THE first step in rectifying a mistake is to well, admit you made a mistake. Fat chance of that happening after Steve Ursal said the punch on Kenneth Brillo was the result of him slipping during the battle for the rebound.
That’s what the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) forward said, breaking a few days of silence which he said he spent vacationing at home. (Must be nice to be able to go home mid-semester.)
If ever the league starts handing out rewards for creative reasoning, we have a runaway winner. This is like saying, “I didn’t punch him, the darn fool head-butted my hand, which coincidentally enough, happened to be in a closed fist at that very moment.”
I don’t know which world Ursal comes from but in the normal world, when one slips, swinging inwards is not the normal reaction. Normal people swing their arms outwards, to regain balance or to cushion the fall.
In Ursal’s world, apparently, a person channels his inner Manny Pacquiao when he slips.
Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy is expected to make his investigation on the incident today and it will be up to him whether he will increase the penalty on Ursal. If I were the commish, I’d add another game suspension for his denial.
Let’s call a spade, a spade, shall we? It was a sneaky punch and Ursal should thank his lucky stars that the report commissioner Tiukinhoy will be reading today won’t have an attached medical report that will mention stitches.
While Brillo had his eyes on the ball, Ursal swung and puched him, aiming for the general area of the head. Ursal is lucky that his bad aim only resulted to Brillo dishing out his pugilistic response. What do you think would have happened had Ursal hit just an inch or two higher? What do you think would have happened if that swing landed on Brillo’s eyes?
With two seconds left in a game that they’ve clearly lost. There’s obvious malice involved. He wanted to hit someone and wanted to get away with it.
Slip my ass.
The best reaction to an unfortunate incident is the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, who got involved in one of Cebu’s ugliest brawl that even got into international news. What did the school admin do? They used it as a teachable moment and since then, Magis Eagles’ on-court and off-court behavior has been near impeccable.
It’s not too late for Ursal. We all do stupid things when we are young. But I hope officials from the USPF--and all the other members--will use that incident as a teachable moment.
There is no room for violence in the league. It won’t matter if there will be a dedicated camera for each player on court once a player thinks he can get away with punching someone, he’ll punch someone.
That thought should never get into a player’s head. No matter the intensity of the game or the perceived unfairness of the calls. Drill that into the athletes heads.
I hope Ursal, or anyone else for that matter, doesn’t make the same mistake again. It’s not too late to change the mindset.