DURING a gathering of sportswriters almost a decade ago, the talk eventually went to the PBA finals.
“Pila pusta, mu-abot ni’g Game 7,” said Calvin Cordova, then Cebu Daily News’ resident heartthrob of the backpages. He pointed out how the previous two, or was it three, finals went to a Game 7. Nobody refuted him because it was also what everyone thought.
Curiously, I think a couple more finals went to a Game 7 fueling more talk, not just from inebriated sportswriters, that the league loves to stretch the finals to earn more money.
That’s a favorite topic come finals. Another favorite topic? The San Miguel family or “Sagip Kapamilya” as it has been referred to in its latest iteration.
I first learned of the latest episode from a post by Calvin, who pointed out that the San Miguel Beermen badly needed a win and voila, the dice came out six and San Miguel did win. This is just the latest where the best-case scenario for a member of the San Miguel family happens because they’re playing a fellow member of the family.
If this were tennis, the tennis integrity unit would be combing all over the game tape. But since this is the PBA, they’ll just file the tape under “Monday.”
Cue in the next scenario or next Calvin Abueva issue.
Of course, this is not to say that it’s highly implausible for San Miguel to have beaten its sister team Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 81-66. But the discontent was so high Tim Cone had to explain why he rested some starters. But after reading his explanation, I could feel a lot of eyes rolling.
But then again this curious scenario wasn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last because of the unique setup of the PBA. In other sports in other countries, this could have been a scandal, one that results in a heavy financial toll.
But it’s the PBA, it’s only Monday. It may earn the league some vicious comments online—yey, engagement!—but it won’t hurt them financially. And like in politics, Pinoys’ memories or opinion in sports are changed after the latest memes. So expect no avalanche of condemnation that leads to action.
I doubt if the PBA will still be talking about this next week, but fans surely will. I suspect this will be a favorite topic for some when they down their San Miguels in family gatherings. All in the family.