What did Fabiosa whisper? (Oct. 4, 1982)

A fan described in detail the fight involving Crispa’s Bernie Fabiosa and Rudy Distrito and Toyota’s Francis Arnaiz and Abe King that marred their second elimination round match in the 1982 PBA Open Conference.

What did Fabiosa whisper?

Tempo

Published Monday Oct. 4, 1982

With 1:32 left of regulation period, all hell broke loose in the Crispa-Toyota game Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Four players — Francis Arnaiz and Abe King of Toyota, Bernard Fabiosa and Rudy Distrito of Crispa — were subsequently thrown out by the referees after the hardcourt scuffle.

What really happened? An eyewitness, Corazon Navarro-Reyes, who was seated at ringside near where the incident took place, related her story to Tempo.

“There was Fabiosa dribbling, then driving towards the goal, Arnaiz defending. There was an out-of-bounds or something, with the referee signalling a Crispa throw-in.

“But before play could resume, Fabiosa spat on Arnaiz’s shoulder. Arnaiz just wiped the thing off with his hand, but Fabiosa whispered something into his ear. In a flash, Arnaiz threw a punch at Fabiosa.

“King then rushed toward the two players. In the same incident, Rudy Distrito, who was on the Crispa bench, came charging into King with a flying kick. King, momentarily stunned, recovered his bearing and kicked back at Distrito.

“Pandemonium broke loose. Fortunately, the proverbial cooler heads intervened and the protagonists were prevailed upon to return to their respective benches.

“I was right when it happened, when it happened. The referees were partly to blame for the prevailing tension. Officiating was bad. That guy Victorino presided over Crispa’s collapse in the overtime period. He awarded an inbound to Toyota when it was clear that it was a Corolla who last touched the ball before it went out of bounds.

“That started Toyota’s offensive barrage in the extra period. Crispa was not in the game after that.”