The Surprising Mr. Mann (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

December 31, 1976-January 7, 1977

Alice Lopez Lim

 

 

Early in the PBA series, the performance of Cyrus Mann for the Crispa Denims left much to be desired.

 

            The crowd wasn’t pleased at all by his rather lackluster showing.

 

            There were acid comments: “Is that the powerful Brazil Palmeiras player who wowed the audience during their stint here?” “Yun ba ang ilalaban kay “Snake” Jones? Mukhang lampa, eh…”

 

            For during the first games, Cyrus Mann was a far, far cry from the Cyrus Mann who, in the last five games (the best of five) in the third conference, blocked shots, plucked rebounds so easily, measured “Snake” Jones for size and emerged superbly victorious most of the time; gave valuable assists to his teammates, and all in all, performed so remarkably well that he disconcerted and surprised and amazed even some of those who were rather cynical of what he could do for the quintet.

 

            But Cyrus Mann at the outset was bedeviled by a few problems. He even played once right after arriving from the airport and he looked miserable and woefully unfit for pro ball games by vomiting and throwing out right on the floor that Coach Baby Dalupan had to replace him right away.

 

            But the ensuing games were different: Mann became more conscious of his performance for the Crispa Denims. 

 

 

 

            Articles and news reports twitted him then: his lackluster, lackadaisical attitude inside the hard court was roundly criticized.

 

            And soon, like a dutiful ballplayer, Cyrus Mann toed the line – and he wasn’t acting like any prima donna trying to show the rest that he was an “import” and that, perhaps, he is entitled to some special treatment.

 

            For it was even reported that Baby Dalupan minced no words in calling him down now and then. And proof that the coach and the manager, Danny Floro, wield authoritative hands over their team was the seeming metamorphosis that characterized Cyrus Mann’s blending with the team.

 

            And before long, Cyrus was just “one of the boys,” – no one special. Just like any other player of the Crispa quintet: like Atoy Co, Freddie Hubalde, Rey Pages, Tito Varela, Philip Cezar, others.

 

And during practice games, Mann went through the whole runtime, doing what he was told by the coach, following instructions.

 

            Doubtless, the “blending” with the team came in most appropriately during the crucial moments when his help was needed vitally.

 

            For during the last five games, Mann was a “towering pillar of power” right at center; there he provided the right kind of defense – easily blocking sure shots (of course, there would be those goaltending violations), preventing the opponent from making those easy layups, for he was there, a gangling, but still powerful pillar of defense; and he excelled in assists, snatching those rebounds (whether in the offensive or defensive rebounds) and subsequently passing to a teammate.

 

            At times, he threw a wild pass or a too-strong pass – which his confrere couldn’t retrieve. And there would be a turnover of the leather.

 

            But on the whole, Mann’s reassuring performance won for him the admiration and camaraderie of his teammates. Even during those tensed, tension-filled last minutes, Mann would be there, doing his thing, providing Crispa it’s undeniable sock.

 

            And after the hard-won trophy was given to the squad, the jubilant but perspiring Mann did a jig with his wife, Cotrie Mann, while the television cameras of NMPC GTV-4 focused on the overall scene of excitement and jubilation.

 

            Later, at the dressing room, Cyrus Mann was heard to have said, “I would rather play for Crispa than for an NBA team…”

 

            Whether the remark was uttered impulsively in the fevered heat of just winning a championship, one couldn’t right away ascertain. Suffice it to say that Mann, wiping his perspiration and answering questions from the reporters, showed that like the rest of his teammates, his heart was really there – in winning and copping that prized trophy for his quintet.

 

            There’s little doubt where his heart belongs: it belonged to Crispa at that right and precise moment. He was one of the boys, whooping it up, visibly excited and elated over the triumph manifesting his interest and affinity for the team which beat its arch rival, Toyota, in grand slam fashion.

 

            And later, at the victory party held at the “Anong Balita” coffee shop of the Makati Hotel, Mann was there, as jubilant and excited as the rest. Enjoying the drinks and the food.

 

 

 

            At a table with Cotrie, his wife, were Bill Bunton and the latter’s wife, Linda. And there was even a time when the good-looking April S. Cezar, Philip’s better-half, requested Mann to pose with her. And with wholesome good nature, Mann readily acquiesced, posing with April for a photograph with everybody cheering them.

 

            Yes, he was going home for Christmas, he told this writer. He’d go to Detroit, spend Christmas probably with his own family, his parents, his brothers and sisters, his kin.

 

            Would he come back to the Philippines, one wishes to know. Yes, in all probability, he’d come back. And no one would probably be happier than Danny Floro, Baby Dalupan and the rest of the bunch.

