Hail Pido for crying out loud

WHO said men don’t cry?

University of Santo Tomas coach Pido Jarencio—built like a lumberjack at almost 6 feet and 200 pounds—cried Saturday.

Pido couldn’t help but tear up after UST achieved the possible.

With the Tigers saddled by injuries all season long and his capacity as coach questioned on social media and other platforms, Jarencio and the team rose to the occasion.

They became the first fourth seed to topple the No. 1 seed and barge into the men’s seniors finals of the UAAP basketball tournament. UST overcame top-rated National University and its twice-to-beat advantage and forged a three-game championship series with La Salle at Smart Araneta Coliseum starting tonight.

Instead of the wise-cracking coach, a serious, retrospective Jarencio showed up at Mall of Asia Arena press room after Saturday’s NU game.

He choked up describing the Tigers’ tough road to the Finals and left abruptly with tears streaming down both cheeks in the middle of a television interview.

Jarencio’s eyes will seldom remain dry beginning tonight if the Fates and the Archers allow the Tigers to dominate and win their second championship trophy under him.

“Flood is forecast for the Big Dome starting Oct. 2,” sports columnist Al Mendoza wrote. “There will be a flood of emotions because Pido Jarencio’s tear ducts have burst.”

I couldn’t agree more with Al because when a man sheds tears in public, something truly momentous has happened. And people can’t help but notice.

In some ways, the 50-year-old Jarencio could be likened to the American football coach Dick Vermeil, who was known to tear up on cue like the famous local actress Rosa Mia.

Vermeil cried making speeches and while appearing at press conferences. But for Vermeil, the most emotional moments came when his team lost and when he cut or traded players for the St. Louis Rams.

Like Jarencio, Vermeil’s crying was not born by self-pity, but for the love of his game and his players.

After 17 years as a professional basketeer, Alfredo “Pido” Jarencio became UST’s rookie head coach in 2006 to lead the Tigers over heavily favored Ateneo in the UAAP Finals that year.

That crown had eluded Jarencio during his career as a college star at Santo Tomas in the-1980s, when UST’s then seething rivalry with University of the East continued.

“Pido has always worn his heart on his sleeve,” says Inquirer sports scribe Musong Castillo, who played with Jarencio on a UST team coached in 1983 or thereabouts by the late great Carlos Badion, once called the Bad Boy of Philippine basketball.

Castillo said Jarencio, originally a volleyball player, was a guy serious about treating basketball as a sacred thing.

“If basketball is a religion, Pido will be one of its high priests,” said Castillo. “You don’t badmouth the game when Pido’s around.”