CHICAGO - College sports is supposed to be the ultimate stage where fair play and sportsmanship shine the brightest.
Not so much in the ongoing NCAA Season 98 Finals.
And that's partly because some guys at Letran aren't exactly playing like Knights in shining armor.
One player, Tom Olivario, loves to throw pointy elbows and taunt with blown kisses and fake attempts to throw the ball in opponents' faces.
[READ: Migs Oczon doubtful for Game Two for Benilde]
Another guy, Brent Paraiso, likes to play rough. In one video sequence running rampant over multiple social media platforms, good 'ole Brent he can be seen appearing to undercut a Blazer even though he appeared to have no play on the ball.
But Paolo Javillonar takes the cake for the lewd act in which he groped the precious family jewels of Will Gozum.
There is a reason why the UAAP is the more glizy, more popular, and highly-successful league.
The tournament that Executive Director Rebo Saguisag runs is more wholesome, where exhilarating action is the only storyline.
The NCAA, meanwhile, can use a lot of parental guidance, what with guys such as John Amores running around punching people.
I don't get why the Knights resort to the antics they do. They're not just the reigning champs, they're gunning for a 3-peat. But you'll never know that because they're acting like they've never been there before.
Look, they're not all angels out there at the College of St. Benilde but whatever actions some of their players have done in Game 1 was largely a retaliation to a provocation.
Blazers coach Charles Tiu is arguably the best coach in the NCAA right now. Letran's Bonnie Tan is good in his own right but he will find it hard to live down the suspicion that this year's Knights avoided San Beda like a plague.
Instead of exorcising the ghosts of a team that haunted it twice this season, Letran somehow lost a "stunner" to JRU in the final elimination game and took the easy path to the Final Four via a showdown against Lyceum.
THE BLAZERS, ON THE OTHER HAND, BEAT THE RED LIONS FAIR AND SQUARE.
Tiu as coach of the year. Gozum as MVP. And CSB ending a 20-year Final Four drought.
Those are the more inspiring stories of this NCAA Season 98.
The least memorable?
Officiating.
Letran took 26 free throws against CSB's 11. And the Knights got away with a few fouls that should have been classified as "unsportsmanlike."
And here's the injury to the insult: Even though they were the less physical team, the Blazers were called for more fouls (24) than the Knights. (19).
Moral of the story?
Bad things happen to good people.
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