UE’s Unigames apology rings hollow
Some apologies are so lame, they themselves require an apology.
A prime example would be UE's rather lackluster attempt to say sorry to the Unigames organizers.
As you probably know by now, the UE Red Warriors Basketball team skipped Sunday's Final match of the Sandugo Unigames in Bacolod because they were slated to play in the Asian University Basketball Championship in Taipei.
In a letter to Unigames president Roger Banzuela, UE's Dr. Jesus Tanchanco, who is apparently both team manager and the head of marketing for UE, wrote "It is with much regret that we had to leave the UniGames sooner than anticipated last Saturday night and thus miss on our shot at the finals the next day. This is due to our earlier commitment to the Asian University Basketball Federation (AUBF) to represent not just UE but the entire country in the Asia-wide AUBF tournament this end of October up to early November in Taipei.
"We are also representing the Philippines and Southeast Asia in the AUBF this week in the wake of the UE Red Warriors' winning of the championship at last September's Southeast Asian leg of the ongoing 9th AUBF tournament.
"We had to make the difficult decision of forfeiting our chances at a UniGames title in favor of proverbially carrying the Philippine flag as we compete against the respective national teams of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea this week. We apologize for this inadvertent turn of events to you and to everyone who may have felt let down in the process.
"We in the UE community and the Red Warriors team have long had a high regard for the Unigames, as witness UE's participation in its various tournaments through the years (sic). Yet we also did not anticipate the overlapping of schedules of the Unigames and the AUBF this weekend."
"We do wish that, this episode notwithstanding, the UE Red Warriors would be given the honor and privilege of participating in future Unigames basketball tournaments―for we shall always remain ardent aficionados and disciples of college basketball."
UE's no-show was unacceptable, but Mr. Tanchanco's words only make it worse. They are problematic for me on several levels.
Firstly, he seems to lack a sense of responsibility for the whole thing, that it was somehow unavoidable.
It's like he says, "I was walking down the street one day, minding my own business when all of a sudden, this scheduling conflict kind of just swooped down on me unannounced."
Not so. For sure they had known that there might have been a conflict. This was entirely UE's doing. It is implausible to think that they "did not anticipate the overlapping of schedules."
Perhaps they didn't believe that their team could go all the way? A dangerous and unfair thought.
I was with Philippine Volcanoes coach Expo Mejia yesterday. He is going with the National Rugby Union team to Singapore for the qualifiers of the Rugby 7s World Cup.
When I asked him how many games the Philippines would play in the two-day tournament, he said flatly "six games." (Rugby sevens matches are fourteen minutes long.)
When I asked him for specifics, he explained two group games, with the top two reaching the quarters, then semis, then the final.
Now that's a coach who believes in his team.
Imagine what the UE team might have felt going to Bacolod, knowing that they have to leave on the day before the final. Knowing that their program doesn't quite believe in them. That can't be right.
I also take issue with Dr. Tanchanco's emphasis on how the team is representing the Philippines, and in fact all of South East Asia, even going so far as to enumerate the national teams they are to face.
The message to Unigames is clear: "Your competition is nothing compared to this International event. Sorry, we'd rather play for a more prestigious title than your little backyard tilt."
Tanchanco also refers to the Taipei tournament as an "earlier commitment," in a sense saying that the Unigames should take a back seat since it was presumably the "later" one.
The Unigames deserves better than that.
Another reason why UE shouldn't have tried to play in both tournaments is that the travel sched surely wouldn't have helped their cause. Even if they had lost the semifinal, they would have had to schlep to Manila then fly to Taipei. That couldn't have been good for the team. A weary UE might now flame out in Taipei.
But in reality, this could have been avoided even if they were in Bacolod already. If they wanted to, they could have discreetly tanked the semifinal against Ateneo. Perhaps started their rookies, or used a bizarre substitution rotation. Maybe play Roi Sumang at center? I dunno. Something. Anything.
There might have been some discontent among the players, or some eagle-eyed observers might have smelled something fishy. But that would pale in comparison to the imbroglio they are in now.
UE's snub is disrespectful not only to the Unigames, Sandugo, and Bacolod sports fans but also to the other teams. Ateneo must feel cheated. Ditto for NU, who now take their second Unigames crown in a row, but have a gigantic asterisk stuck to it.
UE erred badly in this scheduling snafu, and they only made it worse with a poorly-crafted apology, where they even have the gall to ask that they get invited next year.
If it was up to me I'd ban UE from ALL Unigames competition for 2013, even the non-Basketball events. That would send a very clear message.
What UE should have offered instead was an unconditional mea culpa. We messed up. We shouldn't have tried to play in both events. There are no excuses, no explanations. It was a mistake and we are sorry. We won't do it again.
Instead we get Dr. Tanchanco's half-baked, roundabout and lamentable little missive.
If Dr. Tanchanco is indeed primarily responsible for the UE Basketball team then he needs to write another letter. This time to UE President Ester Albano Garcia, explaining what really happened. If there's someone he needs to write an apology letter to, it's her.
You can follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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