PBA Is Just The Messenger

PBA Is Just The Messenger


By: Ding Marcelo
Published: March 13, 2013
It took only a few hours for San Miguel Corporation to deliver its counterpunch, right to the gut of the PBA, shaking the league to its foundations.

Whether the punch carries the strength of a knockout will be known in a few days. But its message is clear: You don’t mess with San Miguel and get away with it.

San Miguel’s statement following the lifetime ban on Petron import Renaldo Balkman, imposed by PBA commissioner Chito Salud following the bizarre incident in the dying seconds of the Petron-Alaska game last Friday, started with an apology to all basketball fans.

The statement admitted Balkman’s unsportsmanlike conduct. It said it did not condone the import’s behavior. It said the company prides itself in having great teams that serve as role models to the youth and community.

Then it followed this by saying that it deplored the way the incident had been blown out of proportion, adding that this “has damaged our good name.”

Unfortunately, the images speak loud and clear: Balkman shoving his teammates and coach, going after the referee, choking his teammate Arwind Santos so hard that Santos had no recourse but to retaliate. That these images have gone viral on the Internet is not something that San Miguel can blame on the PBA.

Salud said he has not seen anything like Balkman’s meltdown in his decades of watching the PBA, first as a young man in the company of his father Rudy, the beloved late PBA commissioner, and now as league commissioner. He described Balkman’s behavior as “aberrant.”

Salud added that he recalled basketball players going after the players and coaches from the competing team, but never one like Balkman who warred with his own teammates and coaches and chased referees.

The incident was a blow to San Miguel, but the lifetime ban on its import and the fine of P250,000 was apparently too much for the team to take.

Saying that the incident could have long-term effects on San Miguel’s image, the SMC management announced that it is now reevaluating its continued participation in the league.

I say: If Balkman’s meltdown is nothing short of bizarre, if PBA’s lifetime ban is close to harsh and extreme, surely San Miguel’s reaction is downright juvenile and unethical.

Why punish the millions of San Miguel fans by threatening to withdraw? Why shock the PBA with a statement about reevaluating SMC’s league presence?

I say: The PBA is just the messenger, Balkman is the message.

The problem is that Petron lost no time embracing Balkman after the incident. One SMC official arrogantly said that the fellow would never be sent home: “He gave us five straight wins.”

Certainly, one cannot measure the impact of a San Miguel withdrawal from the PBA. Petron will not be the only team likely to get out of the league if the plan pushes through. Also possibly exiting are B-Meg and Ginebra San Miguel, the two other teams owned by SMC.

If this happens, then San Miguel is to be blamed for tarnishing its own message.

How to view a huge conglomerate that backs its own, right or wrong, just because he delivers the pennants? How to trust a global corporation with such ironclad guardianship of its reputation, but with no compunctions about flouting the rules of sportsmanship? How to respect a publicly listed company that compounds a clear error with the blackmail of a withdrawal?

Where’s the bigness there?

Source: manila bulletin

wala na bang import na makukuha ang petron na kasinggaling ni Balkman? dahil lang sa isang player ipupullout nila lahat ng smc teams? O.A. talaga 'tong si Eala

wnc19 wrote:wala na bang import na makukuha ang petron na kasinggaling ni Balkman? dahil lang sa isang player ipupullout nila lahat ng smc teams? O.A. talaga 'tong si Eala

PETRON looks to get right back on track days after prolific import Renaldo Balkman was banned by the PBA with the possible acquisition of former Cleveland Cavaliers center-forward Samardo Samuels.