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DAD, is
the Dalai Lama an animal?”
Thus
asked my son over a late breakfast the other day that
gave me pause from alternating reading the newspaper and
watching the US NCAA Championship game. I had to chuckle
at the innocence of a child who, even in his young
years, decided to win it back for Arsenal in his video
game not long after his cherished Gunners were knocked
out of the UEFA Champions League by daddy’s favorite,
Liverpool FC.
But how
do you answer a question like that? Human-rights
activists might argue that China has treated Tibet’s
spiritual leader as such and believe that Beijing has no
qualms about reprising Tiananmen Square in Lhasa, but it
isn’t as simple as black and white.
When you
talk of “empires” or “dynasties,” it seems more
appropriate to describe centuries-long Chinese empires
rather than sports teams who will win two or three
straight and land on the list of some critic’s all-time
best. Chinese history has shown how every emperor has
tried to expand the nation’s borders, so recovering lost
territories like
Hong Kong,
Macau,
Taiwan
and even the Spratlys is a big thing. They need look no
further than the breakup and dissolution of the Soviet
Union and Yugoslavia to see what awaits them. You think
that the
United States
will cede California and the other southwest states back
to
Mexico?
This
year—2008—is a long-awaited year. It’s the formal
coming-out party of China. The success of the 29th
Olympiad means a lot to the world’s most populous
country. Already in 2007, it has supplanted the
US
as the world’s largest consumer and contributed more to
global growth for the first time. But there have been
trade-offs for the quickest economic turn around in
human history, China, too, is the leader is
greenhouse-gas emissions.
“What
are greenhouse gases, daddy? Are they really green?”
Oy vey.
I forget I am in the midst of explaining things to my
son. It takes me a minute how to explain it. “These are
the gases that keep the Earth—the world we live in—warm
enough for us to live in,” I declare in my best Einstein
impression as I sip some hot java. “And no, they are
colorless.”
“So the
summer is hot because there are lots of greenhouse
gases?”
I smile
a befuddled smile as I’m suddenly unsure of what to say.
“Well, the summer Olympics will be hot.”
Literally in more ways than one. With worldwide protests
about the continuous and violent crackdown of
demonstrators in Tibet, it puts a wrinkle on the face
that China has put on. In a culture that values “face”—a
sharp contrast from the society we live in where
thieves, terrorists and so-called nationalists refuse to
step down despite being embroiled in scandal after
scandal—there are more than gold medals at stake. Any
boycott will tarnish the games.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge
(who is a former Olympian with the Belgian yachting team
in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Games) said they would not
press
China
to enter into talks or conferences regarding
human-rights violations or political issues. “This is a
line we do not have to cross,” declared Rogge after a
relatively quiet Olympic torch relay in Buenos Aires despite threats of mass protests. “This is a sovereign matter for
China to
decide. I have no crystal ball but I’m optimistic the
Games will be a great success.’’
So much
gray matter. You’d think the National Basketball
Association would have learned from the flack that Nike
got over its factories and workers’ conditions. Hey,
they’ve got billions to protect. It’s not just about
sport. It’s a business.
At that
point, I couldn’t help let out an anguished cry over the
Memphis Tigers’ loss in overtime to the Kansas Jayhawks
in the US NCAA Finals.
Martina
Navratilova pegged it right, “Whoever said, ‘It’s not
whether you win or lose that counts,’ probably lost.”
Sports has a dichotomous nature that I both love and
hate. It can be an uplifting experience that some say
can be better than sex. Yet, at times, it reminds me of
a bad breakup. You move on. You get over it or you think
you do, but every now and then you stop and say, “Damn.”
And your mind wanders through myriad roads of “what if?”
It even
plays with your heart rate like it was a pinball game.
Not
every one feels like Jo-Wilfreid Tsonga who made it to
the Men’s Finals of the Australian Open where, even in
defeat, he was glad to be there. Or even like Barnsley,
which eliminated Liverpool and Chelsea in succession the
FA Cup Finals be damned. It was quite a ride, eh, lads?
The
Beatles put it so well in Golden Slumbers, “Boy, you’re
gonna carry that weight a long time [you know it’s a
Paul McCartney penned song when it starts out so
peacefully then ends up in a deranged rocker].”
Ask Rudy
Tomjanovich about 1977 when his Houston Rockets were one
foul call away on sending their series with Julius
Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers to a seventh and final game.
With
Philadelphia
up by two, 111-109, Rockets guard John Lucas drove
inside the lane but was met by Sixers guard Doug Collins
underneath the basket. Lucas made the shot but a charge
was called on him by vet referee Jake O’Donnell. Collins
made one more free throw to ice the game and send Philly
to the Finals, where the Portland Trailblazers and Bill
Walton awaited them. Tomjanovich may have won as the
Rockets coach later in 1994 and 1995, but he can never
exorcise 1977 (a few months later that year would become
even more infamous, forgettable or unforgettable when
Los Angeles Lakers forward Kermit Washington nearly
killed him with what has since become known as “the
Punch.”
I saw it
up close in 2003 as my beloved New York Yankees took it
on the chin from the Florida Marlins. I watched in
silence as the Bronx Bombers watched the victorious
National Leaguers whoop it up on that hallowed patch of
earth that in many ways was the godfather of the Boston
Garden’s leprechauns. I felt that sickening knot in my
stomach as I was the last one to leave Araneta Coliseum
when the UST Tigers snatched what was a sure victory for
the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Someone
asked the transplanted New Yorker in me if I root for
the New York Knicks. I responded with, “Now, why would I
want to flagellate myself? No one can be such a
masochist.” Then again, I realize that Isiah Thomas is
nothing more than a prophet of doom, so woe to the
Knicks faithful.
Times
like this, I wish I wasn’t a sports writer. Everything
remains in vivid high-def color in my mind and my
keyboard. I reside in the church of the poisoned mind.
But life
goes on and move on; I, we, must.
Until I
encountered the
Memphis
Tigers who went down in defeat to the Kansas Jayhawks in
the ultimate game of US college basketball.
“Boy,
you’re gonna carry that weight a long time.”
“Dad, if
it’s the ultimate game, then why is it going to be
played again next year?”
Kids.
Now you know why hope springs eternal. I ruffled his
hair and we finished off the last of our breakfast.
****
THINGS
I’d like to see happen in sports as soon as possible:
Scrap
the offside rule in football. Not only does it not make
sense, but it will open up the game completely.
Place
some sensor along the goal line or a chip inside the
football. That way we will know if it crosses the goal
line and will eliminate controversial goals or nongoals.
The No.
1 pick of the National Basketball Association Draft be
awarded to any team at random. This way we avoid tanking
by the bottom feeders. Why should the lousy teams be
rewarded for their mediocrity?
The
revival of the Northern Consolidated concept when it
comes to the Philippine National Team. That way, they
stop poaching the Philippine Basketball Association and
Philippine Basketball league for players and the unit is
kept together for at the most four years before they’re
allowed to move to the pros. |
