh, ang bilis-bilis niya palaging mag-text. So sabi ko, ‘Wala. Maybe this guy is masiyadong na-hassle. Maybe he’s just looking for a good time.’ Sabi ko, ‘Wala na ‘to,” said Selina.
“Tapos nagulat ako mga two to three hours after — matagal na ‘yan for him — he sent me a picture of the book. ‘Yun pala, he tried to look for the book and tried to get a copy.”
Kevin, admittedly, was not the bookish type. But for Selina, he tried — and successfully completed — reading a book for the first time in his life.
And he made the extra effort of sending Selina summaries of every chapter he finishes reading just to prove how sincere he was.
“Ako naman, hindi naman ako iskul bukol, pero I did not grow up na I make an extra effort para magbasa ng libro. I think it was really the first book na natapos ko sa buong buhay ko,” said Kevin, who was done reading the book in two weeks.
“Kasi siyempre, sa school, kung ano lang ang pinapabasa, ‘yun lang ang babasahin. ‘Di mo babasahin lahat. Nagulat siya noon. Every chapter, I was sending her a summary. I had to show her how sincere I was in courting her.”
Selina thus finally gave Kevin a chance.
“After mga two weeks, sabi niya, ‘I’m willing to pursue you this way. Now, do you change your mind?’ After that, I gave him a chance,” said Selina.
(Kevin on the lengthy wait it took for Selina to reply to his first messages to her: "If I'm not mistaken, it took one or two months bago siya nag-reply noon. I was kind of hopeless noon.")
Kevin then was able to shatter Selina’s perception of basketball players. She saw who Kevin really was: his qualities making him an ideal man to spend the rest of her life with.
“By God’s grace, when I got to know him, I found out by meeting him, meeting his family, I saw how exceptional he was. Not just as a player, but actually as a person, as a man, as someone you can spend the rest of your life with,” said Selina.
She finally said yes to be Kevin's girlfriend as he found him to be a good person and a man who mirrored Jesus to her.
“Even up until now — we’ve known each other for seven years — but when people ask me about him or when people ask that question (what made her say yes), I end up thinking of him. Parati akong naiiyak. Kasi he’s so good. He’s a really good person. He’s a really good man, he’s very gentle, very humble, very kind,” said Selina.
"He has mirrored Christ to me in so many ways."
While their relationship was not perfect, it still ended up in marriage three years later, with Kevin and Selina standing in front of God, vowing to love each other no matter the circumstance, until their last breath.
“Since then, I wouldn’t say we have a perfect dating history. We had our mistakes; we had our shortcomings. But by God’s grace, we still ended up together despite all those,” said Selina.
Kevin had these first impressions of Selina when he used to just see her on television in college: She was beautiful; she looked kind.
He was able to affirm these – and more – when he got to know her.
“Maganda siya, mukang mabait. Lahat ‘yun [were] proven right when I met her. When I got to know her more, mas na-in love ako. Parang ‘Wow, sobrang blessed ko,” said Kevin.
Kevin knew Selina was the woman he would pursue with how she loves God.
“Unang-una, how she loves the Lord,” said Kevin.
“Parang siguro, I cannot really imagine myself being married to another woman.”
It was all about how Kevin was like Jesus to her, too, said Selina, in good times and bad – especially in the bad, the dreaded days when she got sick with cancer.
“Especially in our bad days, like when I got sick, when I was getting chemo. Even in our good days. I think that’s what I really, really like about him,” said Selina.
(To be continued)