Big Difference heads first SBC Hall of Fame

Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga, considered as the greatest Filipino basketball player ever, added another feather to his cap when he was recently elevated to the first San Beda Sports Hall of Fame along with six other Bedans whose vision, talent, commitment and dedication helped shape Philippine sports.

Loyzaga, called "The Big Difference" because of his natural ability to turn impending defeat to victory, won the hearts of his countrymen when he led the RP team to an unbelievable third-place finish in the 1954 World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

Loyzaga made his Olympic debut in 1952 in Helsinki and also played in the 1956 Melbourne Games. He won four straight Asian Games titles (1951 New Delhi, 1954 Manila, 1958 Tokyo and 1962 Jakarta) and two ABC championships (1960 Manila and 1963 Taipei) plus three NCAA collegiate crowns (1951, 1952 and 1955) with San Beda. He coached the RP team that finished 13th in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Joining Loyzaga, also nicknamed "Pomfret" after a popular Canadian Red Roses cager, in the San Beda Sports Hall of Fame were Ramon "Mon" Aldea of archery, Enrique Beech of shooting, Charles Borck of basketball, Florencio Campomanes of chess, Arturo "Luli" Rius of basketball (posthumous) and Ildefonso "Ponching" Tronqued Sr. of football (posthumous).

They will be honored during the traditional Red and White Ball on Feb. 20, 2003 at The NBC Tent, Bonifacio Global City. Their portraits and other professional mementos will be displayed on the hall of the St. Placid Sports Center now being constructed inside the SBC campus and expected to be finished early next year.

Aldea was a veteran of the 1972 Munich Olympics and one of the founding members of the Philippine Olympian Association; Beech saw action in the 1954 Melbourne Olympics and 1960 Rome Olympics, and won a silver medal during the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo; Borck was known as the "blonde bombshell" during his stint in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and 1940 Japan Memorial Games, and also became a member of the RP football team;

Campomanes was one of the moving spirits behind Philippine chess since the ‘50s and is the lifetime honorary president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) which he headed from 1982 to 1995; Rius was known in the NCAA as the "last three seconds man" for his gutsy plays when the game is on the line and will be remembered as the great coach of the RP team to the 1960 Rome Olympics; Tronqued played center-forward in football and the sprint events, high jump, long jump in track and field. He was also into a basketball and truly was a great athlete who later on became one of the most sought-after football referees in Asia.

They were chosen from a list of 13 great sportsmen from San Beda, including Loreto Carbonell (basketball), Antonio "Tony" Genato (basketball), Arturo "Art" Macapagal (shooting) and Ponciano "Pons" Saldana (basketball) plus the late Rafael "Piling" Barretto (basketball) and Eduardo "Eddie" Lim (basketball).

Commissioner Emilio "Jun" Bernardino of the PBA was chairman of the board of jurors who chose the first batch of the Bedan Hall of Famers. The other jurors were Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (3rd district, Negros Occ.), Atty. Rene Saguisag and Rev. Anscar Chupungco, OSB, College Rector.