The heydays

Our screening of membership applicants at Alta Vista Golf and Country Club yesterday ended much earlier than usual.

While enjoying the kaldereta specially cooked by my compadre and big brother Ramon Sebastian, members of the committee, also had a trip down memory lane about the basketball scene of Cebu courtesy of former University of San Carlos Warriors Vicente ‘Vince’ Colina and Vicente ‘Inting’ Go.

They carried the colors of USC during the 1960s and although Romy Rizarri and papa Rod Señido may have been around by then, to our chairman Atty. Arsenio Tan, and this deadline beater, who are the younger members of the committee, it was like getting a history lesson.

The Cebu basketball scene used to be very vibrant. Although I only got very involved in the early 1990s when I was already a sportswriter, I have experienced being inside the Cebu Coliseum or the USC Gym with hundreds of others packing the bleachers that it seemed the stadium would burst at its seams.

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The two former Warriors told us stories about the 1960s and its stars, whose names I can remember from those who have been enshrined into the Cebu Sports of Fame or were nominated for enshrinement.

Inting then talked about how Ramon ‘El Presidente’ Fernandez started as a lanky freshman at USC and how they trained the future 4-time MVP of the Philippine Basketball Association.

There were also stories about how tough and rough some players were including some big names in Cebu sports and business, who were also players in the past.

There were stories of games played in the towns and barrios during fiestas, a game in Bohol, and brawls that resulted to games being called off.

Ramon, who used to play with Ateneo de Zamboanga before transferring to Adamson in Manila, also had his share of what might have been horror stories then that he can already laugh at today.

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Looking back to my early days as a sportswriter, I remember how people filled the gyms to watch four games during Sundays and how they would stay put for hours.

That was before we had malls and live television coverage of the PBA games and even cable TV.

Now, the basketball community is a bit picky on what games to watch, but we still get to see arenas filled during the championship round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) tournament.

There are just too many other things to do now aside from watching ballgames on Sundays. 

We might not get to see the good old days again, but definitely, the memories are still fresh in the minds of many fans.

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings to my mistahs Cdr. Donn Anthony Miraflor and Ting Malinit, Jill Gaite, and Darlene Malimas, who are turning a year older today.

Advance greetings to those celebrating tomorrow to Frauline Soria, Femy Navarro, Joy Quintana-Gollon, Love Joy Malicay, Sigrid Tigol-Reyes, and Cecilia Evardo.

More power to all of you! - THE FREEMAN