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THERE is this sad story from out of Pennsylvania,
from where NBA referee Tim Donaghy hails. Accused of betting on NBA
games, he is now being probed diminishing the legacy—that
word—of the venerable basketball traditions of the Philadelphia
Catholic League where he grew up. He was one of four Cardinal
O”Hara High School alums who officiated in the NBA this past
season.
Like in the Catholicism of my
youth, when we had the Student Catholic Action and the Archdiocesan
Athletic League, that Catholic League was seen as “an enduring
institution built on faith, strong family ties, generational loyalty
and the small-town feel of neighborhood connections, where there
always seems to be a guy who knows a guy who might be able to help a
guy.”
I recall the Pasig of my youth,
where I edited the Pasig Parishioner. It was a simple time when the
NCAA pleasured fans in a hundred ways. In 1950, as a Makati
Elementary School grader playing pick-up basketball, we would have
catechism classes in the Catholic School, where we would get
estampitas.
1950 was when the Red Lions beat
the Knights to stop them from setting an NCAA record of 10 straight
wins. But, the Murallans beat the Mendiolans in the playoff for all
the marbles. I recalled this vignette after the Knights stopped the
Lions from sweeping the NCAA first round, 70-69, exactly a week ago.
57 years ago, the Lions beat the
Knights, 56-51, in their second round setto. It was the Knights”
first loss in ten games, aborting a planned Vito-Cruz-to-Muralla
torch parade and the celebration, which had cost Letran a lot to
prepare.
Saldaña, Barretto, Caseres, Lim
and Buenaflor led the Lions. At the end of the third, it was 47-33,
for San Beda. In the last, canto, the Lions resorted to a freeze and
the gap was just too wide to bridge. When the gun barked to end the
game, pandemonium broke loose in the San Beda stands.
Letran sighed. The official gun
was not the only one to bark. During the game, a disturbance
occurred in the Letran stands. There, two young Letra-nites were
passing a .45 caliber gun that fell and fired upon hitting the
pavement.
Three Letran fans were injured.
Outside the stadium, a truckload of torches, which were intended to
be used in that parade to Intramuros, and placards saying “Letran
—Undefeated Champions”, became desa-parecidos. It was postponed
gratification. Then came the play-off for the title.
After trailing the Lions for
three quarters, Letran, not known as Murder, Inc. for nothing, got
back and won the whole enchilada, 66-55. Letran had its deserved
celebration.
Astorga, who became my compadre
in time, through Art Panganiban, starred for the champs. But, Bedans
Dee, Saldaña, Lim, Chua and Caseres had kept their fans hoping for
another play-off game, in a twice-to-beat situation.
There was a moment when the
Bedans reduced a ten-point margin to five, 60-55.
But, age and experience won over
fighting spirit. Letran had Olympian Lauro Mumar and veterans such
as Tabuena, Verona and Iglesias. (Loyzaga was to lead the Lions a
year later.)
A San Beda-Letran finals next
month would be a humdinger. Would Freddie Webb, an alum of both
schools, show up? I hope we will avenge the 1950 outcome next month.
A La Sallite e-mailed to comment
on the heartbreak Lion loss last week, when La Salle also lost to
Ateneo. The senior citizen still fantasizes about Bedan super-fan
fan Diana Carlos, of an innocent period when many of the things
priests and nuns preached we followed. Yun pala.
But as long as guys still know
guys who can help another guy. Do they when the SCA and the AAL are
gone?
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