What a Filipino was made of and also, who a Filipino was, or something to that effect (Filipinism? Nationalism? Patriotism?), was unleashed yesterday. The first was showing the character of the race, the second was taking sides with anything Filipino. Gilas Pilipinas redeemed itself – and the glory that went with it – in the 32nd SEA Games last night in its gold medal match against host Cambodia, 80-69, held in Phnom Penh.
There were anxious moments in the elims, semis, and finals for the Philippine national team, enough for both the supporters and detractors of winning coach Chot Reyes to watch the biennial games.
Bukod sa pag-ere ng One Sports live coverage nila Andy Jao aka “Dr. J” at Atty. Charlie Cuna, hindi nagpaiwan sa kanilang readers ang mga sportswriter sa paggamit ng Twitter para sa kanilang blow-by-blow accounts ng mainitang tagpo kung saan hihiranging hari ng basketbol sa Southeast Asia ang magwawagi. Heto ang ilan sa aking tweets 18-20 hours ago as of this writing:
“66-76 Cambodia freethrows coming up; 74-64 PH’s Marcio Lassiter fakes and makes it; 4mins to go; 64-72 Dorsey trey; Cambodia trails; 72-61 in favor of PH; 61-70 Cambodia trails with 5mins left; Perez triple, 67-59; 64-57 Gilas timeout; 64-51 PH on top.
“63-51 in favor of Gilas Pilipinas. Cambodia can hardly erase the lead. But for Coach Chot and PH, it’s hard to say they’re dictating on the tempo of the championship game.
“44-33 host Cambodia trails. 3rd Qtr shortly; Gilas Pilipinas enjoys a double-digit lead at half-time, 44-33 (unofficial count); Back-to-back steals by PH. Gilas up, 42-31; Lastimosa to Stan and ends with Brownlee’s follow-up dunk!; BGR gets up after Cambodia’s foul away from the ball. 10-pt lead for Gilas, 39-29; Lastimosa’s patience not to convert fastbreak points resulted in a 3-pt play for Standhardinger; Lastimosa jumps at the top of the key, 61-51; Cambodia hits 2fts, trails, 49-57; Ceejay Perez out, Jerom Lastimosa in; 3-pt play for Justin Brownlee, 57-47;
“Lastimosa sumayaw, 44-31 (ibig sabihin, sinayawan lang ng Adamson star ang depensa ng masyadong nagpalakas o reinforced team ng Cambodia na binubuo ng mga naturalized player kabilang sila Darrin Dorsey, Sayeed Pridgett, at Brandon Peterson).” Nakuhanan ito ng video ni Kristel SV ng Manila Bulletin, @kristelsports sa https://twitter.com/kristelsports/status/1658401310704812032?s=20
Ngunit dito ako naantig sa tweet (84 retweets as of this writing) ni Charles Tiu, coach ng Mighty Sports, College of St. Benilde Blazers, Gilas Pilipinas Youth, at isa ring basketball analyst ng CNN Philippines at PBA, @charlestiu:
“That’s why you stay humble when you win, especially in a nonbearing elimination round game. Humble in victory, gracious in defeat. Brownlee carried us again but Newsome was great! Marcio too as always and Lastimosa who many people criticized held his own!” (https://twitter.com/charlestiu/status/1658423541166145537)
Binati naman mismo ng mother league UAAP ang college players:
“Congratulations to the UAAP student athletes – Jerom Lastimosa of Adamson University and Michael Phillips of De La Salle University — who did us proud by winning Gold in the Men’s 5-on-5 Basketball at the Cambodia 2023 Southeast Asian Games!” (https://twitter.com/uaap_official/status/1658423835610476545)
Nakuha nawa ng mga magulang, lalo ng mga kabataang nangangarap maging sikat na manlalaro, ang aral mula sa tweet ng CSB coach. Sususugan ko:
Una, kailangang magpasailalim sa mahuhusay na coach. Pwedeng mag-coach ang magulang, pero may conflict of interest maliban sa mga kasong kahalintulad sa mag-amang (multi-titled coach) Norman Black at Aaron Black. Makakasanayan ng nakababatang manlalaro ang pagkilala sa impluwensya sa palaruan at koponan sa magaling na coach. Hindi lang kikilala, kundi gagalang din sa pasya ng coach, matututunan ang tamang pakikihalubilo sa kapwa manlalaro, coaching staff, manonood, may sponsor man o wala.
