Cone, Pat Boone are cousins

It’s not certain if the PBA’s winningest coach Tim Cone can carry a tune like Pat Boone or if the timeless singer can pilot a basketball team like the Barangay Ginebra mentor. The likelihood is neither is as good as what the other does. But what appears to be a sure thing is they’re related. Cone’s grandmother or great-grandmother was a Boone, a direct descendant of the legendary American frontiersman Daniel Boone like Pat.

“I’m not exactly sure about our connection to Pat Boone,” said Cone the other day. “I just remember what my sisters told me, that we’re fourth or fifth cousins. Whenever we saw him on TV, we would laugh and comment, ‘Hey, there’s our cousin.’ I was told our parents met him back in the ‘60s. Our claim to fame is that we’re both directly related to Daniel Boone. Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s my grandmother or great-grandmother who was a Boone but one of them was, I believe, or at least, that’s what I was told.”

Daniel Boone was an American pioneer and explorer who was born in 1734 and died in 1820. He was known as the frontier trailblazer who charted the pathway from North Carolina to Tennessee to Kentucky. Actor Fess Parker, who portrayed Davy Crockett in two widely popular Walt Disney films in the 1950s, appeared as Daniel Boone in a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970.

Cone didn’t get a chance to watch Pat Boone perform at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Tuesday.  They were both at the Novotel Hotel the afternoon of the show but their paths didn’t cross.

Cone, 58, and Boone, 82, are cut from the same mold. They both defy the aging process. Cone is the longest-tenured PBA coach ever. He made his debut on the bench in 1989 and he’s still going strong. Cone holds the record for the most PBA championships with 19 and the last came in the Governors Cup a few months back. Cone has delivered titles to every franchise he’s been involved with – Alaska, San Mig Coffee and now, Ginebra. It’s not often that basketball is honored by a coach of Cone’s caliber. If coaching isn’t supposed to be a long career, Cone is an exception to the rule.

Boone is a remarkable performer. In 1961, he came to Manila and did 10 sell-out shows at the Big Dome. He said it has to be a world record for an artist to perform in the same venue 55 years apart. Boone hadn’t come back to Manila since his first visit of which he has fond memories. Boone said he remembers being hosted by the Aranetas in 1961 and recalls them by name, Amado the patriarch, Jorge who now runs the family enterprise, Judy and Baby. He said he packed the Big Dome with audiences of up to 24,000. During his first Manila tour, he was blown away by a song he heard a vocalist belt out at a supper club and when he returned to the US, recorded it. The song “Speedy Gonzales” turned out to be his second biggest selling single after “Love Letters In The Sand.”

Boone is a legend in his own time. He has sold over 43 million records with more Top 40 hits than Elvis Presley. Boone appeared on TV and in at least 12 movies in the prime of his career. He and wife Shirley are blessed with four children, 16 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

At the Araneta Coliseum the other night, Boone was in his element. It didn’t look like he’s 82 the way he pranced around the stage. He’s clearly several steps slower than before but that’s something you’d expect from a man his age. Boone started his show with “Ain’t That A Shame” and went through his all-time favorites like “Tutti Frutti,” “April Love,” “Moody River”and “Bernardine” before closing out with a series of Christmas songs backed by a 20-strong choir. He brought along four musicians from California and a Filipino orchestra performed in a supporting role.

Boone, whose net worth is estimated to be in the vicinity of $30 Million, serenaded the audience with his own Christmas songs “I Saw Santa Prayin’” and “Little Green Tree.” He wore reading glasses in singing lyrics from a storybook on “I Saw Santa Prayin’” and sat on a rocking chair beside a green-lit Christmas tree on “Little Green Tree.” Boone did a medley of Christmas songs including “Joy To The World” and “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” and also sang “Silent Night,” “Jingle Bells,” “It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas.” Although Boone’s pitch has lowered and he sometimes went off-key, the crowd didn’t mind the cracks. Boone’s rapport with the audience was intimate and he connected easily. At one point, he walked down the stage to the front row and gave a bouquet of flowers to a 96-year-old fan while serenading her with “April Love.” Boone said the fan’s name is Star or in Filipino, Bituin.

Curiously, Boone is a big basketball fan so that’s another thing he has in common with Cone. He used to own two basketball teams, one of which the Oakland Oaks played in the defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) in the 1960s. The Oaks won the ABA title in 1969 and two of the team’s greatest players were Rick Barry and Warren Jabali. Barry’s father-in-law Bruce Hale was a former Oaks coach.