Italian sport Mourns Cesare Rubini

MILAN, 8 February 2011 – Cesare Rubini died last night in Milan. He was 87-years-old. Every sport has people who made its history. Then there are very few men like thePrince without whom we’d be living in a very different existence: had he not existed, Italian basketball would be very different today. We would not have enjoyed all those years of Borletti and Simmenthal Milan, during which Rubini, with his inventions, his visions, and his courage, created modern basketball, even his appearance, his way of communicating, and his willingness to overcome obstacles all contributed in the journey of a sport which used to be played outside and that now is watched by packed out establishments. 

from London to Helsinki — And when the Prince gave his commands, in Milan or as the national team coordinator, they were real commands, with no hidden message or half words. He was a force of nature born and bred in Trieste during the war; and it was then that he developed his passion for water polo, which led him all the way to Olympic Gold in the 1948 London Games, and a Bronze four years later in Helsinki. By that stage he was already dividing his time between water polo and basketball and it was fate that made him meet Adolfo Bogoncelli, who following the war, created and financed a team of ‘exiled’ Trieste-men: and it was from their two minds that Olimpia was born, which once joined with Dopolavoro Borletti, began a domination of the Italian championship that lasted almost 20 years, and that upheld a very specific technical objective: win with style. First as a player-coach, tough, hard; then as a coach, the Prince won 15 Italian titles and the first European Cup for any Italian team.

hall of fame — LHe left the coaching job at Olimpia towards the end of the 1970s, and began running the National team coached by his student Sandro Gamba; together they reached the Silver medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, as well as a Gold at the European Championships in Nantes 1983, a Silver in Rome 1991 and a Bronze in Stuttgart 1985. Feared and respected, he was always one step ahead of the rest, always very aware of the commercial aspect of the sport, and its growth as time went by. He was the first Italian to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield and the only person to receive the same honour for water polo.

He was a giant whose prestige went beyond the boundaries of Italy, and the symbol of his nation as it marvellously came out the other side of the war full of determination, ideas and enthusiasm. In his later years, the Prince showed a more vulnerable side, easily moved and more approachable. We like to remember him like that too. His physique was monstrous and he still seemed a rock even when the first problems began to get the better of him, slowly reducing his public exposure and leading him into a very reserved lifestyle. His last real public appearance was forGazzetta in 2006, when Olimpia Milano celebrated its 70 years. From last night the Prince is no longer with us due to complications with his bronchopneumonia. There are no adjectives suitable. The greatest? He was much more.