 

            Let’s take a look at some statistics during the best-of-five and see how Cyrus Mann fared.

 

            In five games, he played a total time of 158.35. His field goal attempts totaled 78. He converted 41 of those field goals for a 52.56 percentage.

 

            At the free throw line, he made 20 out of 30, for a 66.67%. He made 102 points in those five games, with an average of 20.4.

 

            In the rebounds department, Mann had 39 defensive rebounds as against 8 offensive rebounds.

 

            In the assist department, Mann completed 5 passing assists, with 4 passes not completed. He blocked 13 times, stole one, and had one deflection for his team. He provided screens all for 5 times, chalked up 3 in loose ball recoveries for a total of 32. He committed 23 errors, however, and also made 10 fouls.

 

            In the earlier round of five, Mann topscored for his quintet. He had a “hot hand” then, as compared to the others. In the best of five, it was Atoy Co (who should get the MVP award if they apt to give it this year) who topscored for a whopping 159 points. That is, Co converted 65 out of 13 field goal attempted and at the free throw line, Co was unbeatable with his conversion of 29 out of 36 for an 80.55%.

 

            But going back to Mann, his presence at the center post was undoubtedly a big contributing factor to Crispa’s continuous momentum towards the championship. The other players no doubt were daunted, “for his presence, there was of course, intimidating force.” Fact is, the sure shots of the others from the opponent’s side seemed easily deflected or went haywire because of Mann’s manning at the pivot post.

 

            Mann has enjoyed his brief stay in the Philippines, it was obvious. He has made friends, Cotrie, his wife, admires Atoy Co- “he’s such a good player.”

 

            Mann, whose other brother, Allen (or is it Alan???) is just so tall and is already showing skill as a ballplayer, has a terrific sense of humor. He jokes and kids around with friends.

 

            He loves swimming aside of course from playing ball. He is easy to talk with: he’s not at all standoffish or one who’s difficult to converse with. He shows his appreciation of what is written about him by simply asking where the article would be coming out. Doubtless, Danny Floro will sign him back again next year – when the PBA season commences with the imports gracing varied quintets.

 

            “Okay ‘yang taong ‘yan….,” a Crispa player says.

 

            When he dribbles, he looks loose-limbed, as if it’s easy to thwart him. But make no mistake of trying to steal the ball from him: he’d easily stash away the leather from the opponent’s reach and pass it off to someone. And when he jumps to snatch away those rebounds from the rest, his long arms enfolding the spheroid, he seems to do it with deceptive ease. But he occasionally throws wild passes; too strong for his colleagues and too high for some of them.

 

            Will he join the Boston Celtics (of which he was a draftee, it was earlier reported) when he goes back?

 

            Maybe yes. Maybe not. But whatever happens in the near future, Cyrus Mann will certainly fit in on whatever plans the Crispa management has for him. And from the looks of it, the genial manager is only too willing to dangle anew the contract for this “towering and lanky pillar” who contributed immensely to the victorious end of a too long protracted league.

 

            Meanwhile, Mann’s “image” – rather tarnished by none too complementary reports about him, is now that of an “adored hero” by the countless fans of the Crispa Denims, indubitably, “the best team in the PBA” and second to none.

No Records for Dalupan (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

November 19-26, 1976

Bitoy Bonifacio

 

 

This year will wind up as one of the most fruitful for coach Baby Dalupan, but the cunning Crispa team mentor would be looking back at 1976 with diminished fondness.

 

            Dalupan actually has a lot to cheer about. There is the second straight NCAA basketball crown he helped win for Ateneo last month, the PBA All-Filipino title and the expected (at this reporting) PBA Open Conference plum. But despite all, Dalupan is likely to shake his seasoned head when he reminisces about year 1976. It is a year of near-misses – at big basketball records.

 

            Dalupan failed to keep a date with basketball history when he missed scoring an unprecedented 14-game sweep of the NCAA basketball series by a hairline (no thanks to eventual runner-up San Beda); then last Tuesday, he again failed at a record try when Toyota coach Dante Silverio prevented him from achieving what could have been the first ever three-game sweep of a PBA best-of-five title series.

 

            So, 1976 will go down as just another year for Dalupan who has been so used to clinching crowns, although often the hard way.

 

            However, this is also likely to be an all-revealing year for Dalupan as far as the Crispa lineup is concerned. He is more convinced now that the Redmanizers will always be the Redmanizers. They can’t be expected to clinch, try their best, whenever the odds are on them.

 

            Fighting hard all the way once favored would be terribly un-Crispa-like. Or winning a major crown trouble-free, for that matter.

