Different agenda

While there are many politicians whose love for sports is really genuine, there are also many who just want the publicity that will help them with their political careers.

There are so many of them both in the local and national levels and I always feel uncomfortable when I hear such people speak like they have all the answers to the woes of a sports organization.

Their influence might be helpful, but in most cases it is the influence of the sports body that is helping them. I am respectfully suggesting to the men and women, who we call honorable because of their elective positions to stay away from sports if their intentions are not pure.

The same goes to those who are not yet in office.

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With the political pot already starting to boil, we'll be hearing much of how some politicians are really dedicated to promote sports. That really has a funny sound to it and maybe if my parents had not taught me manners, I'd have laughed out loud in the middle of a speech made by a politician who is trying hard to be a sportsman during opening or closing ceremonies of tournaments.

The most abused phrase is "a sound mind and a sound body." If that phrase would die a little each time when it is used by the politicos in their speeches, it would probably have long died.

Please leave sports to those who really know about it.

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What really worries me is how some national politicians are now dipping their fingers (some have actually already gotten their hands wet) in the sports associations.

What is scary is that many of the leaders of the sports associations know the real agenda of these politicians and have not done anything about it. In fact, some of these sports leaders are the ones responsible for bringing in the politicians for their personal interests too.

The one who is under the spotlight right now is Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who was fired by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) as its president for joining forces with the Samahang Basketbolista ng Pilipinas (SBP) to form a national organization that shall hopefully be accredited by the world governing body for basketball -FIBA.

I know that the senator is an avid fan of basketball. In fact he used to run the San Juan team in the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). Another thing that I can remember is that he had many run-ins with opponents on and off the court.

Maybe he has gotten over that stage of his life and would like to move on. My unsolicited advice to the senator is to leave basketball to the leaders who have done something about it.

I wonder if he has done anything for the good of the people who elected him senator and now his focus on his job as senator will be further divided as he meddles into the affairs of the country's basketball body.

Maybe he has good ideas for the sport. If he does have, which I doubt, he can probably share it with the leaders who are already working like Commissioner Noli Eala of the PBA or businessman Manny V. Pangilinan or Ateneo's Jun Capistrano.

When there was an attempt by one group to install a non-judoka politician to head the Philippine Amateur Judo Association last year (or was it the other year), I strongly opposed the move since it was not what the sport needed.

Now, there are many sports organizations with non-performing politicians as leaders and I pity the honest-to-goodness athletes and sportsmen who suffer because of such.