A Night With the Dragons...

The Pampanga Dragons 25^th anniversary reunion was originally scheduled for November this year. But former team manager and organizer / financier Gil Cortez couldn’t find a common date that would be suitable for majority of the guests. At that time, Cortez was also busy preparing for the Crispa-Toyota grand reunion (which has been postponed to a later date). 

Ultimately, Cortez thought that December 7, a Thursday, would be perfect. Not wanting to bother the guests when the Christmas rush peaks on the 15^th of December, Cortez felt the date would be ideal given that it was a national holiday the next day. 

He already had a venue in mind. While several guests live in Manila, there were also others who are already based in Pampanga. It was only fitting, therefore, that the gathering be held in the province that they gave honor to 25 years ago. The Sixty-Four bar and restaurant located at the Vista Mall in San Fernando, Pampanga – a cozy, retro place that serves good food and drinks, was Cortez’s only choice. 

It was mid-November when Cortez sought help from this writer to prepare the program. He wanted everything simple and personal – nothing fabulous or extravagant. With several photos taken from Cortez’s personal collection, the PBA Archives and the Philippine Basketball Diaries, the team from the sports podcast, “An Eternity of Basketball” in collaboration with its sister program, ‘Who the Heck are We?” produced a video tribute that encapsulated the team’s success on the MBA’s maiden year.

Team owner Anton Gonzalez initially said he would be able to come but eventually begged off after learning that he would need to be in Cebu that day for a wedding. Gonzalez was able to send his greetings to the guests via video. 

Cortez took care of the food, wine, liquor and giveaways. He had blue shirts and personalized coffee mugs produced commemorating the team’s 25^th anniversary. He also made sure that friends from media would not be going home empty-handed – a bottle of wine and a shirt was his way of showing his appreciation to those who helped him out.

Sev Sarmenta, one of the greatest sports anchors in Philippine broadcast history, was a no-brainer pick for Cortez to host the event. Sarmenta, who started covering the PBA games in 1986 as part of the Vintage panel, left Bobong Velez’s outfit in 1996 and free-lanced with Silverstar Productions, the team that covered the UAAP games back then. In 1998, when ABS-CBN opened the MBA, the Ateneo professor was the network’s prime pick to man the broadcast booth. 

Being an MBA pioneer who covered the main game alongside the late Butch Maniego (Pangasinan Presidents versus Socsargen Marlins) on opening day last March 07, 1998 at the Don Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in Lingayen, there was no better choice to have as program emcee but Sarmenta. As expected, he dazzled everyone with his innate ability to get everyone’s ear and respond to him positively. He cracked jokes, ribbed some of the players, and shared stories that may or may have not been retold already several times. 

Sarmenta also brought to everyone's memories that it was Bill Velasco (who also attended the party and came in around 8:30PM) and Danny Francisco who covered the very first MBA game featuring the Cebu Gems versus the Manila Metrostars. Velasco also came from the Vintage stable while Francisco was already dabbling in sports broadcasting as analyst of the UAAP games produced by Silverstar.

But it was his impersonation of the late Dragons’ coach, Aric Del Rosario, that cracked everyone up. Sarmenta would mumble gibberish and incomprehensible words – ala Coach Aric – and ending the line with “…bigay kay Joshua,” in reference to what the broadcast panel was hearing from the live microphone during huddles. Curiously not one of his players is named “Joshua” which would make one wonder who Coach Aric was referring to. 

Sarmenta also shared what he learned from Cortez – that the Dragons were a privileged group, having brought in their own chef to prepare their dishes during out-of-town games. That was added cost on the team’s part, given that plane fares back then weren’t exactly cheap.

This was completely unheard of back then, given that visiting players would normally dine at the hotel’s restaurant or at local dining establishments. But Cortez, who was visibly amused sharing the story as well, responded by convincing Gonzalez the need to have a team chef because of the Kapampangans’ food indulgence. “If we feed them right and the players are happy, we have better chances of winning,” Cortez told Gonzalez back then. He got his wish, the players responded positively, and the Dragons won the first MBA championship.

Which explains why Cortez took pains in personally selecting the dishes to be served during the party. He didn’t want to disappoint the players, and while he was only expecting around 30 guests to arrive, he actually had the restaurant prepare food for 40 people. Expecting that dinner would be served late because several guests would be coming from Manila, nachos and chicken wings were served as appetizers during the pre-program. And when the buffet table was opened, there was generous servings of Fish and chips, grilled pork belly, chicken and chorizo paella, truffle pasta, chicken and mango salad and the ever-popular Kapampangan cuisine, sisig (pork jowl and ears). When everyone already had their plates filled, there was still food at the buffet table good enough to serve ten more people. 

Curiously, the evergreen Cortez, who looked 20 years younger than his 67-year old frame, just had his birthday two weeks before the party. On the other hand, Sarmenta just celebrated his birthday the day before. When called by Sev to speak after team captain Ato Agustin gave him a cake and the players serenaded him with a birthday song, Cortez thanked everyone, then called Sarmenta to share the stage with him while offering him his own birthday cake as well.

Ompong Segura, the team’s assistant coach, shared his own fond memories with the team. “Masaya ako sa team na to. Malaking bagay din na magkakasama kami sa mga biyahe kasi solid ang bonding namin. Ang maganda din, walang superstar ditto, although PBA MVP si Ato (Agustin), hindi niya pinakita na diva siya at talagang nakisama sa lahat. Kaya din naman gusto din siya ng mga teammates niya,” Segura shared.

Cortez, on the other hand, was beaming with pride all throughout the night. But what makes everything more special is that this team is already etched in history as the very first champions of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). “Marami na din akong dinaanan, sa national team, sa Toyota, sa PBA, pati sa college tournaments. Pero iba din itong Pampanga Dragons kasi ang dala-dala mo, the province where you came from. And yes, because we gave this province the biggest honor of winning the first MBA title. That feat alone would speak for itself,” Cortez proudly said.

Red wine was served to everyone. And in the post-program, Weinsteiner tall beer and tequila were served. The team toasted at least five times, taking swigs of tequila shots and drowning them with salt and lemon slices. Not surprising that the party lasted until 2AM when the venue reservation was only good until 12 midnight – everyone was simply having the times of their lives.