Gullas family says sorry for a 'day to forget'

CEBU, Philippines - The Gullas family, through University of the Visayas basketball team manager Gerald Anthony "Samsam" Gullas, Jr., yesterday extended their sincerest apology for the unfortunate incident involving the UV Green Lancers against the SWU Cobras in their CESAFI knockout match last Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum (see separate story), calling it a "day to forget" for the entire Visayanian community.

"It was a day we would like to forget," said Samsam Gullas in a press conference yesterday. "To everybody who has been hurt by this [incident], we're sorry. We take responsibility for their actions."

After carefully weighing things up, Gullas said they came with the decision to suspend Edrian Lao, Phil Mercader, John Michael Abad, and Rene June Saycon for the remainder of the CESAFI season although they will still enjoy their athletic scholarship.

"We are suspending the said players for the rest of the season but we will still give them the education they deserve," said Gullas, who is also school's assistant vice president for finance and administration. "On our part, we want to teach them sportsmanship and the virtue of accepting defeat."

Gullas said what happened added insult to the injury of the Lancers for not making it to the finals for the first time in 11 years, even stressing out that the actuations of their players doesn't bode well to the tenets UV upheld through the years.

"What happened added insult to our injury. But it does not go with the morals we teach to our students that is love, service and leadership," Gullas said. "From the UV standpoint, we don't want this to happen, never again."

Gullas also cried foul to some quarters who brand them as 'sore losers.' "We want to win but it is not our only interest. If it would have been our main concern, then we would not let Greg Slaughter go. But for the sake of our flag and country, we made that decision."

Gullas insisted though that had it not been for the "non calls and bad calls by the referees," the entire fiasco that dealt CESAFI a major blackeye would not have happened.

"I believe it should not have happened had it not been for the referees," said Gullas. "We urge the CESAFI to give us a better pool of referees next season."

Meanwhile, Gullas admitted that having been eliminated for the first time since CESAFI's birth in 2000 was a humbling experience for them.

"It's really a humbling experience for us. It's not what we expected," said Gullas. "But it's when we found hope that we fight stronger. I will assure you that next year, we will come up with a better team."

The UV Green Lancers, then coached by Elmer "Boy" Cabahug, won an unprecedented nine straight CESAFI championship but were dethroned by the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters last year. - THE FREEMAN