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| Photo by Angelo Falcon/ Rivals PH |
By now, I guess you already read and watched the bench clearing
brawl that has happened in the NCAA last Monday.
NCAA commissioner Bai Cristobal has already laid down the law,
suspending 17 players and indefinitely relieving the three referees officiating
the game.
I think we can all agree that the free-for-all was such an
unfortunate incident, more that it has happened to a league like the NCAA.
But what prompted me to write about this are the uncalled for
comments hurled in social media.
One comment which irked me reads: "Buhay pa pala yung
NCAA. SMH."
Go ahead, shake you head. Ginusto
mo yan eh.
Yes, the NCAA has really suffered a dip when it comes to media
mileage. Even before when they were still with Studio 23, NCAA games were shown
on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to give way to the playdates of the UAAP.
That didn't help the connotation that the NCAA is a second-tier league compared
to the UAAP.
There's a reason why MVP supports Ateneo more vocally than he does
San Beda. There's a reason why La Salle is in the UAAP and St. Benilde is in
the NCAA. And there's a reason why scalpers enjoy an Ateneo-La Salle rivalry
game than a San Beda-Letran rivalry game.
We can never shape the public's minds enough when it comes to
which league is better. It has already been judged.
But remember, the NCAA is where we got Calvin Abueva, Ian
Sangalang, RJ Jazul, Raymond Almazan, and, in a stretch, Jayson Castro. It is
where rookies Kevin Alas, Ronald Pascual, Harold Arboleda, and Juneric Baloria
came from. And in the near future, this is where Baser Amer and Earl Scottie
Thompson will look back at.
Yes, people might say that the NCAA is an inferior league compared
to the UAAP, but there is no doubt that the current crop of guys can match
pound-for-pound with their UAAP counterparts. It just so happens that you watch more UAAP games on TV.
We, the sports media, also agree that the level of physicality in
the NCAA has better equipped the players when they take their talents to the
D-League (That's right, the league your Daniel Padilla was supposed to join),
and even in the PBA, while the UAAP has been more of a glamour league as of
late.
I'm not a kissing a**es when I said that. This is coming from a
writer who has covered both leagues this season. I cannot compare how it was in
the past years, but I can talk about what I see when I cover the games.
All I know is that when an NCAA game is already on a halftime
break, the UAAP game is just wrapping up its first quarter. You wonder why? Whistles.
The NCAA games have also been more competitive this year, and when
you have Mapua, a cellar-dwelling team this season, beating Perpetual, a Final
Four contender, you really know that every team, how weak they might seem to
be, are really fighting for every game.
Did that make it to the nightly newscast? I doubt.
We can make an argument that the eliminated teams in the UAAP also
fought tooth-and-nail in their games, and we're not discounting that. It is
just that in the NCAA, "weaker" teams grab those wins and have
obviously created crazy situations in the standings.
Did the Adamson win over UP, the Falcons' first victory of the
season, make it to the news? I don't think so.
But UP's first round win did. But the Ateneo-La Salle encounters
did.
See how the mainstream media primes the viewers' minds?
Which brings us to our next point. Another comment said, "Minsan
na lang mababalita, ganto pa yung nangyayari. Way to build up your name, NCAA."
When was the last time the nightly news talked about FEU winning
over UE? Or when Arellano won over JRU?
But when Renaldo Balkman choked Arwind Santos, that made the
headlines, right?
As much as we try to groom sports as good news, they just won't
pick it up. Of course, we can't force the networks to show clips about games,
games which not much people care about.
More if that is the NCAA, a league which has been perceived as a
lower class compared to that of the UAAP.
There's a reason why the former is holding the games at the San
Juan Arena and the latter is juggling venues from Araneta to MOA. Because not
much people pay attention to the NCAA, save if you're a student from one school
or you're just a diehard basketball aficionado.
Going back, we're not saying that we tolerate John Tayongtong and
the proponents of the EAC-Mapua scuffle. But you have to consider what these
players had to endure.
The Generals are currently dealing with an internal issue which
has gravely affected their season, which saw Igee King and their Cameroonian
reinforcement Cedric Happi Noube leave the squad. The players have also been
the collateral damage in this struggle, as reports say that the management has
not provided them with enough help throughout the course of their campaign.
You don't see that problems arising with the heavily sponsored
schools. But its a sad reality for these guys, and probably for other colleges,
too, which doesn't have much support for their basketball programs.
The Cardinals, also, are not that fortunate, as even before the
season started, their leader Josan Nimes went down with an injury. Thus, the
continuous defeats. But they have gotten to a roll as of late, which allowed
coach Atoy Co to eclipse their three-win total from last year.
We're not defending the Generals and the Cardinals for their
actions, we're just putting perspective to what both of these teams had to
endure before this fateful encounter.
Shifting back to the game, I was there to witness it first hand.
Considering it was a non-bearing game, things seemed to be heated
in the last minute, where the Generals are comfortably ahead. And when
Tayongtong bumped CJ Isit, and Leo Gabo saw his teammate fell to the floor, it
was a recipe for disaster. Gabo shoved Tayongtong and then, as they say, the
gloves are off.
The turn of events happened so fast that you cannot blame the
referees for not controlling the situation. Even the bouncers were caught
off-guard in what should have been the last 28.5 seconds of an already won game
for EAC.
I agree that the referees should have called a foul in that
Tayongtong shove which floored Isit. Even with the game out of reach and the
players just running down the clock, frustration will always be there, and with
one trigger, the riot ensued.
It is no different to those of barangay leagues, where tempers are
sure to flare whenever an arrogant dayo (outsider) taunts the crowd and ensues
a melee. We can't blame those on the bench for both squads if they want to stand
up, defend, and retaliate on their teammate's behalf.
But we're not saying that is tolerable, nonetheless, acceptable.
And the commissioner has dropped the axe.
It is what it is, and any league will not tolerate such
hooliganism.
It was an unfortunate turn of events for the oldest collegiate
league in the country, and as much bad rep it will bring to the league, NCAA
will always have physical players banging bodies and laying it all for the win.
We just hope that next time, emotional players should be kept in
check and the referees should handle the situation more carefully. Lessons learned.
As for those guys wondering if the NCAA still exists, don't you
worry.
#HindiPaTaposAngNCAA
