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Philippines, 24 Nov 2024 |
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INSIDE SPORTS: A DEEPLY EMOTIONAL CALLING By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sun, 06 Sep 2015  THE continuing campaign on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, castigating Philippine Basketball Association teams over their failure to release key players to the national pool preparing for the FIBA Asia Championships in China on Sept. 23, has brought into sharp focus the reality that the PBA or at least some of its team owners, don?t share the vision of the eminent businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the millions of Filipinos, who love the sport with a passion and have sustained their support for our national team. The cheering Filipino overseas workers at the games of Gilas Pilipinas in the Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei, win or lose, demonstrates a togetherness that is commendable. The graphic illustrations posted by average Filipino basketball fans and men and women who love our country and support our Gilas team and its individual members, as well as coach Tab Baldwin, no matter what the odds, send a telling message to those who simply refuse to set aside their rivalries in business and in sports for the sake of the country and its rightful place in the international arena. Let?s be honest. When the defunct and decrepit Basketball Association of the Philippines or BAP, led by a motley group of individuals with no sense of integrity, fell from grace of the international governing body ? FIBA ? as the Manny Pangilinan-led SBP put substance to its vision and redeemed our country?s stature in the basketball arenas of the world, there were those whose traits of jealousy surfaced with their actions, giving us an idea of how individual selfishness could set aside any over-riding commitment to a just cause of the Philippines. Regrettably, we see this in Philippine sports and in national society where some individuals and factions are showing an increasingly distressing tendency to divide rather than to unite and to try to tear down rather than to build. Making do with what he has in terms of players, coach Baldwin has done an amazing job, most important of which has been to build team chemistry and a deep sense of playing for each other and our country and savoring a sense of pride in so doing. Unfortunately, the unbridled pride shown by the players in the Jones Cup squad and the inherent pride and joy demonstrated by the fans in Taipei, who carry placards, cheer themselves hoarse and dance to the delight of the TV 5 panelists and the millions following the action on television, contrast dramatically with the senseless attitude of some PBA teams, whose personal peeves have engulfed them in an inexplicable reflection of utter pettiness that has drawn the ire of the public. A telling point in this entire episode has been the sterling qualities demonstrated by Los Angeles Lakers outstanding rookie Jordan Clarkson, who has committed himself totally to the national team and immersed himself in the vision of the SBP. Proud to be Pinoy and showing us by his actions on the sidelines of the Gilas bench that he has the inherent traits of a good and decent Filipino as he cheers his teammates on with rare enthusiasm and even serves as a water boy at times, makes those players, who failed to show the guts to tell their team owners what they want and to be ready to face the consequences, look like small-time mercenaries, who haven?t the courage to put the country?s calling over and above the demands of their teams and their management. Yet these same so-called PBA stars, whose very lives are protected by our men in uniform, who brave the dangers inherent in their job for which they earn a comparative pittance and at times die in the line of duty, simply haven?t the decency and good-sense to stand up and be counted in the service of our country. ?Para sa Bayan,? a deeply emotional calling apparently means nothing to these men and their managers, who continue to ignore the calls to re-think their position. They indeed are men with no sense of national pride! Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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