INQUIRER Sports

LET’S CALL him the inquisitor, this veteran colleague who has been asking me why Cuban boxing coach Dagoberto Rojas was dropped by the Abap after the training of the five Filipino boxers in Havana, Cuba, and just before the World Championship in Milan, Italy.

He just couldn’t see the logic. He strongly feels the presence of Rojas in Milan was vital. It could have made the difference, he said, between a medal and an empty campaign.

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I finally got some answers for the Inquisitor regarding the Cuban coach. However, when he called Saturday, the scribe was no longer interested in boxing. His attention had turned to basketball – to be specific, the UAAP.

This time he wanted to know where beleaguered FEU cager Mark Barroca might be holed up, after disappearing from the living quarters inside the FEU campus where he was moved. Previous to this, Barroca was lodged with his other teammates at the second floor quarters of the FEU gym.

Whether he was moved out of the campus for security reasons or to be isolated, no one can tell for sure. But witnesses are now talking of what they perceived to be a rescue mission successfully implemented last Thursday night with only a few students left inside the campus and only some late classes ongoing.

The leader of the mission was a coach, described as tall and fair-skinned, based on the investigation conducted by the Inquisitor, who said that the rescuers could have acted with the blessings of Tamaraws team manager Anton Montinola, although this seemed unlikely.

“It could be that he was just “escorted” to a safer place. Maybe they don’t want a repeat of what happened to Tamaraw Macmac Baracael last year,” said the Inquisitor.

As every UAAP follower now knows, Barroca was suspected of being involved in game-fixing after his numbers plummeted in a number of crucial games.

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“But we’re only talking of one game here, minsan lang sumama ang kanyang laro against Ateneo. Isn’t Mark entitled to an offnight?” asked the Tamaraw’s manager Ed Ponceja.

“Mark has been severely distraught because of the allegations. He has been crying like a child. He wanted to go home to Zamboanga, but I advised him against it. I offered my home to him, but he said Las Piñas is too far.”

Ed said Mark was temporarily staying with a mutual friend somewhere in Quezon City. He did not reveal who had fetched the cager from the FEU campus last Thursday night.

By Friday, the cager had reported back to the regular workout of the Smart Gilas developmental national pool.

“What happened to him is psychologically traumatic, and being in FEU surroundings only aggravates his emotional condition, that’s why we decided to move him out temporarily,” Ed said. Hours before the game against UE, he knew that Mark was not going to play. Or was not going to be asked to play.

The Inquisitor said Barroca leads FEU in scoring, assists and steals.

According to Ed, his ward is working for a degree in sports education and needs only 30 more units to graduate.

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HOOPVINE: Meanwhile, an Ateneo alumnus from a giant television network is concerned about the one-game suspension slapped on Nico Salva who, he said, only retaliated after being provoked by an FEU cager. “Paano ba naman, nangungurot, nairita si Nico,” he said… The UAAP board was supposed to meet on an appeal filed by Ateneo three days ago.