BEFORE PACQUIAO, THERE WAS THE BIG J!
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 24 Jul 2012
The chant of his name reverberates in the 16,800 seat MGM Grand Arena every time he fights. His face is all over the city of Las Vegas during Fight Week, be it on a guy wearing his sports company endorsed shirt, on posters all over the strip announcing his fight or on giant video screens promoting his fight. The tickets to his fight are the hottest commodity in town, selling out days before the event itself. He is Manny Pacquiao, one of the most recognized names in the world. And he happens to be a Filipino.
But before he hit it big in the Philippines, before he captured the eyes of the 90 million countrymen of his, there came one before him that is as equally charismatic.
His name echoed in the halls of the ULTRA or the Cuneta Astrodome back in the 80?s and 90?s where the oldest professional basketball league in Asia, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) played at those times. These arenas will always be sold out whenever he and his team play. All television sets and radio stations will be tuned in to a broadcast of the PBA whenever he and his team played. The tickets to his games are the hottest merchandise in the city of Manila. Shirts that bear his number and name are a fashion statement in itself.
And when you are in the arena, his every move in the court drew applause and admiration from the sold out venue. The crowd will go crazy whenever he approached the scorer?s bench, signaling that he will play. He does not get a lot of playing time, not even when he himself is the coach of the team. He leaves it to his players and team mates and he concentrates on dissecting the game at hand.
But when he does enter the court, everything stops. Everyone anticipates a good thing happening. Even if his team is down by a dozen or more points, his entry to the game will surely give hope to their millions of fans. And he delivers, not once, not twice but plenty of times. His name is Robert Jaworski. Mister Number 7 himself, the living legend of the PBA and of Philippine sports, the Big J or ?Jawo? to many.
Before the chants of ?Manny, Manny, Manny?, the chants of ?Jaworski, Jaworski, Jaworski? ruled the seven thousand one hundred islands of the Philippine archipelago.
Jaworski was the ultimate sports icon of the 80?s and 90?s. His face is everywhere. Be it on print or television. His endorsements are a plenty. His name is Mr. Philippine Basketball himself just like Pacquiao is to boxing. His trademark three pointers and behind the back passes are a legend in itself. And they are always imitated and mimicked by everyone growing up in that era. Just like the trademark left hand by Pacquiao. Jaworski?s three pointers delivered a chilling blow to the other team.
And like Pacquiao, Jaworski defied the odds. Jaworski will not always have the best players in his team, he at most times do not have the best imports (foreign-based players that are allowed to play for a local team), he will have some or most of his players sidelined with injury but he will get the job done. It does not matter even if he faces a superior team in paper nor even if his team is down 3-1 in a best of seven series. Jaworski will summon his team to give it all, to fight to the very end, to not give up, to never say die. And he will not only preach this, he will show them how to do it. He will lead them to give it their very best on that one game, on that one game that counts. Yes, Jaworski in his 40?s would do that both as a player and a coach, all at the same time. Talk about multitasking, if you think Pacquiao is good at it. Imagine being player and coach at the same time.
Jaworski like Pacquiao caught the public?s eyes, ears and most of all their hearts. We have plenty of sports personalities both present and past, but very few captivated them the way these two icons did. If Pacquiao can stop traffic and crime in the Philippines when he fights, Jaworski did also the same back then when he and his team played.
I remembered when I was still working in Manila and was on a night shift then, I waited for hours for a bus to come to bring me to the city from a neighboring province. I was wondering why transportation was so scarce during that night. I am sure that there was no public transportation strike scheduled which would be the culprit or I would have driven myself to work instead. And then I saw a bunch of guys hovering over a small TV set in a nearby store, and I knew right then why there are no buses, jeepneys or even FX?s (privately owned SUV?s that moonlight as public transportation)at that particular time. Jaworski?s team, Ginebra is playing in a close game in overtime. I arrived late for work that night, but I had a big smile in my face because they won. My peers don?t mind either as they themselves were tuned in to the games. I also learned a lesson then that I will need to leave early or not commute at all whenever they play. And if it was the playoffs or the championships they were playing at, forget about it.
Pacquiao and Jaworski appealed not only to one class of our society. Their one-liners are infectious and humorous. But admittedly, Jaworski has an edge on this one. Their appearances draw a crowd wherever they go even if it is not sports related. They are sought after by politicians, by show business, by ad agencies.
They are not only a favorite of the masses but their popularity extends to the middle and upper classes, the rich and the poor, the educated and the not so privileged. Their fame is shared by all genders, by all sects and religions of this nation. They are idolized, revered, worshipped. Not only because of their achievements in their craft, but because people can relate to them.
Jaworski and Pacquiao embodied the traits of perseverance, of humility, of industry, of generosity and of faith. Traits that are held close to their hearts by most Filipinos. They are an example of what someone can achieve by practicing these traits and by believing that indeed nothing is impossible. Not even if the foes are taller, bigger and more talented in paper. Not even if they are the underdogs, just like when Pacquiao was against the great Oscar Dela Hoya in 2008 or when the Jaworski- led ?Barangay Ginebra? was against the favored Formula Shell in the PBA First Conference Finals in 1991. A lot casted doubt on these two feats back then, but the rest is history.
When Jaworski went into politics in 1998, it was then the end of an era. But little did we know that a diminutive lad from General Santos City will take his place as the country?s sports icon, albeit a different sport. Pacquiao came when Jaworski?s influence, charisma and popularity is sorely missed. In the absence of an inspiring sports, social and political figure like Jaworski in basketball, people turn to boxing and followed the feats and exploits of a stow-away from Mindanao. And like Jaworski, he did not disappoint his fans, his people.
Jaworski?s iconic jersey number 7 was retired earlier this month by the PBA. It was a gesture that took more than a decade to happen but one that is befitting given his enormous contributions to the game. It is as if he never left, given the respect showed to him by his fans, peers and the general public during his retirement ceremony. Because respect is far more reaching than fame and popularity. One that is achieved not by championships and titles but by how you interact with everyone, how you treat them, how you accommodated them. Jaworski practiced that.
Jaworski also earned it by not giving up against bigger odds, by giving it all in whatever he does, by living the never-say-die spirit. One that I hope will also remain in Manny Pacquiao. Because Pacquiao liked Jaworski was loved because of these characteristics, and hopefully that never-say-die spirit that he has as a young pugilist from General Santos will carry him through as he enter the final phase of his career.
There can be no other Robert Jaworski just like there can be no other Manny Pacquiao. There are always talks of the next Pacquiao among our young boxers just like there were talks of the next Big J back then. But there will never be ones like them. It is more than plain talent, more than plain achievements. Their appeal is beyond the sports that they play. It is unexplainable. It is just witnessed and enjoyed.
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com for any reactions to this piece.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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