Pratfall and rhubarb

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

BOXING, wrestling, karate, jujitsu, basketball, football, and baseball are some of the dirtiest sports that man invented. It is because these are “contact” games. And in case you don’t have any experience yet watching them live, I think you already have some negative observations of these sports on televisions, read it in the newspapers and even heard it on the radio.

These kind of sports are prone to controversies, especially when the referees, umpires, timers, judges, scorers and even organizers are not skilled enough, and particularly if the officials are partial to one player or team.

I guess that’s what happened during the second game of the semis between the Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) Dukes and the University of Luzon (UL) Golden Tigers. The many bum calls made by referees Dominic Pumar and Joel Bona from Baguio City caused rhubarb during and after the game.

I was there and saw that nail-gnawing match that went into overtime, wherein despite the gallant stand made by the Dukes in the second match of their best-of-three duel, the more experienced, multi-titled and reigning titlists Golden Tigers swept the series, 93-62 and 96-92.

Unlike their first encounter, which the Golden Tigers easily won, the second battle was a close match with both coaches frequently complaining to the referees, especially the Dukes’ side.

An outburst of rage and slight fisticuffs ensued during the third quarter because of a foul contact that caused the ejection of LNU’s player Cerdan.

With both pro and con spectators loudly cheering, jeering, and yelling, the audience could hardly hear the blow of the whistles by the referees.

In the last 18 seconds of the last period, what turned out to be the most contentious call was made by one of the refs. With LNU leading by two, 82-80, and the ball at the hands of the LNU, they had the big opportunity to seal their victory, but then one of their players, center Lionel Razon, was charged with an eight-second infraction.

The call prompted the Dukes’ mentors, led by assistant coach William Manaois, to strongly object the call, claiming that the ball was captured from his boys’ hands and controlled it, then recaptured the ball and so another eight-second period to stay at the enemies court should have been implemented.

But ref Pumar stood by his call, to the delight, of course, of the UL side, prompting cheers from the UL crowd and jeers from the LNU fans.

A jumper by guard Jonathan Panunciar, with three seconds remaining, tied the score to force an overtime period of five minutes.

UL finally triumphed, clinching the second slot for the finals.

They will face 2005 University of Pangasinan Webczars on October 1 for the first game of the best-of -three title showdowns to be held at Dagupan People’s Astrodome.

Another rumpus happened just after the match with referee Pumar getting a punch on the mouth.

But cooler heads prevailed in the end and league official Art Tangco said they will investigate the imbroglio and punish the culprits.

“In an important game like the semis, the league commissioner, Edil Abalos, should not have been absent from the game,” said Manaois.

“I believe if he was present, those technical problems would have been resolved handily and no untoward incident happened,” he added.

The annual prestigious league was tainted because of hard court whistle blowers who were not as skilled and competent than those employed in previous games.

In any semi-final or final game, my unsolicited advice is they should send class A referees, or at least three referees who will officiate. That will give them clearer visions and sharper minds.

That’s being done now in some cagefests like in my town Mangaldan and San Jacinto, to name a few.

Sometimes we have to make personal sacrifices for the success of the tournament.

We always have to anticipate that anything can happen in a match, especially when it is a high-stakes game between title-contenders who are fighting for pride and prestige.

I know this because I’m also an organizer and had already founded and directed 136 national, regional and provincial races, including Guam, since March 14, 1974.

And we should not be hypocrites because God doesn’t love that. We should also know how to accept our mistakes and the reality.

Amen.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/)

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