The redemption of LA Tenorio
LA Tenorio slept well last night. Not as well as he would have wanted to considering they have a do-or-die game against the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in a day. But he slept well enough. The discomfort brought about by his aching body, sore from a physical Game 6 encounter was considered bliss compared to Saturday night.
“The moment I went home, kinuha ko agad yung anak ko,” Tenorio recalled. “Feeling ko kasi that night I was a failure to my family. Maraming tao yung nalungkot dahil sa akin.”
Tenorio hated the fact that he badly missed a layup that could have tied Game 6 of their semifinals series. He hated that he put his team in a difficult situation. After a split from the line from Justin Melton, Tenorio received the ball resolved to right his earlier wrong. He put his head down and ran right at the defense of Marc Pingris and Mark Barroca, the Mixers’ two best defenders. It was a commendable act of bravery but instead of putting his head down, Tenorio should have looked up at the scoreboard to see the tally.
They were down three and a converted layup would have done them no good.
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Tenorio missed the layup. He stared at the flabbergasted faces of his teammates and realized his error. The point guard kicked the padding at the bottom of the basket and disappeared from the court.
He couldn’t leave soon enough.
After the game, the usually approachable Tenorio passed up on all interviews. “Ngayon lang ako magpa-pass sa inyo,” he explained; an admission that was received well by the media who were eager to know what was on his mind during the game’s last play.
Tenorio escaped questions that he didn’t want to answer from the media but text messages from haters were too many to black out. “I made the biggest mistake of my career. Aminado naman ako na mali ko talaga pero maraming nagtetext sa akin na di magaganda,” he said. “Nagugulat ako kasi di ko naman alam kung kanino number yon.”
“I slept siguro 4 am na,” Tenorio admitted. “Actually di ko pinanuod yung replay. Usually I watch the tape kung ano yung nagyayari sa amin, kung anong nangyayari sa game. Iniisa-isa ko yan. Pero yung game na yun di ko talaga pinanuod.”
He wanted to forget. He wanted to sleep. But the gravity of the situation kept him up. The guilt of losing an important game was stronger that the purest shot of San Mig Super Coffee for the Ginebra point guard.
“Gusto ko nang itapon yung nangyari. Pero pagpikit ko yung lang yung naiisip ko.”
Tenorio had barely four hours of sleep but as soon as he opened his eyes, the proud father immediately looked for his kid.
He might have felt like a failure but in his baby’s eyes he still could no wrong. To his kid, it didn’t matter if Tenorio scored two or 20 points. It didn’t matter is he sank the game winner or committed the game’s biggest blunder. It didn’t matter when he won and it didn’t matter when he lost.
The kid’s belief in Tenorio was pure. And at that point, it was exactly what the player needed; a reminder that there are people out there are willing to look past his imperfections and give him one more shot at making things right.
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As he left their home, more and more people encouraged Tenorio.
“After the game, walang kumausap sa akin,” he said regarding his teammates. They knew he needed space and they gave it to him. During their Sunday practice, Tenorio’s teammates and fans did all they could to cheer him up.
“Sabi ni Mac (Baracael) sa akin, di naman daw dapat nangyari yun kung di niya pinatira si James (Yap). Pero sabi ko sa kanya ‘Mas gusto ko nang nasa akin yung sisi kesa sa inyo kasi baka di niyo kayanin magpakamatay kayo. Ako sanay sa dito,’” Tenorio joked.
“Nakakataba ng puso yung nangyari. A lot of people texted me, encouraging me. Even Ping (Marc Pingris), sinabi niya sa akin na nangyayari talaga yun,” he added. “Yung mga taong ganun, yung mga taong sumusuporta sa akin, nakakagana ulit. Oo nangyari yun pero meron pa ring mga taong nagtitiwala."
But nothing affected Tenorio quite like the open letter written by his fan Erson Villangca.
“Pinasa sa akin ng friends ko, tapos sa practice ang daming fans na nagprint ng kopya,” Tenorio said. “Before the game siguro mga three times ko binasa yung letter. Kaya nga yung game na yung dedicated sa mga taong sumusuporta sa akin.”
Before the game, Tenorio met Villangca and personally guaranteed him tickets to watch Game 7 of the semis. The player held true to his promise. They forced a deciding game and his new favorite fan will be there to watch him.
“Siguro sign na rin yung from God na dapat bumaba muna ako, na isipin ko rin yung mga tao sa paligid ko,” he closed. “Masaya ako na may Game 7 pero di pa kami tapos.”
