Editor: This is my first attempt at writing a letter to a newspaper.

I found it necessary, as the story “Basketbrawl at Montrose” was not only riddled with inaccuracies but it also became apparent that the writer had a hidden agenda as that story was an embarrassment to unbiased reporting. I will therefore clear up the situation and bring to the public what really occurred at the New Montrose basketball court.{{more}}

Firstly the referee made a huge mistake, which could have been avoided if they had done what they were supposed to do in the given situation. In the situation, the ball was thrown out of bounds by Xpert Computer Centre (XCC) Busta, and was Trotman’s Celebrity’s ball to inbound. At this point the coach of Busta; Wayne Williams, who is also the President of the Basketball Federation called a time-out, coming out of which the possession was to have been Celebrity’s. During the time-out, one of the referees was to go to the officials table and the other stay at the point where the ball went out of bounds, and where the game was to restart. This was not done, hence the litany of errors that occurred afterwards.

The referee proceeded to give the ball to XCC Busta and naturally this would spark off some controversy. It would be timely for me to add at this point that the score was XCC Busta 54 – Trotman’s Celebrity 53 and not the 57-56 score as was written by the writer. It was out of that possession that XCC Busta was able to score a basket and a free throw as well as Celebrity also scored. What the writer mentioned was the final score.

The referee took away the only advantage that Celebrity had and gave it to XCC Busta, and in any sport, a mistake such as that would spark off an investigation as it’s too blatant an error.

The writer in all his/her journalistic integrity did not mention that Celebrity had outscored XCC Busta by twelve (12) points in the second half, reducing a thirteen (13) point deficit to one (1) point. The players of Trotman’s Celebrity pleaded with the officials, letting them know that they were making the wrong decision by giving XCC Busta the possession but they did not listen. Even the table officials it appeared were more into the game than their responsibilities to the game. The one good thing is that the entire game is on tape and the Celebrity players were able to prove their point to the officials, but only after the game had ended (another point that the writer conveniently forgot to mention).

What followed the match were only the natural consequences of the error made by the referees, and the writer grossly exaggerated this. The writer then went on to say that XCC Busta won the game, so I will take a little time to teach the writer a few things about basketball rules. Trotman’s Celebrity lodged a formal protest on the game by signing the score sheet, thus making it impossible for a decision to be made regarding the game. What happens next with this game rests in the hands of the Games Committee, which is yet to meet. The coach of XCC Busta has since this match sent e-mails to members of the basketball fraternity and the media crowning his team champions, so I guess it is clear why the story took the angle it took.

Basketball Fan