Happy people, sad future

Quite a number of Filipino athletes made headlines in their individual events this year. Alex Eala tops them all. She is ending the year ranked 15 in the world. The highest placement by any Southeast Asian woman in the professional tour. That alone is historic despite her rollercoaster journey this season. The world is in awe, the Filipina ace has taken the sport by storm. It’s tennis. Not basketball.

Carlos Yulo too. Despite missing the podium in the worlds and despite his personal life shared on social media, no one can take away the twin glory he brought to the country in the last Asiad, reprising his historic double gold in the last Olympics. It’s gymnastics. Not basketball.

Of course there is EJ Obiena. The vault phenom has won gold here and there and the one gold that matters this year, in the Asian Games where he rewrote his own record to 5.91m, well within the qualifying height, but not yet within the qualifying period, to Los Angeles. It’s pole vault. Not basketball.

At the current Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, Naomi Marjorie Cesar barged the country to the medal column with a silver in the 800m. While her time of 02:09.34s is way slower than the 01:57s qualifying time for Los Angeles, she is young enough to run faster than the qualifying time in the future Olympics. It’s athletics. The 800m run. Not basketball.

While her 800m silver was thought to be the solitary medal, young sprinter Pi Durden Wangkay suddenly stormed to bronze in the boy’s 200m sprint in 21.36s, missing the silver by a hairline. While it is slower than the women’s world record of 21.34s and much slower than the 19.95s qualifying time for the real Olympics in 2028, he too is young enough to run faster and be the fastest in Southeast Asia at least. It’s athletics. The 200m dash. Not basketball.

The body of evidence, and the warm bodies of these athletes, are damning and overwhelming. The country has bigger chances for world glory in individual sports. Not in basketball. But what thrills Filipinos? Basketball. Even if the rest of the region is into soccer where height and size do not matter, but speed and agility. Footwork too, not the size of the foot. But basketball is what makes Filipinos truly happy. Not everything that makes them happy is right though. Cheating is one. Appearing rich is another. Worse, being entertained. Not by entertainers but by the clowns they worship honorable.