THOUGHTS ON THE ASIAN GAMES
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 04 Oct 2014
There was a collective sigh of relief heard across the nation when BMX rider Daniel Caluag clinched a gold medal for the floundering Philippine campaign in Incheon.
There were still four boxers entering the semis at that point in time but considering the highly questionable decisions that marred the boxing competitions, Filipino sports fans wondered if we were about to see our worst ever finish in the Asiad.
We all knew Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga was in an impossible situation. He needed to knock out his South Korean opponent twice to secure a win. On second thought, that still would not have been enough.
We seemed to be headed into our best Asian boxing result since 1994 but the semi-final matches made the Godfather look like a Disney cartoon. Lone survivor Charly Suarez had to settle for silver in the finals.
The tale of Gilas turned into a melodramatic telenovela with a tragic ending. Now, that is a real Filipino story. I would like to thank all the basketball players and everyone involved for their sacrifice and effort. But judging from the comments made across the world wide web after the loss to Qatar, changes should be in order. Maintaining the status quo will not sit well with millions of Pinoy basketball fans.
Heavy losses were also suffered on almost all fronts.
I have nothing against Fil-foreigners playing for our country. In fact, I thank them for their service. But our sports leaders have made their recruitment into a convenient short cut instead of going on a comprehensive grass roots sports campaign.
I find it silly that we have pristine beaches but we have trouble producing world-caliber swimmers, beach volleyball teams and divers. There are many sporting disciplines that the Filipino can excel but is there anyone who is making an effort to teach and coach at the school or barangay level?
The lack of funds should not be made an excuse. There are poor African countries that do better than us during the Olympics. And anyone who has paid attention to the news this past year knows that there is a lot of money going around in the Philippines, it was just diverted into someone else's pockets.
I salute all our athletes who have tried their best despite being ill-equipped and lacking in financial support during training.
Sport is supposed to bring out the best in the Filipino. But the powers that be lording over the various sporting associations have once again compelled our athletes to bring knives to a gunfight. This is truly a sad reflection of our society.
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