MANNY Pacquiao returned to the country the other day, after facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the fight that was billed as the ?Fight of the Century?.
The Pambansang Kamao was given a hero?s welcome upon his return to the country, complete with motorcade and droves of people coming out to see the Sarangani Representative back in the country.
There?s just something odd about all the fanfare surrounding his return, once you take into consideration that he was utterly outclassed by ?Money? Mayweather in their match.
When you think about it, what exactly are we all trying to celebrate with his return to the country? The man told everyone to relax, and that he would win the fight. He didn?t deliver. What exactly is everyone excited about?
Some say that it is worth celebrating that he came out and tried to put on an entertaining fight for the fans while Mayweather was slowing down the action whenever he could.
Well, yes, that is admirable, but let?s be honest, that is not what we were all looking forward to. We had hoped to see Pacquiao knock Mayweather out and be the first one to hand him his first professional defeat.
When we didn?t get that, we looked for whatever pride we could salvage from it and magnified it, trying to cover up the fact that the fighting pride of our country was beat handily by his foe.
Others would say that even though he did not win, we appreciate him for at least trying. Again, let?s be honest, we wanted that win so bad. It?s a fact that we didn?t get what we hoped he would deliver, and once we saw that, we settled for whatever we could find to be proud of. The sad thing about this is, this isn?t the only time that people have done this.
Oftentimes, others are rewarded merely for trying, or for barely making the cut.
When we see that there are literally thousands celebrating despite a loss, we cannot help but wonder if we?ve raised a culture that celebrates anything that?s ?good enough.? Kids are raised being given an ?A for effort,? and are told that what they do is good enough even though they have not actually achieved what they aimed to do.
Oftentimes, people also make excuses for our politicians. When people complain that our politicians are not doing right by the people, some would say, ?they?re not perfect, but at least they (insert dated achievement here).? Hey, there is no problem about giving credit where credit is due, but isn?t it about time that we stopped giving people credit for what they tried to do, and actually saved it for when they actually accomplish something?
Think about it. What would our country come to if we constantly settle for what is ?good enough? and build a culture where someone who excels is not rewarded any more than someone who does just alright?
