AS president of the PBA Press Corps, it pains me that the man to whom the highest award that the group hands out every year has passed away.
Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan called his final play last Wednesday at the age of 92.
I am fortunate to have witnessed the exploits of Dalupan and his Crispa Redmanizers in the formative years of the PBA. After all, I was already in high school when Asia’s first play for pay league opened shop in 1975.
Admittedly, I wasn’t a Crispa fan nor a Toyota follower at that time. As I have said time and again, my favorite team was San Miguel Beer which starred Manny Paner. I had followed the Braves even during the MICAA days and marvelled because they had no import and still gave a tough fight against the other squads. That’s why Manny Paner was my first basketball idol.
But if you ask me to choose between Crispa and Toyota, I’d say I’m a Redmanizer fan.
In fact, I gravitated towards the Crispa side when I was already a sportswriter. And I experienced many nights at the Gilmore quarters of the Redmanizers playing billiards and drinking beer with superstars like Philip Cezar, Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa, Abet Guidaben and Freddie Hubalde.
As a young sportswriter, that was a memorable experience. Most young sportswriters now don’t even get to shake hands with hardcourt heroes. So, how can they sit down with these guys in merry-making?
I watched Crispa put together a Grand Sam back in 1976. I saw Dalupan’s transfer to Great Taste and rued the fact that such came a bit too late as Paner was no longer a member of the team and had already retired. And Dalupan would lead the Coffee Makers to four straight titles but not a Grand Slam.
The last championship I savored with Dalupan was with the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs in 1990 when he beat a youthful Tim Cone and the Alaska (then) Air Force.
Heck, long before Leo Austria completed a historic comeback from 0-3, Dalupan had already achieved a similar feat. But, of course, the third conference finals of the 1990 season was only a best-of-five affair. Alaska went up 2-0 and Dalupan wove his magic and led the Hotdogs to three straight wins and their first-ever championship.
It was Dalupan’s 15th title and his last as he would end his PBA coaching career as the winningest. Cone may have broken the record but for dyed-in-the-wool fanatics, Dalupan still ranks number one.
It would have been very memorable for me in my last term as PBAPC president if Dalupan was still around to hand out the Coach of the Year award personally. But the final buzzer already sounded.
Dalupan never made it to the PBAPC awards night of the previous two seasons when I was already at the helm of the group because of age creeping up on him and a deteriorating health.
On Sunday, the PBA will be offering a tribute to the man they call: “The Maestro.”
But it falls on my shoulder that on the next awards night of the PBA Press Corps tentatively set October 28, a final, more fitting tribute be offered to the man whose very name always signified hardcourt excellence.
This Baby will never be forgotten!