Vaqueros de Bayamón

The Vaqueros de Bayamón (lit. "Bayamon Cowboys") in Spanish, are a professional basketball team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They play in the BSN league of Puerto Rico, in which they have many titles and decades of experience and victories. Founded in 1930, they are one of the original teams left, they have won 14 championships and 6 sub-championships and established a record of most consecutive championships won in a row with 5, from 1971-1975. Vaqueros de Bayamón played at Intercontinental Cup 1973 and lost the title due to points average. On August 3, 2009 Bayamon beat the Quebradillas Pirates 84-82 to win the championship series 4-2 and as a consequence their 14 championship and first in 13 years.

Rubén Rodríguez Performance

Rubén Rodríguez – Stellar player of the Vaqueros for 23 seasons, always wore number 15. Debuted in the league in 1969 and scored 11,549 points and 6,178 rebounds in 631 games. Established various records in the league:

• Points in a career - Rubén Rodríguez - 11,549 .
• Points in a season - Rubén Rodríguez - 810 (1979).
• Points in a game - Rubén Rodríguez - 52 (1973).
• Rebounds in a career - Rubén Rodríguez - 6,178 .

He also had the record of Rebounds in a season from 1978-2008 this record was broken by Lee Benson on May 3, 2008 also joining the Vaqueros.

Rodríguez spent his whole career with the team Vaqueros of Bayamón. With the Vaqueros, he won 9 national championships, 1967, 1969, five in a row from 1971 to 1975, one in 1981 and one in 1988, the year that the team inaugurated his actual venue, that carries his name, the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum. He also garnered the MVP award in 1979, and, once the three point shot was established for the first time in the Puerto Rican tournament during the 1980 season, he started making shots from behind the three point line too.

Team's History

 The Vaqueros de Bayamon team was founded in 1930 on what was formerly known as the Baloncesto Nacional (now Baloncesto Superior Nacional BSN) league, an amateur league. The team’s original name was ‘‘Bayamon‘’. The Bayamon team won their firsts Championships in the league in the years 1933 and 1935 Becoming the second team two win two titles in the league, they were guided by the Professional Head Coach Onofre Carballeira. During the following decade (the 40's) the team was inactive due to the WWII. In 1954 the team was competing in the BSN League again, but this time the team would be known as the Azules de Bayamón (lit. "Bayamon Blues") in Spanish. The Blues couldn't win a title in the League.

The Following season the team was renamed to The Vaqueros de Bayamon. This new name was given by the team sponsor Espasas Dairy Company as a reference to their business. It wasn't until 1967 that the team could reach to the Finals against the Ponce team, on which the Vaqueros won the series and their Third Championship (first within 34 years). The team was starting to gain fame of a competitive rival in the League. In less than two years the team could repeat its success when they reached to the finals and conquered another Title in 1969. The success of the team was about to reach it’s climax in the 70’s. The Vaqueros won five more consecutive Championships in the league from 1971-1975. They became the top team in the league. During their golden age (70’s) the team was guided by coaches like: Roy Rubbins, Art Loche, Lou Rossini, Fufi Santori, Tom Nissalke and Del Harris. But the key to their success was the outstanding team which was similar to the Puerto Rico National Selection team. At the 80’s a new rivalry was taking place in the BSN this time the Vaqueros had to battle their championship against the Guaynabo Team. The Vaqueros de Bayamon won the series against Guaynabo in 1981 giving them their Championship. Another important achievement for the team was their fanatics which were counted in many thousands by the 80’s and 90’s. In 1988 guided by Robert Corn the team reached the finals against the Canovanas team and once again won a championship. In the 90’s the team had an average decade with two more championships in 1995 and 1996 Both against the Ponce Lions. These two more titles with Flor Melendez as Head Coach. By the late 90's the team was about to face one of its worst decades since the 50's, From 1999-2008 the team could hardly make it into the semi- finals (except in 2005 when they reached the finals and lost the title against the Capitanes de Arecibo in four games), as a consequence the franchise's quality and prestige as well as the fanbase began to decrease. However most of the fanbase remained throughout the years. In 2009 the franchise won their last championship, making it 14 and creating a tie with The San German Athletics for most titles in the BSN LEAGUE, and as a consequence their prestige and quality was pushing the team once again. Nowadays the team still is considered among the best teams in the division.

Current Roster (2010 season)

Traditions

Uniforms

The Vaqueros have two different uniforms: a white home uniform, and blue road uniform. The design of the white and blue sets are nearly identical, with the team name featured on the front over the number, and the player's last name over the number on the back and under the vaqueros' logo. The shorts have golden stripes on the sides of the pants and shirts in both designs.

