In order to take a real dimension of the present, in any of its aspects that are referred to, one must have knowledge of the past. In other words, be aware of where you are coming from in order to determine where you are going.
The story of José Luis Pagella, popularly nicknamed “Tatote” locally, is one of the examples that clearly illustrates such an introduction. A player “Made in Junín”, you could say, who made a place for himself in the international world.
If Junín was able to offer athletes of the quality of Daniel Aréjula, Raúl “Chuni” Merlo and so many others who shone at the top of the Argentine basketball elite, it was because before there was someone who paved the way for them. And that was Pagella who, at 19 years old, was already playing in a World Cup with the national team.
“Basketball is the most complete sport there is: you have to know how to handle your legs, your hands, be intelligent, aerorhythm and personal contact,” he began in dialogue with Democracia.
And he continued: “Whenever I review sports, I don’t have unpleasant things. I came out having lost a couple of provincials like in Burzaco, by two points.”
Childhood
Born in the Club 9 de Julio neighborhood, in Miter 326, he began to have his first experiences as a young man. “With the kids from the neighborhood it was spending the whole day at the club, there was nothing else. We alternated between the Social and July 9. There were little fields around where we went to play soccer,” he recalled.
“My mom was a housewife, a basketball player as a girl and a fan. Native of Ascension. And my dad had a bus company that he had to sell because he was old and retired and it was a lot of work to continue,” she shared about those who raised him.
Another fact that marked him with fire, since it conditioned him in some way, was the fact of having to perform Compulsory Military Service, popularly called “colimba.”
“It was disastrous. It’s useless and I didn’t learn anything there either. “I couldn’t go to play in Italy because I was affected,” he commented about that moment in which he was about to take the big leap on a personal level.
In fact, such growth came through the calls to the different national teams in which he was and the experience he had later in Buenos Aires.
Carrera
With a rich career at the national level, when taking stock of his career he stated: “Basketball gave me everything. It is true that there was little money and it was not what it is now. For me it was very important: I was able to see the world.”
“It was very positive. We did a tour in China, I went to the World Cup in Puerto Rico with adults, the Pan American in Mexico with adults. When I left Colimba, I went to River,” he reviewed and emphasized: “It is a great pride that, while in Junín, I played on national teams.”
Tatote not only has anecdotes related to basketball in his career, but also non-sports ones. “In 1980 we went to play in the pre-Olympic in Puerto Rico and we qualified for the Olympics. Since the United States had boycotted Russia, we did not travel to play,” he recalled.
About one of his most significant steps, which was having been in that River, he said: “I was there for 12 years. When they came to look for me, I was in the Military Service. “A leader had to send a telegram to sign me up for Capital basketball.”
In fact, in 1985, River played at home in Ciclista. That year, through Pagella’s efforts, Daniel Aréjula and Aldo Yódice from Junin, and Marcelo Duffy from Pergamin joined the team. It was an event of great relevance for the city and another example of the importance of Pagella for local basketball.
From the center of Junín to playing internationally in Bolivia, against Corinthians from Brazil, with that River, to Puerto Rico or Russia with the national team. Vacillations of place that are difficult to take dimension of.
When citing the happiest moment in his career, he listed different episodes that filled him with satisfaction. “The last double against Russia in 79, the qualification for the Olympics in the 80s that we left due to boycott, several championships won in the Province, the friendships that remain with me from so many years. There are many good things that remain with sport,” he said.
Withdrawal
The 1981 South American tournament was the last tournament he had with the Argentine team. Furthermore, years later he would retire from the courts, a phenomenon that is never an easy task for athletes.
In 1988, River completely dismantled the team and Tatote went to Gimnasia de Pergamino, which was playing in the National League. He then went to Rojas, then to Club Junín, until he ended up in Los Indios, where he retired at the age of 40.
“When I cut I had a chance to continue playing, but I was tired and what I had done, I had done. The same thing happens with the technical part, if you don’t continue on the wheel they don’t call you,” he expressed.
Once he retired, he continued to be linked to basketball from another place: the technical side. He first directed the youth teams of the Cycling Club and later returned to his first love: the 9 de Julio Club.
“Eduardo Palomo called me, we formed a youth team, I trained them and we reached the semifinals. Later, due to different circumstances, the project was left there,” he recalled.
In this way, he moved away from the local basketball world. “I gradually moved away. It is only in a cafe and a group of friends that I update myself with the basketball topic, but everything is very high,” he indicated about his connection with the sport today.
“You always have a feeling of nostalgia or nostalgia, but I don’t miss it like before. Maybe yes in the sense of having lived it intensely and that it is a beautiful sport. For example, when Ginobili left the NBA I stopped watching her. “I don’t like that running and shooting,” she said.
Duelos Pagella-Biurrun
The list of cases of brothers who dedicated themselves to practicing a sport is long worldwide. Among the most recognized names are the sisters Venus and Serena Williams in tennis; Marc and Álex Márquez in Moto GP; Bobby and Jack Charlton or Paolo and Fabio Cannavaro in football; and Pau and Marc Gasol in basketball.
Likewise, at the national level, the brothers Gabriel and Diego Milito can be mentioned in soccer; Diego, Mauro and Claudio Grippo or Sebastián, Emanuel and Leandro Ginobili in basketball. Like these last two cases mentioned, there are the brothers Biurrun and Pagella, with one notable exception: the latter were born in Junín.
Not only that they were born in our city, but also that they characterized an entire era that marked Junín basketball with fire.
“During the Borsalino basketball era, which Juan Carlos Vilches led, all the people called to watch the games and the people on the street were crazy,” Tatote recalled about those years.
Precisely, regarding the Biurrun-Pagella duel, he said: “On the field it was to death, but once the game was over we had a beautiful and very nice friendship. Strong in sports and healthy and good personally.”
Regarding the characteristics of each of the characters, he considered: “As for Tito Biurrun, he was a good runner, coach and shooter. “Quique he was more complete with more defense and ball play.”
“My brother was similar to Quique, apart from the fact that they both had strong characters on the field,” he commented about his partner on the field and concluded: “My strong point, and what I liked, was defense. In the national team they said and labeled him as a multifunctional player.”
Finally, to conclude this review of the Junin basketball duel, he addressed what meant an enormous physical loss for the entire city, such as the death of his brother Eduardo.
“He had been very troubled by his health problem for a few years. A disease from which there is no turning back, invasive and there came a time when he left. He was always my right hand and I miss him a lot,” he lamented.
Vision of Junín
After traveling through different countries on his sporting journey and living in different locations nationwide, when giving his opinion about our city, he said: “I am a big fan of Junín. The progress he made was great, especially from ’83 onwards.
“Continuously progress. Maybe it may be missing things that I am not able to say, such as industrial matters,” she added.
At the time of graphing such development at the local level, he expressed that “in 89 we decided to come to Junín with my wife and Manuel, who was very little, and we decided to buy a house to end up on Castelli Street, which is one block from Padre Respuela.”
“In March 1989, it had a dirt road and, in November, it was paved, it had gas and a telephone. From then on, on the side of the road, it was impressive how much it grew,” he concluded.
Along the same line of analysis he added another project that caught his attention. “For many years my son has been telling me that when the Alvear project is done I should let him know and imagine what it is like today. “These are things that make the city grow,” he concluded.
2024-01-14 16:22:00
#played #National #Team #source #pride #Diario #Democracia
