Sports personalities who left us in 2014

Since I began writing here, I’ve always volunteered to do the yearend obits.
 
With all the great things that happened to us in 2014, we will be always thankful for the gift of life and many of us will actually get to enter the Year of the Sheep in good health and in high spirits. However, our Creator saw it fit to call back to The Great Beyond some of the game-changers in the world of Philippine sports in 2014 and the world they left will forever be better by the legacy they contributed while still with us.
 
Let’s look back at some of the local sports personalities who passed away in the year that is about to come to a close.

 
Eleazar “Ely” Capacio—basketball executive, 58 (February 23—Ruptured Aneurysm)
 
Fondly called “Father Ely” in the basketball circles due to his soft-spoken demeanor, Capacio turned pro in 1979 and had a so-so career as a PBA cage with averages of just under six points and six rebounds a game in his brief eight year stint in the league (all for Tanduay Rhum). But little did anyone foresee that this former national team center would be the center of attention after his playing days were over. Capacio steered the Purefoods franchise to its first PBA All-Filipino crown in 1991—in his first year at the helm after replacing legendary coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan. He then went on to become the PBA Chairman in 2005 and continued to be a vibrant figure in the league until his untimely demise after playing a round of golf and eventually succumbing to a stroke that led to the ruptured aneurysm that claimed his life. The elder brother of Kia “deputy” Glenn would have been the present PBA Chairman anew if were still alive.

 
Bryan Gahol—former professional basketball player, 36 (March 31—Vehicular Accident)
 
The shocker of the basketball world, however, came when this former journeyman passed away in ironic circumstances. Gahol, who had created a solid name for himself as one of the most promising big men out college while with the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons was drafted in 1999 by the Mobiline Phonepals (now known as the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters) making the 6’5” Los Baños native their fourth overall selection. But after a lackluster rookie campaign, he was traded to the Alaska Aces where he won a title with the squad in 2000 All-Filipino Conference. Gahol eventually played for San Miguel, Red Bull and regionally in the now defunct Liga Pilipinas before officially retiring in 2009. He was slowing emerging in the political scene in Laguna when a multi-vehicle road mishap on the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) cut him down just months before his 37th birthday. The irony of it all was Gahol was allegedly on his way to attend a wake when he was killed.
 
Rodolfo Lordan Jr.—national snooker cueist, 29 (April 5—Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome or “Bangungot”)
 
The last athlete I recall having “officially” died of this strange disorder was DJ de Jarlo who played for the Negros Slashers during the inaugural season of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) in 1998. The same circumstances befell the rising star of Philippine snooker as he was gearing up for the prestigious Dubai Snooker Open at the time of his untimely death. Lordan had already represented the Philippines four times in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and had pocketed the silver and bronze medals in the snooker competitions there. His family members recounted that Lordan had been busy completing the required paperwork for his next international tilt and had complained about being fatigued as he went to bed. He never awoke and the Philippines has lost another up and coming sports hero.
 
Anthony Villanueva—Olympic boxer, 69 (May 13—Heart Failure)
 
It truly became all downhill for this intrepid pugilist after he won the Philippines’ first silver medal in its Olympic history. Villanueva, in fact, even bested the supreme effort of his father Jose Villanueva who could only muster a bronze medal during the 1932 Los Angeles staging. His controversial loss on points to the Soviet Union’s Stanislav Stepashkin in the 1964 Tokyo games had the boxing world in an uproar. However, a series of more unfortunate life events such as a short lived unsuccessful professional career, the unwise decision to pursue acting at the expense of his boxing license and the subsequent hard luck—both health-wise and monetarily—that befell the former ring hero had him practically fade into an afterthought until his death. Manny Pacquiao said of Villanueva: “(He is the) original Filipino boxing icon who should never be forgotten by the nation.” In death, he is now immortalized.

Leonardo “Dodong” Andam—professional billiards player, 55 (May 21—Motorcycle Accident)
 
The two-time SEA Games gold medalist was reportedly battling a number of personal demons after being out circulation for several years since last representing the Philippines in the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar. Andam was said to have been combating substance abuse and had gone into seclusion; making a living as a fisherman in Mindanao. Tragedy struck as he and a passenger made that fateful journey from Iligan City to Ozamiz City. The cueist known for his wit, sense of humor and unorthodox playing style that wowed even his competitors fell off his motorcycle and succumbed to the resulting multiple injuries, and just like that one of the most intriguing pool artists of his generation is no longer with us. “Dodong makes the sport brighter because he’s such a fun character,” American billiards legend Johnny Archer once told me about Andam. He’ll probably be at the big pool hall in the sky laughing it up with Minnesota Fats in an intense game of 15-ball rotation.

