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Friday, August 23, 2002
SAYSON: Once a mighty USJ-R Jaguar
By Homer Sayson
CHICAGO, Illinois – If you had competed in the CAAA league sometime between 1982 to 1986, the last sight you’d wanna see was USJ-R Jaguar Butz Cenabre coming down the court with the basketball. You were the alien. He was The Man In Black.
Playing with Cenabre and the Jaguars at that time in our basketball’s history was like being the Titanic ramming the iceberg. It was as one-sided as a stroke.
The 1986 Jaguars paraded stars like Dondon Ampalayo and Rey Abarquez.
And though Tata Romano’s unbelievable four-point shot at the buzzer in the championship game against the then CCC Mariners provided the glass slipper that snared the CAAA crown, it was Cenabre who weaved the magical wand all Cinderella-season long.
While I was just barely 18 when the USJ-R captain and 1982 Mayor’s Cup MVP brought his game to the then PABL as a member of the Mama’s Love quintet, my me-mories of Ce-nabre’s genius are as clear as the light of day.
In fact, before I got too ambitious to want to be #23, I simply wanted to be #10.
Cenabre was a born leader, a John Lennon to any team he played. Every time he was in action, his teammates were in such sync it appeared as though the Jaguars or Mama’s Love had three more players on the court than the guys they were beating.
Rival teams make runs when Cenabre sits on the bench, but when he returns to play, opposing players’ eyes turn watery. Their shoulders slump while Cenabre’s teammates react as if the SWAT team had just arrived and the battle is over.
Butz hardly overpowered anyone at 6-feet and barely 200 pounds, yet he was as indefensible as a riptide. He did not play above the rim, but blessed with such blinding speed, opponents guarding Butz looked like a bunch of clowns looking for a needle in a haystack.
Unlike his good friends, Ampalayo, Zaldy Realubit and Jojo Lastimosa among others, Cenabre never made it to the PBA. An injured leg kept him furthering his legend.
So where is he now?
AT HOME WITH PLDT. I was supposed to fly to New York on Sunday, ticket on hand, ready to venture into a new world ahead of me. But those plans were temporarily shelved when my girlfriend Ermee’s uncle Pons passed away suddenly on Saturday. I thought it was unfair to leave her behind while she goes through a horrible grieving process.
While visiting with Ermee’s relatives last Monday night I met an interesting couple – Ole and Teresita Cenabre. They are Butz’s parents, already in their 70s but not looking a day older than 55.
The Cenabres talked with so much joy about their six boys and three girls. All the Cenabre children have attained success in their chosen field, whether it’s nursing, rchitecture, engineering, computers, or banking and finance. Once the topic zoomed in on Butz and his hardcourt brilliance, their faces radiated with an even brighter glow.
Manong Ole told me that Butz is now happily employed with telecommunications giant PLDT – where he toils at the Tabunoc Exchange.
Now 42 and married with two kids – Merced and Lyle – Butz still gives assists, this time to his younger siblings.
With his parents in Chicago and one sister living in Missouri, Butz is gluing the rest of the Cenabre clan together in Cebu, exhibiting the same leadership qualities that had endeared him to his thousands of fans.
No one among Butz’s younger brods trailed his footsteps but Sandy (CIT), Michael (USP and CDC) and Edmund (CIT) all gave it a shot.
It doesn’t bother me that Butz never made it to the PBA. You see, the PBA can only photograph and film the highlights of their stars and show it on TV.
What Butz Cenabre used to do in the basketball court was pure art. And the PBA couldn’t have painted it.
(Questions are welcome at homsay@hotmail.com)
P.S. Some of the readers’ mail will be tackled on Monday’ column.
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