REMEMBER that grand Toyota basketball team reunion that happened last February? It came to be because the stars aligned in January when Toyota luminaries Mon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Ricky Relosa, Rino Salazar and longtime import Andrew Fields had a serendipitous meeting in the US of A.
That meeting wasn’t planned. It was meant to be. And during that warm, happy and hilarious get-together where the group reminisced about old times and past glory, the idea of a Toyota homecoming was brought up.
It was, after all, 50 years since the team crashed out of the dugouts of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to bask in the bright lights of the MICAA (Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association), which was then the big league of Philippine basketball—like what the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is today.
From that day forward, the Komatsu Komets, later to be famously hailed as the Toyota Comets, Toyota Tamaraws, Toyota Corollas and Toyota Superdiesels, began their bright orbit in the Milky Way of Philippine basketball, stringing a total of nine championships in Asia’s first and oldest professional league—winning a lot of hearts and diehard fans who still gush over their team’s exploits to this very day.
So it was settled. A reunion there must be. The 50 Golden Years of the team’s life must be commemorated and celebrated. And when the El Presidente came home, he passed on stories of the fortuitous volt-in to his other teammates.
Gil Cortez—the PBA’s first Rookie of the Year in 1976–took it from there. A superb organizer, Cortez immediately reached out to other teammates here and abroad and talked to Dante Silverio, the team’s debonair team owner and eventual coach. The latter said: say no more. Of course, he would be most happy to sponsor the Toyota Team’s 50th Anniversary celebration. And so it came to pass.
On February 18, Toyota glitz and glamour came alive at a sumptuous get-together at the Alfresco Covered Lounge in Makati—site of many memorable Toyota parties past.
Though older now, the Toyota stalwarts who made it to the event still sported that unmistakable mystique that made them the basketball stars that they were in the 70s and 80s. Mon “El Presidente” Fernandez, Emerito Legaspi, Pol Herrera, Ompong Segura, Oscar Rocha, Ulysses Rodriguez, Joseph Galonga, Roberto “Judge” Concepcion, Arlene Rodriguez and Ed Cordero, Gil Cortez and Dante Silverio, of course, were there. Pasig City Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski represented his father, the great Big J. Christopher Reynoso represented his father Tino, and uncle Big Boy Reynoso.
It was an evening of unadulterated merrymaking. The team of An Eternity of Basketball (AEOB), a basketball podcast about the PBA of the 70s, 80s and 90s, took care of turning back time—providing photos, trivia and a nostalgic video that showed fuzzy images of on-court action.
Games, souvenir selfies, short speeches and reminiscences preceded a whole lot of singing and performing.
Dante Silverio took to the mike and had a mini concert of Beatles songs. (Was this guy really in his 80s? I thought. He could still nail the numbers, and rock and roll!) Others, like Gil Cortez, followed.
The good times really rolled that night so after that February gathering, a couple more Toyota meet-ups took place.
But the Golden Boys are preparing for another even more significant reunion this Friday, April 28. AEOB’s Jay Mercado says Dante Silverio wants their “best frenemies,” the Crispa boys in the celebration too.
Toyota has already reached out to Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Bogs Adornado, Freddie Hubalde, Tito Varela and PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston. PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Dickie Bachmann will also be there.
Jay Mercado quoted Gil Cortez as saying Dante Silverio really wants to include their archrivals in the celebration. “Part of the plan is to sell memorabilia, replica jerseys and trading cards and have a grand reunion in a big venue where fans can join and participate in the celebration. Proceeds of the affair would go to a charitable institution to be agreed upon by both parties,” Jay wrote.
Three cheers for the Crispa Toyota ex-rivalry!