Redmanizers out to keep winning tradition

While the Toyota Tamaraws have long regarded the All-Star reunion match as a fun contest and nothing less, the Crispa Redmanizers have been cramming the past few days to ensure that they would maintain their winning tradition in the fabled rivalry.

In fact, the Redmanizers have worked out six times and brought in their master of a tactician in Baby Dalupan from the United States to be with them tomorrow when the keenly-awaited Crispa-Toyota rematch unfolds at the Araneta Coliseum.

"Noong araw pa kayang-kaya na namin sila, ngayon pa kaya? said Atoy Co, the 1979 MVP who’s acting as the leader of the Crispa squad for this game.

The sweet-shooting Fortune Cookie has been player-coach, team manager and even referee in their workouts. "Ako lahat ito," he said.

The odds are heavily stacked on the Redmanizers’ side since they have a good combine of the "old and the new" churned out by the Crispa dynasty.

"We can outrun and outscore them and although we’ve been slowed by age, we can still play the game. Mas bata kami," said Co.

"Magandang laro pero pagkatapos, malamang kami pa rin ang panalo," said Philip Cesar, also an MVP awardee.

The Redmanizers were ahead in their head-to-head confrontation with the Tamaraws through eight years of bitter rivalry that spurred the very growth of the league. Crispa has 63-60 edge since their very first meeting on May 10, 1975 which the Redmanizers won, 139-133.

The storied feud came to an end on Oct. 9, 1983 with Crispa posting 111-96 decision behind black-dynamo Billy Ray Bates, who scored a triple-double of 46 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists. — Nelson Beltran