TAB Baldwin, a multi-titled basketball coach but who couldn't mentor himself to behave, has been fired as assistant coach of TNT KaTropa.
Obviously, it was the offshoot of the Kiwi-American's commission of four crimes against Philippine basketball in his podcast misadventure some two weeks ago.
Baldwin had two rants against the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), one against Filipino coaches and one against the Fiba (World Basketball Federation).
How could one as supposedly intelligent as Baldwin do such dastardly acts? Even Einstein might not hazard a guess.
If only for the record, Baldwin called our basketball coaches "tactically immature." Hey, does steering Ateneo to three straight UAAP crowns give him the right to belittle, insult, our own?
Tim Cone, despite being the winningest coach in Philippine basketball and the only two-time PBA Slam champion, has been so humble all this time. And he is an American.
Norman Black, who piloted Ateneo to five straight UAAP titles against Baldwin's three, and who gave San Miguel Beer one PBA Slam, has behaved through the years. And he is an American.
Baldwin accused PBA referees of favoring imports over locals on fouls and criticized the league's one-import policy as well. Immediately, he was slapped a P75,000 fine and a three-game suspension.
He also called "criminal" Fiba's rule on citizenship for players wanting to join the national team.
Isn't his boss, tycoon MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan), a member of the Fiba central committee?
How stupid can one get, indeed.
If MVP is still hurting, I'm sure my tocayo Al Panlilio is also twisting in the wind himself. As Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president, Al's relations with Fiba could be in jeopardy as Baldwin also happens to be the project director of SBP's Gilas Pilipinas program.
Hey, tocayo Al, does Baldwin deserve to stay a minute longer in his Gilas post?
And doesn't MVP, Ateneo's chief financial backer, know the difference between a swellhead and a sheep in wolf's clothing?
If Baldwin, 62, hasn't dug his own grave yet, he must be friends with Houdini.