Arena

Inaugurated in 1988 The Rubén Rodriguez Coliseum is the hosting arena for the team's local games. it was the named after the former team player. This coliseum is the third largest indoor sports arena in Puerto Rico. It can accommodate up to 13,000 spectators, though it is known that this arena was able to fit nearly 16,000 on the team's finals. The seating of the coliseum divides in three sections:

• Box area (Palco) (Blue section)
• Middle area (Preferencia) (Yellow)
• General area (Orange)

Originally (by the 1980s and early 90's) the hosting arena for the Cowboys was the Pepín Cestero Arena, also located in Bayamon.

Logo

The iconic team logo is a Basketball with an old fashioned blue hat with a star in the front. Under the design the font letters spell VAQUEROS . The logo was designed and adopted in 2009. (see infobox above)

Fanbase

The Vaqueros have always kept a large fandom, however within most of the last decade (from 2000–2008) it decreased due to the lack of success or championships. In the 90's the fanbase of the Vaqueros reached over 12,000 fans. In the past season '09 the fandom increased at a high tendency, as the team conquered its 14 championship. The attendance to the final game was estimated over 14,000 fans from which over 11,000 were Cowboys fans. From 1988 to 2009 the team averaged just over 10,000 fans, which is still in the top of the BSN . The team has sold out every home final game since their golden seasons 1970's, Making it the largest BSN franchise according to many commentators.

Mascot

The team's official mascot for the current and past season is Pepe Plaza. Along with the cheerleaders (Vaqueras Dancers) Pepe is responsible for the entertainment of the spectators during the team's local games. The mascot prepares many stunts and tricks for the audience in the half time of the games, and cheers the crowds and sections of the arena in game time. The team mascot assists to some road games. Usually the remarkable ones such as finals and decisive games to cheer the visiting (Vaqueros) crowd.

Rivalries

Some important rivalries during the team's history include (the teams who have been confronted in at least two finals.)

• The Ponce Lions (late 60's and mid 90's)
• The Quebradillas Pirates (from the early 70's to the late 90's and again started in 2009 with a Dalmau joining Bayamon and both teams reaching the finals.)
• Río Piedras (1969 and 1971)
• Guaynabo Mets (early 80's)
• Capitanes de Arecibo (2005 and 2010)
• Vega Baja (former team/1933-1934)

Radio

The flagship station for the Vaqueros is WIAC, 740 AM. WIAC is the official flagship for the '09 season. The announcers are Ralph Pagán and Angel Pérez Moll. Transmissions are broadcast regionally through the local AM frequency and globally through the Internet. all games are broadcast live and games stats are provided in the transmission. Some other games are transmitted on WKAQ 580 (the official BSN flagship station for this season)

TV

The Vaqueros TV broadcasts are Transmitted by The league of BSN on live television, which broadcasts some of the games. Announcers are Ernesto Diaz, Diego Marti and Leonel Arill. The transmission airs all of the selected games nationwide. The games can be seen on América CV Network (Channel 24), Direct TV (Channel 161). These pre-selected broadcast are also re-transmitted to the USA throughout WAPA America channel. Games can Also be seen throughout the Internet in mediasportstv (online live) or at the official team's webpage.

Total Championships

What follows is a detailed list of every single Championship:

5: The Vaqueros have the record in the BSN for most consecutive championships: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.

2: The team won their last two consecutive championships in the years: 1995 and 1996.

Sub-championships

• The vaqueros have 7 sub-championships: 1930, 1934, 1970, 2001, 2002, 2005. and 2010

Team Records

• The Vaqueros have the record in victories in a season with 28-1 (1972). The only defeat was against the Cangrejeros de Santurce.

• Season Played - 67.

• Games Played and Victory Averages - 1643 / .611 .

• Games won in a season - 29 (1993) .

• Points in a game - Bayamón 143 v. Fajardo 121 (1978) .

• Victories and Defeats - 1004- 639.

• Consecutive Victories - 29 in two seasons.

• Greatest attendance to a game: 17,621 people on September 8, 1969.

• Post-seasons' classifications: 21 consecutive classifications to the Post-season.

• Defeats in a season: 23 (1992)

• Rebounds in a game: 29 (Lee Benson) 2008

External links

• vaquerosahi.com - Rancho Cibernético de los Vaqueros en el BSN. (Spanish)
• bsnpr.com - Official site of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). (Spanish)