The Alaska Aces celebrated their 30th season in the Philippine Basketball Association with a team dinner at the Enderun College along Campus Avenue on McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio on Thursday.
We were eagerly looking forward to the occasion for an opportunity to congratulate the team for its exemplary performance through the years and the innate class that it has shown in victory or defeat.
The Alaska Aces have been a tribute to the PBA whose adherence to principles and rules and regulations has been questioned from time to time.
A stand-alone team surrounded by conglomerates that have spread their ownership to multi-faceted ownership investments, the Aces have stood their ground behind principles of ownership that do not allow for the wheeling and dealing that undermines the integrity of the league which is glaringly manifested in some of the player trades that violate intrinsic rules and regulations designed to even out the playing field.
Yet through it all the Alaska management has stood tall in its desire to project an image of fair play and sportsmanship and to abide by the values and virtues that should set sports apart from most other endeavors.
When Alaska has won championships it's because they deserved to. And when on occasions they lost, even if they didn’t deserve to, they took their setbacks with a dignified approach that reflects in remarkable fashion the kind of leadership shown by its anchor, Mr. Fred Uytengsu.
His steadfast commitment to the rules under which the games should be played and the league should be run, shines like a beacon at times in the dark nights of despair in the midst of all that is wrong.
Fred Uytengsu has his moments of weakness when carried away by the sometimes seriously questionable calls that go against his team and in favor of the more popular teams.
But his actions can be forgiven as those of a gentleman who desires to see players and teams judged on their merits and what they do right—or wrong—in playing the game we all love with an incredible passion.
We must confess that there have been times when we have taken issue with Mr. Uytengsu but it was never with the intention to embarrass him but rather to try and get him to effectively live with the times and the cultural weaknesses that sometimes creep into Philippine sports, perhaps unintentionally.
If there is one gentleman who has through the 30 seasons in the PBA set an example of decency on a consistent basis that individual must surely be Fred Uytengsu.
His players have shown a remarkable adherence to the spirit of fiercely competitive basketball and in the process have enhanced the integrity of the game in the PBA.
We sincerely regret our inability to share in the tribute to a team that truly deserves our remembering for the manner they continue to play the game and live up to the fundamental principles that must surely be the bedrock of any sporting endeavor.
30 years doesn’t seem such a long time. But it’s a time that basketball fans had an opportunity to watch a team that has been a sterling example and a tribute to the men who play the game and those in the Alaska management who mold the character and the values that the Aces play and live by.
Our sincere congratulations to Fred Uytengsu and his charming wife and his son who seems destined to follow in his illustrious father’s footsteps.
