I recall it to be sometime in the last two or three PBA seasons when the "PG" rating was first flashed on the lower corner of the TV screen during PBA games. PG is supposed to mean "Parental Guidance" or the Tagalog version, "Patnubay at Gabay." I thought this to be a bit overboard. After all, these are "just games." Guys in shorts dribble, pass, and shoot the ball into the hoop, and whoever has shot the ball more times, tallying more points, wins the game.
Given the "simple" structure of the game, why would the guidance of parents/elders be needed for such a simple matter? Well, I am now convinced that when one is tasked with educating a new, young viewer of PBA basketball, explanations are often in order and guidance is definitely necessary.
In recent months, a 7-year -old fellow named Ignacio has gotten so engrossed in the PBA. He knows all the teams, the names of most players, and the team standings as they change from game to game, and is set on collecting all twenty of the PBA Trading Cards being sold at the game venues on gamedates. He asks questions all the time about what certain basketball terms mean, how the rules apply, why the referee made a particular call, etc. His parents must frequently explain and guide him.
Ignacio decided that his team of preference, at least for now, is San Mig Coffee (SMC). He loves Marc Pingris, and shouts "Big Game James" whenever James Yap makes a shot. When Rain or Shine narrowly defeated SMC a couple of weeks ago in come-from-behind fashion, Ignacio cried a little. He's an emotional little guy. Explanations of the "you can't win all the time" variety were needed at the time.
Sunday, 04 November, on its regular Sunday playdate, the league held a tripleheader — three games of competitive basketball to keep fans busy from the early afternoon into the late evening. The first game yesterday pitted Barako Bull against Global Port. As Ignacio watched intently, a fastbreak play happened, then all of a sudden huge Enrico Villanueva of Barako turned, struck Mark Yee on the chest with his forearm, then pulled back both his arms and let fly with a two-handed shove to the chest of Yee as a follow-up.
Enrico Villanueva didn't like Mark Yee's little push while he was airborne. (PBA Images)
The boy looked puzzled. "What happened," he asked. An intricate explanation, with the help of the slow-motion replay ensued. Yee had pushed Enrico from behind, a dangerous foul for sure, and Enrico reacted. The referees reviewed the video, made the calls and the game went on. Questions about the incident did not stop there, however. Yee, playing a great game offensively, continued his usual annoying defense, and Barako's Sean Anthony had to throw him off during one rebound play. Replays were shown. The boy had a puzzled look. Patnubay at gabay.
In the second game of the tripleheader, Rain or Shine went up against Meralco. Ignacio is very familiar with Rain or Shine, since it defeated SMC (then still the B-Meg Llamados) in the Governors' Cup Finals last season, much to his displeasure. He does have a certain liking, though, for Big Beau Belga because Belga plays hard and is tough. Well, the referees were pretty lenient in this game, because they allowed more than the usual physicality. Of course, Belga, JR Quiñahan, and practically everyone else on Rain or Shine, thrived on this and, to a certain extent, manhandled the Bolts in a blowout victory.
Some technical fouls were called and hard fouls abounded. Ignacio saw a replay showing Ronjay Buenafe hit in the face by a Belga forearm on a drive, then hit in the chest by a Belga elbow during the box-out on the very next play. Even usually serene Jeff Chan took time to throw dagger looks at Meralco's Cliff Hodge after one physical play.
Hodge, whom Ignacio also admires due to his early rookie success, hit the deck oh, maybe about twenty times, mostly due to chops and hacks and shoves, and sometimes because he dove for the looseball on purpose, as he loves to do. Ignacio said, "Belga and Quiñahan are being really rough today." Explanations about how one team tries to gain an advantage in whatever way it can and "testing the whistles" of the referees became necessary.
JR Quinahan's elbow welcomes Cliff Hodge to the pros. (PBA Images)
The third game, Ginebra San Miguel versus SMC, has been called the "Manila Clasico." The rivalry name already called for some explanation, as did the reason for Ginebra's immense popularity. Ignacio even asked about this guy named Jaworski and what connection he had to Mark Caguioa and the rest of the Barangay. Wow, the task of explaining and guiding was becoming very difficult. It was becoming a history lesson, but the eager student was more than willing to listen and learn.
When Dylan Ababou went down early due to an obvious injury, explanations about injuries were also in order. "But nobody hit him," Ignacio said. Well, those happen, injuries without having to get hit. He couldn't seem to understand, but he accepted the explanation.
At the end of more than six hours of basketball, Ignacio was happy because SMC had clobbered Ginebra. His favorite guy Pingris played well, as did PJ Simon, Big Game James and the guy he was referring to as "Devans", pronounced like "Evans". Joe DeVance was adjudged the Best Player of the Game and perhaps rivals Pingris now as Ignacio's favorite SMC player.
Marc Pingirs soars high for a one-hander. (PBA Images)
In the aftermath, it is very obvious that the proper guidance, advice, and explanations from elders are necessary even for what we may all deem as a simple game. Grown-up things happen when grown-ups play and children need to be properly informed, enlightened, and educated. Developing the love of children for sports can be enhanced by watching the games live or on television, but definitely, watching with them and teaching them is important. (Can you even imagine what they're absorbing without proper guidance from all those silly cartoons and video games?)
When DeVance suddenly brought out his Gangnam Style dance to celebrate the victory while being interviewed post-game, he brought an even bigger smile to Ignacio's face. Then the boy asked, "Why did he have to dance?" Uh, oh…his parents better be able to explain that one.
You can follow Charlie Cuna on Twitter @Charlie C.
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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