Reminiscing about the San Jose Summer Basketball League would not be complete without mentioning or thinking of the Street Brothers Basketball Team. The father and son tandem of Edward “Jee” Bagatsolon and Domy “ParDoms” Bagatsolon worked together a piece of basketball history in this part of Occidental Mindoro titled “The Street Brothers Basketball Team” and I am publishing here part of said collaborative work.
To open their literary piece, Jee and ParDoms has this to say: “While “import” players were making waves in the Senior Division of the San Jose Summer Basketball League in the mid-eighties, the entry of the Street Brothers team in the Junior Division of the San Jose Summer Basketball League (SJSBL) made an impact and created another huge fan base which was unprecedented at that time. This is a capsule story of the team when they played in the Junior Division.” The photo above shows the first batch of the Street Brothers team in 87-88 with their muse, the petite Marie Joy Casao.
In the 80s, the Bagatsolon family used to reside in Magsaysay Street in San Jose across the house of former Occidental Mindoro governor Arsenio “Senying” Villaroza, father of Ms. Victoria “Vki” Villaroza. Looking back, Edward wrote, “We put up a post with a board and basketball ring in front and across our rented house. Every afternoon we would play a three-and-three game with a bet of a couple of ice, which will be used as cooler of the Tanduay Rhum and Coke mix that we imbibed after the game. The barkada and amateur players were all young – 18 to 20 year olds.” The logo that the team employed for years on their jersey is the logo the rhum that made the Philippine famous and also to give reverence to the boys’ favorite drink.
Jee remembered how they named the team: “When we decided to form a basketball team, we did not have any idea what to call our team. There were several names suggested. Someone suggested “M Street” as a pun to the movie Nightmare on Elm Street and also to signify the name of our street, which is Magsaysay St. Another suggested “Gil’s Bros.” as a play of words on the Hills Bros basketball team in the PBA then and as a possible funding from Kuya Gil Manuel. Finally, we settled on Street Brothers to jokingly refer to our friend (a Born Again quitter) “brother” and also to signify that we started as mere street players.” The Street Brothers later was managed by Vki Villaroza and followed by Congresswoman Josephine “Nene” Sato. Both managers spent much for the team’s uniform and balls and other equipment.
As he remember the original players, Edward explains, “The initial players were composed of members of the Order of the DeMolay. Papa Doms or Pardoms saw the potential of the players when the DeMolay held a basketball tournament of their own. Among the DeMolay members are Dominic “Nik” Bagatsolon, Manolo “Macaw” Macawile, Ronald “Nald” Novio, Rogelio “Jojie” Sarmiento, Jr. and brothers Danilo “Danny” and Armando “Ding” Santos. Romeo “Ardee” Dula and Noel “Wewe” Sano were included because they are both close friends of Nik. Joe Marie “Jomar” Villar was brought in by his cousin Jojie. Eduardo “Jun” Mazo, Jr. was brought in by Pardoms to play center while I (Edward “Jee” Bagatsolon) was included because I’m the son of the coach. (He, he, he-NAN) I brought in my friend and classmate Rey “Boyet” Alcones also to play the center position. The Order of the DeMolay is part of the "family" of Masons and associated organizations. DeMolay is the youth group for young men.
The Street Brothers is indeed a lasting and most decorated team in the SJBL and again, as per Edward’s account, this is how they go down in San Jose’s basketball history: “We started and became champion in the Junior C division. The following year we climbed to Junior B and became champion again. On the third year we joined the Junior A division and emerged only First Runner Up. Luckily, Epoy Langcauon, Egay Salvacion, June Palmares and Gary Calitang joined the team when some members relocated to other places and continued their college studies in Manila. With Epoy, Ardee and Wewe (Noel Sano) on the floor it was very frustrating for our opponents to guard them because they were all good shooters, ball handlers and inside penetrators. In June Palmares and Egay Salvacion, we had legitimate centers who could defend the lane and get the necessary defensive and offensive rebounds. Gary Calitang was a marksman from the wings and poured in points when needed. With this refurbished line-up we joined the Junior A Division once again and romped off with the championship crown. The team went on to play at the Senior Division and, if memory serves me right, Street Brothers won at least five more championships.”
By way of conclusion, Edward stressed further, “After these events the SJSBL was never the same. When SJSBL resumed only a handful of patrons would watch the tournament. Ticket sales went down and organizers of the summer league are hard-pressed to pay the salaries of the referees and staff. This went on for a couple more summers until the popularity of SJSBL waned and died. Millennial’s nowadays don’t even remember the yearly summer basketball league anymore.”
Indeed,
San Jose basketball’s glory days were gone.
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(Photo: From the album of Edward Bagatsolon. Left to Right : Danny Santos, Jojie Sarmiento, Ding Santos, Nick Bagatsolon, Manolo Macawile, Jomari Villar, Boyet Alcones, Edward Bagatsolon, Ronald Novio, Ardee Dula. Not in the picture Noel Sano. Muse Joy Casao.)
