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| The Official Newsletter of Colegio de San Juan de Letran - Intramuros, Manila |
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June 2010 |
News Index/ Sports News
Letran all set for 81st NCAA Season
by Manolo R. Iñigo
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Sports News
No school events posted for this month issue. Pls. visit this page again soon!
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The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) basketball tournament, once upon a golden time the No. 1 and most glamorous league in the country, marks its 81st season on Saturday, June 25, at the Araneta Coliseum with Letran College as host.
Featuring the traditional opening-day palabas and the popular cheerleading numbers, a banner crowd is expected to attend this year’s inaugural ceremonies even though it has been affected by the departure of La Salle and Ateneo which joined the rival University Association of the Philippines in the 1980s.
As host of the 81st NCAA season, Letran will be holding kick-off activities on Wednesday, June 15, at its gym in Intramuros. The preliminary event, according to Letran athletics moderator Rev. Fr. Victor Calvo, aims to bring together the various school heads, the league’s management committee, the coaches, players, team managers and the media to enable them to meet socially and get better acquainted.
Another highlight will be the mandatory drug testing of the players and their meeting with much-respected Commissioner Joe Lipa.
Competing in the season’s NCAA cage wars are the Philippine Christian University, which won the crown in its first try last year, San Sebastian College - Recoletos, San Beda College, Jose Rizal University, University of Perpetual Help Systems Dalta, Mapua Institute of Technology, College of St. Benilde and host Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
While it is true that the NCAA has lost its once popular appeal, it consoles itself but the fact that it has been a rich source of sporting heroes.
The NCAA was founded in 1924 by the late Dr. Regino Ylanan, a pillar of sports both as an outstanding decathlon athlete and PAF official, who was known for returning to the PAAF coffers his excess allowance during his trips abroad.
Many Filipino sports greats were products of the NCAA. One of them was Carlos Loyzaga of San Beda College, who is acknowledged as the greatest ever Filipino basketball player. Aptly called “The Big Difference” because he could turn impending defeat into victory, Loyzaga led the roaring Red Lions to successive NCAA championships that allow San Beda to retire the coveted Zamora Trophy in the 1950s. An all-around player, Loyzaga was a topnotch shooter, rebounder and center who towed the Philippine team to four straight Asian Games titles from 1951 to 1962. In the ABC, Loyzaga skippered the champion RP team in the inaugural meet in Manila in 1960 and in Taipei in 1963. But his greatest achievement was playing for the Philippine team that placed third in the World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro in 1954.
The late Simeon Toribio of Mapua Tech, was also a product of the NCAA. The greatest high jumper of his era, Toribio narrowly missed winning third place in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, but bounced back in the 1932 Los Angeles Games to win the bronze medal, becoming in the process the first Filipino to bag a medal in Olympic track and field competition.
The Padilla brothers of Letran College—Jose Jr. and Carlos, father of international boxing referee Sonny Padilla—also gave stirring performances in the 1932 Olympics in boxing.
In basketball, without question the Filipinos’ favorite sport, the Philippines, composed mostly of NCAA players, finished fifth at the 1936 Berlin Olympics when the dash-and-dribble sport made its debut.
In the national team were Hall of Famers Sen. Ambrosio Padilla of Ateneo and UP, Charlie Borck of San Beda, Jacinto Ciria Cruz of UST and Primitivo Martinez of Ateneo and UST, Jesus Marzan of San Beda, Amador Obordo of Ateneo and Bibiano Quano of Letran and Ateneo.
Of course, Letran’s famous Murder, Inc. basketball team also shared in the spotlight. The NCAA champion team of 1950, Murder Inc. was led by team captain Lauro Mumar, Dr. Herminio Astorga, Nilo Verona, Ricardo Panis, Jose Maria Iglesias and former Manila International Airport manager Luis Tabuena. The other members were Adriano Barata, Cristino Cui, Juan del Castillo, Jose Gutierrez, Narciso Manalac, Cesar Seguerra,, Melquiades Manicsic, Senen Obiadas, Leodegario Pilones and Antonio Vidal. Their coach was Angel de Leon, who was a member of the school’s first NCAA senior champion in 1938.
Mumar also played in the 1948 London Olympics together with fellow Letranite Fely Fajardo, Ding Fulgencio, of Jose Rizal and La Salle’s Manolet Araneta, Eddie Decena and Ramoncito Campos.
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