The Final Score: RP Basketball and Deep-Fried Tempura

Many of us want every Filipino athlete to be a Manny Pacquiao; world champ, world-class. In the same way, we want our performers to be Charice Pempengco or Ariel Pineda; US-certified, You-Tube guaranteed, Oprah-approved. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be at par with or better than other nationalities in throwing a left hook, singing birit-style or belting “Open Arms". So it makes sense for us to go nuts over Filipinos who place the Philippines on the world map with their fists and vocal cords. But how much value should we place on global approval? If we never win the FIBA-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship again, does it signal the death of Philippine basketball? Should our failure to win against Iran, China, Korea et al force us to abandon the game altogether? Must we turn our back on the game we love just because Middle-Eastern teams are making it incredibly harder for us to regain our once-lofty stature in Asia? I’m writing this piece while having a Fish Tempura Platter in Heaven ‘n Eggs Eastwood. I think about basketball juxtaposed with the pieces of Tempura on my plate. Do the Japanese care that people around the globe are crazy for Tempura? Maybe so. Would they be bothered if other nationalities thought Tempura wasn’t such a big deal? Probably not. Whatever our thoughts are on Tempura, any which way the world consumes Tempura, won’t change how the Japanese feel about Tempura. It’s one of their national treasures. If the world chooses to choke on dimsum or kimchi instead, the Japanese, a people also obsessed with consuming wild amounts of poisonous blowfish, wouldn’t be perturbed one bit. I believe we, too, can learn from Japanese appreciation of what they have in the context of internal value as opposed to always looking at things from a global point of view. We love basketball. Period. If it’s unrequited love since the gods of slam-dunk refuse to reward our devotion with success in Asia, so be it. We have little control over what Middle East teams are doing in its bid to totally dominate this region anyway. Am I against future attempts at reclaiming our top spot in Asia? Absolutely not. I always admire efforts to disprove the undoable, unthinkable and unattainable. My passion for the game, however, doesn’t revolve around the RP team’s future performance in the FIBA-Asia Championship in 2011, 2013 and so on and so forth. Should we love basketball any less after watching the Philippines finish 8th in Tianjin? No sir. Should we be disappointed that we didn’t land in the top 5? I suppose it’s understandable. Should we totally give up trying to reclaim Asian throne? That’s up for basketball officials to decide but I say keep fighting the good fight. Will I support the National Team, whether it’s Smart Gilas of a PBA selection, in its next international tournament? But of course. Will I still continue my love affair with hoops after the 2009 FIBA-Asia Championships? Absolutely. – GMANews.TV