In Defense of the NCAA

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