Hidilyn Diaz and The Story of the Filipina

This is a story of perseverance.

Hidilyn Diaz, was a wild card entry into the 2008 Olympics, chosen by the Philippine Weightlifting Association. It was, for all intents

and purposes, an exposure trip.  She performed creditably.  In 2012, she qualified for the Olympic games by placing 9th in the Continental tournaments.  Despite the obvious improvements, she fails to clear a brave attempt at 118 kgs in the clean and jerk, leaving her out of medal contention.  In 2016, she wins 3 bronze medals in IWF World Weightlifting Championships and qualifies for the Olympics.  A full 12 years of constant competition and she readied herself once more as she strapped on the three stars and a sun. 

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Missed Conceptions

     All so-called experts keep saying that money, or the lack of it, is the main reason for the Philippines' lack of sporting success.  Let me say this though.  Throw in more money, and we might still not be as successful as we want.  For the money (if it ever comes) to work, we, as a country, need to get rid of these long standing misconceptions.


Misconception # 1:  We are world class. All we need is the money.

     The truth is, save for pool (billiards), wushu and maybe dragon boat racing, we are not world class; we haven't been in a while.  For a country to be considered a world power in a sport, it can't just have a singular world champion who won once in say, 10 years.  One athlete winning a world championship doesn't mean the training program is a success.  A country can be considered world class if they win and almost win on a consistent basis.  The Philippines has to face reality.  There are no Olympic sports where it has been a world power for almost 2 decades.  Boxing?  Tae Kwon Do?  Basketball? Archery? We haven't been close enough to smell the world powers.  The sooner the sports powers realize this and create a comprehensive, "back-to-the-drawing-board-type" of training program, the better.   The sporting powers must eat humble pie now and accept that we have a long way to go, so that an honest effort can be made to develop talents.

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Broadcast Comm 101: THE Interview (part 1)

When I started this blog, reaching 100 posts became quite a big deal for me.  (Thanks btw, Tibibord for your humbling post.  I'm posting the link because it might help publicity for both our blogs.) As I was finishing my last Top 10 "Top 10," however, the greater concern became how I could make my next 100 better.  I still am not sure I can, but I know I'm starting way better than my first post.

It was my complete honor to conduct this interview with one of my broadcast heroes, broadcaster extraordinaire Sev Sarmenta, who was also my college professor.  Sarmenta, who is actually celebrating his 25th anniversary as broadcaster this year, does commentary for various sports, which include boxing and basketball, and he has been around the world to cover the Olympics and the Asian Games as well. 

Fifty Peso Seats:  Among all the sports you have covered, which sport/event would you say is your favorite?

Sev Sarmenta: I can do basketball, volleyball, and tennis reasonably well because i've played these games. in fact, i still try to play at the college covered courts at the Ateneo at least twice a week with the staff.

Boxing is something i learned to do over the last decade.  It helped I was a fan and Manny Pacquiao made boxing come to life.  Golf, I wish I could do more often because it is also a complex sport disguised as simple.

Basketball will have to be the favorite simply because of its complexity.

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Dissecting the Olympic Debacle (part 2)

Foreign Investment

While many grumble about recruiting Fil-Foreigners to the national team, I most welcome this move. After all, they are Fiilipinos too and they have every right to compete for national team slots. Hopefully though, these FIl-Foreigners are not given free passes to join the team. Let them try out and just give them slots because they were trained somewhere else. Furthermore, if we are going to recruit Fil-Foreigners, let's make sure we recruit the best ones, ones who can win, or young enough to improve and win. Please, no more supposed saviors like Athletics' David Bunevacz or Tennis' Eric Taino. Why didn't we get Swimming's Coughlin, who is now a two-time Olympic gold medallist or BMX Cycling's U.S. National Champion Caluag, who desperately wanted to represent us but was ignored by the cycling NSA? Recruiting Fil-Foreign players will help us, as long as we get the right ones. If we can't train the right ones, then let's go homegrown for that particular sport.

