Sporting Chance

The Big Difference is living the good life in Sydney. Caloy Loyzaga retired from work last year, plays golf thrice a week, and is a self-described pensionado of the Australian government.

Caloy Loyzaga, 69, blew into town with wife Vicky for the holidays last December and went back to Sydney a few weeks ago. He squeezed in an 11-day trip to the US with son Chito last month.

Caloy's gotten rid of the toupee that used to hide his balding pate. Now he's completely exposed. And why not? If Michael Jordan and Benjie Paras don't mind showing off their extended foreheads, why should Caloy? Bald is beautiful, right?

I had a nice, long chat with Caloy when he came to watch son Joey play for Alaska in a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) game at the PhilSports Arena about a week before he left for Sydney.

Caloy said he's taking it easy, on doctor's orders, because of recurring pain in his heart -- it's called angina, a condition marked by the brief spasmodic attacks of chest pain due to deficient circulation of the blood.

"I'm a walking pharmacy," said Caloy, showing a handful of pills that he gobbles up to guard against cardiac arrest. "I've even got a spray that contains nitrogen -- instead of putting a pill under your tongue when you're suffering from a heart attack, you just use the spray."

The deficient circulation was traced to a blood clot in Caloy's right leg. So last year, he underwent a bypass to isolate the clot. Surgeons removed a vein in his thigh for the bypass. The year before, doctors removed his gall bladder.

"I feel fine," said Caloy who powered the Philippines to third place at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in 1954. "But I can't get too excited. I can't get too tired. I can't get stressed out. And I've got to take lots of medicine every day."

Caloy said when the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) asked him to act as the coordinator for the national delegation at the Sydney Olympics about six months back, he had to beg off because of his heart condition.

"Two years ago, Cristy (Ramos) who was then the POC President asked me if I could do the job," he continued. "It was an honor for me. But nothing came out of it until late last year, when the POC called again. I couldn't accept because of my health."

Although no longer involved in pro sports, Caloy said he almost became the Sydney Kings assistant coach in the National Basketball League (NBL), the Australian version of the National Basketball Association (NBA). "The Kings owner Mike Wrublewski is a good friend and he asked me to help out," said Caloy. "I told Mike I'd help out as a consultant. Being an assistant coach would've meant a full-time job."

Caloy said the Australian basketball team, made up of NBL stars, is the darkhorse in the coming Olympics. The US can't be sure of winning the gold," he added. "Those teams from Europe are strong, too, and they've got NBA players. The only player the Europeans are scared of is Shaquille O'Neal and he's not playing in Sydney. Without O'Neal, the US can be beaten. The Australian team will be competitive with NBA players like Luc Longley, Chris Antsey, Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal. Plus there's an Australian player who's 6-7, jumps like a kangaroo, and shoots really well -- Sam Mackinnon."

Additionally, the Aussie squad will enlist a naturalized player. Among the naturalized players trying out for the team are ex-Ginebra import Derek Rucker, Ricky Grace, and Scott Fisher.

During his recent trip to the US, Caloy and Chito were invited to a dinner organized by retired NBA players at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Caloy met and had pictures taken with Bill Russell, Nate Archibald, and Oscar Robertson, among others.

"Russell and I played at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics," said Caloy. "Archibald went to Manila in 1975 on the Walt Frazier tour and I coached him and Scott Wedman in an exhibition series. Robertson played at the 1960 Rome Olympics which I missed because of an injury. Archibald remembered Chito from his visit in 1975. He couldn't believe how big Chito is now."

Caloy managed to watch the Rookie Challenge and All-Star Game at The Arena in Oakland.

"I was impressed by Jason Williams -- I couldn't believe what he did with the ball, like that elbow pass on the fastbreak," said Caloy. "He's better than Bob Cousy but let's face it, Cousy was the best in his generation and if he didn't start doing all those tricks on the court, stars like Williams wouldn't have emerged."

Caloy singled out Tim Duncan as the best NBA player today. "That's a biased opinion because I played center and Duncan is the ideal center -- he plays without wasted movement, he's very simple, not flashy, but gets the job done," he said.

While in the US, Caloy also went to the East Coast where Chito had business meetings. Chito represents And 1 ( the apparel and shoe brand endorsed by Vince Carter and Latrell Sprewell), Ashworth and Bike in the Philippines.

Chito said his father has a clean bill of health from doctors. "But he's not young anymore so he's got to watch what he eats and he can't get too tired," said Chito. "You know our family, we like to cook and we like to eat. He takes medicine to thin his blood and prevent clotting so he gets good circulation."

Chito said his father is proud of Joey making it back to the PBA. Joey, 38, is the PBA's oldest player this year. "When my father was in town, he hardly saw Joey -- he was always practicing or working out," said Chito. "Joey worked hard to make it back to Alaska. He lost a lot of weight. He was determined to prove himself. We're proud of him."

Caloy and Vicky, meanwhile, plan to relocate from Sydney to Brisbane where daughter Bing and husband Janno Gibbs bought a house.