Pops being courted by a Sta. Lucia player?

Entertainment (as of 2/23/2008 5:11 AM)

Pops being courted by a Sta. Lucia player? By BOY VILLASANTA abs-cbnNEWS.com How true is it that a basketball player is courting the very much attached singer-actress Pops "The Concert Queen" Fernandez? The rumors apparently started when the Concert Queen was spotted in Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night, rooting for the Sta. Lucia Realtors squad which is in the running for the Philippine Basketball Association finals. According to one source, Fernandez came as a "special guest" of the team. "Special request siya ng Sta. Lucia. Parang inspiration kumbaga para manalo sila. (Her presence was a special request of the Sta. Lucia team. The players look at her as an inspiration to help them win)," said the source. Local showbiz is a-buzz however that Fernandez received "special treatment" from one particular Sta. Lucia cager. "Special ang treatment kay Pops ng basketball player dahil alam mo naman ‘yan, talagang malakas ang dating sa mga boys kahit na younger than her. (Pops received special treatment from the basketball player; you know how irresistible she is to younger guys)," confided one informant who works for ABC Sports. Fernandez came early to the game, obviously without boyfriend actor Jomari Yllana. According to people close to her, she does like basketball but doesn’t usually watch the game. Sources add that that for some reason, couldn't say no to the invitation. They said Fernandez went out of her way to squeeze the game into her schedule, purportedly to keep a promise to a "friend." So is it true that a Sta. Lucia player is courting Pops? "’Yan nga ang usap-usapan sa buong PBA ngayon. Isang player ang talagang nais makasama nang matagal si Pops. Pero pag tinanong mo naman ang mga taga-Sta. Lucia, deny-to-death kahit na may isa ro’n na nanlalaki ang mga mata pag nakikita si Pops," the informant revealed. (That is the talk in the PBA. One player is supposedly deadset about spending time with Pops. But if you ask people from the Sta. Lucia team, they all deny it, although one of them obviously keeps oggling Pops.) The rumors follow at the heels of earlier buzz linking Yllana to a certain "beautiful lady from the South". Fernandez however has denied that she and Jomari are going through rough times. "Mararamdaman ko naman kung talagang totoo ang mga tsismis. (I would be able to feel it if the rumors about Jomari are true)," Fernandez said in a previous interview.