8/8/2019 View Philippine Daily Inquirer / Thursday, December 9, 2010 / W-4: PAGE 20

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INQUIRER SPORTS TELLING THE FILIPINOSTORY TOTHEWORLD4 THURSDAY, DECEMBER9, 2010

MIKEECojuangco- Jaworski carries thePhilippineflagshortly afterclearingthefinalbarrierandcompletinga perfectridethat clinched forherthegoldmedalinequestrian’s jumpingcompetitionat theBusanAsian GamesinSouthKorea.Thegold shesnatchedonthefinaldayof theGamessent thenational delegationhome onthe wingsof  victory.

 The Filipino’s time to shinesports association)with12 goldmedals,fol-lowedby athleticsand aquaticswith nineeach, billiardsand boxingwitheight, tradi-tionalboatraceand taekwondowithsix,fenc-ingwith fiveand bowlingwithfour.MetroManilaservedas themainhubofthe

23rd editionof theGames.Othereventswereheld inBacolod,Cebu, LosBañosandCan-lubang inLaguna,Tagaytay, AngelesCityinPampangaandtheSubicBay FreeportZone inZambales.ThePhilippinespreviouslyhostedthe1981

Gameswhereit placed thirdbehindIndonesiaandThailandandthe1991edition,whichtheIndonesianstoppedbyamere twogoldmedals overtheFilipinos.

Unbeaten rompsparksUST4-peatFORFOUR straightyears,chants of “VivaSantoTomas”reverberatedin theUAAPcommunity as theTigersdominatedthe bas-

ketball scenefrom1993 to1996,an unprecedentedfeat at that time.

USTstartedthe runby sweepingall14matchesof the1993season,automatically handingthe Tigers thecrown. Thefollowing year, theFinalFourformatwasstarted.

UST’stitle-clinchingwinin1993wasmadeatthe expense ofAdamsonbefore itfrustratedLaSallein thenextthree championshipfights.The14-0team,coachedbyAric delRosario,

starredDennis Espino, Bethune“Siot”Tan-quingcen,ReyEvangelista,RudolphBelmonteandPatrickFran,withalternatesBalDavid(point guard),ChrisCantonjos (center)andEdmundReyes (forward). Alleight Tigers climbed thepro ranks,with

Tanquingcenevenbecominghead coachof GinebraandSanMiguelBeer. Todate,only Espino is stillplaying(withPowerade)whileEvangelista(B-MegDerbyAce), Fran(Meral-

co),Tanquingcen (SanMiguel)areassistantcoaches.Priorto 1993,UST’slastsolo titlecamein

the1964-65seasonwhilein 1967-68,itshared thechampionshipwith Universityof theEastafterbothschoolsrefusedto fieldtheirplayers inthe secondhalfof Game3.Overall,USTandUE have18men’sbasket-

ball titleseach, next only toFarEasternUni- versity’s19.

GreenArchers nail ownfour-peat ANEWcoachheraldedanewera. Yearsof heartaches came

toanendascoachFranzPumarentransformed theLaSalleGreenArchersfromperennial brides-maids to fierce champions.

It seemedlikebeginner’sluckfor then first-

timecoachPumaren,a recentlyretiredprofes-sionalcagerwho tookoveras LaSallementorin1998.Butboastinga solidprogramanda roster

stockedwithtalent, theArchersruledtheUAAPmen’sbasketballtournament from1998 to2001 toslay theghostsof theirforget-tablerunner-up finishes.LaSallewon back-to-backtitles in1991and

1992,but soonbecamethe league’sheart-breakkids afterfinishingasrunners-up sixtimesin sevenyears, threeof whichcamedur-ingUniversity ofSantoTomas’ ownfour-peatfrom1993 to1996.But theplayerseventuallybaskedinglory,

andimpressively, threeLa Sallestand-outs—MostValuablePlayer DonAllado,pointguardDinoAldeguerand triggermanRenrenRitualo—madeit to the1998MythicalFive.LaSallecappedits record championship

runwithno less than a2001 finalsvictoryoverfierce rivalAteneo,whereRitualoagainshonealongwithprizedguardMikeCortez,CarloSharmaandWillyWilson. A final featthat, unquestionably, sweetened

LaSalle’s phenomenal run.

Stags’NCAA five-peatHALFa decadeof domi-nance.SanSebastianpractically 

ownedthe ’90s astheStags, boastinganucleusof thecountry’stop amateurstandouts, strungupanun-precedented fiveconsecu-

tiveNCAAchampionshipcrowns.TheStags steamrolledtheirwaytothe

men’sbasketball pinnaclefrom 1993to 1997 withRomelAdducul,the 6-foot-6center ascornerstoneof apowerfullineupwhowenton

tobagtheMost ValuablePlayerplumthrice.SanSebastian,indeed,madetherest ofthefieldseemlikeminnowswith a rosterthatalsofeatured6-foot-5AramisCalpitoand6-4 Brix-terEncarnacionpatrollingthe shaded laneandwily guardsUlyssesTanigueandJasperOcampomanningthebackcourt. And likea sweet championship fairytale,

theStagsevenmarked theirhistoricfifth title witha perfect season.

With still11 holdoversin thefold, theStagsstreakedto13straightvictories to completeanunbeatenseasonandrecordthe firstfive-peatin thecountry’soldest collegiateleague.TheStags cruisedpast theSanBedaRed

Lions,84-72,in the1997Finals. Adducul,unstoppableunderneath, defied

thehelp-defense thrown againsthimand

Tanigue,barely 5-foot-8,struck fromthe out-sideto trigger a13-pointavalanchethatburied thestunnedLions, 62-48, forgood.

