The mouths that roared

Just when you thought the turmoil in Philippine basketball was over and the storms that engulfed the sport had abated, comes a new wave of brickbats aimed at different interest groups within the community.

Right after FIBA settled the leadership row in the BAP and proclaimed Tiny Literal president, the Philippine men’s team to the Southeast Asian Games, finally cleared to play, was reported to have sent a letter protesting the inclusion of Philippine Basketball League Commissioner Chino Trinidad in the pool of broadcasters of the National Broadcasting Network’s coverage of the SEA Games.

Having had my share of bloopers and misquotes in the broadcast booth and at the news desk, it would seem inconsequential to anyone concerned what Trinidad has said. After all, it did not affect the inclusion and/or performance of the players on the court (as witnessed by their victory over the Fil-Am-laden MBA All-Star squad last Wednesday). In my opinion, whatever allegedly abrasive comments were made were, at most, a case of bad timing.

Policing sports broadcaster has always been a tricky issue. The late Howard Cosell, whom many criticized but secretly envied, had a truckload of scrapes with athletes. However, Cosell was always colorful, often acidic in his commentary, but nevertheless lasted decades. It was his defense of and friendship with Muhammad Ali that contributed largely to the latter’s immense popularity. On a smaller scale, Ahmad Rashad parlayed his being "tight" with Michael Jordan and other NBA players into a greatly enhanced broadcasting career.

Even in the MBA, one of the initial concerns of then-commissioner Ogie Narvasa was who would correct the announcers when they made mistakes. If we could be critical of the referees, who would wield the baton over us when we got out of line?

If our basketball players had a legitimate gripe, they could have gone directly to the parties concerned – in this case NBN and Trinidad himself – and settled the issue in a more dignified manner. NBN General Manager Joey Isabelo himself was surprised to just find the comments in the papers. MBA business development director Ramon Tuason, an old friend of NBN chair Mia Concio, apparently had no idea that such a letter of protest had been sent by the league’s top players.

Unfortunately, the players (or whoever is being accused of manipulating them) decided to go public. The proverbial excrement hit the ventilator two days before the team was to fly to Kuala Lumpur.

Why is it that, when feeling under attack, we resort to venting our hurts in public to gain sympathy. The players had already been through enough with all the uncertainty regarding their participation in the Games. They didn’t need another distraction.

I’ve always insisted that broadcasters are merely the gift-wrapping on any game they cover. Their performance is always secondary to the performance of the athletes in the spotlight. And besides, people can always change channels or turn down the volume if they don’t like what we say. But, if an athlete – or an official, for that matter – performs badly, we have the responsibility to say so.

If Trinidad’s comments were deemed slanderous, with malice aforethought, then there are legal remedies, as well. But let’s not use the media as a megaphone against itself. That’s not fair, either. There’s already enough counterproductive protesting being done for the benefit of the cameras as it is.

Perhaps Tiny Literal’s proposal for a basketball summit after the SEA Games should be seriously considered. After all, when members of the same community reveal their negative observations about each other, they can always be accused of doing it for personal gain.

It would really be a shame if we sully the glory of a gold medal with mudslinging. We don’t need that right now. We’ve got better things to do.