BEIJING?The way the RP Olympic contingent was peddled to an excited public, the elusive first gold medal could be only one lucky text message away.
Or, as RP chef de mission Monico Puentevella had bragged, the Philippines needed only one good draw to progress toward the dream gold.
Sorry, but after getting his wish and drawing a relatively light first assignment, boxer Harry Ta?amor, the country?s strongest hope for a medal here, wilted instantly and lost his fighting wits once inside the ring.
The result was a tragic upset whose aftershock was felt with jarring effect all the way home.
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The setback disturbed everybody who had a stake in the RP campaign, including the country?s chief executive.
The Ta?amor result also showed that RP?s first gold could be millions and millions of text messages away.
In fact, boxing superhero Manny Pacquiao, himself terribly disappointed, readily offered to run the national amateur boxing machinery in order to help discover and develop future Olympic medalists.
There was a prompt and popular call for Manny Lopez, head of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, to step down.
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He could have asked for Lopez?s head.
But ever the gentleman, Pacquiao telegraphed his message by offering to help and reform the beleaguered boxing agency.
Sad to say, there were thousands and thousands of disappointed sports fans out there who wanted to scream and make their displeasure heard.
Yes, there?s no longer a need to request the Social Weather Stations to do a poll on how badly the Pinoy sports fan feels about the shameful performance of our athletes here.
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In fact, we have with us an unhappy heap of Olympic-related messages emanating from home sources.
This one from our friend Boy Fernandez, owner of world-class Rommel billiards tables, takes the cake in projecting the pitiful fate of the RP contingent here:
“No medal again. Wala na naman nakuha sa Olympics. OK, let?s call for the resignation of the head of the Philippine Olympic Committee. Let?s not entrust our athletes with the government. Let?s trust ABS-CBN and GMA-7 instead. For the Olympics, padala nila si: CAPT. BARBELL for weightlifting; DYESEBEL-swimming; PALOS-track and field/marathon; ASERO-boxing; KUNG-FU KIDS-taekwondo; LASTIKMAN-gymnastics. Sure dito gold medal, ito real DREAM TEAM.?
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This next one was sent by a dedicated sportsman, Atty. Sammy Estimo, many time captain of the RP team to the World Chess Olympiad:
?We will pray hard for our athletes. The incentives promised them by the government and the private sector won?t help them win gold medals. We have powerful prayer warriors in our group who will storm the heavens with cries and prayers for RP to win its first Olympic gold.?
That was sent to us on Aug. 10, the day we left for this capital.
It was already too late before lawyer Estimo realized that even the sincerest of prayers won?t help.
Here?s his latest message:
?You?re right, we can still bring home gold from Beijing if we steal Mao?s gold teeth from the museum. The master thief in the palace by the Pasig can do it, with Ben Abalos as lookout. Joc Joc Bolante will then finish if off with a sprint! He, he.?
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He continues to weep for the poor RP contingent, confides two-time national bikathon champion Jess Garcia from Mangaldan, Pangasinan.
But how lucky could they be out there in Pangasinan, who all get a live 24-hour cable television Olympic feed, courtesy of Urban Satellite Television (USATV), owned by the family of Dagupan Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.
Cycling Jess says he stays up as much as 15 hours a day to watch the Olympics, with no good news whatsoever on the RP contingent.
His message: ?Keep lambasting these ?great pretender? RP sports officials. All they did was predict and get a free ride to the Olympics at people?s expense. But all our athletes flounder and fail because of their incompetence. Wala naman binatbat. Wrong system, wrong direction. They should be humble para hindi sila mapahiya. Keep punching.?
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From civic worker Nandy Charvet of Mandaluyong, an avid sports fan: ?Manny Lopez must be feeling very bad after reading your column. He might call a press conference to lecture on art and mediocrity.?
Well, we could go on and on, but still find no hint whatsoever on how to win RP?s first Olympic gold.
In closing however, here?s the chair of the Philippine Sports Commission, William ?Butch? Ramirez, on his plans when he returns home from here:
?If they will not make radical changes, we will focus our money for the establishment of the national sports institute and at the same time launch a genuine talent identification program to fortify our grassroots talent development system.?
You have not heard of this one yet, but our sports leaders, excluding Ramirez, plan to have another national sports summit next month to, oh no, find solutions to the Philippine sporting ills that they have allegedly rediscovered while here.
Their way of preparing for their free trip to London 2012.
