COVID-19 is that vicious, indeed. Surfacing worldwide in February after its discovery on December 17 last year in Wuhan, China, the virus virtually stopped all the biggest tournaments across the universe. It spared no one, from the British Open golf to Wimbledon to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
When the NBA (National Basketball Association) resumed, officials chopped down some 32 games to fit in its restart on July 31. Thankfully, the world’s No. 1 basketball tournament concluded its season some four weeks ago minus a major hitch, with the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Miami Heat 4-2 in the seven-game Finals for their record-tying 17th NBA crown with the redoubtable Boston Celtics.
And then the World Series was next, with the Dodgers defeating the Tampa Bay Rays of Florida by a similar 4-2 series victory to finally win the world baseball trophy in their third Finals appearance in the last four years.
But while the victory meant a lot more for Los Angeles—like establishing the California city of Hollywood glitz and glamor as the sports capital of the world—it was somehow marred by the inordinate indiscretion of Dodger Justin Turner.
The red-bearded third baseman was pulled out by team officials in the eighth inning, Dodgers leading 3-1, after he tested positive for infection.
He was whisked to an isolation room in Arlington, Texas, site of the baseball bubble.
But in a burst of madness that defies logic, Turner reduced his 14-day quarantine to just an hour or so, bolting his quarters and—horror of horrors—joining his teammates in the Dodgers’ victory celebration at the Texan diamond.
And, shocker of shockers, he was mostly without a mask when he hugged his teammates, his teammates’ wives and children, his coaches and the entire Dodgers’ staff. His wife, Kourtney, could only look in disbelief.
One thing I’m sure of: Turner wasn’t only selfish, he was unprofessionally reckless and disrespectful of his teammates’ rights to live safely amid the pandemic curse.
I pray there’s not a single person inside the Philippine Basketball Association bubble in Clark Freeport, Pampanga, who could be as wildly immature as Turner. Oh, yeah, none yet, even as the PBA has had to endure two postponements already due to false alarms on infection rumors. I hope it stays that way up to November 11, the targeted date of completion for the compressed eliminations leading to the Finals.
Let’s be serious, fellas. The virus is no frigging joke.
THAT’S IT I watched San Miguel Beer’s 90-88 overtime win over Blackwater on Tuesday, the super lucky Beermen escaping the upset scare again when Elite Ed Daquioag lost his footing while trying to drive for the hoop against man mountain Mo Tautuaa. Too bad because Daquioag tied the count at 84 with his banked three-point shot at the 1:17 mark of regulation in the first morning game in 45 years of Asia’s first play-for-pay league. Von Pessumal was SMB’s co-hero with Tautuaa (26 points, 14 rebounds), making it 90-88 with a free free throw after plucking Daquioag’s flubbed go-ahead open-wide jumper and next drawing a foul with 1.7 seconds left. Mike Tolomia missed Blackwater’s winning three from behind the centerline at the buzzer, giving the next-round bound Beermen their solid 5-2 record.