 
Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor—race car driver, 32 (June 12—Alleged Murder)
 
When one of the most seasoned motorsports practitioners went down in a hail of bullets in a death that looked more like the work of hired assassins rather than a random act of violence, it shakes the sports world harder than any accident or health related demise. That was the case when the former NASCAR Whelen veteran  was gunned down en route to his final preparations for the 2014 Asian V8 Championship Series. Police apprehended one of their own in Edgar Angel who eventually confessed to the shooting and tagged businessman Domingo de Guzman III as the man who contracted him for the job. It was later alleged that de Guzman had amorous ties with Pastor’s wife Dalia Guerrero-Pastor and that the slaying had a “love triangle” motive. While the court cases and accusations rage on, the Philippine motoring scene can never bring back one of its brightest stars. This was probably the most bizarre local sports death of the year.
 
Manny Ibay—former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) executive, 67 (August 13—Cancer)
 
He was instrumental in bringing athletics to the forefront since his days with Gintong Alay program of the late former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Ibay spearheaded the National Masters and Seniors Athletics Association of the Philippines (NMSAPP); the organization responsible for re-honing and sending of former national athletes to international athletics competitions featuring participants in their 50s-60s. Despite being diagnosed with the dreaded sickness in 2012, Ibay still continued to champion the cause of former national athletes such as Erlinda Lavandia, Margarito Baniqued and a host of others who had served for flag and country in their primes and beyond.
 
Kurt Bachmann—former national team basketball player, 78 (August 29—Complications from Diabetes)
 
He was the one Kareem Abdul-Jabbar allegedly learned his vaunted “Sky Hook” from—supposedly when the Philippine national basketball team played a series of exhibition games in the United States, one of which was witnessed by a then very young Lew Alcindor (Jabbar’s pre-Muslim name). Kurt Bachmann’s name has become eternally entrenched in Philippine basketball lore even when he was still among us as his rap sheet reads like résumé for Springfield: Eighth place in the FIBA World Championship (1959), eleventh place in the Olympics (1960) and a gold medal in the 1962 Asian Games—the last time the Philippines topped the podium in that tournament. Alas for Bachmann he never got to witness the Philippines return to the world stage as he passed away mere days before Gilas Pilipinas’ opening tiff against Croatia in this year’s FIBA World Cup of Basketball. However, he still remains one of the most remembered difference-makers in all of Philippine basketball.
 
Pedro Mendoza—Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) Chairman, 71 (October 2—Heart Failure)
 
The fracas facing the present leadership of the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) snowballed when one of its longest serving members and three-year chairman succumbed to heart failure just before the announcement of the Bagwis and Amihan rosters. Mendoza had been affiliated with the internationally recognized NSA since being Baguio City’s board representative in 1995. He eventually became Vice-President from 2003-2006, President from 2007-2010 and Chairman since 2011. Mendoza’s death was said to have triggered the group that now openly opposes the incumbent PVF as the former held an election to install a new Chairman—with no quorum present. Allegations have been exchanged and now the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is also in the mix. Chairman Mendoza would definitely be rolling in his grave over the matters that have transpired in Philippine volleyball since his untimely demise.
 
Nicolette “Nikki” Tabafunda—collegiate volleyball player, 23 (November 4—Complications from Tonsillitis)
 
Speaking of untimely demise, the death of this former Shakey’s V-League (SVL) Best Setter sent sad shockwaves throughout the entire volleyball community and the nature of her passing made her death even more disturbing. Tabafunda was actually one of the setters at the onset of my volleyball broadcasting career in the SVL that I usually lobby for Player of the Game—since she moved into Lyceum’s starting line-up sans Mary Grace Babalo. Her serves were wicked and if she had more targets, the Lady Pirates may have won a few titles in the league—on the merit of her playmaking alone. But when I first heard that she had died, I just chalked it up as a misinterpreted bit of information. However, when National Volleyball Team Management Committee member Gretchen Ho relayed the bad news, it all became too real. I learned later on from Nikki’s former college teammate Nica Guliman that she had a lingering case of tonsillitis and it went untreated until complications began setting in. Tabafunda had lost so much weight from a regimen she was involved with that it also weakened her immune system and by the time her family members rushed her to the hospital, it was too late. It always sucks when someone I know dies so young (like budding broadcaster Maan Panganiban in 2012). Tabafunda’s death sent all of us a message that no one is safe from even the simplest of illnesses.
 
 
There were many other sports figures who were also recalled to Heaven such as broadcaster Danny Romero, sportswriter Howie Basilio, former University of the East (UE) team manager Jesus Tanchanco and former De La Salle University (DLSU) team manger Rafael Dinglasan, Jr, (Rafa’s dad). We all light a candle to them and pray that those of us who make it to 2015 are not on this list at year’s end.
 
May the Year of the Sheep be kind to us and may 2015 bring more glory to Philippine sports. Happy new year, everyone!