"I couldn’t believe my eyes," said the fan who knows of Dennis’ history of emotionless and cold-blooded behavior. "And I saw in the corner of his eyes, he was looking at his father shouting at him."
Dennis’ estranged father Philander, 66, has lived in Angeles City for over 40 years. He motored to Manila with a horde of friends to watch his son play and try to mend broken fences.
Philander left his wife Shirley and their three children–Dennis, Debra and Kim–in 1965. Dennis was only three at the time. Without a father, Dennis grew up a disturbed child and was once jailed for stealing watches from an airport store while working in the graveyard shift as a janitor. It was his mother who constantly bailed Dennis out of trouble.
But another witness said Dennis was not crying at all.
"I saw him walk out," said the witness. "Yeah, I saw him glance at his father but he really couldn’t care less. He wasn’t crying. There was perspiration on his face, not tears. It was Dennis who told his bodyguard to keep his father away. His bodyguard was just following orders."
Dennis’ bodyguard Craig Balkam engaged Philander in a shouting match before and after the game.
About 15 minutes before the players were introduced on the floor, Balkam approached Philander at courtside to warn him to stay away or else.
"I just wanna talk to my son, that’s every father’s right," said Philander. But Balkam wouldn’t budge. "You’re a deadbeat dad," said Balkam. "You abandoned your son and now you wanna see him ‘cos he’s rich and popular." Philander told Balkam he never abandoned Dennis and his sisters, only their mother. "You don’t know the real story," said Philander whose words fell on deaf ears.
During the game, I asked Philander–sitting right behind the TV panel–which team he was rooting for. He didn’t reply. Philander, however, told me at the final buzzer, he would try to talk to Dennis and if he refuses, "I’ll tackle him and grab his ass."
Neither the talking nor the tackling happened. Balkam did a good job of keeping Philander and his friends at bay.
"That’s why you lost the game," shouted Philander as his son walked out of the court. "It’s ‘cos you don’t wanna talk to your dad."
The Bad Boy Tour organizer Mario Whitmire said at some point in the future, Philander and Dennis should sit down, talk and clear things out but on their own terms.
"I don’t want to meddle in that affair," said Whitmire who is happily married to his Filipina wife, Terry Magistrado of Iriga City, for 34 years with three children. "That’s their business. But sooner or later, they should talk it out, like father and son."
At Dennis’ autograph-signing session in the Gateway Mall last Tuesday, Philander showed up and again tried to talk to his son. Dennis signed autographs only on his latest book "I Should Be Dead By Now." He turned down requests for autographs on anything else. Fans had to buy the book for P1,400 before lining up for his autograph.
The session was disrupted when Philander appeared. The selling stopped but Dennis finished signing autographs for those who paid for the book.
By the way, Philander himself is an author of two "books"–"Rodman, Father and Son" (a 48-page booklet with a cover price of P90) and "The Original Bad Boy" (a 66-page booklet with a US cover price of $11.95).
"The players loved the ambiance, food and hospitality," said a tour coordinator. "It was by far the best restaurant they went to."
Dennis had his share of "action" during his stay. He frequented Havana, Prince of Jaiphur and Embassy at the Fort. Some girls he picked up in his nocturnal jaunts sat behind the US team’s bench in Monday’s game and cheered themselves hoarse for their benefactor.
Apparently, Reid was down with the flu for three days and forced himself to play against the Philippine team. He was burning with fever and still in shivers during the game.
Houston Rockets legend Calvin Murphy, who played sparingly in the visitors’ two games, was the senior statesman of the US team at 57. He enjoyed his stay here and played golf twice at Forest Hills. Murphy said his choice for MVP in the NBA this season is Kobe Bryant, hands down. And despite locked in a bitter first round series with Sacramento, San Antonio was his choice to win the championship.
"Timmy (Duncan) is hurt but they find ways to win," said Murphy. "Detroit will be in the finals, too."
"Next time, we’ll know better," said Whitmire who is a successful organizer of package tours to big sporting events like the Golf Masters and the NCAA Final Four in the US. "We put on a great show and we heard a lot of those who weren’t at the stadium and saw the game on TV regretted not going."
Whitmire said he was willing to shake on a bet with PBA marketing director Jacques Ruby to shave heads depending on which team won.
But according to Whitmire, Ruby backed out of the wager. Whitmire would’ve gone to the barber shop after the game.
Mico Halili, the small-but-terrible TV anchor, was inadvertently delisted from the PBA roster. A million apologies to my broadcast partner who played point guard for the PBA selection. In fact, Mico hit a driving floater to cut the Executives’ lead to four, 32-28, in the second quarter and kept the PBA selection in the thick of the battle.