Falling into a fathomless crevasse

PBA Star Zandro Limpot

I was all set to get my claws into the latest Lakers faux pas when I received a disturbing text from my brother: “’Day (short for inday), bad news.  Limpot and five others were found positive of shabu.  Indefinite suspensions.” For a few minutes, I was numbed.  No, that was a prank, I thought.  Jun Limpot?  Positive for shabu?  They probably made a mistake.  How could he be positive for an illegal substance when his image has always been squeaky clean?  He represented the good and the ideal.

It turned out that his inclusion to the list set off a public outcry, prompting house and senate hearings. Other people perhaps may just view him as one of those talented players or a stalwart of the Barangay Ginebra team.  But for me,  Zandro Limpot was the PBA.  I watched the PBA because of him, period. Once Limpot’s team was eliminated (which for 10 years never fails) I was no longer interested.  That was it.  I didn’t care if the San Miguels or the Alaskas of this world will slug it out for the title.  The extent of my engrossment fell merely to the performance of the gentleman from Surigao Del Sur.  So it wouldn’t be a grave shock if a news item of his fall from grace would reduce me to tears.

I’ve followed Limpot’s career for almost 15 years.  After being a member of the San Beda Cubs in high school, Limpot became the star of the De La Salle Green Archers, leading his team to UAAP titles in 1989 and 1990. It was almost a treble in 1991 if not for a technicality which gave the trophy to FEU through default.  He played for Magnolia in the PBL, winning championships and MVP awards in the process.  He was a bona fide member of the creme de la creme of amateur basketball.  My first glimpse of him in person was in the tail end of 1992 when DLSU and Ateneo played a series of exhibition games in our creaky, dilapidated college gymnasium.  Back then he was only 21, beautiful and mesmerizing as an athlete.

Then came ten years of PBA underachievement—seven years with Sta. Lucia, three with Ginebra.  Thus far, his only claim to fame was the Rookie of the Year Award in 1993, edging out Johnny Abarrientos.  I sat through years of taunts from fans of other teams, those of Alaska, Purefoods, San Miguel. I never wavered. He has no MVP Awards to speak of. Gee, not even a Mythical Five selection. He didn’t play to his potential in the Asian Games in Bangkok in ‘98.  But I remained a fan. After the second series of the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy was shown, he was dubbed the “Lord of No-rings,” in a feature in the PBA website early this season.

Limpot also became the highest-paid player in 1995 when after two years of toiling in the big league with Sta. Lucia, he signed a five-year contract with the Realtors worth P28.7 million. In 2000, he was traded to Ginebra San Miguel for Marlou Aquino. In my last check, he was still being paid the old maximum of P500 thousand per month.  Nowadays, fat contracts are a rarity in the PBA, with the corporate teams tightening their belts, the new maximum wage monthly is only P350 thousand. But the likes of Limpot, Espino, Duremdes, Aquino, Meneses, Ildefonso, Junio(?), the Seigle brothers, and Eric Menk are still in the P500 thousand/ month category.

Despite the lack of playoff success, Limpot clearly deserved his compensations.  He was the franchise player.  He was more consistent than  Vergel Meneses in almost two and a half years with Ginebra.  He clearly held the upper hand in his five-year partnership with Dennis Espino at Sta. Lucia and for a brief moment he was outshining his Fil-Am teammate Eric Menk in the early part of the All Filipino this year.  He has remained agile at 31 while his contemporaries like Abarrientos, Victor Pablo and Noli Locsin have lost some of the vibrancy of their youth.

But now this scandal. Whether he is guilty or not, the chaos has already tarnished his once impeccable reputation.  Why the PBA did not consult the alleged players before the press conference was beyond me.  My classmate, once an Abarrientos fan, e-mailed me with this quip, “kainis naman sila, they’re supposed to be role models.”  This from a friend whom I’ve discussed and highlighted every Limpot moment for 12 years.  Was she only pretending to listen to me?  Perhaps.

Where does Limpot go from here?  His précis on his medication for nasal allergy is not improbable.  I was once positive for rubella (the virus for German measles) in a medical exam in the Philippines.  I was tested again in the UK for rubella, it turned out I was negative. Which is which? Powerful drugs such as corticosteroids for pain can be detected in the urine samples.  I can only imagine the aches and pains of being an athlete.  I have the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and the pain is unbearable 24 hours a day and I’m a couch potato at that.  How much more with active persons like athletes with grueling and backbreaking routines?  I think Limpot’s option lies on the second test (if granted) and pray that it’s negative.  It would benefit the players a great deal if they’re allowed to observe the testing process to make sure everything is foolproof.  But in the meantime, the nightmare for Limpot and his fans continues to beckon its next page. *

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