Let's rewind back a little.
It's was obvious from the third minute, when a total of three players and the Phoenix head coach were all sent to the dugout, that it was going to be a contentious ballgame.
Calvin Abueva was at the heart of that scuffle too, when he pushed one of the Semerad twins away from Rob Dozier, triggering a near free-for-all that escalated when Phoenix head coach Louis Alas pushed David Semerad on the chest and Semerad flopped like crazy to draw a disqualifying foul on the coach.
But with Talk 'N Text in control for most of the game, it seemed like there would be no more fireworks...until Abueva decided that if his team couldn't win the ballgame, maybe he could still win the mind game.
He started hounding TnT's prolific import Terence Jones, leading to a pushing situation where Jones fell to the ground and then poked Abueva right on the groin as he stood up, causing Abueva to topple over.
Right at the very next play, well...take a look yourself.
Two days later, Abueva is suspended indefinitely, has to pay a total of Php70,000 for his clothesline hit on Jones and subjecting Maika Rivera (Rayray Parks' girlfriend) to lewd gestures. This is aside from the Php20,000 fine his own team, Phoenix, levied on him for the same incident.
So, justified or not?
My honest opinion: very much justified. The clothesline hit alone on Terence Jones warranted a suspension, as it was not only a non-basketball play, it was also a very dangerous one.
Couple that with the fact that Abueva is a chronic offender, someone who is known to get under his opponents' skins using very dubious methods. There's a reason the Australian team pointed at Abueva as the person who started the "Brawl in Bocaue", saying his antics (like tripping the Aussie players) during warm ups was the act that started the game off on a bad note.
Abueva needs to get his temper, his aggression, and his game under control. If he doesn't, we may be looking at the possibility that he may never play in the PBA ever again.
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