IN one of Rain or Shine’s post-game interviews in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, one fan somehow found his way into the Ninoy Aquino Stadium pressroom, saw coach Yeng Guiao and Santi Santillan being interviewed, and took the chance of a lifetime at being heard in a formal PBA press conference.
“Ang galing mo, Eric Nanas,” the fan shouted, drawing laughter from Guiao, Santillan and the mediamen in attendance who were caught by surprise in that now-viral moment.
Guiao, who at this point in his near-four decade coaching career has seen it all, summed it up perfectly.
“Mas sikat na sa'min yun ah,” he quipped as Santillan, fittingly one of the men who pushed Rain or Shine’s beloved utility man to relevance, echoed his fiery coach’s sentiments with uncontainable laughter.
WATCH:
Internet famous
While there’s no way that Eric Nanas, Rain or Shine’s utility for the past 10 years, is more famous than the legendary head coach – there’s a tad of truth to the line, at least on the part of 44-year-old being ‘famous’ now.
And it has something to do with the ever-evolving world of social media.
To the uninitiated, Nanas has taken the PBA social media world by storm – first by doing cameos in the vlogs of Santillan, Andrei Caracut and Adrian Nocum, before deciding to start his own page on the urging of the trio.
Armed with a charming smile, an infectious laugh and a happy-go-lucky personality, Nanas now has 127,000 followers on Facebook and it has resulted in guestings – from podcasts to provincial events – and extra attention from fans during game days, even more than some RoS players themselves.
Utility men in the PBA getting that kind of attention and opportunities has been unheard of to this day – but for Nanas, more so than the opportunities, it’s the connection with the fans that he values the most.
“Masaya. Yun nga, medyo nakikilala na. Marami ring mga blessings at opportunities pero para sa'kin bonus na yun e,” Nanas said as SPIN.ph caught up with him during one of Rain or Shine’s practices.
“Ang pinakamasaya sa'kin yung mga sinasabi ng mga nanonood sa mga vlogs vlogs namin na, ‘Oy napapasaya mo kami,’ doon talaga ako natutuwa.”
At first, the ROS support staff admitted that he was hesitant to do vlogging on the side – as all he wanted to do was focus on his work and his work alone.
The idea was actually floated to him long before the players tagged him along in the videos. Nanas shared how a neighbor, Alvin, suggested that he take advantage of his access to the team to start his own page. But he was reluctant.
“Nung una ilag ako kasi siyempre baka makasira sa trabaho e. Siyempre dito ako kumukuha ng pang ano ko e, pang kabuhayan namin ng pamilya ko at mga anak ko. Ayaw ko naman na parang masisilip ka pagdating sa trabaho,” he said.
“Nag-dalawang isip ako. Hindi ko nga sinunod nung una yung kapitbahay ko e. Pero nung andito na, gumawa narin ako ng sariling account.
“Ayun ginawan ako ng anak ko at misis ko [ng FB page] nung November 23, yun ang unang upload ko.. Mag two-years na ngayon at biglang nag-boom at tuloy-tuloy.”
It certainly took some time for Nanas to adjust.
Virtually unknown up until Santillan and company started vlogging, everything was new for Nanas the moment he blew up.
As a utility man, Nanas is often seen in public. He’s tasked to carry equipment to and from the locker room, hand out tickets to team guests, and everything in between.
He used to do all those things in peace for the most part of his career with Rain or Shine. Now he still has to do those things, albeit with pitstops for photo ops with fans in between, during, and after games – things that he does with a welcoming smile, despite being swamped with work.
“Nung una medyo na-shy ako kasi ako pawisin ako e. Hindi ako nagpapabango, natural lang to ililigo ko lang ng Safeguard, ayun na ko maghapon e,” Nanas said.
“Una talagang natatawa ako, nahihiya ako sa sarili ko na andami nang nagpapa-picture sa'kin e. Tapos ako magiliw naman ako sa tao kaya ayun.”
Extra attention for ROS utility
But despite the extra attention, Nanas is always keeping his feet on the ground.
“Sa totoo lang sa'kin po, hindi naman ako sikat e. Wala lang sa'kin. Ganun talaga ako sa mga tao. Marami lang nagpapa-picture sa venue, sa Araneta, sa MoA, tuwing may laro marami talagang nagpapa-picture pero feeling ko hindi naman ako sikat e,” he shared.
“Pag nagco-commute ako, umuupo ako sa bus, papasok at pauwi wala namang ano sa kin e. Siguro nagbago maraming nagpapa-litrato, maraming nagpapakilala sa'yo nagme-message pero hindi ko iniisip na sikat na’ko.”
Nanas goes way back
While Nanas has only grown to relevance now, he’s been around basketball longer than most fans would think.
In fact, when Nanas first started in the world of basketball as a ‘ball boy’ back in 1999, Rain or Shine’s star guard in Adrian Nocum was only being born.
Nanas credited veteran utility Edison Rasay as the person who opened the doors for him in being a ball boy even before the turn of the millennium, when the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) was still around.