Learning from Jedi Masters

Almost all sports officials try to look learned by exclaiming we always need "grassroots development program" to boost sports development in our country. The problem is, nobody is really creating a proper grassroots program for any sport. Most "grassroots programs" here are nothing more than kids playing and enjoying the sport. Nothing wrong with that, but the program should be designed with a particular goal and time frame, if we want to develop future world champions. The problem is, most of our coaches, especially in these youth programs are former players or relatives with no coaching experience or training. No offense to these people as they are mostly volunteers, but how are they expected to imbibe the proper fundamentals if they don't know them themselves? What we need are elite coaches for oth the national AND grassroots programs, or better yet, we should pay the elite national coaches enough to handle both programs. This will ensure continuity between the two programs. At this time, though, most of our sports are in need of elite coaches, and admittedly most sports would need foreign coaches. Our national coaches are mostly great people (and I have met a lot of them), but we all need additional knowledge from them. Hiring all these coaches would require tons of money, but it is the proper step to the right direction. Also, that's why it's key to pick very few priority sports.

Pruning the Weeds

It's a common refrain to ask officials to step down whenever we lose, and I have to say, there is some prudence in that call. Unfortunately, many of these sports officials don't actually leave or find a roundabout way to come back. Sports officials are not politicians. Their roles include promoting the popularity and development of the sport. They are given funds and they have to manage these between international tournaments for the national team and different tournaments for the promotion of the sport in the country. This is not a job for people who don't play the sport. This is not a job for people who can barely play. This is not a job for politicians. We should have officials who have been working for the NSA for several years, beginning with the dirty work like arranging events, looking for private sponsors and the like. This way, they can learn the job first ad become the NSA Head when they are good ready. We should have officials who play and enjoy the sport, so they have a better idea on how to promote it. Lastly, we should have officials who go around the the happenings of the sport so they can truly understand the athletes and the sentiments of all participants. Sports officials should be people completely immersed in the sport, like the eer humble and passionate William Ramirez, not politicians who lose their congressional bids or brown nosers who cling to positions like barnacles.

There you have it. They are simple solutions but seemingly out of our sports officials' collective brains. Hopefully, sports politicians, especially those currently on the upper echlons of our sporting world, will soon find themselves jobless, and that will get the ball rolling. In this way, it won't hurt so bad to root for our national team.

No More Debates Please - Phelps is the Best

After winning his eighth gold medal in these 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Michael Phelps and his singular achievement have provided an answer to a question that was supposed to never have a clear-cut one. Who is the greatest olympian of all time? Clearly, it is Micahel Phelps, and it will be for years to come.



Astonishingly, there are still those that would contend this. Apparently some claim that Phelps "had it easy," since swimming has a veritable plethora of medals available for the taking. Some claim that other olympians, like Jesse Owens or Carl Lewis, have more significant or memorable olympic achievements. Whatever the reasons being given, they all have one thing in common. They are all rubbish.



Barring a negative drug test, what Phelps has achieved is nothing short of super human. While I may have to defer to Jesse Owens as the olympian with the greatest impact on the world and its history, the "American Superfish" produced the greatest olympic performance in the history of mankind.



For the record, Phelps won eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympic Games, plus another six in Athens in 2004. Not only does he have the record for most medals won in one olympics, he also has the distinction of the athlete with the most olympic gold medals ever.



In these Beijing Games, Phelps pocketed five individual golds and three team golds. Phelps reigned in the 400m individual medley, 4 X 100 freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4 X 200m butterfly, 200m medley, 100m butterfly and the 4 X 100 medley.



If the question is about the variety of his medals, remember that he won multiple medals on both the free style and butterfly, and he won on the 100, 200 and 400m events. If the question is about dominance, how about considering that he set either a world or olympic record in each of the events that he joined. If the question is about being challenged, remember that he is the most bemedalled athlete in a non-boycotted games. That means that the world sent its best. In fact, he faced tough challenges from France (which threatened his 4 X 100m freestyle gold) and from Croat Cavic (who threatened his 100m butterfly gold), but he still came out on top. What was most amazing about this achievement was that he did it under the greatest of pressures, with his country hyping up his every move, and the best swimmers in the world all after his head.



If doing what Phelps did in Beijing is so freakin' easy, why hasn't this achievement been done before? (Mark Spitz, the previous record holder, won 7 over 30 years ago!) It simply cannot be denied. In this olympic journey where the weight and pressure to achieve "8" was strong enough to make the toughest of men choke and wimp out, Phelps stood tall and delivered. In this sport where a thousand things could wrong and over a dozen competitors aimed to destroy your legacy, Phelps persevered and beat everyone fair and square.



The scary part about it all? He is still going to compete in London four years from now. Is Michael Phelps the greatest olympian the world has ever seen. Yeah. (8x)