I read Celestino Martinez’s statement on the Cesafi sanction against the CBSAA and it seems he thinks the Cesafi is out to get them because they—a team based in a city in the province is beating Metro Cebu teams. That’s wrong, the Cesafi is putting them under the microscope not because they have good players but because their players are endangering others and are embarrassing the league.
It is as simple as that. Why that simple point is lost on them, I don’t know.
It’s not about Big City vs. Small City, it’s not about usual champions vs. new contenders, it’s all about player safety. To be honest, his statement was kind of condescending, he’s saying that what the players are doing is all part of the physical game of basketball to guys who have been in basketball decades before he was born? As expected the reaction was, “Who you?”
There’s being physical and there’s the CBSAA conduct. Think for a moment: If an NBA player did what those two CBSAA players did, what do you think would the reaction be? Same with a PBA player.
The PBA suspended Jaworski for making the choking gesture while one player (Allan Caidic was it) was vomiting on court.
In our group chat, I said, “Gi-Engish ra man ‘ang kung di mo ganahan masakitan, pag-chess,” and to be honest, it’s disappointing. All they had to do was acknowledge the mistakes of their players and promise not to do them again.
But they played the victim. Thinking the big schools are out to get them because they are a contender.
Newsflash! The league would benefit if a new team would win the title because that would break the boring UV-Ateneo duopoly in high school basketball. But then again, Cesafi is not just about titles, it’s about how players conduct themselves, hence the tagline, “Basta Cesafi, estyudante.”
Heck, I’ve forgotten who won the championships pre-pandemic, but I’ve never forgotten the Ateneo-UC 2016 finals because of the conduct of the players, coaching staff, and school officials.
Perhaps they should explore other sports where physical contact is not involved if this is the case.
Celestino Martinez on the Cesafi sanction against CBSAA
CBSAA beat CIT-U by a mile and showed it can win games without its players channeling their inner Conor McGregor. I hope that continues. That kind of CBSAA is a welcome addition to the league, the two players who played dirty against Ateneo are not. I hope they realize that.
Though I agree with the statement that should similar incidents happen again, CBSAA would no longer be welcome in next year’s Cesafi, I hope it would be limited to basketball.
Because CBSAA is not just about basketball as I just learned lately from a concerned parent who was compelled to ask because of a child who got bothered with all the noise.
It has an excellent robotics team and has other acad teams that have achieved numerous national and international awards. Now, that kind of CBSAA is a welcome addition to Cesafi’s second semester contests—the Cultural and Academic contests. The real Cesafi contest for some member schools.
The issue here is very simple—player conduct. I hope the CBSAA basketball management recognizes that.