CHICAGO - Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin is currently in New Zealand for a much-needed respite from his crazy busy basketball life.
But even at 5,024 miles away, he couldn't distance himself far enough from the news.
Back in Manila, the clamor for his return is growing increasingly louder while an online petition seeking to catapult Baldwin back to his lofty place as Gilas head coach has accumulated 2,179 signatures as of tonight.
[See Fernandez says ball in SBP's court after Gilas letdown]
In light of our country's fantastic flameout at the SEA Games in Vietnam where we were undressed by the Indonesians, it has become evidently clear that only Baldwin, love him or hate him, can cleanse all the sins that have stained our national program.
But does Tab really want to go back to that gummy, politics-infested and intrigue-filled lair known as the Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas (SBP)?
Not really, which explains why Baldwin fled to another continent far far away.
So even if the job he was unceremoniously dislodged from last January was offered back to him, Tab feels "leery '' to accept it, multiple sources told me.
The sordid way with which he was dismissed, a treacherous act that blind-sided Baldwin, was a performance that belongs in the theater of the absurd.
CAN YOU BLAME TAB IF HE NO LONGER WANTS TO ATTACH HIS NAME TO A CIRCUS?
And wouldn't Tab be better off accepting an offer from Syria or Lebanon, oil-rich countries that are allegedly throwing unholy sums of money for him to run their national team?
But losing Tab isn't a foregone conclusion.
It is, however, a task as arduous as moving a mountain.
With the knife on his back still bleeding with betrayal, Baldwin, a source told SPIN.ph, would consider a return only if meaningful personnel changes were to take place at the SBP.
Baldwin, who is still being paid by the SBP because his contract with the federation is apparently open-ended, is said to be extremely displeased with one particular SBP and PBA official who didn't just show him out the door but "blew the doors wide open."
Translation: Tab Baldwin, a world-class coach and a proven winner, is sick and tired of genuflecting to people who think they know basketball but actually don't know a lick about it, especially on the international side of the game.
The tragedy in Hanoi was the latest example, and hopefully, the last straw.
The days and years of picking names to constitute a team are over. We actually have to build one that will be a cohesive unit and dotted with stars and role players, not just famous names the coach likes.
HELLO, CJ PEREZ, HOW ARE YOU DOING?
Chot Reyes is a great guy, I know that personally, but if he really loves our country as he so professes every time he gets the chance, he should step aside.
Chot himself told Kom Noli in a Power and Play appearance last February that he had enough things to do, a passion for golf included. He won't miss that cursed Gilas job.
As for those folks at the SBP, kindly just get out of the way.
"Para sa Bayan" like you dudes love to say.
Tab, I'm told, only trusts MVP.
Are you listening, Boss Manny?
And can we get over this mess and bring Tab back, please?
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