Abueva was neither hurt nor shaken?
ENARD, the reliable car air-con expert, pulled up to a sudden stop, got off his red-and-blue work motorbike to share words of distress and displeasure.
“Impossible, grabe talaga,” he remarked, shaking his head.
The usually smiling daily wage-earner could not find the right words to describe the shock busting of the talented Calvin Abueva from the Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team, which the Alaska team mainstay had served with distinction.
* * *
This was on Monday, the day after Abueva was cut from the national team that will go on a wild, wild chase for a slot in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Gilas Pilipinas starts its quest against the French national team at Mall of Asia in Pasay City on Tuesday, July 5.
The cut was both unkind and unthinkable. Abueva, with his standout prowess, dedication and contribution to the national basketball team, was considered a hands-down pick.
How and why he was unceremoniously junked created a furor.
* * *
Pained disbelief was general all over the national basketball scenery.
Out in the Mandaluyong City wet market sports hub, vendors and stall owners all appeared tired, stunned.
They would not deny feeling cheated.
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Shortish, dark Louie Sanyano, who never misses a PBA game, was asking for a way to vent his ire on those who, he said, did Abueva grave injustice. Tall, lean Dong Gonzales, a former slotman with the Jose Rizal U Heavy Bombers, wanted to know if there’s a way to protest with proper authorities.
He found the Abueva ouster grossly unfair, unreasonable.
“Kung baga sa panahon namin, tinangal si Jaworski o Florencio from the national team, walang dahilan,” Dong cried from his fresh coconut milk stall.
* * *
With his great worth, the sharp, hard-working Abueva could easily be placed in the rank of internationalists Robert Jaworski and Danilo Florencio during their prime.
Yes, every self-respecting Pinoy basketball fan has the right to feel short-changed.
But wasn’t it also unfair how they had initially tried to hide honest truth and announced Abueva took everything in stride, with neither hurt nor rancor?
* * *
Yesterday, the truth was out. Abueva bared feeling wronged, hurt by the misdeed committed on his person, his mother team and his career.
He also admitted being devastated. “I knew deep in my heart I gave it all. I now feel the pains, fatigue, etc. I am a good person but I feel deeply when I am wronged,” he told Sports5 correspondent Carlo Pamintuan.
Abueva reportedly refused to sleep. He gave away his uniform and practice apparel to fans in their hotel. He wandered through the streets of Bologna (Italy) until it was morning.
