Goodbye, Kuya Boy Delin

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

IT’S sad when you lose a friend, your province mate, and especially if he’s your sports contemporary who brought laurels to our beloved province. The death of my cycling mate Virgilio “Boy” Delin last February 13 stunned the cycling oldies (especially this writer).

I cannot but recall with nostalgia my partnership with the fellow, particularly in training and in many competitions. Kuya Boy (that was how I called him during our cycling heydays) left a legacy for the province as the first runner-up in the 1964 Tour of Luzon (ToL). The former national team member, born on September 22, 1941 in barrio Pao, Manaoag, also landed third in the 1963 ToL won by his townmate Gonzalo Recodos, and finished fourth in the 1967 ToL won by Tarlaqueno Cornelio Padilla, Jr. His biggest victory was the 1966 Tour of Cebu. For six years he skippered the Ilocandia Team, composed of seven Pangasinenses out of eight members who catapulted the group to win the team honor in the 1963 ToL. When the Tour of Luzon was temporarily stopped in 1968, he migrated to Guam but returned in 1969 to join the Tour ng Filipinas (Lacuesta version). Unfortunately he was unable to finish the big race due to a kidney problem. From then, he went back to Guam, worked there and eventually acquired his U.S. citizenship and permanently quit his chosen sports career at a young age of 29. He was arrested in 1975 on drug charges and paid for his mistakes in jail for ten years. I seldom heard from the guy since, he whom I admired for his sprinting ability in cycling that he earned the title “the master of close finish”.

He finally succumbed to cardiac arrest, a common cause among cyclists after retiring from their chosen career. He left 10 kids with four partners after three divorces. His remains lie at his birthplace.

Goodbye, Kuya Boy and I pray for the repose of your soul. As God once said in his Good Book, “We came from dust and so we’ll return to dust,” so let it be. God is God and indisputably the supreme of all the living things, including the galaxy. And His words should always be respected by all mankind. Amen.

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The Palarong Media by the Pangasinan Press Club was reset to March 3 due to the unavailability of the venue (LNU gym) last February 18, according to Andy Estrada, the execom events chairman. Contrary to what Philamer C. Celi reported here last week, Estrada clarified that after the Fun Run which will officially open the sportsfest, basketball, volleyball and other sports activities will be conducted at the said venue except bowling and the shootfest events. All top three winners in each event will receive cash prizes. 

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

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