Photo courtesy of Risanty Lonto
The first time I followed sports in general was in the year 1997. I was nine-years-old then, in grade school, and thanks to my cousins, who were big Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) fans, I got hooked with Asia’s first play-for-pay league and instantly rooted for people’s team, Ginebra.
That year was also big for free TV sports coverage, thanks to the recently-defunct stations Studio 23 and RPN 9 and the still active government stations PTV 4 and IBC 13. It was through their free broadcast that I became a fan not only of the PBA, but of the National Basketball Association, National Football League, Major League Baseball, the Majors in golf, the Grand Slams in tennis, UEFA Champions League, local boxing with the show Blow by Blow (where Manny Pacquiao was introduced to the TV audience), World Pool Association, and many more.
The following year, 1997, was my first time to follow the University Athletic Association (UAAP), then covered by Silverstar Sports in PTV 4 (if memory serves me right). My cousins from my home province, who were then living in our house as they were freshman students of Far Eastern University (FEU), introduced me to what would be the country’s biggest collegiate tournament. And as I had the penchant to oppose their favorite teams (and partly because I had a grand plan for college at the tender age of ten), and being a hardcore sports aficionado I rooted for the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons like I was already a student of that school.
Indeed, the first time I watched the UAAP, UP was a half-powerhouse, half-underdog basketball team, leading the seniors’ tournament (it was then termed that way), 6-1, after the first round. The Fighting Maroons then was an upstart hoops power, entering the Final Four for the first time in 1996.
The loud and booming chants of “U-nibersidad ng Pilipinas” were dominating the Ninoy Aquino Stadium or the Blue Eagle Gym then (again, if memory serves me right about the venues) as the Iskolars ng Bayan would easily cloud the chants of the other schools, as clearly heard on TV. It was like 1986 all over again, as that 1997 team was championship material: with the likes of slasher Chuchu Serrano, playmaker Ogie Gumatay, the hot shooter Paolo Mendoza, and blue chips youngsters Dexter Racho and Allan Gamboa. But by a most unfortunate twist of fate, the Maroons’ heart and soul, Bryan Gahol, literally twisted his knee. The Maroons lost a double-double machine, a hulking 6’4″ center (such height was imposing during those days), who had high basketball IQ and a sweet perimeter shot.
The Maroons settled for fourth place after the eliminations: the last time our team went that far in the UAAP, the last time we entered the Final Four. Come the matchup against FEU, (then led by a Gahol prototype in the name of Ronald Magtulis, and a freak slasher in the name of Kiko Adriano) the Maroons without their anchor almost became the only fourth-seed team to beat the top seed, but lost in the do-or-die Game 2 (FEU was twice-to-beat) by only one point.
Then the nagging “what if” question: If Gahol was around, being the only guy in the UAAP then who could match the 6’7″ Mark Telan of La Salle (who went on the Finals after beating UST), it could have not only brought a second crown for UP, it could have solidified and continued its strong basketball program, but everything went down the drain after that season.
It was seventeen years ago and I was ten years old then. That magical carpet ride seems to have been dusted in the annals of history. The newer batch of UP students may have no idea that our team was a much-feared, much-celebrated team then. Meanwhile, the Iskos and Iskas of the ’90s, whenever asked how was the Fighting Maroons men’s basketball team then, would simply answer, “Ah, sina Gahol yun, fuma-Final Four sila noon” in a manner like how war veterans would describe to their grandchildren their war exploits.
That’s why nostalgia made me sad to hear that the night before April Fool’s, the “Fighting” behind the moniker “Maroon” of 1997 is gone. It was a bad joke: news reports mentioned that Bryan Gahol, accompanied by friends, was supposed to attend a wake in Quezon City when his van overturned after being swiped by an overloaded delivery jeep in the South Luzon Expressway.
It was the end of a very young life, just how his basketball career abruptly ended due to his nagging knee injury and the radical change in Philippine basketball dynamics which offered a tiny elbow room for homegrown big men like him to flourish. Still, we, Maroon-blooded witnesses of a past glory, will never forget his contribution.
Rest in peace, Bryan Gahol, the last of the Mohicans.
Gahol (extreme right), with the UP Maroons’ last final four appearance. Photo courtesy of Tessa Jazmines
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