Hoop dreams

By now, Rafe Bartholomew’s book (Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin’ in Flip-Flops and the Philippines’ Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball) is already familiar to Filipinos. It’s a deeply researched, warmly felt and funny account of the Philippines and its passion for basketball. But it goes further: Bartholomew doesn’t follow the route of most parachute journalists, turning the country’s quirks and oddities into its essence; he really gets it. Rafe was immersed here for three years, writing, researching and watching Filipinos play basketball. He even learned Tagalog, for Pete’s sake, something many foreigners living here (ahem) never quite manage. The 28-year-old Fulbright scholar was on leave from his editorial duties at Harper’s magazine recently to take Pacific Rims on the road — back to the Philippines, in fact, where National Book Store helped launch it in Manila and Cebu with typical flair.

On my way to the interview, I passed a huge display outside a Converse sneaker store: an enormous Pegasus horse model, made up of hundreds upon hundreds of glued-together Converse soles (and clearly sculpted by a rabid basketball fan). Just the sort of detail that Bartholomew might see as evidence of the Philippines’ enduring love of the game.

Holed up in an Italianni’s booth in Gateway Mall a while later, the 6’3” Bartholomew talked about his research, Ateneo’s chances this year, his fondness for the Philippines and the difficulties of being a pedestrian in Manila.

What does Pacific Rims tell Filipinos about themselves that they might not already know?

RAFE BARTHOLOMEW: A lot of people may not know about how basketball was brought in as a sport for girls at first; and some younger basketball fans might not know about the history; about the country’s dominance in early Asian basketball— they might not know much about players like Caloy Loyzaga or Narciso Bernardo, the early Olympians. Also, it might remind people of how special and unique their relationship with basketball is. I’m pretty sure there’s no other country that loves basketball on the scale the Philippines does. You know, after rice, it’s up there on the short list. I think it might sort of remind people that they’re part of this special basketball culture.

Where did you live in Manila and how did you research the book?

I lived in Katipunan, right across from Ateneo. Ateneo sponsored my research, at least the first year, I was on a Fulbright scholarship. I used their library, UP’s, other universities let me in to research.

I read old newspapers and magazines, it helped me piece together the history since the ‘70s through the late ‘90s. Then a lot came from interviews, I would talk to older players, they would fill in a lot of the details. That was the mix. I would get the basic skeletal outline then talk to people who knew about it.

Did you walk around with a notebook a lot, checking out street games?

I’d usually just write up things at the end of the day. Sometimes I was doing more formal work, like when I was following the team, I had a notebook all the time, I was constantly writing everything. For some of the more personal stuff, I’d just write at the end of the day, I was blogging back then, so I had some of it recorded there. A lot of it was just such a part of my everyday life that I knew it as much as anything else.

Did you know before you got here that this might be a book?

I wasn’t sure. I was hopeful. I thought it was interesting enough, I knew for Americans, it had this unexpectedness that would make it possible to maybe turn it into a book, but I didn’t know what I would find, so I had no way to be sure. After six to eight months, I got the feeling there was definitely enough there and I wanted to go for it.

What kind of tipped you off about the Filipino passion for basketball?

A book called Big Game, Small World by a Sports Illustrated writer named Alexander Wolf. There was a chapter on the Philippines that sort of launched me into it. There were details that I’m pretty much used to seeing by now, but having not been to the country and not knowing about it, it blew my mind. Stuff like kids playing in tsinelas, building their own hoops, polishing backboards. Just the details were really inspiring.

Were you surprised by local fans’ attention to stats and details?

Yes, and it’s tough because it’s hard to keep track of. The PBA’s head statistician helped me a lot with the book, when I was researching here, I went to his house, but he’s a stickler, so I knew if there was anything (wrong), he would be on top of me. Luckily I got most things right, there was one clarification he gave me about the scoring average of Billy Ray Bates, which was “the highest scoring for any import who played at least 100 games.” There are other imports who played fewer games with higher scores.

You observe in the book how Filipinos use basketball moves in everyday life — like the way balikbayans tend to “box out” at airport carousels when waiting for luggage. Any other everyday moves like that you noticed?

I used to commute a lot, I would transfer from LRT2 to MRT, the part where you walk through Farmer’s Market. It gets pretty narrow and there’d be a lot of people, and every once in a while I’d see someone do a pretend spin move to get through the crowd. They’d be like, “While I’m worming my way through, I’ll practice this basketball move.”

