Thirty years ago, a historic battle between the hard court stars of UST and the stars of Philippine cinema took place in the home of the then Glowing Goldies. The varsity team of UST squared off against a visiting FPJ All-Star selection. Unfortunately what was supposed to be a game of friendship and camaraderie turned into a frenzied rumble.
With the game drawing to a close, action star and famous movie villain Romy Diaz engaged in a scuffle with spectators after being offended by a harsh remark from one of the students.
The rumble between the visiting stars and the crowd resulted in the stoppage of the game.
The UST lineup, spearheaded by former Goldies Giovanni Arceo, Rodello Tomas, Lito Madella and present UST Tigers assistant coach Eusebio “Boy” Ong, was on their way to victory when the incident took place.
Ong vividly recalls the exhibition game from the tip-off up to the riot.
“Up and down iyong game from the start at very exciting. Overcrowded ang audience at halos lahat nakaupo na malapit sa court,” he recalls, referring to the jam-packed UST gym, which was predominantly filled with Thomasian students.
He said that the game was flowing smoothly all throughout until the altercation happened between Diaz and a student. Diaz, as Ong recalls, delivered a harsh hand gesture to the students after receiving some rude comments.
“Parang naasar si Romy (Diaz) sa comments ng isang estudyante, tapos parang may sinabi yata siya sa crowd. Tapos noon, nagkagulo na lahat,” Ong recalls.
“Kinuyog siya ng mga estudyante pero inawat naman kaagad ng mga officials.”
The mob was pacified after a shot was fired in the air by security officials.
The visiting stars were escorted outside the gymnasium by security guards to protect them from further injury. Fortunately, no player from the Glowing Goldies was involved in the riot.
The FPJ All-Star selection, composed mainly of friends of legendary action star and playing coach Fernando Poe Jr., was bannered by the triumvirate of Diaz, Ruel Bernal, and Jumbo Salvador, brother of the famous action star Philip Salvador.
The game ended with UST on top, 62-57.
60’s Celtic Star Visits UST
Former 1960’s Boston Celtics star Ed “Easy Ed” Macauley graced the University in 1974 and conducted a basketball clinic in the UST gym.
With the gymnasium filled with some 700 boys from ages eight to 18, Macauley taught and inspired the youngsters on improving their basketball skills and fulfilling their hoop dreams.
Powered by beverage giant 7-Up, the five-day clinic focused on honing the fundamentals of basketball such as dribbling, passing, and team play.
Macauley was assisted by some of the country’s great basketball heads such as Lauro Mumar of U-Tex and Valerio Lopez of Mapua Institute of Technology.
The clinic turned out to be a smashing success. The NBA player predicted that the country’s future in basketball would be bright if Filipino skills were tapped at a young age. Patrick Leonard M. Mayo
