Birthday Tribute - Jimmy Javier (October 27 )

If you chance upon Jimmy Javier and have a friendly tete-a-tete with him, you'd probably forget that he has an awe- some gigantic 6-5 frame. He speaks in such a soft, somewhat inaudible tone, you'd have to ask him to repeat what he had said in order to keep the conversation going. His shyness, however, doesn't stem from some unpleasant basketball experience in the past. For one, he avers that with Galerie Dominique, he's been getting the proper exposure and enough breaks to dislodge from his mental faculties, memories of the unfair treatment he experienced with his old ballclub.

Jimmy says that his attitude is a direct result of his being born under the birth sign, Scorpio. He was born on October 27, twenty eight years ago. I'm a loner. Scorpio kasi ako. I sometimes believe in what the Zodiac signs say. Hindi ko naman binabasa sa diyaryo yung horo- scope ko araw-araw. I've got this book. Yung iba tama. Yung iba hindi. But I'm one person who never has great expectations. Kung ano ang dumating, okay na yon. Hindi ko naman gusto yung suwer teng sagad-sagaran. Hindi tulad ng iba diyan. Para sa akin, kung mayroon, okay lang. Kung kaunti, tama na rin. Kung wala, tiis. Talagang ganyan ang buhay." There's one thing though that comes in contrast to Jimmy's so-called shyness. And that's the fact that he was once a cadet major at Binmaley Catholic High School, Pangasinan. "Hindi talaga ako nagba-basketball. From first to third year high, I was an active cadet officer. Noong third year ako, matangkad na ako, mga six footer na. Whenever I'm commanding, hindi ako nahihiya dahil nasa harap ako. Pero pag grupo na, naaasiwa ako dahil ako lang ang matangkad. Upon reaching fourth year high, our commandant Lt. Melchor told me: 'Mag-basketball ka na lang." Sayang daw ang tangkad ko. I really did not know how to play basketball. Ang gusto ko nga noon mag-aral sa PMA. Kaya lang tumangkad ako nang ganito."

After high school, Jimmy went to Manila and enrolled at Jose Rizal College. He played for JRC in the NCAA from 1973 to 1976. "Coach Calilan taught me almost everything I know. Wala kasi akong masyadong alam. Yung footwork ko, yung shooting ko, wala. In 1975, he made it as a national to the Thailand ABC. This was followed by another ABC stint in 1977. In the same year he was also a member of the RP quintet to the Malaysian SEAG. He had a brief stint with Crispa Walk Tall in the MICAA "Kaya lang na-banned ako sa MICAA because 1 played for ROMA Builders in Bacolod. That's why I turned pro in 1978.

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