Arnaiz to give assist to Big J

Remember Francis Arnaiz?

The former Toyota star, who had been in the United States the last 18 years, is back in the country, taking a leave of absence from his work in California to help – in his own little way – the bid of old buddy Robert Jaworski to keep a seat in the Senate.

"I offered my help. I will only return to the US after the elections in May," said Arnaiz, who dropped by at the Araneta Coliseum last night and watched a regular twinbill in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference.

"It feels good to be back after a long, long while. I’m enjoying being with old friends. It’s overwhelming," said the 12-year PBA veteran with championships and several personal milestones achieved with the Toyota ballclub.

He said he felt bad for not having the time to return in the country to join the PBA silver anniversary in year 2000 and the Crispa-Toyota reunion game last year.

"Other more important things (prevented me from leaving the US) and I really felt bad because I really wanted to be here. I would have hugged Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa and tell them tanda na tayo. Magmahalan na tayo," said Arnaiz.

He thought that reunion game was the best way to end the fabled rivalry.

"Kapag inulit pa baka hindi na rin ganoon kaputok. Saka maganda na iyon it ended with Toyota beating Crispa," he said. "Mas marami naman kaming talo sa kanila noon."

On the games now, Arnaiz said: "It’s completely different from our time. They’re so big now that the whole court appeared to have shrunk. And they’re doing it as a team now. Noong kami more on individual skills. I’m not saying now is bad pero for the fans, tingin ko mas maganda iyung noon. Pero idea ko lang iyan."

He said he didn’t regret leaving the game while he’s still playing well at 35 after the 1986 PBA season. "That was it. No regrets," he said. — Nelson Beltran