CHICAGO - Weird happenings are in our midst.
Earthquakes in Taiwan and New York. Snowfall in Nevada. A total eclipse.
And then last Sunday in the PBA, regular cellar-dweller Terrafirma outlasted perennial champion Ginebra, 91-85, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
In the two teams' 23 total encounters, this was only the second time that Terrafirma has prevailed, an insanely low 8.69 percent success rate.
READ Del Rosario explains decision to keep C-Stan, Pringle on the bench
The meek overcoming the mighty is part of the lore that makes sports so great but some of the circumstances surrounding Ginebra's unexpected demise are making the conspiracy theorists giddy.
The fourth-quarter benching of Christian Standhardinger was puzzling. Through three quarters, the Fil-German had scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. He also had seven rebounds.
TACTICAL MOVE?
The explanation was that the coaching staff "stayed with the guys" who "made the run" of cutting an 11-point deficit into six.
It's a fair point, but once the lead was chopped to 81-75 with 4:31 left, it made more sense to put C-Stan back in. Usually, starters are also finishers. That's why they get the accolades and the big bucks.
No other Ginebra player was hotter than C-Stan that night.
Maverick Ahanmisi went 2-for-10 from the field for 6 points. Jamie Malonzo went 4-of-11 for 10 points while LA Tenorio missed 7-of-10 for 11 points.
But when winning time came it was C-Stan - with four titles, two BPC awards and one PBA Finals MVP honor to his name - who was left behind.
"Game fixing," reader Marylea Miranda wrote on the Facebook page of SPIN.ph. "Benta," chimed in Reynaldo Taylot Jr while Jelanie Lagan Madlangbayan was more blunt, "Sugal yan. May kapit ang PBA sa sugal, eh. Sana maimbestigahan."
WINDFALL.
As told by Snow Badua on our 'No Cooking Show on Monday night, the betting odds on the game reflected Terrafirma as plus 4.5 underdogs, meaning a bet of P100 for the Dyip would collect even with a loss as long as the differential is less than four points.
But if the Dyip wins the game outright, a P100 bet on them collects as much as P450.
With the legalization of sports betting in the Philippines and its easy access through smart phones, the PBA needs to be more vigilant of potential bad actors.
Much as I'd like to believe that the PBA is beyond reproach when it comes to hocus pocus, the league isn't exactly a virgin, either.
Accusations of "lutong macau," refs swallowing their whistles and star players underperforming have echoed as far back as the golden era of the Crispa-Toyota rivalry.
Proving game-fixing is a practical impossibility, which is why no criminal convictions, only red cards, arose from the charges filed against those involved in the MPBL scandal of 2021.
I don't think there was any malfeasance going on in the Ginebra-Terrafirma contest.
It sure was, however, a very bad look for the PBA.
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.
