By: Henry L. Liao
When an Asian Silver Won by the Philippine seniors Men's basketball team is being Quarters Considered by some as worthy for consideration in the Race for the Athlete of the Year award - and, even worse, is being made into a book by people with Money to Burn.
How bad you know just Philippine sports has Gone .. Call a spade a spade, a Silver can never be worth like gold Otherwise, Goldsmiths will question One's sanity When the honorable Top Officials of the sports Country Declare that Team Pilipinas "did well" in the 27th Southeast Asian Games and they are "very happy" and "satisfied" for the athletes' seventh-place performance (based on the gold-medal tally) in the biennial 11-nation event in Myanmar - the worst ever since our beloved country first competed in the SEAG in 1977 - and even boasted that 65 percent of our athletes won medals, you have to wonder if these almighty officials think sports fans are easily fooled or if not, Philippine sports Gone to the Dogs has really for a Long time so that the Standards for Success are an Afterthought. But when legendary Grandmaster Wesley So is Not even Nominated for the 2013 Athlete of the Year honor by self-proclaimed media Experts for Political Reasons, even after capturing the gold in Men's Chess in the 27th Summer Universiade (also called the World University Games) in Kazan, Russia last July, it's travesty beyond comprehension.
When an Asian Silver Won by the Philippine seniors Men's basketball team is being Quarters Considered by some as worthy for consideration in the Race for the Athlete of the Year award - and, even worse, is being made into a book by people with Money to Burn.
How bad you know just Philippine sports has Gone .. Call a spade a spade, a Silver can never be worth like gold Otherwise, Goldsmiths will question One's sanity When the honorable Top Officials of the sports Country Declare that Team Pilipinas "did well" in the 27th Southeast Asian Games and they are "very happy" and "satisfied" for the athletes' seventh-place performance (based on the gold-medal tally) in the biennial 11-nation event in Myanmar - the worst ever since our beloved country first competed in the SEAG in 1977 - and even boasted that 65 percent of our athletes won medals, you have to wonder if these almighty officials think sports fans are easily fooled or if not, Philippine sports Gone to the Dogs has really for a Long time so that the Standards for Success are an Afterthought. But when legendary Grandmaster Wesley So is Not even Nominated for the 2013 Athlete of the Year honor by self-proclaimed media Experts for Political Reasons, even after capturing the gold in Men's Chess in the 27th Summer Universiade (also called the World University Games) in Kazan, Russia last July, it's travesty beyond comprehension.
| Politics has no place in sports but Such is Not the Case in Philippine sports. Question: Since when have the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) been the ONLY Authorities Empowered to Decide a Filipino athlete's Participation in international sports ? That So was supported by Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) in the Kazan Universiade and THEREFORE, is Unacceptable to the POC and PSC? And winning a gold in an international Event Participated in by Nearly 200 Countries Throughout the globe is worth nothing because he is not "their man" and, therefore, is not entitled to any financial rewards from the taxpayers'-money-funded PSC? It speaks how badly political patronage continues to tarnish in the Philippine sports scene. |  Wesley So (Left) with FESSAP president David Ong in Kazan Universiade, Russia in July 2013. |
There were several heroes in Philippine sports this year but, no thanks, it’s despite our honorable top sports executives.
Next to God, the glory belongs only to them.
For this, we doff our hats off to world pool champions Rubilen Amit, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza and Wesley So.
The pint-sized 4-foot-11 Amit topped the World Women’s 10-Ball title for a second time after whipping former champion Kelly Fisher of Great Britain in the final. The duo of Orcollo and Corteza, on the other hand, won the World Cup of Pool crown after blasting Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands during the championship match.
So scored 6.5 points (four wins and five draws) in nine assignments to finish in a nine-way deadlock for first place in men’s chess during the Kazan Universiade.
After three-tie breakers, the unbeaten 19-year-old So and 2006 World Junior champion and Grandmaster Zaven Andriasian of Armenia fought in a nerve-wracking Armageddon-style playoff. Andriasian won the coin flip and chose to play white against the highest-ranking Filipino grandmaster.
So subsequently outwitted the Armenian in the blitz game to capture the Philippine’s first-ever gold in Universiade history.
That even the POC-attached top official of the country’s national chess federation snubbed his victory is a national shame.
Even then, in the bosom of the sports-loving Filipinos, So’s accomplishment is never forgotten and stands to be recognized.
Wesley So is our Athlete of the Year awardee for 2013. (Bandera)
Next to God, the glory belongs only to them.
For this, we doff our hats off to world pool champions Rubilen Amit, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza and Wesley So.
The pint-sized 4-foot-11 Amit topped the World Women’s 10-Ball title for a second time after whipping former champion Kelly Fisher of Great Britain in the final. The duo of Orcollo and Corteza, on the other hand, won the World Cup of Pool crown after blasting Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands during the championship match.
So scored 6.5 points (four wins and five draws) in nine assignments to finish in a nine-way deadlock for first place in men’s chess during the Kazan Universiade.
After three-tie breakers, the unbeaten 19-year-old So and 2006 World Junior champion and Grandmaster Zaven Andriasian of Armenia fought in a nerve-wracking Armageddon-style playoff. Andriasian won the coin flip and chose to play white against the highest-ranking Filipino grandmaster.
So subsequently outwitted the Armenian in the blitz game to capture the Philippine’s first-ever gold in Universiade history.
That even the POC-attached top official of the country’s national chess federation snubbed his victory is a national shame.
Even then, in the bosom of the sports-loving Filipinos, So’s accomplishment is never forgotten and stands to be recognized.
Wesley So is our Athlete of the Year awardee for 2013. (Bandera)
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