Air21

 

I faxed this letter to Mr. Barrios in exasperation over the way he handled the Air21 team protest, a protest he eventually dismissed for reasons that still puzzle me. Anyway, as I stated below, this is the only way I can express my disgust. So be it.

 

17 November 2008

Mr. Sonny Barrios

Commissioner

Philippine Basketball Association

Dear Commissioner Barrios,

As a basketball loving citizen, I believe I am entitled a space to express my utter disappointment over your decision to deny Air21’s petition for consideration regarding the bad judgment call of Mario Montiel in its game against the Beermen on November 5.

Needless to repeat, but the video replay of De Ocampo’s shot was and ought to be counted for as 3 points not 2, ensuring therefore the Mailmen’s victory in the first overtime.

While the Air21 team played on for the second overtime, which you might have taken as a waiver of protest over De Ocampo’s 3-point shot in the first overtime, this did not change the fact that the Mailmen had already won the game had the management cared to review the footage and listened to the protestations of team manager Angelito Alvarez and some members of Air21 team, informal as it was. It is futile to explain to you, or to the public, why Air 21 went on to play for the second overtime when in fact and by clear evidence, it had already won the game.

In the spirit of true sportsmanship, I was hoping that you could rectify the erroneous call right after game. But I was wrong. You made the matter worse before it got even better by upholding the unfair decision. At the very least, the incompetent referee and the unyielding and unreasonable table official should have been sanctioned accordingly.

Is this really the way things are being handled in the country’s premier basketball league? I expected heads will roll, but my expectation, seemingly, are quite high.

May I remind you that in the world of sports, we do not only play by the rules and technicalities that govern them: We also play according to our moral convictions and in the spirit of fairness and healthy sense of competition. This calls for competent and fair and transparent officiating and game administration, and not simply saving faces of thick-faced referees and table officials.

In my book, professional sports is about character just as it is about raw athletic power. I was so disgusted that the head of the country’s most prestigious ballclub has shown symptom of un-athletic and unsportsmanlike behavior. But as in any disease, I wish for your speedy recovery. And let the healing process began.

Since no heads rolled, I firmly believe you owe an apology to the entire Air21 team and management and to scores of fans whose hearts you broke, including mine, with your unsportsmanlike decision. Surely, your apology will not redeem Air21’s loss in that game but I believe this will salvage the integrity of the concerned referee and table officials, whatever little is left of it.

You may refer to lesson in the PBA history where earlier bad decisions were turned and overturned for the sake of just and fair officiating. Just a warning though: You may lose face in trying to save it, but at least you will do justice not only to Air21 but to all those you offended, insulted, disgusted, and disappointed with your unfair decision.

Finally, to ask for a replay may be an impossibility, but I’m a firm believer of man’s capacity to change. I can only hope that you share this belief of mine.

Black Barack

So Black Barack is the new president of the United States? What the %&$*!

I still could not rid my bias against blacks, Obama most especially. I admire the blacks for their athletic prowess, but not their political acumen or the lack of it. I don't understand why the American voters, majority of them whites, would trust the presidency to an inexperienced black African.

America is going to the dogs, and this is the saddest day for Uncle Sam.

Black Barack will never enjoy the respect of his peers in the world stage. His victory is simply a personal glory--a glory for a black who made it to the top of the world. Very much like Erap. Erap wanted to be president because he thought it was the coolest thing on earth. He was in deficit of qualification, character, and grace, and all. Who knows, an actor could be the next president? Unfortunately, it came true. Obama went to Harvard, right. So that entitled him the White, er, Black House?

Black Barack was driven more by personal glory  and nothing else. Isn't it great for a black to lead a nation of whites and the rest of the colored race? Of course, it is.

But I hate to think that the victory of Black Barack is the triumph of the American minority. Rather, it is a display of weakness and incapacity of the American majority, mostly whites, in forming and supporting better leaders than Black Barack. This deficit in judgment and leadership will plunge America into a situation far worse than the financial meltdown.

Democrats are politically withdrawn on the world stage, an act that connotes smugness and non-participation, two attributes that run counter to the globalist and engaged kind of leadership that the world needs today. (Remember that Bill Clinton was very good at withdrawal).

When Obama took on the Black House, he will have all the excuses to all his failures because he could easily claim that the first half of his term were spent on undoing the wrongs of Dubya and his party. I knew it! What the fuck, again.

So what’s next? A black British premier, black French premier, black Russian president?

Benefit of the doubt? Let's see what mess Black Barack will bring to the White, er, Black House.

Heaven or where?

"In heaven, all the interesting people are missing?"

--Nietszche

 

I guess, it says it all. But wonder where the interesting people would spend sweet eternity? I tried to speculate below the likely places where the interesting and equally restless denizens would congregate. That is, if you agree that the kind of people I'm about to name below are indeed interesting.

a.  The capitalists, financiers, Wall Street raiders, VCs (venture capitalists) traders, economists, businessmen, salespeople, alumni of Harvard Business School, Kellog's, AIM, Ateneo Business School, etc. are likely to occupy the junction between the heaven and hell. The place is quite strategic for business opportunities and growth.

b. The UP-type (you know what I mean, come on) would probably be in the outer rim of hell. Of course, they would still be protesting for, first the lousy judgement, and second, the lousy treatment God has accorded them.

c.  The Ateneo conventual type would probably be itching to know if their UP comrades are still doing their stuff in the outer rim of eternal fire.

d.  The La Salle type are distributed in either A or C. Being in B is a rarity, if not an impossibility.

e.  Those who do not fall in either of the above may be happy to wait in purgatory for the final verdict on their appeal.

But what to you are an interesting people? After pointing out their likely tambayan, it's great to determine their qualities, right? Below are my criteria of interesting people.

1.   Maginoo ngunit medyo bastos (sorry po sa lyricist ng paborito kong kanta)

2.   Hindi masyadong mabait, pero di naman masyadong gago.

3.   Playboy pero loyal sa asawa. (Meaning, hindi nang-iiwan, bagkus, nagdadagdag lang. The principle on dagdag-bawas does not apply here.

4.   Maginoo ngunit tarandado din. 

5.   Gentle but furious and ferocious.

6.   Kind but unforgiving.

7.   Malambing pero brutal.

8.  Mabait na malibog.

9.   Maingay pero may lalim din.

10. Kadalasang tama kaysa mali.

11. Gusto binebeybi, lalo ng magandang babe (patay tayo dyan!).

12. Marunong gumawa ng kasalanan, ngunit handang humingi ng tawad at tumanggap ng parusa.

13. Kayang makipagdiskusyunan mula hapunan hanggang tanghalian kinabukasan.

14.  Hindi kinukubli ang kanyang pagiging bakla, tomboy, or AC/DC, or anupaman.

15.  Nagmamaneho nang either (a) paso ang lisensya or (b) menor de edad.

16.  May asawa na, may girlfriend/boyfriend pa. (Hindi po kabit ang tawag dun, okay!).

17.  Gumawa ng limpak-limpak na salapi sa sariling kayod. (No further explanation needed).

18.  Nakaka-appreciate ng jazz, metal, at classics with equal passion and intensity.

19.  Loves poetry and porn in equal intensity and passion.

20. Has a sense of fashion, either alternative, mainstream, or what, basta meron.

21.  Can talk about paleontology in relation to the emergence of high-tech gadgetry ala james bond. 

Okay, please add up as much as you can starting with the number below.

22.  

Photo credit: http://laist.com/attachments/tony/davidla