Walkout - Ginebra did it first

MANILA, Philippines - In the PBA’s 35-year history, there have only been two consummated walkouts. Last Friday’s incident was the second with Talk ‘N’ Text leaving the court in a huff to protest what the team perceived to be one-sided officiating in favor of Barangay Ginebra in their best-of-five quarterfinal series.

It was Ginebra, employing the brand Anejo Rum, that instigated the first-ever walkout during the best-of-seven First Conference finals in 1990. Anejo playing coach Robert Jaworski got team manager Bernabe Navarro’s go-signal to exit with 2:52 left in the second period and Shell on top, 62-47, in Game 6.

The withdrawal was precipitated by two technical fouls charged against Anejo’s Rey Cuenco by referee Rudy Hines. Earlier, Anejo import Sylvester Gray was whistled for his fifth personal by referee Ernie de Leon with 4:01 to go in the tumultuous quarter. The pull-out resulted in a forfeit and clinched the championship, 4-2, for Shell whose mainstays included import Bobby Parks, Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc.

“If we continued playing, the crowd might have gone berserk and many people would have been hurt,” said Navarro. “So we chose to sacrifice.” As penalty, the Ginebra franchise was assessed a total of P550,000, including a P500,000 fine for walking out.

In 2006, Red Bull walked out of Game 4 of the Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals against San Miguel Beer with 2:06 remaining in the second period and the Barakos down, 41-32.

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao withdrew his team to express disgust over the officiating. The referees were Throngy Aldaba, Joey Calungcaguin and Wilbert Culanag. After two technical fouls were called on Red Bull for delay-of-game, the Barakos returned to resume playing. San Miguel led, 45-40, at the half and went on to win, 106-82.

The Barakos, however, bounced back to eventually win the title on Junthy Valenzuela’s buzzer-beating jumper in Game 7.

For the near-walkout, Red Bull was fined a total of P507,000 broken down into P400,000 for the team, P100,000 for Guiao, P6,000 for Lordy Tugade (dirty finger sign) and P1,000 for Edgar Fernandez (offensive language).

Ginebra was up, 27-20, with a minute to go in the first period when Talk ‘N’ Text coach Chot Reyes signalled the Texters to pack up last Friday. It was Game 4 of the best-of-five duel against Ginebra and the forfeit levelled the series count at 2-all. Ginebra wound up winning Game 5, 113-100, at the Big Dome last Sunday to eliminate Talk ‘N’ Text.

“You can only take so much,” fumed Reyes who raised the disparity in free throw attempts throughout the series as a sore point.

When the Texters left, Ginebra was 12-of-14 from the line and Talk ‘N’ Text, 4-of-5. The Texters had eight more field goal tries than Ginebra but were 0-of-4 from three-point distance compared to the Kings’ 3-of-7. Talk ‘N’ Text had more rebounds, 16-11, second chance points, 9-0 and assists, 3-2. The Texters also compiled more fouls, 10-3.

What triggered the walkout was the flagrant-2 foul slapped on Texters forward Ranidel de Ocampo in defending against a driving Ronald Tubid. It meant an automatic suspension for Game 5. The day after, PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios reviewed the tape of the disputed foul and upheld the penalty.

Talk ‘N’ Text governor Ricky Vargas reportedly considered a return to the floor but was informed the seven-minute grace period had elapsed when he broached the possibility during a discussion with Barrios.

Under PBA rules, a team that walks out is given five minutes within which to return. After five minutes, the buzzer is sounded as a warning and another minute is given. At the end of the extra minute, a technical foul is announced and the team on the floor is awarded a free throw. Then a seventh minute is granted. If at the end of the seventh minute, the team that walked out fails to return then the game is declared a forfeit.

In last Friday’s walkout, Ginebra did not take a technical free throw at the end of the sixth minute, indicating a failure to execute the process.

Talk ‘N’ Text team owner Manny V. Pangilinan said he had no regrets about the walkout, explaining it was the right decision under the circumstances. The fine of P1 million is a hefty penalty but if that’s the price to pay in shaking up the PBA for a fair path to the future, then it’s worth the sacrifice, said Smart Sports director Patrick Gregorio.

“It’s all about winning or losing the right way,” said Gregorio. “It’s not about winning at all costs. Mr. Pangilinan is extremely passionate about the game and he’s a proven winner. All he wants is a fair shake. When the teams that he supports, like Ateneo, San Beda and Talk ‘N’ Text win, he’ll celebrate for a few days then it’s back to the drawing boards to prepare for the future. It’s the same thing when the teams lose. After a few days, it’s back to the drawing boards to prepare for the future, too.”

The suggestion to continue playing the game with scrub cagers as a sign of protest instead of walking out was rejected by Pangilinan.

“If indeed we had sent in scrub players simply to finish the game on a pro forma basis, we would have been booed to no end by the Ginebra fans and our own fans would have been greatly disappointed,” said Pangilinan.

“As well, media would have attacked us for taking this low-class approach and would have called us cowards. We’re the aggrieved party. Were we supposed to find a solution to the problem? Amid all the prose and poetry of what’s been written, the simple basic issue is all but forgotten – what steps will the PBA take to raise the level of competence and honesty of referees? The world waits and wonders.”