‘The Big Difference’ honored
It was good to see Philippine basketball’s “The Big Difference” Caloy Loyzaga—considered by many as the greatest Filipino cager this country has ever produced—looking hale and ambulant, even if he needed the aid of a walker to get around.
Being some kind of a recluse lately, after a stroke two-and-a-half years ago left him weakened and unable to speak, Loyzaga surprised a lot of people when he appeared all over the sports pages of the leading dailies the morning after the PSA Awards Night where he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
Caloy is 83 and has survived a long list of ailments and life-saving procedures, following his retirement from active playing and coaching.
“The very first operation done on him was for a blocked vein in his right leg. This was followed by a gallbladder surgery and then a quadruple bypass, the result of eating too much beef over a long period. My father loved steak,” said Chito Loyzaga, the older of Caloy’s two sons. Caloy used to call Chito “Cachito” while the younger Joey was referred to as “Russo,” probably because he looked like a Russian.
More than a decade ago, Caloy had a close call when he was found to be suffering from diverticulitis, the inflammation of pouches that develop in the large intestines.
“We really got scared. His illness required complicated and dangerous procedures which included surgery. It was touch and go for dad for some time, but he was an athlete and he was strong, he was able to bounce back,” the former PSC commissioner recounted.
“However, two years ago he had a stroke in Australia, which affected his speech, among others. This time, we decided it was best for him and mom to come home to the Philippines and stay here for good, so we, their children, could look after them.”
Caloy was with Vicki and daughter-actress Bing Loyzaga when I bumped into him last year. Although he was in a wheelchair and could not speak, he appeared to be in high spirits.
He would put his pointing finger on his mouth every time Vicki would request me not to write that they were here in Manila. In her youth, Vicki was a very beautiful woman, one of the most beautiful in my opinion.
Unfortunately, Chito disclosed that Caloy’s health condition was still the same.
“He can walk but not for long stretches. Like if we go malling, he uses the wheelchair. But we do go around—like watch basketball games or eat dinner out.”
The highest point of Caloy’s career, according to Chito, was in 1954 when he powered the PH team to a bronze medal finish (third place) in the Rio De Janeiro World Basketball Championship, the same competition that will be held in Spain this August.
Caloy was also a vital cog in the Philippine team that finished ninth place in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the seventh placer in the Melbourne Olympics.
By the way, bet you didn’t know that the Philippines still holds the highest Olympic finish in basketball among Asian countries. We were 5th in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, with cagers like Ambrosio Padilla, Charlie Borck and Rene Ciria Cruz carrying the Philippine colors.
