Shell’s first title is also remembered for the Añejo strike

It was a historic championship won under the most chaotic circumstances.

Even three decades after Formula Shell won the first PBA title in franchise history, the moment was still etched in the cloud’s memory of the first organized strike in the annals of the professional league.

That it was Anejo Rum (nee Ginebra San Miguel), considered the most popular ball club in the league, the mass team, who made the infamous act that aggravated the strange end on that fateful summer night of 1990 in the ULTRA.

“It was wild and tumultuous. Sa akin talagang memorable yun, “began Charlie Favis, the former manager of the Shell team.

It was supposed to be the crowning glory of Shell, the biggest night for the team that took over the legendary Crispa Redmanizers franchise just five years earlier.

Instead, the Zoom Masters were delighted in a hollow celebration when the 65ers left the field of play never to return, with 2:52 remaining before Game Six halftime and Shell leading, 62-47.

Favis felt that the move was not only unfair to the entire Shell organization, but even more so to the public who saw it.

“Personally, therefore, I felt that Geneva deprived us of a sweeter victory and deprived the fans who paid to see a good game,” he emphasized.

What about Anejo Rum’s containment bone for taking such a drastic move? The endless question about arbitration.

After leading the finals of the First Conference, best of seven, 3-2, the Zoom Masters were ready to end it all and rushed immediately into the opening half of Game Six.

With the late importation of Bobby Parks playing as a possessed man, Shell set the pace for the fast-paced ballgame, sparking a 13-0 deadly run to establish an 18-point lead in the first quarter.

The 65ers struggled with their shots and made turnovers one after another, but found a Lone Ranger on import Sylvester Gray, who carried the team on his broad shoulders and led a rally that reduced the Zoom Masters lead to single digits. .

Then came chaos.

The workhorse Gray was whistled for two quick personal fouls within two minutes, including his fifth for the game with 4:01 left in the second quarter, enraging the pro-Anejo crowd within what is now called PhilSports. Sand.

Things got worse at the 2:52 mark and the Turbo Chargers went up, 62-47.

Anejo’s late big man Rey Cuenco was slapped with his fourth foul by referee Rudy Hines (himself a former PBA player) outside Parks, a call that did not sit well with the former national player who followed complaining to the officer and was beaten. with a technical foul

Angered by the coach, Cuenco added fuel to a situation that was already intensifying by going to Hines and touching the referee at the back of the neck, obtaining for him a second technical and direct expulsion from the game.

Soon after, pandemonium erupted.

Disgusted with the refereeing, Anejo’s supporters threw coins, ice, and debris of any kind onto the playing field as a chorus of taunts reverberated inside the packed coliseum.

After a wait time for Anejo and a long business break called to ease the tension, 65ers coach Robert Jaworski Sr., who got approval from then-team manager Bernabe Navarro, approached the officers’ table and asked them. reported on the team’s decision to walk. outside.

An even bigger pandemonium followed as angry Anejo fans yelled at game officials and continued to throw objects on the court.

“It’s just that his import was in trouble, and if his import becomes ineffective, there goes the game,” said Favis, who later became commissioner of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

“Technical offenses and other penalties were the price to be paid by Anejo.”

The Turbochargers returned to their locker room after the strike, then quickly returned when then-PBA Commissioner Atty. Rodrigo Salud ordered both teams to return to the field of play after a 10-minute grace period.

Anejo did not. The 65ers were given two 90-second deadlines by the commissioner, which obviously fell on deaf ears.

“Anejo proved me wrong because when I was interviewed by Romy Kintanar (the late ‘Man On The Ball’ court reporter) during the break, I said that ‘Sonny and his boys are known fighters, and I am sure that’ We’ll be back, ‘”Favis said.

With no 65ers leaving, the Turbochargers were declared champions by loss and celebrated the franchise’s revolutionary title on center court.

But somehow, there was something wrong despite the victory.

