AS a kid in the 1970s (I was in high school and college for the 1980s), the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was the only game in town. There were far fewer choices if not distractions back then. But make no mistake, I loved watching the PBA games then.
In my immediate family, every one rooted for Crispa. My parents did as were my uncles and aunts. Me, I rooted for Toyota. Being the kid, I bore the brunt of jokes or teasing when my team lost. When they won, I was huffing and puffing my chest.
Why did I root for these Super Corollas/Tamaraws? I cannot clearly remember. But I did know that Francis Arnaiz, the one-time Ateneo Blue Eagles, was on the squad. Of course, there was the larger than life Sonny Jaworksi, the multitalented Ramon Fernandez, the man with a thousand moves Danny Florencio, the bull-strong Abe King, and others.
Last Friday, May 15, 2020, I hosted the Filoil Sports/BlackWater Elite In the Spotlight webinar called, Usapang Toyota Super Corollas that guested Toyota stalwarts Ompong Segura, Gil Cortez, Emer Legaspi, Ed Cordero and Ricky Relosa. Fernandez, Tim Coloso, Ulysses Rodriguez were unable to make it.
We—including other hosts Coach Ariel Vanguardia and Filoil’s Joey Guillermo—had a blast listening to the Toyota stalwarts reminisce.
Emer Legaspi told one of the most hilarious stories. How his contract was expiring and he had not seen much playing time under Head Coach Ed Ocampo. His wife, Editha, went all the way to Ocampo’s home in Alabang to ask why. As Emer recalled it, it was the coach’s wife who attended to them (but they knew coach was home). The following game, Emer got some playing time and his contract was renewed.
Laughed the loquacious Ed Cordero who remains very much a part of today’s basketball scene. “Si Coach Ed hindi takot kay Shin Dong Pa [the Philippines’s Korean hotshot nemesis] pero kay Mrs. Legaspi takot.”
That bowled everyone over in laughter.
Segura and Cortez recounted how a rumble with archrivals Crispa led all players being picked up at either the Toyota dorm or their respective homes then brought first to Camp Crame and then Fort Bonifacio where they spent the night. Even while in jail, the players of Crispa and Toyota were taunting one another. If not verbally, then by showing off with food.
The Crispa players were brought food—the usual Filipino favorites. Not wanting to be upstaged, the family of then Head Coach Dante Silverio had steak from the top Prince Albert restaurant brought to their players. “Hanggang sa selda, pasikatan,” observed Cortez.
Segura said that even as both squads squared off for the first-ever PBA championship in 1975, the rivalry wasn’t as intense. “It took several conferences kasi lagi kami magkalaban,” recalled Segura.
“Dante,” added Segura, “was groovy.”
Shared Legaspi, some players were very physical, but not everyone. Emer had Tito Varela as a teammate over at the University of the East. So when the two were matched up, there was no physical stuff. For others, there was. Even Ed Cordero shared a similar story because he was with Crispa’s amateur squad where he was a teammate of Joy Carpio’s. They do were nice to one another but not so much with others.
Cortez, who played for Toyota for two seasons before moving, told of how he was injured during a game but had to be fielded back when there were only four players left after everyone else had fouled out. Cortez on a gimpy leg, moved to the center slot, and just waited to rebound the ball. And yet, Toyota won the game.
All the players also spoke glowingly about their fabled imports. Byron “Snake” Jones and Andy Fields. Donnie Ray Koonce, Kevin Porter and Carlos Terry were mentioned. Jones who I remember well was one to flick the ball off the backboard with a pektus that would see the ball land in the hoops. Said Segura, “laro na nga nilalaro pa.” Jones were very good and effective as well. Jones however would jump ship to rivals U-Tex and Crispa where he was a part of a champion team or two.
Fields who had multiple stints with the team was so reliable. He would rebound the ball and ignite Toyota’s fastbreak game.
Cordero and Relosa were young players towards the end of Toyota’s PBA stint (the franchise went under during the economic crisis of 1983) didn’t play too much but both shared that they learned a lot from Fernandez.
It was a thrill hearing from these legends. Even the other players were hearing some stories or points of view for the first time. Truly, everyone had a great time.
The cool thing is…there is a Part 2 with those who didn’t make the first webinar joining. For a longtime fan like me, this is really cool. And we will be working on a coffee table book! That’s the other bit of good news here.