CHICAGO -- By the time UE head coach Chris Gavina had parked himself at the post-game press conference inside the MoA Arena last Wednesday, he was already a seething, wounded soul.
Just moments before, his team plummeted to 0-6 (win-loss) in the UAAP Season 88 standings following a close 111-110 defeat at the hands of La Salle.
But this wasn't just another L. This one had more things to unpack than a stout balikbayan box.
READ: Gavina joins Lingolingo as banned Red Warriors in UE's next games
Before melting in overtime, the Road Warriors squandered a 21-point lead and lost forward Wello Lingolingo to ejection via a flagrant foul call against him late in the fourth quarter.
Feeling "disrespected" by the referees for being not among the "top four" teams, Gavina went on an expletive filled, name-calling rant that trampled on the ethos of a league whose majority members are Catholic-run schools.
This Saturday night, Gavina learned his fate.
A FOUR-GAME SUSPENSION
Just like Lingolingo's three-game suspension, this one is too harsh. It feels like the UAAP is showing toughness to mask its own weakness.
When penalties are adjudicated, an offender's prior history of indiscretions is usually taken into account. That's not the case here given that both player and coach have zero record of misconduct.
Look, Gavina needs to be suspended. You can't have coaches talk smack like he did, but four games for an acerbic tongue is hard to swallow.
Because his rant was largely fueled by an errant whistle should have been a mitigating circumstance. How the Board of Managing Directors (BMD) arrived at four games is unfathomable.
Also hit with stray bullets were NU coach Jeff Napa and Tab Baldwin of Ateneo who each were given stern warnings for similarly complaining about the officiating,
READ: Tab, Napa given stern warnings; Gavina asked to explain by UAAP
Unless it wants to be viewed as an authoritarian regime where peaceful dissent is met with stiff resistance, the UAAP should allow coaches to voice their opinions as long as it is expressed in a non-militant, less-strident manner
Winless in six games, UE's chances of making the Final Four are dim. But without Lingolingo and Gavina for the next seven games combined, the Road Warriors' demise has not only been hastened, but it's also been guaranteed.
What has UE done to deserve this?
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