‘NAUNSA naman ning basketball nato diri? Halos kada dula na lang naay mahitabo.’
Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy told me the other day. It was just days after the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and the University of San Carlos (USC) incident when Steven Ursal said him slipping led to him punching Kenneth Brillo of USC. Me, I wish me slipping would lead to me punching the winning lottery number.
“Maybe P5,000 and four hours is too small for them? Maybe I should make it P10,000 and six hours?” the commish said, referring to the added penalty to a player who gets ejected for violent conduct.
“Maybe, sir. Maybe you need to increase it,” I said. “For basketball, because in football, it’s working.”
There was the case of a football hothead who got red-carded. And because his parents wouldn’t help in paying the fine (as any parents in their right mind should) his teammates were forced to sacrifice their meal allowance to come up with the P5,000. These same teammates were also quick to remind that hothead if he started to misbehave in a game again, “Wa na sad tay kaon ani?”
Aside from that, sir Felix also raised the point that the coaches play a huge part in all of this. I agree and I told him that whenever I watch a Cesafi basketball game, I get a culture shock.
The things coaches in basketball say and the things they can get away with are something.
Say something inappropriate in football like “birahi na!” and the ref will admonish you. Go beyond the technical area and the fourth official will admonish. Have more than two officials in the technical area and... well, you know the drift. I told the commish that Cebu football professionalizing coaching helped with this. With coaches required to have a license and such they learn to basically behave well.
It also helps a lot too that there’s one governing body for football in Cebu and a coach’s misconduct in one tournament means his stint in another tournament will be affected.
“Dili na pwede sa basket, Gilas Pilipinas ra ang ilang giasikaso.”
Ouch. That reminded me of a clip of our Gilas Pilipinas huddle, when he told the team he wanted to see someone get hurt. We all know what happened during that Australia-Philippines game.
Is it impossible? For coaches to learn how to instruct or motivate players without going through such rhetorics? Is it impossible? Or is it part and parcel of the basketball culture?
Do you need a P10,000 fine for that?
By the way, Sir Tiukinhoy reminded me that those who love to channel their inner Manny Pacquiaos will indeed pay a P10,000 fine for a second ejection.
But if that still doesn’t deter the players, maybe the starting point should be P10,000?
However, let’s keep that in basketball because the penalty system—especially the community service part—is working in football. Imagine, just one four-hour session watering the pitch at CCSC under the sun is enough to straighten any guy. I wonder what would be its equivalent in basketball.Cleaning the Cebu Coliseum for four hours?