By: ALEJANDRO PÉREZ

BUENOS AIRES (DIRECTV Liga de las Américas 2018) — The passion —the sometimes, uncontrollable passion— that soccer causes in Argentina, usually limits the development of other sporting activities. Perhaps the most popular clubs, those that have the greatest number of fans around the country, are the ones that ironically suffer this more intensely.

San Lorenzo, a club from the capital city of Buenos Aires, and one of the most famous in Argentine soccer, is located in the neighborhood of Boedo, which is well-known as a guardian of the city's tradition. There, taking refuge in history, you can find the reason that explains their relationship with basketball, a sport that allows the club to be at the highest national level and to develop a transcendental phase outside its doors.

Although its affiliation to the Federation occurred in 1930, the starting point of the solid relationship of San Lorenzo with basketball could be marked —albeit in a capricious manner— on March 19, 1937, when it was one of the nine clubs that established the Asociación de Basket-ball de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Basket-ball Association) and participated in the First Division soccer tournament. Like this, they left the Argentine Federation, which in fact, despite its name, only administered activities in the capital city. Also, more than 80 years ago, this competition released each club that wanted to pay their players... This was no coincidence. Since 1931 these same clubs had accepted professional soccer and did not refuse to do so in basketball.

Not much time has passed when San Lorenzo became a spearhead at the tournament of Asociación Buenos Aires. In 1942, they achieved their first title at Campeonato Oficial (Official Championship), with outstanding figures Francisco Del Río —an idol of the time—, Alfredo Belli and Armando Bo —who later became a prominent movie director.

The second title in the Official Championship came in 1946, with a Dream Team for the times: besides Del Rio and Bello, joining the team were José Biggi, who was the first undisputed star of Argentine basketball; Salvador Capece, Alberto Trama, Jaime Pérez and two true towers for the time: Héctor Romagnolo (6’3” feet) and Armando Rossi (6’2”). All of them also participated in the Argentine National League.

Until the end of its existence, Asociación Buenos Aires San Lorenzo gathered 12 titles at Torneo Oficial (1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1971 and 1973), something that no soccer team achieved.

The Argentine National Team always incorporated San Lorenzo players in their ranks until 1970, such as Edgar Parizzia, Carlos Vassino, Juan Ruggia, Herberto Fagnani, Dante Masolini, Gustavo Aguirre, Juan De la Cruz (who later attained the Spanish nationality and the Silver Olympic Medal in 1984), Claudio Villanueva and Daniel Pace.

Other players that are still in everyone’s memory are symbols of a triumphant San Lorenzo that was the pride of its fans, such as Erio Cassettai, Oscar Visciglia, Carlos Perroni, Carlos Perales, Norberto Pacheco, Abel Rojas and Mario Benítez.

For Carlos Perroni, four-time champion for Buenos Aires, “San Lorenzo always gave importance to basketball, did the task of bringing players in from other parts of the country, built powerful teams and achieved titles. This built a tradition that went on for several decades. And like this, it became the second most-important sport in the club. Even the Harlem Globetrotters played against San Lorenzo in a tour they did around Buenos Aires in the 1950’s. In the 60's and 70’s, us players weren't professionals. Our travel expenses were covered, but all of us had other jobs.”

Despite soccer's importance, according to Perroni, both sports coexisted in harmony. “Many soccer fans came to see the basketball games. Even the soccer players would come to our games and we established a good friendship that still endures. Those were times with less professionalism, where the environment resembled a family,” said who started playing in 1960 for the First Division and wore the blue and red jersey until 1973.

But many things have changed since that last title in 1973. The support of the directives started to be lesser, the team lost its dominance, and there were no more triumphs to celebrate. Although it was one of the teams that participated in the first edition of the National League, they ended that season in a lesser category and San Lorenzo's basketball began a rapid decline until it almost disappeared.

It was only until the current directives assumed their positions in 2012 that the basketball club’s situation started to change.

Their first vice-president, Marcelo Tinelli, quite a famous Argentine TV personality, remembers: “When I was a child, my dad would always talk about San Lorenzo’s basketball, of its great players and titles. That history had an effect on my, the dreams of a big team... That hooked me on this sport. When I started as a directive, in 2012, I saw that basketball had no structure in the club. It was a waste. We started a project from the lowest point, we went through all categories, until we achieved to National League titles and now we’re participating at Liga de las Américas. Besides, we were the first Argentine team to face an NBA team and to tour around Spain, where we defeated Barcelona and Real Madrid. Now we have to transmit that tradition to younger generations so that they can keep it alive.”

Tinelli acknowledges that, as every popular soccer club, the directives must co-exist with the requirements of Argentina's most well-known activity. Nonetheless, the massive public attendance in the stadium turns the team into the one with the greatest amount of fans in games, and also the leader in the streaming view numbers in the Argentine League games. This demonstrates that fans accept, identify and support basketball.

“In San Lorenzo, the budgets for every sport are very defined. We work with our own incomes, with our respective sponsors for each activity. The club doesn't need to invest in basketball, because basketball, with its own activities and resources, generates income. There are always more demands for a sport that's the size of soccer, which is normal, but we gave basketball its own space and it defends it,” says the famous TV personality, who leads the basketball section within the club.

Since their appearance in the National League, the results could not have been better for San Lorenzo: champions in 2016 and 2017, and a solid leader in the current campaign. The condition of generating good results is another one of those demands that Argentine soccer perceives as normal, although they cannot always be rendered.

Tinelli is at ease with the fact, since “we have to get used to the pressure for results. Both in the National League as in las Américas, we're perceived as favorites and we have to deal with that. We understand the fans’ passion, but the directives can't use that as a measure, and must have a vision for the long run. At San Lorenzo basketball we're always thinking on ways to improve, we set ourselves the highest objectives and we give it our all. Whoever comes to our organization knows they are doing so to fight for something important. Sometimes it can't be achieved, but we're always going to try it.”

FIBA