SMB, my favorite PBA team is currently in the lead in team standing with a 10-2 card but I am getting ahead of the story. Two weeks ago, they came to town to suffer its first loss in the conference
It was my first time inside the Tacloban Convention Center, more popularly known as the Astrodome. I must say it is architecturally egalitarian. The view from the ringside is almost the same from the box. A proletariat spectator like me can very well see who’s committing a 3-second violation or who’s taking two steps too many as the basketball aficionado in the ringside, all gung-ho to pay more than 250 bucks. Suya lang.
Dantoy and I went early because I am never late when it comes to these things. I can be late at my own wedding but not for a concert or a game. Minutes later, in his exceptionally unassuming way, Freddie Abuda who’s now an integral key to SMB’s coaching staff walked by. Ushers and kibitzers were clogging the aisle but he didn’t seem to mind being delayed. My well-placed veneration of this man made me want to scream without demur a few expletives to make way. Show some respect.
It evoked of a court scene in “To Kill a Mockingbird” when Atticus Finch was marching out from the courthouse and everyone was prompted to stand up. Abuda is no Atticus. The PBA is not exactly an arena where social cleavage is deliberated, precisely because there is no one doing an Atticus Finch.
On a different note, I would like to think that SMB is in the process of rebuilding. In the “new” squad, one player I find likeable is Dondon Hontiveros. Well, he’s not really one of the new guys. You could say he came at the time of the transition.
Dondon, by what I witnessed, is a player who embraces his gift with a lot of gratitude. He’s one of the first to get to the court from the dugout; practices his shots seriously; does the team’s drills with gusto. His eyes reflect the desire to win and he’s competitive without necessarily being individualistic. He hugs his teammates who argue with referees and gives pep-talks. This is hardly captured on TV so I am grateful for the chance of seeing that side of him. He will make a good team captain but he needs to improve on his turnovers.
The one I liked from the old squad is Danny Ildefonso but today, he didn’t make a good impression. Getting his first basket, he was motioning to the referee that he was fouled. This delayed him from going back to the other court, leaving one opponent unguarded. Then when he was slapped with his 2nd foul, he was complaining again about that uncalled foul. Show some dignity and learn to let go.
I am envious of people who are good at complaining because I am a push-over. More than envy, my issue with players who love to complain is their seeming lack of understanding of the bigger picture.
You cannot win with a referee unless you’re courting a technical foul or an ejection. The referee is the last person one wages a psy-war with. Right or wrong, he’ not going to reverse his call. You can’t bully him to blow his whistle to your favor. If you truly think that a particular game is poorly officiated, file a protest later, demand for a review. But during a game, complaining about bad calls will just destroy your concentration and hurt your team’s chances.
The biggest mistake a player could make is giving power to the referee. These referees will take the slightest excuse to power-trip and once it’s obvious that they’ve gotten under your skin, you’re dead meat. Besides, you’d still see so much of them, what’s the point in inviting their derision?
If I were a professional player, I would make these referees my drinking buddies, my partners at card games. I will memorize their shoe sizes as well as their birthdays and their spouses’ birthdays. I will send them Christmas presents. What is there to lose?
At the end of the day, the players get the astronomical contract while the referees receive workman’s wages. Not really, but the disparity. A player like Ildefonso must know that he is way above and this should manifest in his behavior on court. Am I asking too much when I want the players on my team to have the killer-instinct of a predator and the sensitivity of a philosopher?
As a fan, I also strive to rise above with dignity. Demonstrating sportsmanship, I congratulated the 2 kids to my right for an exciting game. I chatted with the people sitting behind me with their poorly hidden delight over my defeat. I am quite sure they were disdainfully laughing at my punk-ska dance everytime I had a cause for jubilation. Who wouldn’t? Everytime Dantoy and I stood up to loudly cheer, they got a good view of my sagging butt.
It was my first time inside the Tacloban Convention Center, more popularly known as the Astrodome. I must say it is architecturally egalitarian. The view from the ringside is almost the same from the box. A proletariat spectator like me can very well see who’s committing a 3-second violation or who’s taking two steps too many as the basketball aficionado in the ringside, all gung-ho to pay more than 250 bucks. Suya lang.
Dantoy and I went early because I am never late when it comes to these things. I can be late at my own wedding but not for a concert or a game. Minutes later, in his exceptionally unassuming way, Freddie Abuda who’s now an integral key to SMB’s coaching staff walked by. Ushers and kibitzers were clogging the aisle but he didn’t seem to mind being delayed. My well-placed veneration of this man made me want to scream without demur a few expletives to make way. Show some respect.
