BasketBitterness

I'm posting my reply to Howie Severino's 6/12 blog entry about football (yep, the guy from GMA7 maintains one):

the more i read your comments, the more i realized how philippines is such a place of hopelessness. for me, the economy in general is the only aspect of filipino life that provides a gleam of hope. the quality of life doesn't. while some may pinpoint that only given the right reforms and enactment of laws, the quality of life of every single filipino could improve, i think this could only take place on a miniscule level. perhaps i can say i've given up hope on the country even climbing up and improving so much to find its way out of the third world. in the same manner, politics also doesn't. i've given up on the idea of having a clean, corrupt-free, truly-democratic type of government. it has already become idealistic for me to even think that we could soon arise from the pit of impoverished life.

the most recent hopeless case i have encountered would be the hopeless case of football becoming the country's SECOND or even THIRD national sport. i never dreamed of football surpassing the overpopularity of basketball. i know that's just impossible. neither could it surpass boxing, i believe the second national sport. while many of you have pointed out that we can actually excel in football, even in the international arena, i guess i've already given up on the idea that this country would even pay close attention to the potential of our people, more so the beauty of the game. i think we have become real shadows of the americans. impossible to be detached from them. it's as if we would find ourselves wherever they are, whatever they do.

maybe as filipinos watch basketball games, whether the nba or the pba, they also have that dream, consciously or subconsciously, that one day we will emerge as one of the world's best. okay, maybe some don't. but i suppose it only becomes logical that we embrace the sport where we could do better at. in the same way that, as an analogy, students take a course in college in accordance with what they want to become in the future, also given that they are qualified to be there. isn't it logical that we embrace the sport which can help us boost our love for the country even more? isn't it logical that we embrace the sport which would and could bring back the spark to people's nationalism? if some are proud enough that philippines is one of the best in asia, wouldn't it be better to see that we're one of the best in the world in another sport?

i am not saying we ditch basketball. that would be plain stupid. i guess the only thing i'm asking for is that we set aside our narrow-mindedness and veer away from being single-focused. basketball and boxing are not the only sports. i think i appreciate boxing better than the former. simply because we are known for it worldwide. and it makes sense. even if it's the victory of only one person that brings people together, it still is indubitably a relevant matter. just imagine how passionate and proud each filipino could be to see 23 people emerge as victors in a sport almost the whole world loves. i myself would start being proud of being a filipino if that time comes.

i wrote a couple of entries in my blog about football and why we should love it. here are the URLs:

1
2
3

now tell me, am i reproachable for being bitter about basketball?