By Reuel Vidal

THE championship series between the Alaska Aces and the Talk N Text Tropang Texters took an ugly turn, when Ranidel de Ocampo smashed an elbow into the face of Sonny Thoss, last Friday, during Game 2 of the championship of the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

No flagrant foul was called on De Ocampo. Instead, Thoss was assessed a foul for hacking De Ocampo in a subsequent sequence of action immediately after the initial collision.

That the PBA referees and officials could brazenly pretend that De Ocampo elbowing Thoss in the face did not happen is already par for the course. Really, this happens regularly in PBA games. What surprised me was the sequence of events that followed.

With blood dripping out of both nostrils, Thoss walked deliberately to the Alaska bench, reclined his head on the railing and calmly let the Alaska staff attend to his injury.

It reminded me of the time that Robert Jaworski was also elbowed in the face during a game. I cannot recall who hit Jaworski, but I do remember that the Big J went out of the playing court to have his upper lip stitched and returned in the third quarter to lead his team to victory!

And so it went with Thoss and the Alaska Aces. After recovering from the blow, Thoss went back into the fray to help the Alaska Aces win, 100-91, and post a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff against TNT.

Thoss finished with 14 points, six rebounds and one assist.

Most importantly, Thoss continued to play his role to the hilt as if nothing happened. He didn?t go out of his way to retaliate. Certainly he wasn?t intimidated. And if he was angry then he did a magnificent job of channeling his anger to more constructive purposes.

Only De Ocampo and his conscience know for sure whether he intentionally hit Thoss in the face or not. Maybe he was just swinging around his elbows out of frustration? Or maybe he just plays that way and just likes to swing his elbows in front of him to intimidate anybody who guards him? Kung may tamaan sorry na lang, right?

But hey, if Thoss is willing to give De Ocampo the benefit of the doubt, then I guess I can do no less.

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And since we?re already on the subject of sportsmanship, I just read on the Internet that US athlete Shawn Crawford gave his Olympic silver medal to Churandy Martina, the sprinter who finished second in the 200 meters but was later disqualified for running out of his lane.

Crawford?s point was that Martina committing a violation was inconsequential to the result of the race.

Crawford said: ?I?m like, if a guy is 10 meters in front of me, I don?t care if he stayed in the middle of his lane. He was going to beat me anyway. He didn?t impede in anybody?s race.?

Crawford was the 2004 Olympic gold medalist. Martina finished in 19.82 seconds behind world record-setter Usain Bolt. Crawford?s time was 19.96.

Crawford continued: ?It wasn?t about doing the right thing. It?s just me as an athlete?I feel like we all compete and train for four years to get to the Olympic Games. Me being an athlete, I know how he feels. So I feel like it was left to me to give it up to him.?

I hope the lesson is not lost to De Ocampo, other athletes not only in the PBA, and the public at large.

Otherwise, is it okay to trip or elbow your opponents as long as the referees don?t see you? What?s next? Maybe, poison them in their sleep?

There are more important things like the respect of your fellow athletes who share the playing court with you and who like you are also doing everything in their power to win. It?s about setting parameters so that you all compete on even terms.

This is your job. This is your career. This is how you feed your family. Surely, you don?t want your competitors doing anything that could endanger your career and your life.

Winning isn?t everything. Competing fairly is.

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If you want to find out how I sound like, please tune in to the KBP Best Sports Program on the radio MBC Sports Center, 6:30 to 7 p.m., every Sunday, over the no. 1 radio station in the country dzRH, 666 on your AM dial. And for comments, questions and non-violent reactions, please send your e-mail to reuelvidal@yahoo.com or reuelvidal@gmail.com.