It evoked of a court scene in “To Kill a Mockingbird” when Atticus Finch was marching out from the courthouse and everyone was prompted to stand up. Abuda is no Atticus. The PBA is not exactly an arena where social cleavage is deliberated, precisely because there is no one doing an Atticus Finch.
On a different note, I would like to think that SMB is in the process of rebuilding. In the “new” squad, one player I find likeable is Dondon Hontiveros. Well, he’s not really one of the new guys. You could say he came at the time of the transition.
Dondon, by what I witnessed, is a player who embraces his gift with a lot of gratitude. He’s one of the first to get to the court from the dugout; practices his shots seriously; does the team’s drills with gusto. His eyes reflect the desire to win and he’s competitive without necessarily being individualistic. He hugs his teammates who argue with referees and gives pep-talks. This is hardly captured on TV so I am grateful for the chance of seeing that side of him. He will make a good team captain but he needs to improve on his turnovers.
The one I liked from the old squad is Danny Ildefonso but today, he didn’t make a good impression. Getting his first basket, he was motioning to the referee that he was fouled. This delayed him from going back to the other court, leaving one opponent unguarded. Then when he was slapped with his 2nd foul, he was complaining again about that uncalled foul. Show some dignity and learn to let go.
I am envious of people who are good at complaining because I am a push-over. More than envy, my issue with players who love to complain is their seeming lack of understanding of the bigger picture.
You cannot win with a referee unless you’re courting a technical foul or an ejection. The referee is the last person one wages a psy-war with. Right or wrong, he’ not going to reverse his call. You can’t bully him to blow his whistle to your favor. If you truly think that a particular game is poorly officiated, file a protest later, demand for a review. But during a game, complaining about bad calls will just destroy your concentration and hurt your team’s chances.
The biggest mistake a player could make is giving power to the referee. These referees will take the slightest excuse to power-trip and once it’s obvious that they’ve gotten under your skin, you’re dead meat. Besides, you’d still see so much of them, what’s the point in inviting their derision?
If I were a professional player, I would make these referees my drinking buddies, my partners at card games. I will memorize their shoe sizes as well as their birthdays and their spouses’ birthdays. I will send them Christmas presents. What is there to lose?
At the end of the day, the players get the astronomical contract while the referees receive workman’s wages. Not really, but the disparity. A player like Ildefonso must know that he is way above and this should manifest in his behavior on court. Am I asking too much when I want the players on my team to have the killer-instinct of a predator and the sensitivity of a philosopher?
As a fan, I also strive to rise above with dignity. Demonstrating sportsmanship, I congratulated the 2 kids to my right for an exciting game. I chatted with the people sitting behind me with their poorly hidden delight over my defeat. I am quite sure they were disdainfully laughing at my punk-ska dance everytime I had a cause for jubilation. Who wouldn’t? Everytime Dantoy and I stood up to loudly cheer, they got a good view of my sagging butt.
2 comments:
what a sad story, your team having to lose at the time you were watching it live for the first time in "THE ASTRODOME." My sympathy truly.
C H A R I N G ! ! !
That was melodramatic ha ha ha ha. I was laughing even harder bout the sagging butt! I could just imagine you and Dantoy cheering your hearts out everytime SMB make a basket and humping it up!
Nwayz, its been eons since i stopped watching basketball games. I no longer knew most of the players. My sedated memory of which were left with dela cruz, samboy, caidic and the rest of their contemporaries (wow 80s pa un ah). As what i got from your quite awesome story, nothing's changed. Its always those who got older who gets to complain a lot. The ball game is still good-guys-bad-guys. The younger ones are the good guys of course (sabihin pa ng referee "ang bata2 mo pa maangal ka na?!"). You can hardly see "aged" players in PBA who doesn't complain (baka sakaling makalusot ba). Anyway in the end, they would all just be laughing about it and think about it as only an integral part of the game. Wala namang thrill kasi yun sa mga viewers kung walang ganun, di ba? Pangpabenta ba! Well, that's what i think. As i've told you, i stopped watching it long long ago. Nevertheless, i still watch basketball games in the province everytime im there (though i dont make punk-ska dances everytime the team i cheer on get to score ha ha ha ha).
(Brando)
Brando!!You are my 1st bisita diri, cheers! bottoms up!
Dili man sad ingon kapait nga kapildihan. Actually SMB blew its big lead. mao man na ilang sakit, dako ang labaw tapos maapsan sa kalabaw, hehe.
But it was a great game which is more important. Ug ang sapyot nga lubot nga nag-iwad iwad.
Bisita diri kanunay, ha.
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