On Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013 the Philippine team defeated Korea and after 36 years earned the right to compete again in the World Basketball tournament in Spain scheduled in 2014. A united nation cheered. It was more than just a basketball victory. It was national pride in a team that exemplified the best in Filipino heroism.
The team slogans said it all. LABAN (fight) was a term that became a battle cry when a united people, in the face of seemingly impossible odds, fought and won against the Marcos dictatorship. LABAN PILIPINAS was the battle cry of a physically small Filipino team fighting against the literally physical giants of Asia like Iran, China and Korea.
PUSO (heart) is the “never say ‘die†spirit that motivates a David against a Goliath. It is the spirit that drives an injury-plagued, depleted team to victory in a game it was not supposed to win.
Sports has a way of transforming people with no visible connection into a monolithic group bound by strong emotional ties. Nationalism and patriotism have, therefore, been a key factor in international sports. This is when athletes are not just competing for their own satisfaction but for the glory of their country.
Sports has historically played an important role in all societies. Even the United Nations considers sports as a vital tool for development and peace.
A UN report says that sports is far more than a luxury or a form of entertainment. Access to and participation in sports is a human right and essential for individuals of all ages to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
According to the same report, sports is critical to a child’s development because it teaches core values such as cooperation and respect. It also improves health and reduces the likelihood of disease. Brings individuals and communities together, bridging cultural and ethnic divides.
But where does the passion of the sports fan come from? My son Roel, like many people, is passionate about sports. In spite of his many personal commitments, he finds time to voluntarily write sports stories for a web site GoArchers.com. I asked the reason for his own analysis of what makes people passionate about sports. Here is what he said.
“Aside from almost every kid having been engaged in one sport or another with talent and skill finally weeding out those of us who are forced to choose other pursuits in life, there’s something empowering about pinning your own personal hopes on the fortunes of a specific team or player, the emotional investment I place on a particular team (personally like being a Spurs fan since 1990 and of Ginebra since 1986, or being part of a community like with the La Salle team/s, or on a larger scale the Pilipinas Gilas team) makes you feel like you are an integral part of that team’s success, but also of its failures, simply by rooting for the team and through the devotion one places. That’s what separates the rabid fan from the casual causal fair-weather one.
The stories behind particular sporting events (the triumph of the underdog, most especially) engage me like most powerful works of fiction or movies do. There are characters portrayed by athletes and teams — the hero, the villain, the scapegoat, etc. But what makes watching sports extra powerful is it is reality television at its finest and purest — the euphoria of one side and the anguish on the other, anger, passion, joy, sadness — you get the unpredictability all of that in one basketball game for example. A lot of iconic images burned into my memory have come from sports because they capture a moment that can never be repeated (Michael Jordan shrugging after making another three-point shot in the 1992 NBA finals, Chot Reyes crying after defeating South Korea, etc.). And it all happens instantly before your eyes — nothing is scripted (which is why cheating in sports is one of the most socially despised acts). On a simpler level part of it is envy, wishing I possessed the skills as well as the personality and characteristics of the teams and athletes I root for. So by rooting for them, a form of transference takes place, I become those athletes on some level as I watch them at their finest.
Lastly, aside from rock stars, athletes are probably the only other people who get instant real-time reaction from their fans while displaying their talents. Imagine a novelist hearing the roar of an audience after typing a beautiful sentence. True, it’s the long-term prize that motivates each one (the championship at the end of the season for the athlete, or the lasting influence of a literary work for the author), but we all crave that kind of instant gratification sometimes. “
Sports also has a tremendous effect of unifying, not just a nation, but also smaller communities. It was reported that 20,000 fans were present at the Philippine-Korea game. But a similar crowd or even slightly bigger ones are considered standard for an Ateneo-La Salle game whether in basketball or women’s volleyball.
But today, because of our PILIPINAS Gilas team, we are a little stronger as a nation. I hope that, as a people, we can figure out more ways to produce this sense of togetherness more often. We have to find those institutions that will pull us together as a nation and strengthen our pride as Filipinos.
Congratulations and thank you to the PILIPINAS Gilas Team. And next year in Spain — LABAN.
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Email: elfrencruz@gmail.com