“The mood was not the same as in the usual championship scene,” admitted Favis, who now writes a weekly sports column for the tabloid newspaper. Abante. “I think it’s because of the time they spent waiting for Geneva to come out. It was a long wait.

Shell players that included stars Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, veteran Arnie Tuadles, his brother Calvin Tuadles, Romeo Dela Rosa, Richard Bognot, Leo Austria, among others, decided to meet with team officials and management outside and celebrate the championship in a famous restaurant. located at EDSA where Favis booked a reservation.

It didn’t end there. Leaving the place, as Favis later discovered, was like Mission Impossible.

The Shell official was forced to leave his car in the ULTRA parking lot and went on a trip with a friend when he learned that rebel fans were searching for vehicles with the Zoom Masters and their executives.

“Leaving the Ultra was just as bad,” said Favis. “I left Ultra in my friend’s car, naka yung reclining seat so they (the fans) wouldn’t see me and went straight to the victory party.”

It was exactly that fear of backlash that followed from the crowd that Anejo decided not to resume play.

“If we continue playing, the crowd could go crazy and many people will be hurt,” Navarro said in the 1990 edition of the Annual PBA. “So we prefer to sacrifice ourselves.”

The 65ers did it.

Salud would not take the issue sitting down and launched the book on the famous franchise, slapping the team with a P550,000 fine.

“Whether arbitration was good or bad does not count when the Commissioner rules a strike,” emphasized former PBA chief Sonny Barrios, who was Executive Assistant to Health at the time.

“The Commissioner Health mentality was that there was no place for a strike in a PBA game. If it is tolerated and not controlled, the league will lose its credibility with the fans, who pay good money to watch the game, “Barrios recalled.

The record fine was the highest allowed by PBA statutes under the powers surpassed by the commissioner.

“There is no perfect game, teams have to accept‘ the good with the bad. “We should never punish the public who watch with a strike,” he added. “Therefore, the commissioner imposed the highest sentence he can within his authority under the PBA constitution and statutes, as well as the PBA rules of the game, if only to deliver the right message not only to teams but also the watching public. “

Favis agreed, noting that the Turbochargers were also receiving the bad end of inconsistent arbitration.

“I remember that during that game, Bobby (Parks) came to me and complained that every time he drives to the basket, they hit him in the stomach,” said Favis.

More fouls were committed at Anejo, 20-12, resulting in a 16-7 advantage for Shell on free throws made, forcing Jaworski to joke later that those calls “decided the game.”

Favis replied that the Zoom Masters went through the same situation in Game 5, but he didn’t care about the calls and concentrated on playing. They lost the match, 130-101.

“In Game 5 of the series, I counted the fouls against Shell and Anejo. We had more fouls against us,” he said.

Favis added: “Ganyan ang basketball, e. A judicial decision must be respected, whether it is correct or not ”.

The next morning was no different for the Shell team manager, who revealed that according to the Shell Security Office, three anonymous callers made three death threats.

“The phone did not stop ringing. There were calls and visits from the media, television and radio for interviews. They also wanted to know how true the story is that I wrote a P800,000 check for referees who use my BPI checkbook, ”he said, shaking his head.

“It’s true, my checkbook is BPI, but I didn’t have that much cash balance.”

With all due respect to Anejo’s Never-Say-Die spirit, Favis is convinced, however, that the Turbochargers would win the championship that night if the game had resumed.

“We were all convinced that we would win no matter what,” he said. “We were shooting very well, and they (the 65ers) were shooting very badly.

“We were the hungriest team and Shell didn’t let that first championship slip away.”

Favis also recalled how Parks, the only winner of the Best Import award seven times to lead the team in scoring with 25 points, promised to give the Turbochargers their first title on the eve of Game Six.

“The night before, Bobby and I were talking. He said he will give us the championship and I believed him, “said Favis.

Parks kept her word.

Unfortunately, not in the kind of ending everyone wanted.

POSTCRIPT: Anejo never claimed the runner-up trophy and has so far been displayed at the PBA headquarters in Libis, Quezon City.