Limpag: Hoping for a f’ball solution to b’ball issue

YOU should never lose your cool in sport as losing your mind, or temper, is going to be a costly affair for yourself or your team. One player is going to learn that after letting loose a punch in a basketball final, setting the pace for a series of unfortunate events that would end up--hopefully-- with him facing charges in court.

It all started when my friend Jonas Panerio stopped a transition play with a foul. We’ve all seen such a foul, right? Hoping to stop a breakaway, a player fouls the other guy, to give his teammates a chance to catch up.

The guy didn’t see the memo and greeted Jonas with a powerful punch that not only stopped the game, but merited a series of scans and a check-up for concussion for Jonas.

Not cool. Definitely, not cool.

What makes it worse is that the guy wasn’t even involved in the play and came from the bench. Jonas never saw the cowardly punch.

I learned of the incident when Jonas posted about it on Facebook and that’s when I encouraged him to sue the hot-headed Manny Pacquiao wannabe. (If he wants to challenge a sportswriter to a boxing or MMA match, I can name at least two guys he can choose). Teach him and all players who want to be him a lesson.

A really expensive lesson.

A basketball final may be a big deal for you or for your team, but it’s just a freakin’ game; it’s not the NBA finals where millions are at stake. And even in the NBA finals, those hard fouls don’t merit a punch.

Teach him a lesson. Show that bad boys aren’t welcome in the game. I hope, too, that the tournament organizers would act. Heck, since they all saw it, they don’t have to wait for a complaint.

This is where football holds the upper hand over basketball in Cebu. In football, there’s one sanctioning body in Cebu and all games are held under the auspices of the Cebu Football Association, be it a Sunday league or an inter-school contest. Which means, if you show unsportsmanlike conduct like punching someone in one tournament, you’d get a Cebu-wide ban, which could even be implemented nationwide if the CFA thinks it’s merited.

The guy who punched Jonas may be banned in that tournament but will go scot-free in another. That’s because there’s no unified body for basketball in Cebu that oversees all matches.

So, the best course for Jonas to take is a legal one. Jonas has insurance, thanks to a day job, but this punching incident isn’t covered, so he had to shell out thousands for medical procedures.

Let the guy pay double.

Show to the basketball community there’s no room for conduct like this.

(mikelimpag@gmail.com)

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