Dearly departed family and friends aren’t the only ones we should remember this weekend. Light a candle as well for your mentors who have moved on.
Sportscaster Pinggoy Pengson, who passed away a decade ago, was a profound influence. He was always willing to share and create an atmosphere all of us could grow in and enjoy.
Twenty-two years ago, I auditioned at Vintage. Director Flor Malong tipped me about an anchorman opening since Pinggoy was thinking of migrating to the United States. I passed the audition but went to radio when Pinggoy opted to stay home. It was perfect because I needed the training for the new job.
The first announcers’ or panel meeting I attended at the old Grepalife building in Makati had Pinggoy, Joe Cantada, Andy Jao, Joaqui Trillo, Quinito Henson and Romy Kintanar. I was the Benjamin in the group, a young wannabe then trying to fit in.
Bobong Velez was of course there. Throughout Vintage’s years in the Philippine Basketball Association, it was his insightful and meticulous coaching of the panel and production team that gave the television audience a different way of appreciating the games.
Pinggoy was first to welcome me. “Tell me something about you,” he began, and we discovered we had both worked in advertising. Somewhere between agency jobs he managed to broadcast games as early as 1957.
Pinggoy and Joe took me and then, later Ed Picson, under their wings. Joe allowed the two of us to use his unique phraseology anytime we felt it was appropriate.
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Pinggoy genuinely appreciated the times when we would make a good game call.
On air, Pinggoy’s voice had a kindness that was reassuring. He could engage Andy, Joaqui and Quinito in delightful and incisive conversations without sacrificing the action.
He was always on the lookout for info he could use. Current PBA media chief Willie Marcial was our stats man then and had to be ready for Pinggoy’s requests for numbers like frontcourt and backcourt scoring. “Ubos!” (Everything gone) Willie would say after Pinggoy devoured his score sheet and tested his arithmetic.
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When he became Vintage executive vice president and I headed production, Pinggoy came to work early on assigned game days. To prep for his game, he voiced the primer or teaser that opened the telecast. UAAP TV director Abet Ramos was our editor then and made it a point to be early for Pinggoy.
He was a consummate professional who wanted better ways of calling the game. The morning after an assignment, Pinggoy and Abet were back in the editing room reviewing the tape. He would ask Abet to rewind moments he felt he had missed or needed better vocal captions.
His signature phrase, “cardiac game” for a pulsating, undecided PBA thriller, was immortalized by Time Magazine in a piece on how the world had adapted some English words to mean different things. Pinggoy wasn’t credited but basketball fans knew who brought this phrase to Philippine sports.
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Among many, two acts of Pinggoy’s generous mentoring stand out. When I was getting used to doing the games on TV, he decided to give me a few more of his broadcast slots. Being the veteran, he didn’t have to but he was opening the door a tad more for the rookie.
In 1988, Joe did not get his doctor’s nod to travel to the Seoul Olympics. Channel 4 producer Bong Barrameda then invited me to pinch hit. I asked Pinggoy and Bobong Velez’s permission to do the coverage. And then it then struck me that Pingoy should have that assignment, not me. I told him but he simply said, “No, you go.”
Before I left for Seoul, he handed me a handwritten note with a paragraph that has guided my work in sports.
When you are on air, always be in perspective. One person—your son, wife, your banker, gasoline boy, a legislator, myself—is the depth of personal rapport with your audience.
It has been 10 years since Pinggoy left us, but all of those he has touched will light a candle for him this weekend.
