Saturday, March 15, 2008 Pichay sees sunny season for Cesafi, comforts teams
BASKETBALL Association of the Philippines (BAP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay assured the three Cebu schools of an active season despite the pending sanction they will face from the Cebu Schools Athletic Federation Inc. (Cesafi) and the BAP-SBP.
Pichay promised the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, University of San Carlos Warriors and the Southwestern University Cobras of an active season if ever they will be suspended or barred from playing in the Cesafi.
“I got reassuring words from Pichay that these teams will not stay idle for the 2008 season. He will create a league for them that will give the players better playing exposure and experience,” BAP-7 regional director Lorenzo “Chao” Sy told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Sy called up Sun.Star Cebu to disclose Pichay’s intention after reading online about the recent row of UV, USC and SWU with the BAP-SBP.
“According to him, there will be a pocket tournament by June—the Pichay Cup Inter-Collegiate competition and this will be followed by the Asian University Basketball Championships (AUBC), and he also mentioned about a tournament that will have a home-and-away format,” said Sy.
UV, USC and SWU were barred by BAP-SBP to join the 2008 National Student Basketball Championship (NSBC) here last month but decided to play for Cebu basketball.
UV president Eduardo Gullas called for a press conference to defend his action to allow the Lancers to play in the tournament, which has become the leverage of the other schools to participate.
Pichay is currently in Las Vegas, USA to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez rematch and will be coming to Cebu to formally announce his plans following his US trip.
“What was supposedly done for basketball was being flattened by the other group. We should have been united, but it’s typical for us Filipinos to have a crab mentality. That’s why we understand how this people work,” concluded Sy. RCM
