Saber rattling in the POC?

Based on its interpretation of Philippine Olympic Committee rules, the majority in the body’s Executive Board (EB) called for an unprecedented special meeting recently, minus the presence of POC president Ricky Vargas and chair Abraham Tolentino.

The majority constituted a quorum with seven members present and clarified that the April 30 meeting was not called to foment a power grab.

Minutes of the gathering said “neither the Executive Board nor its individual members intend to remove or oust POC president Victoriano P. Vargas from his current position.”

While appearing at a Philippine Sportswriters Association forum last April 9, Vargas had accused some members of the board of planning a coup against him.

The special meeting also sought to clarify the identity of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) and why it is tasked with spearheading the hosting of the multisports event without a POC board resolution.

The majority’s special meeting has no legal basis because only Vargas has the discretion to call for such, not secretary general Patrick Gregorio, said POC communications director Ed Picson.

His claim was immediately disputed by canoe-kayak president Jonne Go, who said Gregorio was not asked to grant a special meeting, but to spread word about it to EB members.

Picson also said the special meeting did not have a sense of urgency. “They can always clarify in a phone call or discussion with president Ricky or in the next board meeting.”

The meeting was not needed because “many (board members) are busy with the May 13 elections,” said Picson. “That’s why the regular meeting has been moved.”

The NBA’s Western Conference semifinal series between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets just got more interesting.

The defending champions Warriors flew to Houston Thursday minus leading scorer Kevin Durant, who stayed home with a strained right calf. He was injured in his team’s 104-99 win in Game 5 at home.

Durant will be evaluated while his team leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, with Game 6 on Friday night in Houston.