See how they run

For these intriguing specie of competitors, the next following months will be challenging and when the new year comes, it becomes more expensive, more taxing, more deceitful and more hypocritical until the final whistle had been blown.

Different sports have different seasons, with most dependent on natural weather patterns. Some of these sporting seasons go for a few months, others going for 10 months. We have winter and summer sports in North America, Europe and some parts of Asia. In tropical countries, sporting season is year-round.

This particular competitive season takes three years to complete the cycle. We have participants who can barely walk yet, surprise, surprise, they also want to run. We have ambitious youngsters still wholly clueless on what they’re jumping into just because their elders are also into the race or had been in one. Yes, competition is from the pediatric to the geriatric, from the sublime to the borderline lunatic and everything and anything else in between. They submitted their lineups for their teams a few weeks ago for the battle ahead come May of next year. So here we go again.

In this national pastime, fair play is non-existent and if you don’t play crooked, say goodbye to your dreams of

winning. We’ve heard all of their crap and after the smoke had cleared, except for a few who stayed true to their words, things mostly get crappier. Of course, how else can these unprincipled fellows recover resources they had given away during the crap war.

We are in a sports column so I would very much appreciate if our “runners” would find some time to direct their attention to their community’s sports programs.

A good number of these entrants are sports people. Because of their backgrounds, these sports personalities have their fans, their ready followers and getting elected into different positions gets a bit easier. But rare are the sportspeople in public office who had focused their concern on the matter. Some had handled committees completely opposite from their fields that addressing matters pertaining to sports and fitness are given token recognition.

High ranking officials of the country’s different sporting agencies had also filed their certificates of candidacies and not a few of them callously luxuriate in the lounge of controversy. Athletes had aired their sentiments towards these officials but they are prevented to air their gripes and what’s on their minds. These officials ask too much from their athletes yet give too little and when they perform well and do a podium finish, they readily grab the credit.

We had elected sports personalities into congress and to the senate and with the current situation of the country’s sporting agencies, there’s still too much to be desired. If only televised senate inquiries and congressional hearings translate to

athletic excellence, we could have surpassed mighty China in sporting dominance. I will be assuming that the institution for sports and health initiated by an athlete-senator somewhere up there in Luzon is nearing completion.

But there are candidates whose concerns are really for the welfare of the athletes. These people had actually been there, trained, sacrificed and agonized thru mediocre government support, poor nutrition and insufficient equipment and facilities. They had experienced the actual mismanagement of whatever these officials get hold of. Only these people can relate and only these people can introduce reforms. Sadly, the system is already corrupted that individuals with good intentions find it best to steer clear than be demonized by the structure.

It’s a folly to say to choose wisely because no matter how qualified and deserving our favored bets may be, he who has the clout, muscle and resources, but not necessarily the brains, almost always prevail. In this dirty game, money always talks, bullcrap walks. The mighty gets mightier, the lowly forever gets exploited and strangled by those with misguided ideals. Sadly, they include some men and women of the cloth.

We could be hoping against hope but who knows, let’s see how our bets run and maybe with some stroke of celestial destiny, they will ascend to office bringing with them reforms the country’s sporting agenda badly needs.

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