"Being in a Bubble isn't Easy" Jump Thru Hoops Discusses UST's Bubble Trouble

"This week has been bonkers!" That is how Aaron Atayde opened the conversation about what was happening in the local collegiate basketball the past week.

To simplify things, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers could face hefty sanctions for holding a "bubble" training in Sorsogon when they shouldn't be doing it at all. Five UST players have already left Espana led by CJ Cansino and Rhenz Abando. There were allegations that the players weren't treated well and that, there are former collegiate players who are now in the professional ranks who said that those UST players who complained about the "oily food" that they were being fed in Sorsogon, are "nitpicky"

The Growling Tigers' bubble trouble is just one of the topics that Aaron Atayde and Jinno Rufino discussed in last Tuesday's episode of Jump Thru Hoops as they tried to break down the different circumstances that led to the exodus of UST players trying to get playing opportunities elsewhere. While it's still unclear what kind of sanctions the school could face, the discussion revolved around the negative comments that have been said on the current UST players complaining about their food among others with Rufino pointing out that "it's not easy being in that kind of a situation" Some of the National Basketball Association (NBA) players inside the Orlando bubble are still struggling even they have been there for more than a month now. Rufino added that "They (UST players who were in the bubble) are probably suffering from mental health issues that we don't know about" For both hosts, the notion that former collegiate stars are trying to imply that current UST players should "undergo the same hardships they (former players) went through during their heydays in college" has no connection to the time we're all living in and most importantly, to the tricky situation that those UST players faced in Sorsogon. 

Aaron Atayde took a different path on explaining his thoughts with regards to the former college stars telling the current crop of UST players that "During our time, we did this and that" For Atayde, "If we keep on saying (during our time, this and that...), there will never be progress. We will never get better. If we only compare ourselves and limit what the future holds based on what we had, there'll never be growth" 

At the end of it, Atayde recognized the fact "when it comes to UST, this is going to be very, very difficult" as they await the sanctions from the concerned government agencies whose rules and regulations were the ones that UST allegedly violated with that Sorsogon bubble. Either way, it wasn't supposed to happen and now the investigation will try to determine who is at fault for this tricky situation. 

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