 

 

 

            In their quest for a third straight PBA title alone, Dalupan had to patch up a series of team troubles – with fatherly backing of Don Pablo Floro and son Danny Floro, Crispa team manager – in order to maintain their status as the country’s number one ballclub. First, there was the problem with Cyrus Mann, the prodigious team pillar – who, at the earlier stage of his stint here, had refused to stay put, travelled back and forth to the United States, while his teammates were left doubting about his worth and intentions. Fed up, Dalupan gave Mann an ultimatum – stay put or pack up and go home. Mann, roused to his right pro basketball senses, is definitely playing one of the finest seasons of his young career.

 

            Similarly challenging was the overly-publicized team troubles, which had threatened to go out of hand. Dalupan insisted on his own way, and the problem was promptly resolved.

 

            William Adornado, his skipper and most reliable point-producer, injured his knee. This could have proved crippling had it happened to a lesser team and to a lesser coach. But Dalupan solved the Adornado problem when he fashioned out new plays – with emphasis on mobility and teammanship – to make Crispa doubly deadly at the clutches.

 

            What Dalupan would not however get rid of is the often suspiciously, lethargic performance of his mainstays whenever the team plays an overwhelming favorite.

 

            What’s commendable about Dalupan is that, despite the troubles, and his countless titles, he has also grown into a good loser.

 

            In their latest setback – in game number three of the PBA Open best-of-five series – Dalupan did not blame the referees, although there were some obviously stupid calls which had helped crippled their bid for a record sweep of the championship. He instead blamed the setback on his boys, which he said, failed to sustain their fierce pace.

 

            “Lumamig na naman sa huli,” Dalupan explained amid funeral silence in the Crispa dugout.

 

            Coach Dante Silverio, on the other hand, also had reasons to cry over officiating, but he overdid it when he blamed their two crucial setbacks in the finals on referees.

 

            “We were playing against seven men,” complained the usually cool Silverio. “We could not win any game, no matter what, if the referees continue to pick on my boys.”

 

 

 

            Sadly though, Silverio’s distrust for the referees had also affected his boys. They too became touchy on the floor, protesting every call – no matter what.

 

            “Kailangan diyan (sa Toyota), magpatayo ng sarili nilang liga,” said a disenchanted sideliner.

 

            They were not supposed to, but Toyota fans blamed the referees for the deterioration of Robert Jaworski’s temper in the series. A seasoned internationalist, and a top contender for the MVP award in the last All-Filipino series, Jaworski brought out anew some of his nasty amateur habits – barging his way with a karate kick, raking opponents with a fist, etc.

 

            And once, as reported by Recah Trinidad in the Evening Express, he refused Bernard Fabiosa’s peace offer when the Crispa sentinel extended a friendly hand after the game.

 

            “Siya na ang nanuntok, siya pa ang ayaw makipagkamay,” Fabiosa said of the Big J.

 

            But enough of that. Back to the ballgame.

 

            Crispa for the first time in the series, suddenly found itself sorely missing Bogs Adornado when the fabulous Redmanizer scoring machine cooled off, chug-chug-chugged in the closing quarter of Game 3.

 

            Suddenly, the Redmanizers were in trouble again. But, unfortunately for Coach Silverio, a Redmanizer in trouble is terribly hard to contain.

The Night Crispa Got Off the Floor (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

November 5-12, 1976

On the Line, Vic Villafranca

 

 

            It was a game that Crispa and Toyota needed to win like Racquel Welch needs pads to make everybody in the room sit up and take notice.

 

            Oh sure, being the last game in both teams’ qualifying round schedule, they had to play it. But if at all, the only thing that was at stake in so far as both teams were concerned because they earlier had made the semifinals, was something called prestige. Which means that whoever loses gets nothing more than the whole exercise except a blow to the ballclub’s pride.

 

            Still, the way Danny Floro’s Crispa Denims took the floor Tuesday last week, one would think that if it was not the whole championship that was at stake, it was the entire Crispa plant in Pasig, Rizal. Or all the baubles in Philippine basketball’s most bejeweled ballclub.

 

            No one in the Crispa lineup really said it out loud but the feeling was there just the same that if there was one game that the Denims had to win, this was their final encounter with Toyota before the round of four begins.

 

            And so who really cares if on the other side of the fence, Dante Silverio were to behave as nonchalantly, as unperturbed as a race driver taking the family wagon on a spin in the countryside? Or if Dante couldn’t care one whit whether the Comets were to hobble out of the court later on looking every bit like a bunch of cats that just got out of the rain?

 

            Let Dante relax, let him enjoy the luxury of going through a stint on the bench without as much a stick of Pall Mall reds in his hands, but for Crispa, none of that “I couldn’t care less” attitude, none of that, “Look Ma, No Hands, No Pressure” stuff.

