Last April 2, during the University of the East’s game against University of the Philippines in the UAAP, Red Warriors head coach Jack Santiago called for a timeout as their opponent’s lead ballooned to 29 points.
In this very same timeout, Santiago appealed to his players’ psyche to wake up as the Fighting Maroons, particularly, Ricci Rivero was having his way against the Red Warriors.
The former Green Archer assistant coach said among others, “Hey guys, ginagawa kayong katawa-tawa nitong si Ricci eh.”
Unfortunately, the referees misconstrued the words he said and mistook them for instructions to inflict harm on Rivero. Commissioner Tonichi Pujante, eventually, decided to post initially a two-game suspension, and upon UE’s initiative, it became one month.
He recalled, “Well, nung last season kasi di ba, I was given a two-game suspension by the UAAP Board. Although, I wrote a letter to review ‘yung sinasabi ko nga, it has been established. So, dun naman kasi taped na ‘yun; wala naman talaga ako sinasabi or anything, so we presented the video, and show it to the Commissioner’s Office.
“And, then na-serve ko na rin ‘yung suspension, but of course, the school. Di kasi, kumbaga they don’t tolerate ‘yung mga gan’ong action ‘no on my part. So the school itself decided to have its own investigation. So, ‘yung two-game suspension ko was extended into one month to give way for the school to have their own investigation. So, after that one month, they gave me a letter telling me to resume as the head coach. So, that’s it.”
Three months after, Santiago is back at the helm for UE in its FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup debut and would like to leave this past behind.
“It’s a bad experience for me, but we just need to move on,” he said.
With Season 85 just around the corner, both Santiago and the Red Warriors are out to redeem themselves starting with these preseason tournaments.
For his part, the former Mapua Cardinal believes that, “It’s a bad experience for me, but we just need to move on anyway na-serve ko naman ‘yung ano. Sabi ko nga, it shows naman dun sa video na wala naman talaga ako sinasabi, so kaya lang, it’s a decision of the commissioner, so wala naman tayo magagwa dun diba?
“But, at least, I redeemed myself ‘cause the school nga had their own investigation, so yeah.”
On the other hand, the Red Warriors are looking to step up their game after dealing with a winless record last season 84 and losing their main point guard Clint Escamis.
“Well, actually right now, we are in the work in progress kami ‘yung team. We have a lot of players na nawala, and then we notice we have a lot of fresh graduates from high school. So, of course, kahit ano sabihin mo they need a — kailangan pa nila matuto, they need to know our system, so it’s a work in progress right now,” he said.
Even after absorbing a 65-72 loss against Emilio Aguinaldo College on Monday, Santiago still has a spark to fire for his young players to overcome the challenges ahead of them.
“But, well, day-to-day basis kami; we want to improve every day, we want to correct kung ano dapat baguhin. And yeah, we are one; one unit kami as a team. We want our boys to be in shape. We want our boys to be ready this coming [UAAP] Season 85.”
—
The entire 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup will stream LIVE on Smart Sports Facebook page
