Alibi lets out stink in Philippine sports

EADING BACK issues of the INQUIRER, I came across a well-written editorial titled “Free fall” (Opinion, 12/29/13).

To quote the very first paragraph: “Gold is not all that glitters. This warped mutation of a popular saying can come only from the cynical minds of those who have made an art out of making excuses for the Philippines’ misadventures in international sports competitions.”

The editorial gets better. Its second paragraph pinpoints the latest misadventure. “The latest excuse, which came midway through the recent 27th Asian Games in Burma (Myanmar) beats everything else they’ve invented for its shamelessness. When it became apparent that the biennial event was not going to be the gold mine that it once was for the Philippines, the country’s top sports leader came up with the ridiculous idea that silver and bronze were just as good as gold... This science, popular in medieval times, is charlatanism today.”

The foregoing pointed comments highlight three things that smell to high heaven in Philippine sports.

The first is what could be referred to as the “reverse maturity” of a good number of our officials who got appointed on others’, rather than their own, merits—sans competence, common sense, or any idea of the job that they were undeservedly tasked with.

One cannot help thinking back to an Asian Games (again, Asian, not merely Southeast Asian!) held when I was a student and sat in awe at the exploits of such stars as, if memory serves correctly, Mona Sulaiman. In that Asiad, we ended up second to Japan, if I recall correctly.

The editorial says it all: “How can the powerhouse host of the 2005 Games sink so low in just eight years?”

The term reverse maturity earlier used here refers to the way officials play around “in” and “with” their exalted positions like children, coveting them like toys that they refuse to let go.

Just as these self-centered officials occupy undeserved positions at the expense of the national interest, (again, to use the words in the editorial) “all too often, (they) whine about lack of funds, about bum officiating of how host countries... are allowed by the rules to stack the odds in their favor.” In plain Filipino, “maraming dahilan” (all of them mere alibis). If we whine because we do not resort to such shenanigans, then it’s to our credit.

One is reminded of places where warning signs “Bawal umihi dito” (No peeing here) are hung. The signs themselves stink with the odor of urine—like our so-called “sports programs.”

While on the subject of foul door, the second smelly aspect of our culture is this perversion: A good number of us are able to keep the area right in front of our houses “clean.” That’s because we toss our garbage across the street to the area right in front of our neighbor! We boast of personally not smelling like foreigners allegedly do, but our surroundings are filthy due to neglect or “garbage-passing.”

The third and most obnoxious aspect in our culture is the gross injustice being done to our athletes. As the editorial so correctly points out, they “put their lives on hold, forsaking family, friends, studies and their youth, while their leaders bicker.”

With officials like that, who needs leaders?!