Probably, PBA commissioner Noli Eala is missing the point on that farce of a finish between the Talk n Text Phone Pals and the Red Bull Barako. Instead of threatening those who were responsible for the caper with heavy fines, he should give them commendation and a pat on the back.
This troubled league simply needs a comic relief.
And what a relief it was.
Beset with a slew of problems — from the controversial drug tests, to the squad of Fil-Shams the Senate would love to bundle out and deport, to a disastrous Invitational where team personnel seem to outnumber the fans — these court jesters are what the league needs at the moment.
Instead of blowing his top, Eala should be blowing kisses to the direction of the TnT bench.
For in that brief moment, in those closing seconds of the contest when Asi Taulava and his Gang started shooting on the Red Bull’s goal, they brought back the very essence of this league, the very reason for its being.
That it exists for fun and entertainment, for giving the fans the highest level of appreciation of the game we all love.
Forget the deportation proceedings, the legalese that went with the Senate inquiry, the complexities of drug tests that had those guilty invoking constitutional and human rights. The megabuck deals, the disputed contracts. The league as big business.
And simply play for the sake of playing, play the kind of basketball the fans treasure so much.
What a comic relief.
The Phone Pals and the Thunder were going at each other with hammer and tongs three-fourths of the way with a semis berth on the line. But when the Talk n Text cause — to win by eight points — seemed irretrievably lost, the Phone Pals did what to them seemed to be the most logical and sane thing to do — try to force an overtime.
Except the good commissioner and the good senator — the Big J — saw the insanity of it all. And they call for sanction. — Lito A. Tacujan