 

********

 

            But then, looking back at it all, Crispa’s performance record in the three-month long qualifying round, it is not difficult not to understand why the Denims’ apparent edginess over a game which they could drop and still not miss a step going into the semis.

 

 

 

            As the qualifying round’s performance record will show, the Denims almost have to make it to the round of four through the side door. And at one stretch in their lurching, shaky spurt to the semis, they gave a lot of people the impression that any similarity between this Denim team and that which won the first PBA conference for 1976 couldn’t even be faintly coincidental.

 

            Eventually, they got to join Toyota, U/Tex and Royal Tru Orange in the payoff round, but only because elsewhere in the league, the other round of four aspirants were blowing up their chances to get in the semis and they were able to stop their skid to comedy in time.

 

            But as to that old question – Has Crispa still got the old sock? – the Denims never got to provide a categorical answer.

 

            And so now, with the qualifying rounds just ended, Crispa has one last chance to show that it’s too early to refer to the Denims in the past tense, that despite their internal troubles, they still possess the stuff out of which champs are made.

 

            What the Denims did Tuesday last week to prevent the off-season messages of condolences from piling up on Danny’s desk was an almost storybook example of what a team suddenly imbued with a desire to win could do when up against the wall.

 

            Although decidedly crippled by Bogs Adornado’s absence, the Denims played like the Crispa ballclub of old, almost like a team possessed as they cut down the mighty Comets to size and win by a margin that looked as if they didn’t run up against Toyota but against the second team of the JASM’s girls’ basketball team.

 

            Predictably, that uplifting triumph earned for Crispa the raves of both the experts and the fans. In his column, “Take Five” in the Express, Tony Siddayao, all but came out singing as he wrote,”….and now Crispa is back in business as a respected contender, an image that had been in bad need of repair.”

 

             Indeed, that was how the whole thing to many, until two days later, at the start of the round of four, when Crispa, playing as if half of its lineup was in a trance or had a bad case of sniffles, played hot and cold to blow a 106-101 decision to the U/Tex Wranglers.

 

            It was an awful start for a machine that seemed to have finally dusted off its kinks and it’s a good thing that instead of just one straight series, the semis will go double round robin. Which means that whaever it is that has made the Denims play like the contenders that they are one night and like a bunch of old ladies the next night, Coach Baby Dalupan will still be able to patch. And Danny Floro to remedy with that now well-known locker room performance of his where, according to those who have caught it, Danny minces no words – nor promises – to get the adrenalin pumping once more in the Denims’ bloodstream.

 

********

 

            Actually, in trying to get to the bottom of Crispa’s dismal performance last Thursday, Danny Floro need only to review the Denims’ scorebook to know why his team took it flush on the chin against U/Tex.

 

 

 

            As the books showed and likewise their behavior on the court, three Denims – Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa and Philip Cezar – hardly were in the game. Atoy, the Denim who provided the big sock in Crispa’s runaway win over Toyota last week with a game-high 25, could only put together eight points while Fabiosa was only good for four. And Cezar/ Would you believe an apparently healthy Philip only coming through with two points?

 

            It does happen, of course, that even the best of players hit an off-night, but not to the extent – as in the cases of Co, Cezar and Fabiosa – that their performances take a swing from the sublime to the ridiculous and all of a sudden – as if they forgot their shooting irons in the dugout on their way out – they run around like a clutch of kittens caught in a traffic maze.

 

********

 

            Obviously, the United States has just about had it in Olympic competition. In preparation for the Moscow Games in 1980, the U.S., according to Director Don Miller of the US Olympic Committee, plans to spend no less than $10 million for development alone.

 

            The sum, which entails a considerable easing of the USOC’s purse strings, is unprecedented in the history of American preparation for the Olympiad. It represents, in fact, a 250 increase in previous developmental programs of the USOC.

 

            Why all of a sudden the U.S> decided to pull out all the stops in preparation for Moscow, Miller didn’t say, but observers feel that the USOC shift in emphasis toward development appears to reflect a growing concern over the continuously improving performance level of the Soviet Union, East Germany and other Eastern European states.

 

            In short, the U.S. is getting fed up finishing second, third, or worse in events which in past Olympiads, American entries used to dominate and win with the ease and aplomb of a New Yorker munching a MacDonald hamburger.

 

********

 

            In finishing 106^th in a field of more than 2,000 entries in the New York City Marathon, Philippine long-distance king Victor Idava broke his old national record of 2:38.23, running the 42-kilometer route in two hours and 37 minutes flat.