 VictoriousMaroonspaintthe town redBENJIEPARAS,RonnieMagsanocand EricAltami-ranocouldn’thave graspedthekindof history they  wereforgingone Octoberafternoonin 1986.UniversityofthePhilip-

pines, thecountry’s premieracademicinstitutionwhoseforay intocollegebasketball hadbeen filledwithheartache,wassuddenly stoodat thecuspofhoopglory. Against theUniversityof theEast’s vaunted

machine,led byKingWarrior JerryCodiñera,theFightingMaroonshadremovedonehur-dleto thechampionship.UPwonthe firstgameofthe seriesandmovedtowithina vic-tory ofits firstUAAPcrownin 46years.

TheWarriorswent into thetitleserieslook-ingto naila thirdstraight championship,buttheywere clearly notthe teamtheywere inthetwopreviousseasons,losingchiefgunner AllanCaidictograduation.

Still,Codiñera,whosplit timewithUEandthenational team,hadamplesupport inthelikesof collegiatestandoutsBoysieZamar, VernieVillariasandTingHojilla.

ButwithAltamirano leadingUP’sscoringcharge—he finishedwith26points in thefinalgameof theseasonwherehewonMVPhon-ors—theMaroons simplyoutclassedtheWar-riors, 98-89. Paras,Magsanoc,JoeyMendozaandJoeyGuaniohelpedkeep theUPmachinehummingattheUltra(nowthePhilSports Arena)to leadStateU tothecrown.

Back then,it was ahuge story—itmade theINQUIRER ’S frontpageandmeritedaneditorial

toboot—becauseof thelengthoftime it took beforetheMaroons clinchedthe premierbas-ketball varsity crownin thecountry.Today,withUP stillunabletoduplicatethe

feat, that victoryremainsetchedin hoophisto-ryas thedaytheFightingMaroonswereNo.1.

Grand-slamBeermenroll outbarrel VERYFEWpeoplemay havenoticed it,butSanMiguel Beer’s GrandSlamin1989wasactually setinmotionin theprevious year.

TheBeermenruledtheOpenConferencebut failed

toproveit couldwinwithout animport, asitsglutof talentedyoungstarsneededadifferenttype ofveteran leadership than theoneAbetGuidabenprovided. Afterfinishing fourthin theAll-Filipinoin

1988,the Beermenmadetheirmove,tradingGuidabenfor controversial butall-aroundbigmanMonFernandez.Andthe6-foot-4bean-poleprovedhisworth immediately byhelpingtheSanMiguelwinthe 1988ReinforcedCon-ference.When thecurtainswereliftedoffthe1989

season, theBeermen lookedsharp,deep andpoised todominate.WithFernandezwerethe likesof Samboy 

Lim,HectorCalma, ElmerReyes,YvesDig-nadice,AlvinTengand FranzPumaren.CoachNormanBlack hadinhisdisposal a collectionof talentveryfew teamscouldmatch.TheBeermendefeatedShell intheOpen

Conference, silencingthe tandemofBenjieParasandRonnieMagsanocin a 4-1trashing.

Theacidtestcamein theAll-Filipino,against aPurefoodssquad thatwouldmake winning theleague’smostprestigious trophy apart of itstradition.Still, theBeermendefeat-ed theAlvinPatrimonio-ledHotdogs insixgames.TheBeermengot off toa poorstartin the

ReinforcedConference, losing its first twogameswithimport KeithSmartin tow.ButtheBeermenbrought inEnnisWhatleyas replace-mentandwenton todefeatAñejoRhuminthefinalsto seal oneof thegreatest seasons inPBAhistory.

 Acesrecord fourthPBA grandslam ALASKACOACHTimConesummeduphisteam’s1996 virtuosoact infive words: “Specialpeople

achievespecial things.”JohnnyAbarrientos, Jo-

 jo Lastimosa,BongHawkins,JeffreyCariaso

andPoch Juiniocertainlyprovedin onesea-sonjusthowspecial theywere,leadingan AlaskachargethatsawtheteamwinthePBA’slastGrandSlamthus far. Alaskaopenedup itstriplecrownby defeat-

ingAlvinPatrimonio,JerryCodiñeraandthePurefoodsHotdogs in theAll-Filipino.Its toughestchallenge, though, camein the

Commissioner’sCup finalsagainst a veteranShellsquadcoachedbyPerryRonquillo,whomatchedwitswithCone ina seven-gamese-riesthat wentthe distanceandfeaturedverbal joustsbetweenbothcamps.In theend,Cone, wholikenedAlaska to “sharks,”defeatedRon-quillo’s“dolphins” for thetitle.Shell, whose import KennyRedfieldgua-

ranteedavictory,wasledby BenjieParasand VicPablo. Alaska,meanwhile,was ledbySeanCham-

bers,whoplayed in theCommissioner’sCupdespite theheight handicapafterDerek Hamiltonwastestedpositive fordrugs.Whenthe GovernorsCup rolled around,

 Alaskacouldvirtuallysmell theGrandSlam, withChambersreturning fora tour ofduty. Alaskasimplycontinuedits winningwaysasothersquadsneededa coupleof gamesto jell withtheirimports.

TheMilkmen’sfinalhurdlewasGordon’sGin,buttheBoarsdidnotoffermuchofafight.Alaskawon thefirst threegamesbeforeeasingon thegaspedalthenext two.InGameSix,though,it wasalloverasthe

amazingAlaska Acesfinallysealed theirownspecial season.

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FILIPINObaseballerscelebrate their victory in the2005 SEAGames. AP RENRENRitualoon cloud nineafterthe La Salle Green Archers completed their UAAPfour-peat.

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FrompageW3

THEPHILIPPINES’ FIRST Jennifer Rosales (left) andDorothy Delasin celebratewinning the Women’sWorldCup overpowerhouse SouthKorea in SouthAfrica. AFP