Ronnie Magsanoc: From PBA legend to voice for the V-League

A day after he turned 49, Ronnie Magsanoc was running up and down the court at Meralco Gym in Pasig City on a Sunday morning. His D-League team, the Hapee Fresh Fighters, was one player short for practice, so the coach once again donned his sneakers and joined the scrimmage against cagers more than 20 years his junior.

He stood out, not because of his graying hair, but because of the way he directed the plays. It seemed like he used a time machine to go back to his days with Shell, where he earned the nickname "The Point Laureate" for his heady playmaking and scoring.

Magsanoc retired from professional basketball more than 12 years ago, but his schedule is as busy as ever. Aside from coaching Hapee, which he recently led to a championship in the Aspirants' Cup, he also serves as an assistant coach of the Meralco Bolts and still manages to squeeze announcing gigs gigs into his weekly itinerary.

Today, he can be spotted on television beside coach Norman Black in the Meralco bench during PBA game nights, but more often he can be heard providing commentary, analysis, and play-by-play for the telecast of Shakey's V-league on GMA News TV.

Many athletes-turned commentators stick to the sport they learned after retirement, but Magsanoc has gone beyond just basketball. Aside from regular coverage of volleyball, he has also joined the commentary team for major events such as the Olympics and Grand Slam tennis on Philippine television.

For Magsanoc, becoming a television announcer had always been part of the plan.

"Bata pa ako, 'yung mga nagcocover sa PBA gustong-gusto ko na silang ginagaya," he told GMA News Online after the Hapee practice.

He was nine years old when Asia's oldest professional basketball league opened in 1975. As a boy, he liked to mimic early PBA commentators Dick Ildefonso and Emy Arcilla, until calling the games came naturally to him.

"Magaling akong manggaya up to a point na 'yung tono, 'yung demeanor, because I really like what they were doing kasi hindi sila pasikat sa sarili nila," he said about his childhood heroes.

Indeed, long before he retired from PBA play, he already knew he was destined to take a seat at the announcers' desk.

"Ito talaga ang pupuntahan ko. After basketball, after ng PBA, dito talaga ako papunta," he said. "Before I decided to go into coaching, dito talaga."

Sports culture

Magsanoc has San Beda College's sports culture to thank -- and not just for his basketball skills that enabled him to become a member of the 1986 University of the Philippines champion team in college before his legendary PBA career.

As a grade one pupil, the shorter Magsanoc was not accepted to the basketball team. So he instead turned his attention to the game in the adjacent court.

"Ano 'yan?" he called out.

"Volleyball," someone answered.

Lured by the promise of a uniform, Magsanoc joined and made it to the team. A year later he finally made it to the basketball, where he would achieve greatness.

But he never forgot the intricacies of volleyball -- truly his first competitive sport.

"Once I get into a sport I try to absorb it as much as possible. Bata pa ko ganun na ko," he said. "Natutunan ko, I learned the rules, kung ano 'yung mga kailangan."

The Lion's Den trained him to get into many different sports, which now serves as the foundation of his knowledge when commentating for various events.

"Sa San Beda nag-tryout ako sa lahat ng sport. Kailangan matutunan mo dahil puro lalaki e," he said. "Ganun sa San Beda. Kasi pag hindi ka involved, hindi ka kasali. Dahil lahat ng tao after school, 'yun ang ginagawa e."

After class at San Beda, different balls were placed in one huge container for boys to play with every afternoon. Coupled with an open field wide enough to accommodate the games, the boys gathered together learning various sports one game at a time.

"Pag may naglalarong baseball, baseball ka kasi hindi makakapaglaro ng football dahil may nagbe-baseball e. So kung ano 'yung nilalaro nila, lalaruin ko,    " said Magsanoc, who also competed in track and field in the NCAA aside from ball games.

His technical know-how has allowed him to announce many different events. He has, however, one Achilles heel.

"Huwag lang swimming, kasi hindi ako marunong mag-swimming," he said.

Asked what keeps him going despite the tiring schedule, Magsanoc answered with the mindset of a basketball coach grooming his players.

"I like doing it," he said. "As commentators, you try to help the game and the players to get better, just giving them and their families the chance to appreciate what these young athletes do." -- JST, GMA News