CHICAGO - A late apology is a crime against the accepted norms of decorum.
Once a sorry is owed, it must be paid swiftly.
Which is something the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) didn't do when it waited three full days before issuing a statement on the Southeast Asian Games debacle where we lost a 33-year stranglehold of men's basketball.
[See SBP takes full responsibility for SEA Games loss, vows to 'bounce back']
By most accounts, federation president Al Panlilio is a smart man - no pun intended - who possesses a humility that belies his lofty standing.
And while I am also willing to accept that he is teeming with many other princely qualities, I am not feeling enchanted at all right now.
Because Mr. Panlilio has an awful sense of timing.
I don't know why it took him 72 hours to come up with 70 words of puff that reeked with a palpable lack of accountability.
The delayed mea culpa created an impression that the SBP tried to weather the storm first, hoping the fan outrage would conveniently wash away over time, before puling the trigger.
That's now how it works.
When the shit hits the fan, you deal with it head on. You don't play "deadma" for a few days.
Al deserves credit for saying sorry and taking ownership of the failure but he did not assert the promise to effect genuine change, which is the cornerstone of a sincere apology.
WHAT WE HEARD INSTEAD WAS A TOKEN ASSURANCE THAT RANG HOLLOW LIKE A POLITICIAN'S PROMISE.
"We will bounce back."
Really?
The gullible would foolishly buy in to that rah-rah spirit, but the hardcore, intelligent fans who've seen how the SBP has operated through the years, can only sense the familiar echo of empty words.
Had we won the gold medal, there would have been an elaborate press conference where Panlilio and his subordinates would likely sustain injuries for patting themselves so hard on the back.
But failure required retreating into deaf mode and facing the music behind a press release.
So lame.
ELUSIVE. While I do believe that the ambush in Vietnam wasn't entirely his fault because the SBP didn't necessarily put him in a position to win, I still had hoped to speak to Gilas head coach Chot Reyes and pick his brain.
Unfortunately, he was harder to keep up than a Euro step. It felt like a dribble and drive-by experience.
To which I take no offense.
News sources have the right to choose whom they want to interview with.
That's just how our business goes.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
