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Thursday, March 04, 2004
Oyson: UV misses boat to nat’l. caging
By Manuel N. Oyson Jr.
Counter punch
THERE is no question about it. The National Inter-Collegiate and Inter-Secondary Basketball Championships have gone to the dogs. They have become a social gathering of non-illustrious basketball teams which pretend that they carry basketball on their shoulders. I do not know why the defunct Basketball Association of the Philippines allowed this anomaly.
Read this and weep. Can you imagine the national inter-collegiates without the
University of the Visayas Green Lancers of Cebu, the winningest collegiate ball club in the country? For the first time in eons, the Green Lancers are outside looking in at this year’s 58th caging in Lucena City. UV has missed the boat to the annual tournament. I thought wrongly that the BAP is already history.
STILL OUT. But look who’s running the show at the Quezon Convention Center? It’s the BAP of Quintellano Literal and Graham Lim. Nic Jorge’s court-recognized BAP Inc. is still out in the cold, grinding its thumbs when and where to come in. The situation has become muddled, with the recent announcement by POC president Celso Dayrit that the BAP is the only recognized cage body. Dislodging Literal and Company from their perch may not be easy.
But the inter-collegiate series without UV? It may have happened before three or four times when the BAP conducted the Region VII zonal cage eliminations under BAP regional directors Tacing Veloso and Juan Aquino Jr. Since the CAAA became the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. UV has won the league’s collegiate plum three times.
EXCUSES. But in this week’s tournament in Quezon Province, UV missed the boat for the first time. To hear it from BAP deputy sec-general Jun Lavadia and reported in this paper’s sister publication Superbalita, no eliminations were conducted in the Visayas. Elimnations, my eye! Was he born only yesterday? The Zone VII elims have been scrapped for about five years already.
The procedure was to inform the BAP the current Cesafi (CAAA) champions in high school and college. Another lame excuse given was that the 16 slots were already filled up when regional director George Bragat submitted UV’s name as the region’s representative. Bragat told this corner that there was no clear communication from the BAP Manila office. How could it communicate when an injunction was even issued by a Manila court to temporarily restrain the NCR eliminations?
FREE-FOR-ALL. It was like urong, sulong. The damage has been done. UV is out in the cold. It lost the opportunity to snatch its 12th national inter-collegiate title since 1957. Speaking of collegiate basketball power, have you heard of Philippine Maritime Institute, Lyceum of Batangas, City College of Tuguegarao, Southern City Colleges, University of Luzon, Urios College, University of Mindanao? Where are the traditional powers like UST, La Salle, Ateneo, UE, FEU? And UV? Gone are the days when the national students caging was a free-for-all affair. All comers were welcome then.
E-MAILS. I acknowledge the e-mails from Cerwin Eviota, John Pages, Albert Racaza, Elmer A. Dolera and Zenith News Agency. We will take them up next time I get back from Cagayan de Oro where I have been invited for the PAL Interclub tournament.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The recognition of the BAP by the POC remains therefore, for as long as the BAP is able to function legally and continue to govern sport within the bounds of the Olympic Charter.” – Celso Dayrit
(mno@sunstar.com.ph)
(March 4, 2004 issue)
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