It will definitely feel different once the 2021 season of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 rolls around.
Gone is one of the voices who gave life to the games Sudan Daniel, who passed away last Saturday at the young age of 33.
Teases like “Air baaallll, come out and play!“, “You got to work on your free throws!”, or “Post-up big man!” will no longer be heard. Same with the iconic, “Here are your teams, first representing (city name), here are your (monicker)!”
“Su had swag. We saw it two years ago and we loved it. He had been the voice of Chooks-to-Go 3×3 since,” said league owner Ronald Mascarinas.
“More than his swag, however, we share Su’s belief in the grind, in believing in yourself, in giving more than a hundred percent effort, and in always exceeding expectations.”
That is why for the third season of the country’s only professional 3×3 basketball league, Mascarinas will pay tribute to him by naming every dunk performed during the games as the “SUperman Move of the Game.”
“We can no longer bring back his voice in future games but starting next season, every dunk made during Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 games will be called the ‘SUperman move of the game’,” shared Mascarinas.
“Perhaps, this way, we can honor his memory by keeping some of his swag alive, in us.”
During his two-year career in San Beda, the American student-athlete earned the name ‘Superman’ because of his uncanny athleticism. It netted him Rookie of the Year in NCAA Season 85 before winning both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors in Season 86.
“When he led the San Beda Red Lions to an 18-0 sweep of NCAA Season 86 – getting Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year plum in the same year – and people started calling him SUperman. He liked it,” said Mascarinas, an avid fan of the collegiate game.
“‘Superman was an alien, and a normal human being, and that’s what makes him not ordinary’,” he once said. Su believed that to be not ordinary like Superman requires 150-percent effort, always exceeding expectations, and believing in yourself.”
Definitely, Daniel is a huge loss to the league. And the only way to continue his legacy is by making the league stronger and better for Year Three.
“In the last two years leading to the rapid rise of 3×3 basketball in the country, Su infected us with his easy flamboyance and unflappable optimism.”
