Vaqueros de Bayamón

For the baseball club, see Vaqueros de Bayamón (baseball).
Vaqueros de Bayamon
Leagues BSN
Founded 1930
Arena Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum
Arena Capacity 12,000
Location Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Team colors Marine blue, dark gold, white and yellow
                   
Head coach none
Ownership José Carlos Pérez
Championships 14 (1933, 1935, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2009)
Website www.vaquerosahi.com
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Vaqueros de Bayamón (English: Bayamón Cowboys) are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Bayamón, that competes in the National Superior Basketball (BSN) league. The Cowboys play their home games at Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum a venue shared with the LVSF's Bayamón Cowgirls. The Cowboys are one of the most successful teams in the history of the BSN league, and have won 14 league championships, their last being in 2009.

The franchise began in 1930 and still stands as one of the league's original clubs. Led by Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón established a BSN record for most consecutive championships with 5, from 1971 to 1975. After losing in the 2001, 2002 and 2005 BSN Finals, the Cowboys won their record fourteenth championship by defeating the Quebradillas Pirates for the 2009 title, their first in 13 years.

Among other records, the Cowboys hold the record for most games won in a BSN season, 29 of them, set during the 1993 season.

Rubén Rodríguez

Rubén Rodríguez played for the Vaqueros for 23 seasons, always wearing number 15. He debuted in the league in 1969 and scored 11,549 points and 6,178 rebounds in 631 games. He established various records in the league:

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.

Franchise history

(above) The Bayamon team's fourth championship (1967)

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 first championships in the league in 1933 and 1935. Becoming the second team to 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 WWII. By 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. Under that name, Bayamon did not win a title.

1974's team poster featuring the Vaqueros (Finals)

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 reached the Finals against the Ponce team, against whom the Vaqueros won the series and their third championship (first within 34 years). The team was starting to become known as a competitive one around the league. In less than two years the team would repeat its success when they reached the finals and conquered another title in 1969. The success of the team was about to reach its climax in the 1970s. The Vaqueros won five consecutive championships during the decade, from 1971 to 1975. They became the top team in the league. During their golden era (1970s) the team was guided by coaches Roy Rubbins, Art Loche, Lou Rossini, Fufi Santori, Tom Nissalke and Del Harris. During the 1980s a new rivalry was taking place in the BSN; this time the Vaqueros had to battle for supremacy against the Guaynabo Mets team, which was led by Mario Morales and Federico Lopez. The Vaqueros de Bayamon won the final series against Guaynabo in 1981 giving them another championship. Another achievement for the team was their fanatics which were counted in many thousands by the 1980s and 1990s. In 1988 guided by Robert Corn the team reached the finals against the Canovanas team and once again won a championship. In the 90s the team had an average decade with two more championships in 1995 and 1996 Both against the Ponce Lions. These titles came with Flor Melendez, who had coached the team to their 1981 championship, as head coach.

By the late 1990s the team was about to face one of its worst decades since the 50s. From 1999 to 2008, the team could hardly make it into the semifinals (except in 2005 when they reached the finals and lost for the title against the Capitanes de Arecibo in four games); as a consequence the franchise's quality and prestige as well as the fan base 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 league.

Nowadays the team still is considered among the best teams in the league.

Roster (2013 season)

Vaqueros de Bayamon roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt.
G/F 1 Puerto Rico Rodriguez, Erick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
F 4 Dominican Republic Western, Franklin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg)
G 7 United States Wingate, Jason 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 166 lb (75 kg)
G 11 Puerto Rico Dalmau, Christian (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg)
F/C 14 United States Valenzuela, Hector 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg)
F 18 Dominican Republic Sanchez, Angel M. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg)
F 22 Puerto Rico Soto, Josue 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
F 28 United States Mitchell, Marcus 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg)
F 30 Puerto Rico Peavy, Nathan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 228 lb (103 kg)
F 32 Puerto Rico Lee, Carmelo 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg)
F 45 United States Shannon, Terrence 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
G 34 Puerto Rico Barbosa, Raymond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg)
G 44 Puerto Rico Mojica, Javier 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Puerto Rico ?
Athletic trainer(s)
  • Puerto Rico ?
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 2010-12-10

(above) Starting players of the team (from left to right): Miguel Ali Berdiel Javier Mojica, James Maye, Gary Wilkinson, Robert Traylor

Roster (2015 season)

Number Name Height Hometown
0 Vinales, Kyle 6'1 Malvern, Pennsylvania
1 Pellot Rosa, Jesse 6'4 Richmond Virginia, USA
7 Berdiel, Miguel Ali 6'6 Ponce, Puerto Rico
2 Franklin, Alexander 6'5 Reading, Pennsylvania
10 Rivera, Jose 6'7 Bayamon, Puerto Rico
23 Abraham, Ryann 5'10 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
50 Penn, Kleon 7'0 Santurce, Puerto Rico

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:

Originally (by the 1980s and early 1990s) the home 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).

Fan base

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 1990s the fanbase of the Vaqueros reached over 12,000 fans. In the 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

Pepe Plaza team's 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.)

Radio

The flagship station for the Vaqueros is WIAC, 740 AM, 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 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.

Championships

What follows is a detailed list of every championship:

Championship flags displayed in the coliseum
Year Team Head coach Against
1933 Vaqueros de Bayamón ONOFRE CARBALLEIRA Atléticos de San Germán
1935 Vaqueros de Bayamón ONOFRE CARBALLEIRA Vega Baja
1967 Vaqueros de Bayamón ROY RUBBINS AND FUFI SANTORI Leones de Ponce
1969 Vaqueros de Bayamón ART LOCHE Río Piedras
1971 Vaqueros de Bayamón ART LOCHE Río Piedras
1972 Vaqueros de Bayamón TOM NISSALKE AND FUFI SANTORI Piratas de Quebradillas
1973 Vaqueros de Bayamón DEL HARRIS Piratas de Quebradillas
1974 Vaqueros de Bayamón DEL HARRIS San Juan
1975 Vaqueros de Bayamón DEL HARRIS Piratas de Quebradillas
1981 Vaqueros de Bayamón GENE BARTOW Mets de Guaynabo
1988 Vaqueros de Bayamón ROBERT CORN Canóvanas
1995 Vaqueros de Bayamón FLOR MELENDEZ Leones de Ponce
1996 Vaqueros de Bayamón FLOR MELENDEZ Leones de Ponce
2009 Vaqueros de Bayamón JULIO TORO Piratas de Quebradillas

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

Team records

References

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.