Aaarghuing

In sports where judges decide who wins, they see something that laymen don’t. Not a ghost, but expertise. That’s why results sometimes baffle us. In gymnastics, they toe strict criteria on execution and level of difficulty while we only care about its exquisite beauty. Except for total knockout, boxing is sometimes confusing. We clearly see a jab connect, but the judges disconnect. Too fast, a split second and our view split. Invectives, we spit.

In 1996, the country protested when Onyok Velasco lost the Olympic boxing gold on points in Atlanta. We saw the fight our biased, expectant perspective, but the judges saw it their expert, albeit controversial viewpoint. Throwback to the 1964 Olympics when the late featherweight Anthony Villanueva lost a highly disputed gold medal match on points. Déjà vu.

No way can history repeat itself. We can’t be cheated twice over! Chill, sometimes it’s not the judges but the criteria they are boxed in, which yield does not necessarily match what we like. Fans fixate on the spectacle, judges on the debacle. Just like auditors with keen eyes for loopholes. Sports judges frolic in deducting a score, auditors in disallowing expenditure. Not faultfinders, just duty bound to find, well, fault.

I judged a few public speaking contests before, where rubrics are too rigid I ended up disliking my own choice. It’s the impact that counts, not the points. Although each gold tallies as one, some glitter brighter than others. In the last SEA Games, some golden performances are memorable, others forgettable.

The men’s basketball gold mattered most. It reasserts our basketball supremacy in the region, the remaining territory we rule. In Asia, we ceded it to China. But the men’s volleyball silver struck like gold because we got it from mighty Thailand. Indeed, no standard for what we like. It’s personal. Unquantifiable.

That’s why we should not mock other people’s choices in life, either in sports, entertainment, religion or politics. I’m rabid Rafael Nadal, next only to Andre Agassi. To others, the way Rafa reacts is cocky, but to me it’s plain celebratory.

I have close to nil tolerance in entertainment but I don’t look down on others who celebrate mediocrity. I can’t carry a tune, so I let others sing their misfortune. Never question faith, it is a matter of acceptance, even if many don’t practice what they preach. Some of the most religious are the most judgmental, but this too passes judgment.

Thankfully, my main job silences my thoughts on politics. I don’t have to argue with stupidity or delusional superiority. If their opinion differs from mine, I call them neither dumb nor stupid, even if some are, for the way they defend the indefensible. For all I know, I am both to others too.

Not even in fashion, it doesn’t define a person. Corona tempered our obsession to show off what we wear, fashion royalty or casualty alike. We are all equal in our birthday suit after all, body type aside. Or food, it’s about taste, and what’s inside our thinning wallet.

More so in love, if we ask why that person, why ever not is the answer, with punctuation. It’s about emotion without material motivation. If there be any, it’s called partnership, not relationship. Or commitment. Define yours. Arguing aside, you might be sleeping with the enemy and wake up to feigned fidelity.