Best of Youtube: Jawo Videos
Real men do cry. Witness: Robert Jaworski. In his retirement ceremony held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, July 8, the “Living Legend” let the emotions flow as he imparted words of gratitude, inspiration, and hope in a speech that lasted almost half-an-hour.
Reunited with peers, friends, players he coached, and amidst a massive, adoring crowd, Jawo’s presence made for an atmosphere not unlike the kind he created whenever he took to the court. He got game, we all saw that—at least those amongst us lucky enough to have been old enough to see him in his playing days.
Now, whenever the younger generation asks about just who Jawo was, and why his jersey hangs in the rafters, we’ll have no choice but to go over his entire story—his 1978 MVP season, his winning days with University of the East, his ascendancy to the coaching throne with Ginebra, just to name a few—at least until someone writes his book.
For starters, we could all just point them towards these seven fast Jaworski facts from Spin.PH. And then towards Youtube where snippets of the man in action can be seen. Here are seven of them, as tribute to Legendary Number Seven:
1) Sonny Showtime
Like Magic Johnson, Jawo was quite the hardwood magician himself. Jawo disheartened opponents not just with elite level tough guy mentality, and competitiveness but also with passes that leave defenders looking silly.
2) This is how you do an interview
Quicker, stronger, and bigger guys have come and gone in the PBA, but Jawo’s lasting charisma, and room-filling presence have yet to be matched. A young, and slightly nervous-looking Chino Trinidad interviews Coach Jawo at the 0:26 mark of the video, who, as always, conducted himself with angas. There’s just no other word for it.
3) Gary Granada and Ginebra go together like puto and dinuguan
The Ginebra teams of the 90s had memorable names: Bal David, Marlou, Noli “The Tank” Locsin, Vince Hizon, and of course, bruisers, Wilmer Ong and Benny Cheng. In spirit, OPM icon, Gary Granada, should be part of that list too. His Ginebra melodies proved that the team, Big J included, were the people’s champ, win or lose. But enough talk! It’s time to sing along!
