Remembering Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan (+)

Remembering Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan (+)
Eternal repose grant unto Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan, o Lord.

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

“The Maestro”
15x PBA champion as Coach 
12x UAAP champion as Coach
2x NCAA champion as Coach 
1970 Pesta Sukan gold medalist
4x MiCAA champion
PBA Hall of Fame member
National Sports Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Awardee
1974-1976 Coach of the Year

Dalupan is an institution in a league that prices tradition and strong loyalty. He has made a name, and perhaps a modest fortune, by being coach, a bench tactician with dozens of titles to his name, over three decades of competitive basketball. Who could forget him and Danny Floro and their glorious Crispa Redmanizers of the mid-1970s? They authored the pro league's first grandslam season, and Philippine basketball was never the same again. They drow the yardstick by which succeeding pretenders to the throne would be measured. Crispa was the ultimate a glorious team in an era when basketball bred its first superstars and the names of Atoy Co, Bogs Adornado, Philip Cezar, Freddie Hubalde and Bernie Fabiosa. Presumably, Coach Baby Dalupan with a name that hollers like a thunder, doesn't sound Greek to you. For most, his name has been historically linked to basketball. For others, he is strongly identified with the prominent UE president Francisco Dalupan. Popularity and rich heritage (which he vehemently denies) have definitely not affected his ego. As a proof, he was easily accessible to this writer for a much soughtafter interview. 'Fame breaks a man as fortune does. I feel that anybody in my place will occupy the same "front pages." It's merely a consequence in the basketball sport,' this was his humble explanation for the distinction he now enjoys. Baby's coaching contribution to CrispaFloro dates back to the 1960's when as a cumpadre, he was bent to extend all possible help in the realization of a dream: the emergence of a sturdy row of cagers. To date, he has been responsible in accelerating a number of young upstarts to mainstays in Philippine basketball. Baby cradles a strong belief in his team, Crispa-Floro being his first commercial team outside of school in 1955. Thus, he took time out from his commitments at the University of the East where he is PE director. Since 1960, Crispa-Floro has had 14 crowns under the able coaching of a Baby Dalupan, that man with determination in what has been started. He is forever injecting discipline not only on his players but also on himself. Of course, Baby considers daily exercise a necessity; a body-building factor to keep everyone fit.