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Quick Brown Fox’s Untold Stories Part I: Ricky greatest ever player Crispa never had


Ricardo Brown of the Crispa Redmanizers? Yes, dear basketball fans, the Quick Brown Fox nearly donned the white and green colors of arguably the best basketball team in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association.


In hindsight, it was a blessing that I was able to end up with Great Taste instead of Crispa. First, Crispa was already a powerhouse with many superstars on their roster. For me to come to Crispa at that time with the publicity surrounding me, I do not believe I would have been well received.
– Ricardo Brown, Member PBA’s 25 Greatest Players
It was Brown himself who confirmed this nearly three-decade secret to GMA News. “Only a week or so prior to what I thought would be me playing my rookie season for the Crispa Redmanizers, I was contacted by Jun Bernardino of the PBA. There wasn’t an official ‘PBA Draft’, but Jun informed me that there will be a ‘right of first refusal’ process, which meant me playing for Crispa was not a done deal," said Brown in an online interview. Bernardino was working in the PBA Commissioner’s Office at that time, when the late commissioner Mariano Yenko was at the helm of the pro league. Regarded as the original “Man On The Ball" before Romy Kintanar took over the reins, Bernardino also became a PBA Commissioner. In the league’s first nine seasons, there was no Rookie Draft yet, and teams were just given the ‘right of first refusal,’ with squads having a losing record the previous years being given the first crack at this implemented rule. “This new information at the 11th hour concerned me greatly because I had already met with Crispa owner, Danny Floro, and pretty much closed the deal. Mr. Floro was paying for my accommodations and expenses in a hotel in Manila — that is how serious they were in wanting me to be a Redmanizer. Now, with the new information from Jun, I really didn’t know what to expect." Brown said he had already worn Crispa shirts given to him by Floro, and his mind was already set that he would play for the fabled squad. Had Brown join Crispa, it would have made the squad an early version of a ‘Dream Team.’ The Redmanizers had just completed major changes, starting with the coaching staff. Legendary coach Baby Dalupan left the squad at the end of the 1982 season, ending a long-time partnership with his buddy Floro. The young and brainy bench tactician Tommy Manotoc, a son-in-law of then-President Ferdinand Marcos, became a champion coach with U-Tex and San Miguel Beer before being tapped by Crispa to take the reins from the legendary Baby Dalupan, the coach known in the local cage circuit as ‘The Maestro.’
Ricardo Brown of Great Taste (second from left) could have joined Abet Guidaben (left), Atoy Co (middle) and Philip Cezar (second from right) in Crispa and became an instant member of the Grand Slam team in his rookie year. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001190431121.
Imagine Brown sharing minutes with holdovers Abet Guidaben, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Freddie Hubalde and Bernie Fabiosa, all of whom wound up in the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players list, and a super import known as ‘The Black Superman’ Billy Ray Bates. Could there have been any team to stop the Redmanizers? Brown now thinks that his ending up with Great Taste was a blessing in disguise. “In hindsight, it was a blessing that I was able to end up with Great Taste instead of Crispa. First, Crispa was already a powerhouse with many superstars on their roster. For me to come to Crispa at that time with the publicity surrounding me, I do not believe I would have been well received. I’m sure Tommy Manotoc realized this and was probably pleased that Crispa was not able to sign me," explained Brown. Jay P. Mercado, an avid Crispa fan and a basketball historian, has his own theory on why Brown didn't get to join the Redmanizers. “I really don’t know if Brown would have been effective with Crispa. Had he joined Crispa and meshed well with the likes of Atoy and Bernie, with whom he would have to share playing time, then the Redmanizers would have been invincible. I always believed that Crispa’s 1983 team is the greatest PBA team of all-time. What more with Brown around?," said Mercado, also a creative consultant of the PBA Greatest Games shown on a cable channel. “But looking back, I feel Brown’s decision to play for Great Taste turned out for the better. There was just too much politics to play with Crispa, and Tommy Manotoc would have had a hard time balancing those egos," added Mercado, who works full-time as a business development manager of a popular food chain in the country. Without Brown, also one of the 25 Greatest Players in the pro league, the Redmanizers went on to sweep all championships in the 1983 season en route to the franchise’s second Grand Slam. Seven years earlier, in 1976, Dalupan was the first architect of Crispa’s triple crown. But the veteran mentor was glad to transfer to up-and-coming team Great Taste Discoverers (Coffee Makers the following year). The team also made a key addition when it acquired the services of three-time Most Valuable Player Bogs Adornado to team up with dependable players Manny Victorino and Joel Banal and another transferee, Joy Carpio. “A meeting was scheduled with Great Taste Coffee team manager, Ignacio Gotao, at 7 p.m. at his CFC Corporate office. I thought the late evening meeting time was a bit unusual, but I really didn’t think too much about it at the time. I knew little of Great Taste or CFC, only that their team did not have a very successful 1982 season," said Brown. “Mr. Gotao explained to me that CFC was determined to build a winning team beginning with the 1983 season, and I was the key player that management wanted. He mentioned how they had already signed Adornado, brought in legendary coach Dalupan as a coaching consultant for head coach Jimmy Mariano. Then he added that I was the final and most important piece in their plan. It was at that time I found out that my former National Team (NCC) teammates, Banal and Victorino, were on the Great Taste roster, so that made me feel a little more comfortable." According to Brown, Gotao informed him that Manhattan and Galerie Dominique were the first two teams which would have a crack at the ‘right of first refusal,’ with Great Taste next in line. “No one was able to explain it to me previously. I was told not to worry about anything, and that if one of the other teams selected me with the terms and conditions that would be provided to the league, it would be 'great and lucky' for me. I immediately thought, 'what terms and conditions given to the league, and by whom?' But I didn’t push it and left Mr. Gotao believing that if Great Taste got the right to sign me, they would contact me to finalize a contract." “Several days later, I received a call from Great Taste informing me that I was now their guy because the other two teams had 'passed' on me," added Brown. Was money a big reason for Brown’s decision to jump over to Great Taste? “I really felt bad for Mr. Floro and Mr. Joseph Uichico, who had been the liaison between Mr. Floro and myself, and was such a gentleman during the entire process. I really liked Mr. Uichico and he was the main reason I felt so good initially about playing for Crispa. The rug was literally pulled out from Crispa during this last-minute process and I’m not quite sure how that happened." “Of course, I realized later the 'terms and conditions' presented to the league and the teams for the ‘right of refusal process,' on which I was not consulted, was publicized in the newspapers and gave the fans the perception I was an arrogant, money-hungry jerk. That did not please me and I let Mr. Gotao know of that in a later conversation." (To be continued) - KY, GMA News
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