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The original title of this column was “faded glory”, after the brand of shirts that I stumbled upon at Wal Mart.
This is so because when I first watched a game in the current Inter-Barangay Basketball Tournament-Mayor’s Cup 2008, I was almost disappointed by the roster of players of the Barangay teams which joined the Open Division.
There are actually four (4) divisions in the current tournament: midget, juniors, seniors and the open category.
For all the categories, only bona fide residents of Mandaue City for at least six (6) months were allowed to play. For the senior division, players who have played in professional, commercial and varsity leagues were not allowed to play.
These players were allowed to join the open division.
My disappointment was that the Barangays who joined the open division had to recycle very deeply from players of yore.
When the game started however, I was pleasantly surprised to see the likes of Ruel Gomez, Felix Duhig and Epie Cabaltera still able to keep in step with the younger stallions in the team.
In the next game Barangay Looc paraded Elmer “Boy” Cabahug and Alfonso “Al-Al” Solis. The two may have lost the spring in their legs. However they made it up with plain court savvy and experience.
The truly star laden team has been Team Barangay Paknaan of Councilor Toben Andaya.
It has Gilbert Demape, who is less than five years removed from his last PBA Team. Jett Latonio, who gave a very good account of himself in the PBL as a member of the Granny Goose Team. Chris Diputado and Ritchum Dennison who are both mainstays of the multi-titled UV Green Lancers.
Yet, it has not been easy sailing for Paknaan.
They lost to Barangay Banilad, who was reinforced by another PBA great, Dale Singson.
They also lost their first game in the best of three series to Barangay Looc.
I was not able to watch the games because according to those who were there, including Coach Raul Latonio, he has never seen such a big crowd watch a basketball game in his entire life.
Even the recent championship series between the USC Warriors and the UV Green Lancers for the CESAFI title pale in comparison.
This shows the basketball savvy of the Manduehanons. They know when there is a good match. Barangay chauvinism also plays a big part. When a team from the barangay is playing, thieves can have a heyday in any of the houses, because everybody would be in the basketball court.
The more than expected turn out of basketball fans may also be a sign of the hunger, the drought, caused by the total lack of a sports program in Mandaue City in the past eighteen years.
I can remember the last time that I was chairman of the basketball tournament, that almost every team had a legitimate star in its line-up.
This was a tradition that dates back to the days of Cesar Cabahug, Arot Cortes, Delfin Pesons, Ramon Villamor, Demetrio Cortes, Silvestre Bugtai, Pedro Gonzaga,Antonio Ceniza, Juan Cabahug, Patricio Barz, Cornelio Pascual, Romulo Echavez, Oming Echavez, Ildefonso Senas, Eduardo Cabahug, Guillermo Bas, Reynaldo Cabahug, Fabiano Cabahug, Antolin Grafe, Fred Gonzaga, Raul Latonio, Dalton Echavez, Jojo Lastimosa, Raymundo Ceniza, Jun Zanoria, Bassanio Bugtai,Horacio Villamor, Alfonso Solis, Elmer Cabahug, Felix Duhig, Gilbert Demape, Jerry Aratan, Maui Mosqueda, Hadoy and Nelson Monroid, Bojan Maraya, Danny Reveche,Montoy and Dale Singson, Jett Latonio,etc., etc., etc. ( My apologies to those who escaped my frail memory)
Almost all mentioned above could fill up a Basketball Hall of Fame, if ever the Mandaue City Sports Commission would think of setting up one.
There were others who would have made it big if they had the right breaks:Vic Sungahid, Lilio Omolon, Juan Castaneda, Danny Agustin, Lupong Cortes, Temyong Ceniza, Jesus Narce, Nic Duenas, Pacing Flores, Floro Diola, Patring Paciencia, etc., etc., etc.
There was just this endless stream of basketball talents, which just kept on flowing.
Something must have happened along the way because suddenly the supply has reached the bottom of the barrel.
Either there was just no interest in sports in the leadership of the city in the past, thus the absence of a sports program, or there was just no basketball courts available which could shape the basketball star of the future.
If the present interest in basketball and other sports shown by the people of Mandaue is an indication, it will not take more than five years before basketball stars from Mandaue will start to shine again in the firmament of sports in Cebu and the Philippines.
No less than City Mayor Jonas Cortes and other top officials of Mandaue are present almost every evening in the sports venue, if only to underline the importance of sports in his administration.
