THE hugely controversial ending to the knockout game in which Global Port beat crowd favorites Ginebra San Miguel 84-83 in overtime has resulted in the suspension of lead referee Edward Aquino and Rommel Gruta for the rest of the Philippine Cup.
It was a terrible mistake by Gruta, which isn’t the first time he has blundered. We recall that former Commissioner Chito Salud had also suspended him in the past, which suggests that perhaps he should be sent back to the Referees Academy; if there is one that is functioning right now, and not allowed to officiate for perhaps six months.
We must concede that the stepping non-call was not that easy to judge even in the television replays and there should be some measure of consideration in the case of Aquino.
However, while attending the wake for the brilliant American coach Ron Jacobs the other day, we had a chance to exchange views with some coaches and players, whose observations were valid.
One common comment that struck us was that they considered Aquino as arrogant and abrasive and someone who simply brushed them aside when they dared to seek clarification of a call or non-call.
This should not be tolerated and the sooner Commissioner Chito Narvasa acts on this, the better.
The suspension of Gruta and Aquino has drawn a lot of adverse comments from fans, mostly from Ginebra diehards which is to be expected.
After all, they are the fans who keep the cash registers clicking and have an inherent right to expect fairness in officiating although we must concede that the referees are also human and prone to make mistakes just like players and coaches. But since they can affect the outcome of a game, especially a crucial knockout game, they need to be far more careful.
Problem is, Ginebra is known to have comeback from huge deficits by converting unbelievable baskets and the fans are not to blame if they believed that with 2.2 seconds left on the shot clock, Tenorio, Sol Mercado or even a Japeth Aguilar who had a miserable game, could have pulled off a minor miracle as they have done in the past.
To be fair, while we have been Ginebra fans all our life, we must concede that GlobalPort deserved their victory, which was anchored on the heroics of Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo and the great supporting roles played by Jay Washington and two Ginebra discards, Joseph Yeo and Billy Mamaril.
We also must congratulate coach Pido Jarencio, a former Ginebra standout who did an excellent job shuffling his players and bringing the best out of them, unlike multi-titled coach Tim Cone who was let down rather badly by key players such as Japeth Aguilar, who got into early foul trouble and was hardly a factor especially in defense.
LA Tenorio, Greg Slaughter and Sol Mercado played their hearts but in the end, the key players of Global Port — Pringle and Romeo showed bigger hearts and demonstrated the never-say-die spirit that has long come to be associated with Ginebra.
While all of us Ginebra fans are pained by the loss, we must be magnanimous in applauding GlobalPort for their pulsating victory and be man enough to concede they deserved to win.
Ginebra players must learn from this painful setback and resolve, stronger than ever before, to comeback in the next conference and to remember they owe this to their faithful fans.