The San Miguel Beer–Purefoods Hotdogs rivalry is between two of the most successful basketball teams in the Philippine Basketball Association.
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History of their rivalry
In the First conference of the 1988 PBA season, then newcomer Purefoods Hotdogs aims to win their first title in a cinderella fashion, they battle the San Miguel Beermen in the finals, while there was no existing rivalry between San Miguel Beer and the team that Purefoods Corporation brought their franchise with, the Tanduay Rhum Makers, the roster of both squads suggest a rivalry is in the offing, the Open Conference championship was the first time two of the top centers at that time, Abet Guidaben and Ramon Fernandez, Purefoods' playing-coach, will be pitted against each other in the finals since the Crispa–Toyota heyday, In 1986, when San Miguel made a comeback in the third conference, they took in 8 members of the Northern Cement basketball team that won the ABC men's basketball championships earlier that year, among them Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, Yves Dignadice and Elmer Reyes. When Purefoods entered the PBA, the hotdogs got the best catch among the crop of amateurs which includes national mainstays Jojo Lastimosa, Jerry Codinera, Glenn Capacio and soon-to-be Alvin Patrimonio. The San Miguel Beermen winning the Open Conference crown over Purefoods in a seven-game series marks only the second time the finals series went the full route, adding color to their rivalry later was the blockbuster trade that saw Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben, switch places with Fernandez ending up as a beerman and Guidaben donning the hotdogs' jersey.
In 1989, San Miguel and Purefoods clash for the second time in the Fiesta All-Filipino Conference Finals, with Ramon Fernandez now on the side of the beermen, the Hotdogs' main man was Alvin Patrimonio, who will go on to tie Fernandez' four MVP awards in the 1990s, and will be playing against the beermen for the first time in a championship series, also at first was the match-up between aerial artists and two highly popular cagers back in the amateurs, Samboy Lim and Jojo Lastimosa, since Lim was not able to play in the 1988 PBA Open Conference Finals. San Miguel Beer coach Norman Black will now go up against the "maestro", coach Baby Dalupan of Purefoods, the beermen repeated over the hotdogs in six games in the best-of-seven finals series.
After two years of non-finals meeting of both squads, San Miguel Beer and Purefoods battled again in the 1992 PBA All-Filipino Conference Finals. This time, the Hotdogs have won two titles already and were defending champions in the All-Filipino tournament although beermen coach Norman Black has the edge over Purefoods' coach Ding Panganiban, gone from the Hotdogs' lineup are Jojo Lastimosa and Nelson Asaytono, who along with Dindo Pumaren joined their fellow national teammates three years ago, enter Elmer "Boy" Cabahug and former beerman Elmer Reyes on the Purefoods' camp, while San Miguel maintain its 1989 Grandslam line-up intact with only few additions, the 1992 finals series was the toughest so far for San Miguel as Purefoods forces a seventh game before eventually losing by 19 points, 86–105 in Game 7, and yield the title to the beermen, it is now 3–0 for San Miguel in their finals duel.
It didn't take long for Purefoods, known as Coney Island Ice Cream in the 1993 PBA All-Filipino Cup to finally scored their first victory over the beermen in the championship series, San Miguel bolster its lineup during the pre-season with the acquisition of Allan Caidic, reunited with his former NCC teammates, the Ice Cream Stars, under new coach Chot Reyes, equalled the beermen's strength by signing in promising rookies Dwight Lago, Benny Cheng and Olsen Racela, and league veterans Abe King and Frankie Lim. The captain Alvin Patrimonio was at its very best in the finals series in leading his team to a title-triumph.
For the third straight time in the All-Filipino tournament, San Miguel Beer and Coney Island clash anew in the 1994 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals, the Ice Cream Stars had an entirely different line-up from the previous season, with rookies Rey Evangelista, Vince Hizon and Richie Ticzon carrying the fight with Coney Island's main stars Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera and Glenn Capacio, San Miguel reasserted its mastery and dominance by winning in six games, for the second half of the 1990s, their rivalry was non-existent, Purefoods did eliminate San Miguel from the top four in the 1995 PBA Commissioner's Cup, the first time San Miguel places lower than fourth in the first two conferences of the season since re-entering in 1986, San Miguel ousted Purefoods in the 1996 PBA Governors Cup, and Purefoods winning the best-of-five semifinal series over the beermen in the 1997 PBA Governors Cup.
In the new millennium, San Miguel Beer and Purefoods fought for the sixth time in the finals series during the 2000 PBA Governors Cup and the second in the import-spiced conference, It turn out to be the most lopsided finals showdown between these two teams, the beermen finish off the Hotdogs in five games as league MVP Danny Ildefonso and Danny Seigle were at the peak of their careers while Hotdogs' main man Alvin Patrimonio had his best years behind him. In 2002, San Miguel Corporation brought the Purefoods franchise and the two squads became sister teams.
Nearly a decade later, these two teams meet again for the championship in the 2013 PBA Governors' Cup Finals, the old Purefoods franchise has since change names and monikers from Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants to B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados to San Mig Coffee Mixers, San Miguel renamed itself as the Petron Blaze Boosters during the 2011 PBA Governors' Cup. Under winning coach Tim Cone, formerly of Alaska Aces, the San Mig Coffee Mixers, with their present stars James Yap, Marc Pingris, Peter June Simon, defeated the Petron Blaze Boosters, coach by Gee Abanilla and led by reigning Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos, in seven games, it was the first Game 7 win by the old Purefoods ballclub over the former San Miguel team, likewise only the second time in seven finals clash the then Ayala-owned ballclub won over the SMC team.
Trivias
The two teams' seventh finals match-up history are tied at third along with Purefoods vs Alaska. The PBA's well-known rivalry during the first decade, Crispa vs Toyota, still holds the record for most number of championship meeting of two teams with 10, followed by San Miguel vs Alaska with 8.
Previous to the 2013 Governors' Cup finale, San Miguel and Purefoods played in two best-of-seven semifinal series in the 2009–10 PBA season, Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants won in six games during the Philippine Cup while the San Miguel Beermen even the score in the Fiesta Conference, winning also in six games against the Derby Ace Llamados.