Pangalawa, kailangang pangatawanan ang pagiging student-athlete; nag-aaral at pagkatapos ay naglalaro, hindi kabaligtaran (“athlete-student”). Siyempre, hindi maaaring kunsintihin ng magulang ang pagbubulakbol, cutting o pagliban sa klase, pagbibisyo, at mga kahanay na kawalan ng sariling disiplina ng bata. Isa, dalawa, o tatlong paalala ng magulang, dapat matauhan sa pagkakamali ang mag-aaral na manlalaro.
Pangatlo, kailangang pahalagahan ang mga pagkakataong makalaro – kahit ang mapabilang sa koponan – dahil sa bawat laro, laging merong pagkatuto. Manalo o matalo, ang mahalaga’y ang pagharap sa hamon. Huwag sasangguni sa maling mentalidad na “win at all cost” kundi mapanatag sa turo ng Ateneo, “Win or lose, it’s the school we choose.” Ang Diyos naman ang nagkakaloob ng kasanayan at pagkakataon, kaya huwag sasabihing, “kaya ko na ito.” Nakakatuwa ngang sa bawat panayam sa “player of the game” kay Steph Curry, inaalay niya ang naipanalong laro una sa Diyos, pangalawa sa pamilya, at sa mga sumusubaybay sa NBA at sa kanyang koponang Golden State Warriors na parang kailan lang ay sunod-sunod ang kampeonato, ngunit ngayo’y nalalaglag na sa playoff. Kunsabagay, galing din naman sa ganoon si GOAT (greatest of all time) Michael Jordan na nagwika: “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Maging sa kanayunan, sa Visayas at Mindanao, may pag-asa. Kailangang bigyan sila ng pag-asa sa pamamagitan ng pagsuporta sa mga hindi kalakihang liga nang sa gayon, maipakikita nila ang kanilang angking gilas, tapang, at talino sa paglalaro na ang akala ng marami ay matatagpuan lamang sa KaMaynilaan. Mali. Nataong hindi pantay ang pagbibigay ng oportunidad sa kanila tulad sa komersyo, sentral na kapangyarihan sa pamamahala’t pulitika, atbp.
Sa pagkikita nila eventual 3-on-3 amateur tournament MVP Omie Espino, sponsor Jahzzi Mertalla, organizer Marvin Alon-alon, Juan Rosellon, Rommel Bustamante, Marvin Hiloc, Owen Amion, Chie Macalinao, at Rolly Miña, masasabing masarap maglaro o kumuha ng benepisyong pang-ehersisyo ng mga naiipit na laman sa bisig at binti mula sa mga palaro. Humarap din sila sa dating paaralang kinikilala nila noong hindi matalo-talo, pero sila na ngayon ang nagwagi sa 5-on-5. Wala lang (“nothing to lose”). Masarap kasing pagkasyahin ang kasiyahan sa pagsasamahan ng dating magkababata at ito’y naipakikita sa mga susunod na henerasyon na “all is well that ends well,” ika nga. Meron kasing mga tumanda lang sa laro, pero walang pinagkatandaan (nananakit pa rin ala-Jawo, pero nagpakatino rin naman ang dating senador, hindi lang sa pagko-coach). Ang masakit na kaso ay doon sa mga tumambay nang matagal na panahon hanggang tumandang mga tambay, daig pa ng mga nasa piitan o persons deprived of liberty na naghahanap ng ipagbabanat ng buto.
We also win it all for the would-be Filipino student-athletes.
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