“Nagsimula ako dati 1999, sumasasa ako nun sa ballboy ng NorthPort (Titan) ngayon na si Edison Rasay. Sa kanya po talaga ako nagsimula sa basketball. Bali sumasama lang ako nun sa Manilla Metrostars sa MBA, nood-nood, abot-abot,” Nanas recalled.
“Tinuturuan niya ako hanggang mga 2001 naipasok niya ko sa mga intertown nung araw, mga NBC, napasok ako roon bilang ball boy.”
While he’s happy with what he’s doing, his course veered as he found himself having a family and needing more than a ball boy’s salary to sustain his growing brood.
“Tumagal ako noon hanggang 2005. Tapos nawala ako sa basketball kasi nagkapamilya ako. Eh sa basketball, tatlong libo lang sweldo namin nun e, sa isang buwan, 1500, 1500 pero hindi mo pa iisipin yung sahod nun pag gusto mo ginagawa mo masaya ka e,” he said.
“Eh ayun, nag-asawa ako, napasok ako sa Hap Chan kitchen helper ako roon tapos nag merchandiser ako. Doon ako nagtagal, 10 years akong merchandiser.”
Nanas shared that he was actually content with what he was doing so much that even when he received an offer to return as a ballboy for then PBA D-League team Pharex, he passed on it.
He was already providing for his family, and he was happy with what he was doing – first as a merchandiser for a supermarket, and then as a warehouse man for beauty products in Cavite.
But while responsibilities pulled him away from basketball, fate would reel him back in.
He got laid off in his warehouse job, and needing a lifeline to provide for his family – he called on his old friend Edison Rasay for an opening, and Rasay delivered again.
“Labas ako ng warehouse namin sa Molino, pag labas ko malungkot talaga ako. Sabi ko, ‘Mga anak ko paano kakain?’ So tinawagan ko si Edison Rasay sabi ko, ‘Baka merong team na pwede sakin, nawalan ako ng trabaho e,’” he recalled.
“Eh itong si Edison parang kapatid na yan e. Sabi niya, ‘Sige punta ka ng Delpan, meron tayo doon, sa PNP Olympics.’ Basketball din. Coast Guard yung team namin, tapos may mga PNP, Army, Navy, Airforce.”
Little did Nanas know that this would kick off his unexpected rise to local basketball relevance. The payoff would come years later, but the pieces would start moving as early as 2014.
Through Rasay, Nanas finally found his way to the PBA D-League, this time with Racal Motors. Their head coach? Caloy Garcia alongside his longtime assistant and good friend Mike Buendia – two guys Nanas would be working with later on in his PBA career.
And it didn’t take long for him to finally get that PBA break as Guiao moved to NLEX and brought one of the Elasto Painters’ utility with him, leaving an opening for Nanas in the RoS squad.
“Friday ako nawalan ng trabaho, kina-Lunesan punta kagad ako doon sa Coast Guard. Tapos ayun, D-League din si Edison sa Racal, sinasama din niya ako. Nakadalawang sama ako doon, sila coach Caloy Garcia at Mike Buendia ang mga coach doon e,” he shared.
“Tapos, narecommend ako dito nung nagkulang ng isang ball boy pag alis ni coach Yeng pa-NLEX kasi yung isang ball boy, si kuya Jimmy, sinama ni coach Yeng,” he continued.
“Nung nagkulang, dapat si Edison ang lilipat dito pero nasa NorthPort siya, so pinakiusap niya ako na ako nalang mapunta dito at ayun nagtuloy tuloy. Isang dekada narin ako sa November.”
The Internet Got It Right This Time
Now finally in a PBA team, Nanas quietly grinded on the side – working through variations of the squad, from the Caloy Garcia-led team, to the little time Chris Gavina had with the squad, before eventually reverting back to Guiao who put together the fearsome, and the social media-active, team fans know today.
There Nanas would not only get a stable job with a respected and family-ran franchise like Rain or Shine, of course he would go on and become a local internet star as the funny and likeable side-character to the team’s young superstars.
And Nanas couldn’t be more grateful that his relentless grind and sacrifices for his family got rewarded in the most unexpected way.
“Sobrang saya. Minsan nga nasa bus ako, naiisip ko, ambait din ni Lord e. Kasi di ka niya pababayaan. Di talaga ako nawalan ng pangkabuhayan,” he said.
“Pero talagang nag-sikap ako. Pamilyado ako e, wala akong ibang aasahan. Kailangan ko itaguyod ang pamilya ko ng kung ano mang trabaho ang dumating, ano ako sa trabaho e. All-out ako e. Kung trabaho ko to, di ako pwedeng mapahiya dito.”
And while a lot has changed for him since his time as budding family man, working shifts in supermarkets and warehouses to now, the only difference for him is people know him now – what fans see online, and what his team sees on the locker room, has always been him.
“Ganun parin si Eric e. Di nagbago sa pagiging pursigido. Hindi nagbago, hindi nagpapa-down. Ayun pa rin si Eric na trabaho at pamilya lang tayo. Focus lang, tanggalin natin ang masasama sa paligid.”
In the world of social media where the wrong people and the wrong virtues are often glamorized, listening to Nanas’ story – and seeing how he acts around the fans – it’s safe to say that the internet got it right this time.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
