Behave like true men, Lito Puyat tells successors

COACH NORMAN Black says he’s not concerned about the woes of the FEU Tamaraws.   “We don’t care what happened to FEU in Game 1,” Black boomed, trying to put the previous game behind him.

Black doesn’t give a damn about Game 1, but it goes without saying he was taken aback by the dubious result of the opening game in the UAAP Finals on Saturday.

Black tried but failed to completely conceal his displeasure.

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Imagine coming armed to the teeth for a full-scale shootout against the league’s top-scoring team—only to be faced by a squad that showed up totally prepared to lose.

The victory, easy as it was, came half-empty.

Like gays on the court, wrote Jonas Terrado of the Manila Bulletin, in describing the Tamaraws, who did everything to ensure their opponents would end up victorious.

Of course, members of the third sex could feel insulted.

They could have played more decently, honorably than the FEU Tamaraws, who neatly blasphemed basketball at the Big Dome on Saturday.

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Anyway, Norman Black will have one less worry today.

The Tamaraws, based on the gangster script, will have no choice but play ball today.

Who knows? They could win, even up, and go all the way to clinch this year’s UAAP cage crown.

The result of Game 1 could also delude the Ateneo Eagles.

But Black has assured people that his men have remained unfazed by the dirty developments on Saturday.

“We’ve made sure the players keep away from getting overconfident,” Black said.

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Count FEU coach Glenn Capacio, too.

He has promised a comeback, assuring Game 2 of the UAAP title series will serve as test of his team’s true character.

Well said, sounds truly exciting.

But, at the same time, coach Capacio must be reminded his players have already exposed their true character last Saturday.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine how they could cure the irreparable damage they’ve inflicted on FEU and the UAAP league itself.

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“Shame on the Tamaraws, they defamed the FEU institution,” cried premier artist Danilo Dalena who, just like National Artist Jose Garcia Villa, has shared his gifts with FEU by teaching genuine, honest art in the institution.

There’s a clear call for action.

Unfortunately, UAAP league leaders are unmindful of the fire, playing it insensitive and blind although there’s the choking smell and sight of smoke everywhere.

The situation has gotten terribly serious.

It has, in fact, led former Fiba president Lito Puyat to come out of his legendary cave.

“We must join hands, move against the game-fixing mafia,” said Puyat, who claimed he orchestrated a successful trapping operation, in a team up with media and the NBI, during his tenure as president of the defunct BAP (Basketball Association of the Philippines).

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Puyat said he’s both surprised and disappointed that the lead basketball authority in the country, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, behaves as though it has not heard of the abominable gangster grip on basketball hereabouts.

There’s a war at hand, Puyat warned.

“I call on SBP President Manny V. Pangilinan to lead this fight against the syndicate that continues to demean and wreck Philippine basketball.”

Puyat said it’s about time top basketball leaders started acting sensibly, with courage and honor.

Let’s behave like true men, Puyat begged.