CHICAGO - At a time when men's basketball in the UAAP is in a glorious place, two issues are taking the spotlight away from the riveting Season 88 drama that has been produced on the court.
Unequal pay for referees. And incompetent officiating.
Unfortunately for those of us who consume this inter-collegiate entertainment via streaming fees or live game tickets, the top officials - executive director Rebo Saguisag and commissioner Jai Reyes - do not appear to have the enthusiasm to address these pressing issues.
READ Napa joins call for better refereeing even after NU reclaims solo first
While the matter on compensation is important due to its social significance, the business of shoddy officiating is more serious because it puts on the line the outcomes of games that have for the most part been close in this first round of the eliminations.
"Parang kailangan nila ng refresher ulit sa rules ng basketball," NU coach Jeff Napa told SPIN.ph on Sunday after his Bulldogs took down mighty La Salle, 82-78, at the UST Quad Pavillion.
While the B word, "bias" wasn't mentioned, inept refereeing is alarmingly dangerous in an era where sports and legal betting have intersected.
CRIES FOR HELP.
Napa's statements were a direct verbal assault on the officiating crew. It's also well-deserved and appropriate.
This comes after Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin echoed a similar cry for help in the aftermath of the Blue Eagles' 98-89 triple-overtime defeat to surging UST, last Saturday.
"There's a third team out there and I thought their performance was disgusting," Baldwin said.
Well, you'd have to be a moron not to know that the implied third team here are those folks in zebra stripes whose terrible whistles often leave us with a look of deer in the headlights.
Unlike Napa, who pointed out a phantom call in the final 29.2 seconds of the NU-La Salle encounter, Baldwin didn't elaborate exactly how the whistles went amok.
BUT HERE ARE A FEW THINGS I OBSERVED.
The Blue Eagles were called for more fouls, 25-21, which resulted in 19 less free throws attempted at 40-21.
More astonishingly, UST's Collins Akowe, a 6-foot-10, 262-lb beast who plays clean but physical, had ZERO fouls in 51 minutes and 03 seconds of action, His teammate, the equally hard-charging Gelo Crisostomo, also had zero fouls in 35 minutes and 41 seconds of duty.
How is this possible when Ateneo;s Divine Adili was ejected with five fouls?
While the UAAP tends to ignore Baldwin as one of those loudmouth foreign outsiders who may complain that the sunlight is not fierce enough for their tanning purposes, it should at least listen to Napa.
Coach Jeff is one of those really nice guys, homegrown and prone to taking life's inequities rather than inconvenience somebody else's feelings.
But Napa, whose tough exterior masks his gentle soul, has had enough, so much so that he finally said something to protect his program and honor the hard work of his players.
But don't expect the league officials to lend a sympathetic ear. They seem to be adept at turning a blind eye while pretending to be hard of hearing.
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