BASKETBALL fans of the mid-’80s to early ’90s—what many say was the Golden Age of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)—would instantly know the PBA player whose monicker was The Quick Brown Fox.
When you say The Quick Brown Fox (TQBF), there could only be one: Ricardo Brown, or Ricky Brown, the first-ever Filipino-American sensation to play in the PBA and member of the Northern Consolidated Cement (NCC)-Philippine National Team that won the 1980 Jones Cup in Taiwan, beating the United States, Sweden, Italy and Taiwan in the great heave-ho.
Brown was a Pepperdine University grad drafted by the Houston Rockets, but who etched his mark instead in Philippine basketball after he accepted the invitation of then basketball czar Eduardo Cojuangco to play for NCC. It was with Great Taste, and later San Miguel Beer, where Ricardo Brown proved what a phenom he was. His basketball laurels include 1983 PBA Rookie of the Year, 1985 Most Valuable Player, Mythical Five, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, seven PBA championships. To date, he still holds the PBA record for career scoring average (23.1 ppg) and All-Time Best Assist Average (7.3 per game).
TQBF retired in 1990—many thought, too early—and returned to the United States. He got a master’s degree in Educational Administration from California State University at Fullerton, and is now a school principal—the first-ever Filipino-American Principal—of that prestigious ABC Unified School District. He still looks peppy and as young (maybe younger?) than when he was playing in the PBA. These days, Ricky Brown stays connected with his Filipino basketball fans through Facebook and sends everyone who visits on a nostalgia trip via his bio-video, “Ricardo Brown—A Basketball Journey” (http://vimeo.com/30653800). It’s a treasure that brings back PBA basketball scenes that we thought have been lost forever.
Now, Ricky’s got something brewing that will make Pinoy basketball fans fall in love all over again with the PBA. Let’s hear him say it in his own words:
“First, much thanks for giving me the opportunity to share some thoughts and hopes regarding my prospective book. Let me just flow with it for a while and you’ll get a vision of where I would like to go with this project.
The idea of doing a book is very simple, but also quite complicated. As I began to build my Facebook pages with memorabilia from my playing days in the PBA, the response and messages from the fans were overwhelming and heartfelt. I realized that even though I had not been on the ‘Philippine basketball stage’ for nearly two decades, I was not forgotten and to the contrary, the fans of those PBA days were extremely interested in learning more about me today, as well as reminiscing about the ‘glory days of the PBA.’ I was very inspired to do this for the wonderful fans who supported me so passionately for so many years during my playing career. Piece by piece, weekend by weekend, I was able to put together what is, in essence, ‘my story’ of 10 years in Philippine basketball.
One must also keep this in mind: I never took the time to ever read these various articles, pictures, etc., as I had the scrapbooks created for my Mom and Dad to have since they could not see me play (unfortunately, my Dad was not in condition to travel, and of course, the Internet was not even a thought at that time), so when I started going over all of the various articles and pictures.... WOW! I was reliving those years and the nostalgia it created often brought tears to my eyes. When it became apparent to me that the fans saw these images of my basketball career as more than just looking at pictures, I decided to go full bore and make this something very special for them. I remember spending hours and hours organizing, cutting, scanning, editing, etc., hundreds and hundreds of images to do this the right way. I am so thankful I stayed with it, and quite frankly, it is because of the fans and friends who were responding along the way who gave me so much motivation and heartfelt pleasure that I didn’t quit until it was done to my satisfaction.
I began to give great consideration to ‘opening the door completely’ with the idea of doing ‘my story’ in book form as THE very special gift to the fans of Philippine basketball, and to the Filipino people, in general—not just basketball fans. I learned directly from contact with every one of my FB friends that watching me play for all of those years inspired them as youngsters... for two basic reasons: my basketball skills, and my conduct on and off the court. That was very important for me to know, and it has fueled my desire to find a way to make this book happen.
Please note that I have made it very clear to everyone via my Facebook captions, which IS my story in great detail with many ‘behind the scenes’ information that has truly piqued the interest of basketball and non-basketball fans alike (don’t we all like to know ‘what really happened’ behind the TV cameras?), that money was a non-issue for me in this proposed endeavor. With the exception of expenses to help me promote the book, which I think is reasonable, all proceeds beyond the publisher’s cut would be given to a charity of my choice there in the Philippines. I wanted to establish that right up front so people do not think this is just a financial endeavor to make money off of the Filipino people—quite the contrary, to be exact.
The complicated aspect of this is very simple: I need a publisher who is willing to invest to make this happen. I also need a writer. As a principal of a very busy Magnet Middle School, I do not have time to do this myself. There is just too much information involved in my story and it would take some time to do this effectively and accurately. Yet, I am absolutely convinced the fans will embrace my story, will purchase the book, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen—it remains the No. 2 priority in my life right now. The No. 1 priority is to return to Manila for a visit and simply reconnect with and engage the great fans who I miss so very much. I look forward to the day I can greet them up close and personal, shake their hands, take a photo with them or sign a picture or jersey, and most importantly, say ‘maraming salamat’ for their undying love and support for so many years.
One last thing, Tessa. My good friend, Maria Ethel Jose, who has edited and framed many of my video presentations through the past several months, is working in collaboration with me now (and has been for the past month) on a ‘Video-Bio’ of my years in basketball from Pepperdine to the PBA. It will really be something special, and truly is ‘my story’ [my book] in video form. I have seen samples thus far, and it is going to be a very special gift to the Filipino fans and friends who will have the opportunity to view it. Maria’s talents will jump off of the screen with this video, and on a side note, I hope someone contacts her with perhaps an opportunity to hire her in some capacity. The video will include numerous framed ‘best images’ from my Vintage Albums, video clips from my college and PBA games uploaded on my YouTube channel, some information that will be interesting to PBA historians, and a final set on ‘Life After Basketball’—all set to some great upbeat music that I trust will bring plenty of smiles and heartfelt moments as they ‘relive’ those great years with me. I am hopeful a TV station or Sports Show in Manila will find it worthy to show to the people in the Philippines. As we both know, many who would be interested to see this video do not have Internet access... and sayang talaga if that prevents them from seeing this special gift from me to them.
I hope you can help me with this, as well, Tessa. This is all about giving back to the people... the only selfish part for me is that it warms my heart in a way that is indescribable, and I truly like that feeling and want it to continue. Maraming salamat po sa inyo, and may God Bless always.”
