Board to sanction 2 governors?

The PBA board of governors convenes today primarily to talk about the league’s budget for the season but may also call the attention of two members for their scathing remarks on the board’s decision to grant the NBN/IBC consortium the league’s broadcast rights.

A Star source said Alaska’s Wilfred Steven Uytengsu and Talk N Text’s Ricky Vargas will be reminded of the league’s code of ethics, prohibiting board governors and their alternates from discussing with the media issues tackled within the board.

The same source didn’t discount the possibility of a board member making a motion to sanction the Alaska and the Talk N Text governors if the two would continue to question decisions reached by the board.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala has heard reports some board members intend to sanction Uytengsu and Vargas but said he has yet to receive a formal communication on the issue.

Personally, Eala doesn’t "see concrete evidence "the two governors had "malicious intention to undermine the board."

Uytengsu and Vargas scored the board decision sealing the deal between the PBA and the NBN/IBC consortium for the PBA broadcast rights two weeks ago, saying the TV rights bidder should have been declared in default for its failure to deliver requirements the board wanted on time.

Vargas even called the board "wimps" for bending several times to NBN/IBC. He said: "The board would look like wimps. We went backward so many times, parang kami pa ang nakikiusap sa kanila."

Uytengsu said the bid of NBN/IBC should have been thrown out and batted for the league to start producing its own coverage.

If ever, Uytengsu and Vargas would be the first governors sanctioned by the board since Tanduay’s Bong Tan was fined heavily two years ago for branding the PBA "a San Miguel league." RFM Corp. top honcho Joey Concepcion also drew a fine in the early 90s for hitting a board decision.

Meanwhile, Purefoods, like Barangay Ginebra Saturday, made good impression for the coming 2003 season yesterday as it walloped FedEx, 92-79, in an exhibition game at the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina.

The Hotdogs actually took some time to get their game going but when they finally did, there’s no stopping the team from scoring the rout.

The PBA will next visit La Salle and Far Eastern University Friday. Alaska and Talk N Text collide at 12:30 p.m. at the La Salle-Taft gym while Sta. Lucia and Purefoods clash at 2 p.m. at the FEU gym.