Meet the clowns behind UP’s 0-14 record

Posted by Jaemark Tordecilla on September 17, 2010 at 16:12 | Comments (17)

Quinito Henson’s article last week about the UP Fighting Maroons profiled the management committee of the team: Chitong Rivera, Bert Mendoza, and Jake Castro. Calling them “distinguished,” Quinito argued that even though the Maroons finished winless, the three men would continue on fighting.

Reading the story, a reader would get the impression that it was merely random circumstance that befell the Maroons this season, despite the best efforts of the three musketeers. “The battle is far from over,” Quinito wrote.

What he left out is that the shitfest that was UAAP Season 73 for the UP Fighting Maroons probably wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for these guys. Remember, they were the people who forced out UP coach Aboy Castro two games into the season. Before the Maroons’ second game, they told Aboy that he wasn’t going to coach the team for that game, then turned around and said that he was. After that, he was told not to attend the team’s practices anymore. Aboy saved what little was left of his pride and took a leave of absence.

The move left the Maroons in disarray; all the preparation the team underwent in the months leading up to the UAAP tournament was wasted; and the morale of the players, especially those who were recruited by Aboy, went down.

I’m not even proud to say that I totally saw this coming, because anyone who isn’t a complete idiot would have seen this coming. Which makes you wonder why it wasn’t so obvious to Quinito’s tatlong itlog.

Simply put, it was their fault we were so bad this year. All the blame should be left at their feet.

But hey, Quinito Henson would never write about that, because he only writes about the true, the good, and the beautiful. “Hey UP fans, your team finished 0-14 again, but don’t worry, you have gallant men in your management team!”

Well fuck that. It’s bad enough that they these guys ruined this season for the Maroons, but it looks like they ruined the team’s immediate future too. According to this GMANews.TV report, top prospects such as Kiefer Ravena, who once considered possibly playing for UP, is not even looking our way now. Resident players such as 6’8” Nigerian center Alinko Mbah and 6’5” Fil-Am Chris Ball are apparently having second thoughts about suiting up for the Maroons with Aboy gone. And it looks like they are not being treated well either:

One of those resident players said that his allowances have been delayed for three to four weeks. Worse, some of them are being advised to move out of the athletes' quarters, which was provided by UP.

"I don't know why they're treating us like this. And then they will expect us to play our hearts out yet we are treated like this," said the player. "There were times we did not get food."

It looks like we will all be looking at the UP Pep Squad to save our season again next year.

Comments (17) | Trackback (1)
Tags: Basketball, Kiefer Ravena, Philippine sports media, Quinito Henson, UAAP, UAAP Cheerdance, UP Fighting Maroons

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Comments

#1 some insider on 2010-09-17 16:34 (Reply)

Woody and Martin were supposed to sit out this season in spite of the "training programs" put in place by Aboy. They didn't trust Aboy a lot coz he wasn't a player before, but the tactics were there. The other players who sat out this year (like Mike G and Migs D) were planning to return next year since this was Aboy's last season. Magi was going to play coz he and Mbah can't seem to get along.

Good news is next year, there's word that alumni clout will be lessened and the admin will have more control because of an anonymous donor.

#1.1 the insider on 2010-09-17 18:12 (Reply)

you can't be more wrong. Woody and Martin loves Aboy. They we're in tears and disheartened when they got the news that Aboy will not be coaching anymore. They invited Aboy, not the 3 clowns, to their own little farewell inuman after their last game. ( where the clowns did not even care to give them a final team dinner after) The team even had a very emotional thanksgiving dinner for Coach Aboy last Tuesday in a house at Dasmarinas Village. ( again the clowns not present )

#1.1.1 jaemark on 2010-09-17 18:23 (Reply)

hmm i verified the identity of this commenter, and i can confirm he is a legit insider.

#2 gilasinsider on 2010-09-17 19:39 (Reply)

these guys are ateneans right? hahaha

#3 Jimbo 2.0 on 2010-09-17 20:22 (Reply)

No surprises here. UP is still a government institution and such will have all the inherent bureaucratic nonsense.

Blame MUST be equally distributed though .... let's face it, most (if not all) the players sucked the whole season.

They did have some close ones but the players folded just the same. Cant blame low morale all the time.

I say hire Magsanoc next year.

#4 Rodolfo Obniala on 2010-09-18 07:40 (Reply)

I wanna be a visionary like you firequinito

#5 Rodolfo Obniala on 2010-09-18 08:31 (Reply)

Quinito, tinira ni FireQuinito. LMAO

#6 The Legendary Skyflakes25 on 2010-09-18 11:49 (Reply)

pang PCIJ din ito ah. hehehe

nice one, jae.

