I remember it well because I was in the bleachers with the Ateneo Brass Band playing my favourite instrument — the alto saxophone. There must have been around 10,000 people at the old Rizal Memorial Coliseum along Vito Cruz, Manila.
I can’t remember the names of players from La Salle but playing for Ateneo were Ed Ocampo, Bobby Littaua, Cris Arroyo, Tony Jose, and Jimmy Pestaño, among others. The NCAA board allowed a line-up of 16 players from each team but the Ateneo Blue Eagles had only 12 because of strict academic requirements imposed by the school. Unlike other colleges, Ateneo would not allow anyone to play in any game, no matter how important , if that team member had a failing mark in any subject. One such casualty was Paquito Diaz, the actor and father of Joko Diaz.
The scoreboard showed a 103-stalemate in the final seconds when the bell rang, to impose an unscheduled overtime that led to a final score of 105-103 in favour of Ateneo. That unforgettable championship game featured16 deadlocks and 11 lead changes.
‘Daddy Cool’ inspired the Blue Eagles
It was not the ‘Fabilioh’ cheering of the Blue Babble Battalion that inspired the Blue Eagles to victory but the continuous ‘Daddy Cool’ played by the Ateneo brass band. Occasionally, Captain Jose Campaña, our band instructor from the Philippine Army would ask me to stand up and play the tune solo on my saxophone. To this day, I can still manipulate the keys of the brass instrument.
The day following the victory of the Blue Eagles, TV personality Joe Quirino visited the Loyola Campus. He was expecting festivities inside the school compound but was met with deafening silence. He was met by Fr. James Reuter, SJ, then moderator of the basketball team. Quirino asked “Where are the boys?” Nonchalantly, the Jesuit said: “They’re inside the classroom taking their semestral exams.” “After winning a championship?” asked the media man with raised eyebrows.
Fr. Reuter replied: “Our players are students first and incidental basketeers. We do not grant them favours just because they won a championship.” The good priest then explained that the team lost 30 players on both Team A and B between 1956 and 1958 owing to academic deficiency and breach of team discipline. “That’s their lookout. Our players must have good grades to remain on the team. It is unfair to make a boy into a bum by passing him. They cannot be basketball players forever. They have to earn a living and basketball cannot teach them that.”