Big J beats the buzzer with a 3-point shot
July 28, 2002 | 12:00am
I was never much into basketball but I knew that during his prime, Robert Jaworski was to Philippine basketball what Tiger Woods is to golf today. As fate would have it, his son Dodot is now married to my daughter Mikee. And Senator Jaworski and I are now doting grandparents to two handsome and lovable boys.
The good senator is certainly in the center of the political arena today.
So that I am not misconstrued to be biased towards my balae, I have ceded my column to someone who knows basketball, Pete Cura of Corplan.
Roberto Jaworski, the Big J, cast the biggest shadow on the basketball court during his playing days. He was the chief warrior for the University of the East Five. A prized rookie on the Yco team. The Toyota quintet was formed with him as the core. He played his guts out for the national team on more than one occasion. He transformed Gilbey’s Gin into a championship team. And Barangay Ginebra was born with him as barangay captain.
Robert Jaworski was popular, no question about that. He had the athletic ability and the creativity to create shots and maneuvers that inevitably won the game for his team.
Robert Jaworski was a leader on the court. Encouraging, cajoling, haranguing his teammates to go the extra mile. Even as he eyeballed the opposing team, mano a mano as it were. He asked for no quarters and he gave none.
Robert Jaworski was a fighter. He fought from the initial tip off to the final buzzer. To him a game was not just to be won – it had to be played. And he played equally as hard in games won and games lost.
For all these traits as a basketball player, he was lionized. To many, he was a great basketball player because of his skills and athleticism. To others because he brought a sharp and thinking mind to the game.
To be sure, he had his share of controversies. Not surprising in a field of endeavor where passions are defined and polarized by which side you are on.
But everybody was in agreement that when Robert Jaworski stepped on to the court, the people got their money’s worth. And it did not matter whose side you were on. A particular game comes to mind. He got a vicious elbow to his eyebrow. Blood was gushing as if from a broken water pipe. He was rushed to Cardinal Santos. He came back straight from the emergency room, and got back on the hard court, stitches and all, because the game had to be played.
Was it Robert Jaworski defining the game? No, it was the game defining the man. Because to Robert Jaworski, basketball was a mirror of life.
To succeed, you had to be good. To excel, you had to be better. And you worked hard at it. Today people call this work ethic.
The game, just like life, had rules. And you played by these rules. Sure you often complained about the rules and questioned them, passionately sometimes. But you still had to abide by them.
Basketball, as it is in life, has its just rewards. But the rewards become even more invaluable if they are not the be-all and end-all of why you are in the game. Even as basketball was tainted by rumors of game fixing, Robert Jaworski‘s integrity as a ball player was never questioned.
It is not a surprise to me that Senator Jaworski did what he did in the Senate. He was never scared to make the big play. He never shirked from taking the game-winning shot.
He’d been doing this all his life as a ball player. Because the people had to get their money’s worth.
Except today, it is not just another game. But the people still have to have their money’s worth.
The good senator is certainly in the center of the political arena today.
So that I am not misconstrued to be biased towards my balae, I have ceded my column to someone who knows basketball, Pete Cura of Corplan.
Roberto Jaworski, the Big J, cast the biggest shadow on the basketball court during his playing days. He was the chief warrior for the University of the East Five. A prized rookie on the Yco team. The Toyota quintet was formed with him as the core. He played his guts out for the national team on more than one occasion. He transformed Gilbey’s Gin into a championship team. And Barangay Ginebra was born with him as barangay captain.
Robert Jaworski was popular, no question about that. He had the athletic ability and the creativity to create shots and maneuvers that inevitably won the game for his team.
Robert Jaworski was a leader on the court. Encouraging, cajoling, haranguing his teammates to go the extra mile. Even as he eyeballed the opposing team, mano a mano as it were. He asked for no quarters and he gave none.
Robert Jaworski was a fighter. He fought from the initial tip off to the final buzzer. To him a game was not just to be won – it had to be played. And he played equally as hard in games won and games lost.
For all these traits as a basketball player, he was lionized. To many, he was a great basketball player because of his skills and athleticism. To others because he brought a sharp and thinking mind to the game.
To be sure, he had his share of controversies. Not surprising in a field of endeavor where passions are defined and polarized by which side you are on.
But everybody was in agreement that when Robert Jaworski stepped on to the court, the people got their money’s worth. And it did not matter whose side you were on. A particular game comes to mind. He got a vicious elbow to his eyebrow. Blood was gushing as if from a broken water pipe. He was rushed to Cardinal Santos. He came back straight from the emergency room, and got back on the hard court, stitches and all, because the game had to be played.
Was it Robert Jaworski defining the game? No, it was the game defining the man. Because to Robert Jaworski, basketball was a mirror of life.
To succeed, you had to be good. To excel, you had to be better. And you worked hard at it. Today people call this work ethic.
The game, just like life, had rules. And you played by these rules. Sure you often complained about the rules and questioned them, passionately sometimes. But you still had to abide by them.
Basketball, as it is in life, has its just rewards. But the rewards become even more invaluable if they are not the be-all and end-all of why you are in the game. Even as basketball was tainted by rumors of game fixing, Robert Jaworski‘s integrity as a ball player was never questioned.
It is not a surprise to me that Senator Jaworski did what he did in the Senate. He was never scared to make the big play. He never shirked from taking the game-winning shot.
He’d been doing this all his life as a ball player. Because the people had to get their money’s worth.
Except today, it is not just another game. But the people still have to have their money’s worth.
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