Champions for A Cause:
Rekindling a rivalry and that bayanihan spirit
by rick olivares
Lim Eng Beng knows what hardship is all about. And he
wasn’t referring to leading Chiang Kai Shek or La Salle or even U-Tex to a
championship. He was referring to growing up in Tondo (in Moriones Street) with
his family not having enough.
Lim never learned to play basketball from any NBA or
MICAA idol. He learned the game by himself playing street ball. With the
tambays and lasengeros and toughies who didn’t take to weak-ass fouls. He never
complained. The best way to shut up an opponent wasn’t to undercut him or give
him an elbow. But to score on him and win the game.
He parlayed his exceptional shooting skills to get an
education first at Chiang Kai Shek and then at La Salle.
For all the success his game brought him, Lim never
forgot where he came from. To this date, he helps out the poor and the needy.
When he was invited by his old college teammate Virgil Villavicencio to attend
the press conference for the Champions for A Cause, the benefit game between
NCAA champion San Beda and UAAP title holder La Salle for the victims of
Typhoon Yolanda, he immediately said, “yes.”
“Basta to give back and to help,” he said.
The benefit match has already brought out memories of
playing San Beda. Good ones and bad ones. “The NCAA,” he said as his mind raced
back to those days. Beng paused to measure his words, “was wild. There were
always fights.”
He had many memorable games (scoring 50 points or
more in back-to-back games) and not so memorable ones. “The one I remember a
lot was Chito Bugia (the father of former Ateneo Blue Eagle and current Alaska
Ace Paolo Bugia). He was tough. I also remember driving to the basket. It was a
fastbreak. Then someone undercut me. I don’t remember anything because I was
unconscious and was brought to the hospital. The NCAA was wild.”
Frankie Lim remembers watching Lim and Villavicencio.
The former San Beda Red Lion point guard joked about his La Sallian counterparts
as being ahead of him. “When you are a basketball fan, you watch everyone,” he
would later say. “But this is a good endeavor.”
Emmanuel Calanog, Director of DLSU’s Office of Sports
Development said that the pictures that spread on the internet showing
Filipinos playing basketball amidst the destruction in the Visayas speaks
volumes of what the game means to the country. “It helps bring a sense of
normalcy to our lives.”
The coaches, players, and school officials in
attendance all acknowledge the history and rivalry between the two schools.
While it is a charity game, there will be no quarter. Each side wants to win.
But everyone cautions the media on why they are participating in this benefit
game. They all have sons and players with families who were affected by Typhoon
Yolanda.
La Salle rookie guard Robert Bolick’s family is from
Ormoc. While they were hit their family is all right.
San Beda guard Richie Villaruz’ family is from
Iloilo. The family business was hurt by the typhoon but like Bolick’s kin, they
too were spared of any casualties.
“I think we have an opportunity to help our
countrymen,” said Filoil Vice President for Sales and Marketing Mandy Ochoa. “The
rehabilitation process of the Visayas will not end in a week or even in a few
months. We are talking about years. The two schools have their own efforts.
What the charity game will accomplish is bring more attention to what is
needed. We will see to that.”
When the two sides were pressed on who would win the
game, they all mentioned their respective schools. But Filoil executive David
Dualan expressly pointed out here that the ultimate winner here are not only
the victims of Yolanda but also the Filipino people. “In a time like this, it
has rekindled our bayanihan spirit.”
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Champions for A Cause: For the Victims of Typhoon
Yolanda will be played on December 7, 2013 at 12 noon at the Smart Araneta
Coliseum. Tickets will be available at Ticketnet beginning this Thursday.
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