IT’S a week after the brawl and it’s still a topic of choice whenever fans gather, sportswriters included. While generally, some fans are forgiving of the four players on the court who were there when it happened, most aren’t so with those on the bench and Jong Uichico.
As I kept replaying the videos, one incident jumped out; Uichico was seen grabbing a chair and trying to hit the fallen Australian with it. There are no sanctions yet, so the former PBA coach can just hope Fiba will be lenient with him.
Another thing I would like to know is how Fiba would treat Jio Jalalon, who sneaked a powerful sucker punch on an Aussie player who was already being held. Jalalon isn’t part of Gilas and was just a fan. Would Fiba also suspend him from playing in the PBA like what they did with Keifer Ravena? However, Ravena’s offense--doping--occurred during a Fiba tournament, and though Jalalon’s misdeed also happened in a Fiba tournament, he wasn’t part of the team and he was basically just a fan.
Some who condone the violence blame the trash talk but we’ve all known that trash talk has long been part of basketball, so how come they were caught unaware?
I asked PBA legend Ramon Fernandez how he dealt with trash-talking imports before and he said, he remembered one import insulting his game, to which he simply replied, “If you’re so good, why are you playing here? You should be in the NBA, not here.”
That shut the import up.
He also recalled the time when they played in Puerto Rico and the team quickly became the crowd favorite because of their “gutsy play.”
Anway, whatever the sanctions are, I hope Gilas Pilipinas redeems itself in the Asian Games next month. We all remember what happened in the last Asian Games right? Fresh from the euphoria of the World Cup campaign, Gilas campaign ended on a wrong note with the team forced to shoot on their opponent’s ring.
That was one bizarre end.
I hope this year’s Asiad team won’t have to resort to that. We sure all need something good from Gilas Pilipinas, which used to be the lone element that unified our fractured nation but has itself become a source of divisiveness the past few days.
WORLD CUP.It’s now down to four in Russia—Belgium vs. France and Croatia vs. England in the semifinals, which will both be played at 2 a.m.
These are the usual favorites and though England has a long, rich history, some say the Three Lions got in by virtue of a weaker bracket.
Whatever. I’m just glad England is finally getting some bit of luck. There was that goal that wasn’t called in 2010, which led Fifa to finally use goal-line tech eight years later, and that shootout loss in 2006. I both saw those games and whenever I watched an England game this year, there was that little devil in my head saying, “They’ll end up disappointing you, as always.”
But so far, England hasn’t been disappointing and the other night’s 2-0 win against Sweden was the latest in a stellar run for the team that finally ended its string of losses through penalty shootouts.
See you in the semifinals!