Cool Cat or Cool Cash?

Was Mike Cortez bribed during the recent UAAP finals?

The answer, according to the shifty La Salle quarterback himself, is a big NO.

In fact, the high-flying Fil-American yesterday said he is willing to undergo a lie detector test just to end the nasty rumors being circulated through the internet that he received a staggering P2 million offer just to ensure an Ateneo victory in the deciding Game 3 of the blockbuster title showdown last Oct. 5 at the Araneta Coliseum.

"Did I sell the game? I’d like to deny that," Cortez, probably the hottest amateur cager in the country today, told The STAR in reaction to an internet article that came out the other day accusing him of deliberately losing the winner-take-all match and denying La Salle a record fifth straight crown under coach Franz Pumaren.

"They can even put me under a lie detector test. That’s how confident I am that I didn’t sell that game. Just to prove that I didn’t," he added.

"Probably it (article) was meant to break up the La Sallian community. They must have their own reasons. Or maybe they were the ones who placed the bets and lost big."

According to the article, allegedly written by a disgruntled La Sallian, Cortez was "paid off" to lose the game and that a group operating the gambling cartel out of Chinatown was behind it. It was also written that another Green Archer, a bald Fil-American, was given the same offer.

La Salle team manager Terry Capistrano, the article added, confirmed that there was veracity in the rumors that the gambling operators amassed so many bets for La Salle that they could not cover the cost if La Salle won. Therefore, they had to insure an Ateneo victory and, from 1-4 down in the betting odds, the Blue Eagles suddenly went plus five on the day of the battle. In the final call, those placing their bets for La Salle would get five times the amount if the Green Archers won.

Ateneo won the game, 77-70, to win the series, 2-1, and end a 14-year title drought.

The article, titled Mike "The Cool Cash" Cortez, further added that during the Oct. 5 encounter, the 6-foot-1 cager didn’t play at all near the ability that he is capable of and that the simple lay-ups, jump shots and passes he used to make were nowhere to be found. La Sallians, the author added, simply couldn’t take the "malas-lang-si-Mike" theory for the loss.

Pumaren, normally cool and collected, reportedly was so alarmed that he could be seen shouting at Cortez during the game, and that Ren Ren Ritualo, a former Green Archer, was said to have noticed that the game was being thrown away as early as the second quarter.

Cortez finished the game with 13 points, quite below average, and later on reportedly asked the coaching staff and team officials to be given one more chance next year to redeem himself. But the article said Cortez was rebuked and that La Salle officials are even thinking of cutting him from the La Salle-ICTSI team in the Philippine Basketball League. He denied this, too.

Cortez yesterday confirmed, though, that it’s quite unlikely that he’ll suit up for La Salle next year despite the fact that he still has one playing year left with the UAAP, and that he might just join the 2003 Philippine Basketball Association draft.

"I’m really thinking about it... you know," said the gifted cager, sounding more like Mike "The Cool Cat" Cortez we all know.