INQUIRER Sports

The PBA was visibly caught flatfooted by that brutal attack on a heckling fan at the special ringside section of the Araneta Coliseum last week.

The pro league, in short, was not unlike a shaken victim of Tropical Storm ?Ondoy.?

PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios, however, kept his cool.

He refused to panic and instead responded after consulting with responsible people.

Barrios meted out a no-pay, season-long ban on the attacker, skipper Wynne Arboleda of the Burger King team, considered a league record.

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The PBA, for the record, neither rejected nor admitted responsibility.

But it wasted no time and issued a prompt one-line statement about the clear lapse in security.

?That was the duty of Araneta Coliseum management,? a senior staffer at the PBA media bureau told the Inquirer on Monday, the same day Barrios meted the penalties on Arboleda.

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As could be expected, there came cries of irresponsibility on the part of pro league managers.

As it would turn out, there were indeed Araneta security people on hand.

However, as noted here previously, this security force was no better than a limp, waterless fire engine.

Araneta Coliseum guards did try to contain the fire-breathing Arboleda, but they were either late or useless.

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Of course, Barrios did not try to wash his hands of the guilt.

For his part, Arboleda, together with his team, next issued a public apology.

On Monday, there was no immediate move from the PBA to provide a deterrent against violent player behavior.

But yesterday, the morning after the penalties on Arboleda were made public, Barrios came out with tough measures to ensure the safety of fans during games.

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Barrios minced no words and vowed a lifetime ban on any PBA player who would attack a spectator.

Barrios sounded very convinced that the threat would put a stop to future infractions of the kind Arboleda had perpetrated.

Barrios said he would also sit down with Araneta Coliseum management ?to craft arrangements on security and set protocol on responsible fan behavior.?

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It?s nice to hear that fan behavior will also form part of the security reforms.

Of course, this promised move is both vague and too wide-ranging, to say the least.

Listen: It?s no secret that, more often than not, players are on the receiving end of spectator ire.

It?s also no exaggeration to say that there are certain spectators who honestly believe that heaving verbal abuse on perceived hardcourt villains forms part of healthy game viewing.

So: Would the PBA consider giving players the right to call a timeout to inform or complain with the referee about particular fans whose abuse they cannot bear?

This may sound odd to some, but it should provide a buffer, a safety valve actually, before a player cracks up and explodes like a dam.

In the first place, there has been no report of any PBA player doing an Arboleda in the past?without being abused or provoked.