FIBA hosting dud
I did not write a thing about the competing bids of China and Philippines to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup when I learned about it because to me the outcome of the competition was a no-brainer. I may be a Filipino and I may hate China for what it is doing to the Philippines in the South China Sea, but I know when to concede, even to China, when I think it right and appropriate.
And very clearly we are not in the same league as China when it comes to hosting huge and important events. Even if we measure competitiveness solely on the basis of infrastructure, we are simply nowhere near that country. Much as it pains me to recall it here, but just take a look at what China is doing in the Spratlys. Why, in just a snap of a finger, it was able to make islands rise from the sea, complete with airstrips, buildings and other facilities.
By comparison, we cannot even dredge up the silt in our rivers, esteros and other waterways to make the water flow freely and prevent the floods that have now become one of the most pernicious urban blights to hamper life in this country. If even the president cannot solve the MRT and LRT problems in Metro Manila, how can we even pretend to vie for hosting rights of a major international sporting events such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
I love the language of the Philippine Star editorial of August 11 which tackled the same issue. "While the Philippines cited its 'heartware' or love for basketball, China said it had the infrastructure, public safety network and other resources to host the international event anytime," the Philippine Star said. The woefulness of our limp bid could not have been said any better.
There was a time when love was expressed in a distinctly Filipino nuance as "bahala na kung saging, basta loving." Well, sorry to disappoint the hopelessly romantic Filipinos out there, but the truth is, even good old love has decided to move on. In this age of gadgets and smartphones, saging simply no longer suffices as an expression of anything, much less love.
And so, when the Philippines anchored its bid to host the FIBA 2019 Basketball World Cup on nothing more substantial that the love for basketball, any fool can see that China is going to win even if it said nothing. If both bidders were asked the reasons for their actions and the Philippines stood up to proclaim it loves basketball, all China had to do was shrug its shoulders, turn both palms up, roll its eyes, and still win the hosting award.
And if it was a sick joke to anchor our bid on nothing more than an emotional foundation, it was an even sorrier spectacle to allow Manny Pacquiao a large part of our persuasive initiative. Not only did he look physically pathetic standing beside Chinese behemoth Yao Ming, he also looked figuratively insignificant alongside not just the first Chinese but the first Asian to achieve superstar status in the NBA.
Pacquiao may be a superstar in his own sport and for that we may be eternally grateful to him for bringing pride to his country and people in that respect. But sorry to say that in basketball he is a big joke. Whatever significant role he may have been conceded in basketball is clearly on account of his wealth and stature as a person and not for his skill and mastery of the sport.
Allowing Pacquiao to help carry the brunt of our persuasive intitiative only serve to expose the seriousness of our bid to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup. If you send somebody who does not even know how to dribble well on a mission of great importance to basketball, you clearly do not know what you are asking for. A lot of practicality and respect are involved in any decision of this magnitude.
If you want practicality and respect to matter by sending Pacquiao, send him to any mission involving boxing. If it is basketball, send those for whom the world will not be insulted by their presence. Bidding is so much like diplomacy. That is why, when it comes to foreign relations, we send our foreign secretary instead of some noontime television comedian. But never mind who we sent.
The fact is, our debacle in bidding for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup lay rooted deeply in our inferiority by comparison to the other bidder. Without meaning to disparage anyone, we might have stood a better chance had our rival been another country with which we are currently at par with in Asian sporting events, like Laos or Cambodia or Timor Leste. But China? If Pacquiao cannot even win his fight against Mayweather, the more he can't win basketball for us against China.
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