Would you say showmanship is a big part of the way Filipinos play ball?

I get the feeling showmanship is common in other aspects of Filipino life. But things like the circus lay-ups (in chapter one of Pacific Rims), that’s one of the best, most authentic reflections of how Filipinos have sort of tweaked basketball to suit themselves. There are shots you don’t see anywhere else. It’s crazy, it looks like a “Hail Mary” (desperate) play, but they go in regularly, so it’s not. American players finish above the rim, they dunk, it’s sort of a power thing. But Filipino players don’t have that option. So they have to come up with other ways. It’s basically like jerry-rigged basketball. Most people I talk to think there’s something unique about the way Filipinos do it.

Did you drive while in Manila? That’s a whole other sport…

No, but I have some good pedestrian experiences. I used to play at this gym on C5 called Club 650. I would take the jeep going down C5 then just get off near one of the places where there’s just a hole in the fence, and I’d have to Frogger my way across. There’s no lights anywhere, and the only walkway is up near Eastwood. So I’d have to scoot across the street. Those were some of the scariest crossings I’d have to do. It’s sort of like trying to read the intentions of the driver while you’re crossing over: Is this the kind of guy who would run me over, or let me go?

Did you uncover any tall tales about Philippines basketball while researching the book?

The main one that’s not true is the player who claims to have taught Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the skyhook. And it would be awesome if that were true, it would be a great feather in the cap of Philippine basketball. But when this guy was playing with the national team and traveling through the States, Kareem was still in high school. I had to look that one up, that one’s not true. But in terms of the tall tales about people’s devotion to basketball, it’s pretty hard to exaggerate that stuff. And what I heard before only hinted at the extent of the sport’s grasp on people.

Do you think the NBA has too big an influence here?

The reason some people criticize the reliance on the NBA as a model for Philippine basketball is it sort of puts the Philippines one more step back in terms of international competition. There are different rules in the international game, it gives the players one more thing to adjust to, and they don’t have a big margin for error — you know, Lebron James can figure it out as he goes along at the Olympics, but the Filipino players are kind of underdogs, so they want to give themselves the best shot they have.

One of the things I found sort of inspiring is the way that basketball has taken on its own life here. The sport got here so long ago, in the early 1900s, before the NBA was in existence and long before the NBA became a global corporation that was eagerly trying to promote itself all over the world, so basketball had a chance to incubate on its own and develop, set its own roots, so there’s a Philippine style of play, a Philippine ethic to basketball, this very homegrown Philippine side to the game, even though it is an American import.

You could say the same thing about the English language.

Yes, yes.

Do you think the Philippines should focus on other sports? Aim for the Olympics instead of just focusing on PBA?

I’m not sold on the idea that (the Olympics) is the most important thing for Philippine basketball. To me, the inspiring thing about Philippine basketball was not even the elite stuff, it’s the stuff that happens on the street, at the grass roots: no matter where you go, the fact that people are playing almost every day, they’re playing no matter what kind of ball they have, or what kind of facilities or shoes, or wherever they live — I’ve seen basketball courts on boats. That’s the inspiring thing for me.

So what are Ateneo’s chances this year?

I haven’t been following as closely the UAP as much as PBA since I’ve been home. I’ve been streaming PBA games, watching those. From what I understand it’s a rebuilding year for Ateneo. I know for the resources they’ve put in and the expectations of the alumni, there’s no such thing as a rebuilding year, but I think after back-to-back championships and all the recent success, if they don’t win the championship this year, which they don’t seem to be favored to do…

That’s a lot of qualifiers…

There are a lot of passionate fans. (Laughs) If they don’t win, they won’t be too concerned. But next year, I bet the expectations will be right back up there.

Think you’ll do another sports book?

I don’t know if I’d like to apply a formula to this one. This one came together sort of perfectly for me. Basketball is my sport. This one was like a perfect confluence of things.

You won’t find any other cultures where people love the sport like in the Philippines?

I don’t think so. I’m convinced that I will not. At this point, I’ve seen here so much, developed a good enough grasp on issues here, that I’d kind of prefer to write more about the Philippines. I hope so.

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Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin’ in Flip-Flops and the Philippines’ Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball is available at National Book Store and other bookstores.