#7 look at both sides on 2010-09-18 15:21 (Reply)

the way management/alimni went about firing coach aboy 2 (tama ba?) games into the season does not make any sense even if they were 0-2 and had a decent pre-season. but remember, these men are educated and are, hopefully, decent minded folk. there are many things happening within a uaap team that outsiders do not see. baka nagkaroon ng disagreement si coach aboy and the alumni. who knows? what i do know is that unless coach did something entirely unforgivable, it was wrong to fire him very early in the season. we will never know the unbiased truth because there are infinitely many sides to a story.
as to coach Aboy's claim the kiefer was committed to UP because of him.. i am very skeptical of that.

#7.1 maroon on 2010-09-19 19:53 (Reply)

Kiefer to UP might not be impossible at all.. looking at the Ateneo lineup (and all the other rumors about their incoming players), it's easy to see that Kiefer won't get the playing time he was used to.. he can't be in La Salle since La Salle is stuck in guards and we know history.. NU might not be ideal because there are a lot of incoming guards.. AND if you came from a good HS where you can realize that basketball is not forever, he might probably go to a school where he can get a very decent education. i believe he's not an all basketball person.. so this is what UP can give him. A basketball career (maybe not as successful like in UAAP jrs) and a good education. He's a thinker I believe.. or maybe, a better education outside the Philippines can lure him..

If he can persuade other good players (Pessumal, Ferrer) to go with him at one school, then yeah, UP can be an option..

#7.1.1 The Legendary Skyflakes25 on 2010-09-19 19:59 (Reply)

nah. he should go in the US to play in a mid-major NCAA Div. 1 program. seriously.

#8 Carlo on 2010-09-18 23:17 (Reply)

i seriously thought that up was going to compete for a final 4. Maybe i bought the pre-season hype, maybe they weren't really good to begin with. Pero kahit ano paman, 14 losses is a gigantic letdown, even from a weak. But, hindi pa rin tama for a team to sack a coach after 2 games. mali talaga yung decision na yun. No question about it.

#9 The Derby Ace King on 2010-09-19 14:51 (Reply)

UP sucks for years, what's new about 0-14, if anyone disagree, why don't you look back on at least 5 uaap seasons and see their record, and if i'm not wrong, this is not their first 0-14 record. to be on the final 4 on the next 3 season, now that would be a very big surprise.

#10 julius on 2010-09-20 15:34 (Reply)

sayang naman kung hindi na maglalaro si mbah. malaking tulong yon lalo na puro import na ngayon sa uaap. pero sabi dun sa nabasa kong story sa mga foreigener maglalaro pa siya. ito 'yung link: http://www.uaapsports.com/NEWSFEATURES/tabid/62/EntryId/206/Foreign-Waves-in-UAAP-Shores-Part-1.aspx

#11 Tukmol on 2010-09-29 03:22 (Reply)

Totoo ba na ang reason kung bakit ayaw nang maglaro nina Mbah at Ball for UP ay hindi lang dahil sa pangit na trato sa kanila sa Diliman (pero ang balita ko ay "bine-baby" daw ang players doon up to a point na hindi na maka-diskarte nang maayos yung conditioning coach dahil sinasabihan siya na "bawal pahirapan, pagalitan at pagurin" ang mga players doon, lalong lalo na yung rookies like Saret kaya duda ako na may pangit na trato daw yung players doon) kundi dahil sa "mas magandang offer" ng NU sa kanila?

Seriously though, yung nangyayari sa UP Basketball Program ngayon is just proof na microcosm talaga ng Pilipinas ang UP- puro pulitika, maraming pakialamero, maraming nagmamarunong at "maraming matatalino" kaya walang nararating. UP should be avoided by coaches who want to take care of their Curriculum Vitae and players who want to be in a stable and WINNING program. UP's Basketball Program is a joke and will remain a joke in the years to me. Bobo kasi ang mga taga-UP pagdating sa sports management- akala nakukuha sa mabilisan at sa paggamit ng pulitika, ignoring the reality that successful programs like Ateneo, La Salle and San Beda, teams na sobrang kinakainggitan ng mga taga-UP, took years of development before they bore fruit.

#11.1 workhorse3 on 2010-09-29 22:45 (Reply)

makes me wonder though, seriously, how come they have a winning CHEERDANCE program? Or talagang sa UP, palakasan sa basketball. O talagang pang-cheerdance lang ang UP? Sa sobrang pulitikahan ba, hindi na nila ma-apply yung same principle with the cheerdance to the seniors basketball team?

I think UP has a winning program too in OTHER sports, I think nag-general champions sila. Pero ibang usapan talaga sa seniors basketball. olats talaga.

#11.1.1 Rpay on 2010-10-10 01:31 (Reply)

Gago!! Kung hindi ka taga UP wag ka ng makialam! Ako UP mula Kindergarten! ang masasabi ko lang e hindi naman pusong UP ang nag-hahandle kaya disarray! I think Alumni Association should step in and figure out what are the next steps based on the learning from this season. Simple lang...Tao na me pusong UP! A true UP blood that knows how to sacrifice and fight! That is why we are called UP FIGHTING MAROONS!!