Thugs in jerseys
It was the shoulder bump. And then the spit.
Tempers flared, elbows were thrown, civility was set aside. It was Ateneo vs FEU Round 2 – yet another battle of attrition between two of the most successful teams in the past 10 years.
In front of Boston Celtics superstar Rajon Rondo, the UAAP had its "dirtiest" game of Season 75, one that seemed to test the boundaries of its athletes' "unbreakable" bodies.
Arvie Bringas started hostilities in the first quarter, taking down Nico Salva for an unsportsmanlike foul. Bringas' high school teammate, Ryan Buenafe, retaliated moments after hacking Anthony Hargrove and almost sawing off the American's left hand as the latter was attempting for an easy basket.
As Hargrove laid down on the ground, writhing in pain, Buenafe moved away. Enter Mark Belo.
The rookie, who's had a penchant for jawing and taunting right in his first year in the league, looked to exact vengeance on Buenafe, coming close to the burly Ateneo forward and appeared to be asking for a fight.
Referees did the right thing and ejected both off the court, though you could argue that they should have been issued warnings on Buenafe and Belo instead of immediately having them ejected from the game.
Buenafe, back after a one-year hiatus that saw him balloon to almost 260 pounds, came to the press room instead of going straight to the Blue Eagles' dugout. Of course, the former Finals MVP didn't admit that he intentionally hurt Hargrove in that play, saying that he did not hit the high-flying ex-Ateneo recruit that hard for him to act like that.
"Mahina lang yun," Buenafe joked.
Kiefer Ravena and Terrence Romeo, meanwhile, put on a show outside, with their idol Rondo keeping a watchful eye. Meanwhile, Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva, and the Bringas brothers and Carl Cruz continued their shoving galore inside.
The game was chippy all throughout. The mood was volatile, with a feel that a volcano is just waiting for an eruption to happen. And it did.
With Ateneo on a huge fourth quarter run, the Tamaraws called a timeout. Just as Slaughter was heading to the bench, he banged his shoulder on Bringas, causing the latter to fall – or flop, whatever your take is.
Ever the thug, Bringas stood fuming and marched to the Eagles' bench and did something never thought possible in the UAAP wars: Bringas spat at Justin Chua.
Photo taken from here
It wasn't a normal firing of saliva. As a matter of fact, photos that captured the moment such as the one above showed that Bringas threw a lot of his fluids on the poor Chua, who managed to dodge much of the attack.
Thuggery has no place in the UAAP. College basketball stars represent their respective universities and, thus, have the obligation to think, act and live according to the values that their schools stand for.
The league acted swiftly and imposed a one-game ban on Bringas. FEU followed suit the next day by suspending their prized cager for one more match. While the UAAP and FEU's actions were laudable, this space hopes that no such incident happens again.
And how is that possible? Create an environment where sportsmanship is the name of the game, where gentlemen roam the hardwood and where respect is a requirement. With all these, a spitting incident or anything of that sort will remain a remote possibility. And if it happens, a season-long banishment will be a good place to start in punishment.
