Foregoing Dinner

     Much has been said about President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's expensive dinners at Le Cirque and Bobby Van's Steakhouse.  While people keep showing their outrage, her apologizers (aka freeloaders) keep hammering that nothing is wrong because the president a) is entitled to eat in first class establishments (rather than a hotdog stand) and b) it was personal money and not government money.  I think the problem the people have is not as much as where she ate or whose money was used, but more of how much was spent.

     All in all, it was approximated that she spent around $ 35,000 or approximately PhP 1.75 million, and that ladies and gentlemen, is a lot of money.  Perhaps the apologizers have yet to see the light because they can't see how much $ 35,000 really is.  That's why I'm doing them a favor by helping them see how much, in sports terms of course.

Being Smart About It

     In order to lock up the country's top collegiate stars to the national team development program, Manny Pangilinan and Smart Communications offered young stars like Chris Tiu and JV Casio three year salaries that would match whatever they would receive as rookies in the PBA.  Currently, PBA rookies can receive a maximum of PhP 150,000 a month.  That being the case, GMA's two dinners would be enough to pay the monthly salary of all 11 local players (naturalized recruit C.J. Giles not included).

Putting Up a Fight

     In the historic UFC 100, one of the preliminary matches featured a fight between two tough up and comers C.B Dolloway and Tom Lawlor.  The fight pay for both fighters, including the victory bonus was $ 30,000 (Lawlor had $ 16,000 icluding the $ 8,000 win bonus and Dolloway received $ 14,000), well within the $35,000 GMA and her party spent to stuff themselves silly.

Pac Man Watch

     Due to Manny Pacquiao's popularity, ringside tickets to his next fight in Las Vegas against welterweight champion Miguel Cotto has reportedly inflated by as much as 22 times.  As last reported by Top Rank officials, ringside seats are now available from scalpers for $ 22,000.  Counting in airfare which is approximately $ 1,000, two-night villa stay at Caesar's Palace for $ 5,000, and $ 2,000 for gambling money at the black jack tables, that is a complete luxury weekend at the cost of two lovely dinners.    

Developing the Next Superstar

     In his book, Adam Copeland on Edge, the wrestling superstar revealed that the first paycheck he received from World Wrestling Entertainment was a weekly one worth $ 210.  Suppose you adjust for inflation, the weekly wrestling development contract could have doubled to $ 410 weekly.  President GMA's two dinners?  They could have paid for a developing wrestler for over one and half years! If she's not down with that, I've got two words for her...

Got Balls?

     One of the Philippine Bowling Teams greatest needs has always been equipment, especially bowling balls.  High performance balls cost around $ 220 (retail) right now.  With a national bowler's salary pegged at around $ 204 dollars a month, it's almost impossible to build a six-ball arsenal.  With GMA's dinner, though, it will be child's play to accumulate 159 bowling balls.  That number means a total of 26 six-ball arsenals.  That would mean new six-ball arsenals for our 6 person senior men's team and their two alternates, our 6 person senior women's team and their two alternates, the 4 person youth boy's team and their alternate and 4 person youth girl's team and their alternate!  Now foregoing dinner to provide our four national bowling teams with the equipment needed to compete?  That takes balls.

Enjoying the Rivalry

     Ateneo vs La Salle in UAAP basketball is always an event and tickets, even scalped ones, are hard to come by.  That's why according to reports, ringside seats have gone up to over a thousand pesos.  Supposing your scalper is a real tool and he sells you tickets at PhP 1,750, using the money that paid for GMA's two dinners would enable you to buy 1,000 tickets.  That's the number of graduates in my graduating batch of 2000.  Now that would be a sea of blue at ringside.

     I'm not really a Math wizard, but I'm pretty sure I've made my point.  The next time President GMA wants to bring her entourage over for dinner, she might want to try the hotdog stand.  Sabrett dogs? They're great with relish and mustard.