 

            Nice. But not really so much when one compares that with the time posted by the winner, Bill Rodgers, who covered the distance in 2:10.10, almost a full 20 minutes faster than Idava’s time, which means that by the time Idava hit the NY city suburbs, Rodgers must have been out of the showers already and all dolled up to pick up his prize.

 

            Undoubtedly, Idava has still a long, long way to go before he succeeds in his bid to be within screaming distance of the world’s best in the marathon at the end of another long race. And at the rate he is going, it looks as if his only chance of giving Rodgers, Shorter and company a scare is if these guys are to take a lunch break at the halfway mark.

 

********

 

            He can’t run now and neither can he walk since a vehicular accident 10 years ago rendered him invalid and consigned him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. But Alex Cabusor, once the country’s long-distance man, believes he can still do something to help the DYSD in its sports development program.

 

            Like another track standout of the past, Inocencia Solis, Alex, who now lives in Bagiuo City, a short sprint away from the finish line of the Baguio Athletic Center, would like DYSD Undersecretary Edilberto Duavit that anytime the DYSD needs his services, he’s available.

 

            Cabusora’s offer is in response to Duavit’s call for competent and experienced personnel to man the various phases of its sports development program. As this department had predicted, Duavit need not really go to great lengths to find the people he’s looking for. All he needs to do is put out a distress signal.

 

********

Quotes Unquote –

 

Coach Baby Dalupan after Crispa lost to U/Tex: “Mahirap talaga ang basketball.”

 

Coach Dante Silverio, following Toyota’s first win in the PBA round of four: “We’ve got to make new moves because our opponents are watching us very closely.”

 

Bill Veeck, White Sox owner, describing Dodger owner Walter O’ Malley: “He’s the only man I know Dale Carnegie would hit in the mouth.”

 

Tommy Bolt after blowing a two-foot putt: “I know you all expect me to blow up and say something bad at this point, but I’ll be darned if I will.”

That's the Way Crispa Likes It (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

September 24-October 1, 1976

Bitoy Bonifacio

 

 

            The man least concerned about the reports of renewed troubled supposedly rocking the Crispa team is the team owner himself.

 

            After going over anti-Crispa stories earlier in the week, Danny Floro smiled amusedly, leaned on his soft office chair and stroked his happy belly.

 

            “I don’t know where they have been getting all these stories,” Floro said. “I am amused. Nakakatuwa. I should be the first one to know if there is really alarming trouble in the team.”

 

The latest anti-Crispa line came from Tony Siddayao, a close friend of Toyota team owner Dante Silverio. Siddayao reported: “They (the Denims) are in miserable shape physically, chiefly because of a reluctance to put some effort in their training and because of depressed morale.”

 

            A seasoned campaigner, Floro has more than gotten used to all these.

 

            He said: “It’s very likely that we would again encounter minor problems along the way, but that’s just normal. I don’t see any reason why I should be overly concerned about this. We have bigger things to tackle.”

 

 

 

            What Floro is proud about is his players’ ability to patch up their own problems, which obviously has been part of the Crispa formula for success. Sportswriter Recah Trinidad was direct to the point when he commented: “If it has to be another Crispa show, then expect the Denims to encounter rough sailing, plod through dissensions and petty squabbles. It would be terribly un-Crispalike if they would clinch another major title trouble-free. Problems seem to be a major ingredient in the Crispa formula for success, the players changing inexplicably from mediocre to superb overnight.”

 

            Crispa is a team known for its practical promptness. Coach Baby Dalupan’s cagers have always made it a point to be at peak form at championship time, never ahead of schedule.

 

            “I don’t know how coach Dalupan does it,” Floro said. “But I myself believe that a team should never be at its best too early in the league.”

 

            If Crispa encountered any considerable trouble at all in the current PBA Open, it has been with Cyrus Mann.

 

            “You see after Mann kept on returning to the US, the other players got bothered. They were not sure if Mann liked to play with us or not.”

 

            “But that, I believe, has all been solved” said Floro. “He (Mann) has vowed to cooperate. He has been working out regularly. Nakikipagbiruan pa sa mga players.”

 

 

 

            What are the chances of Crispa in the current PBA series?

 

            “I am quite confident we will make it to the round of four,” Floro said. “the other teams that will make it are Toyota and U/Tex. The fourth qualifier is still a big question mark. Kung sino ang swertihin.”

 

            Will it be another Crispa-Toyota championship duel?

 

            “You never can tell, it’s hard to tell,” Floro said.

 

            Problems? Floro continues to be amused about the reports of team troubles.

 

            “At least, I will have something to talk about with the boys,” the bright-faced Crispa team owner laughed.