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.

Dissecting the Olympic Debacle (part 1)

Another Olympics, another debacle for Team Philippines.

I actually smelled the proverbial sharks circling the waters as early as when the disaster named, "Eric Ang eliminated in first round," reared its ugly head, but rather than just call for heads to roll, I watched and cheered for the rest of Team Philippines, then set up a plan for for the future. After all, when the team wins, we all win.

The first thing we have to do is redirect some of our sports programs. Our sports officials aren't all dumbells. I mean, a lot of them are, but a good number of them are also on the correct path. Some of their plans have a good motive behind them, but I feel they have been used incorrectly.

Selecting the Selection

A couple of years ago, with the overall victory of the 2005 Sea Games a recent memory, the President declared that we must select 10 priority sports. These would be (Olympic) sports where we could excel in, and the government would provide extra funding to the national sports associations (NSA) to help them prepare for the Olympics.

This was a plan I was actually supportive of, until I heard the sports that were picked. Among the picks were Diving, Boxing, Taekwondo, Wushu, and the reason I hated this move was that a lot of these sports were "judgment sports," meaning winners would be decided by judging. Every year, at least a couple of our NSAs would bemoan that we lost in some competition because we. "got cheated," in the judging. In fact, all our boxers in the Olympics have been somehow "cheated," if our officials are to be believed. The most recent example would be, Harry Tanamor in the 2008 Oympics. Even if I believe that we were shortchanged each and every time we competed in the Olympics, all that means is that since 1964, we have been continually screwed and we have been unable to do anything about the judging. I fthis is the case, isn't it about time to avoid "judgement sports?" It has been well documented that the host almost always wins the judgment sports, and since we won't and can't host an Olympics anytime in the next few decades, it might be prudent to pick priority sports with no judges involved.

Reality Bites

Another thing to consider in picking our priority sports is our Filipino body structure. Most of our people are short and while we have some pretty athletic people, we will never outjump or outrun everyone else in the world. Maybe it's time to pick sports that don't put a premium on athleticism or height. With this in mind, we have to say no to swimming, athletics events, basketball and the like, as painful as it may sound. Instead, we should look into Olympic sports that we can really compete in, with the proper training. A good start would be table tennis, equestrian and sailing. Some of these sprts may be expensive, but if we cut the funding of the sports we can't excel in, we can then have the extra cash to fund these sports instead. Finite sports, sports where athletes do not bodily compete against each other (meaning they guard or try to stop each other) are good sports to develop. Some examples would be archery and shooting (I know, our two athletes were destroyed in Beijing, but with mroe exposure and training, we can produce better athletes in this field.)


(part two to be posted soon)

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)

Cavs Trade for Mo; Grades are In

In another bid to strengthen their chances for a deep playoff run (and to convince Lebron James to stay), the Cleveland Cavaliers executed a three-way, six player deal to get PG Maurice "Mo" Williams from the Milwaukee Bucks. In the same deal, the Bucks received Oklahoma CIty's (former Seattle franchise) PG Luke Ridnour and SF Adrian Griffin and the Cavs' PG Damon Jones. Meanwhile, the young OKC franchise will welcome back "hometown" favorite Desmond Mason, formerly of the Bucks and veteran PF Joe Smith of the Cavs.

The Cavs, especially General Manager Danny Ferry, is excited about the deal, but who are really the true winners and losers of this deal?

Winners

Oklahoma City

The former Sonics franchise, under General Manager Sam Presti, has been intent to rebuild from the ground up, meaning using young players from the draft. So far, they have been doing great by drafting the phenom SG Kevin Durant and SF Jeff Green. This year, they added another young stud, Russell Westbrook, who they figure will run the point in the years to come. By releasing Ridnour and Griffin, they clear the way for these youngsters to get better by playing more minutes. In any case, Ridnour didn't seem to be living up to his hyped potential. The addition of former Slam Dunk Contest champ Mason, meanwhile, gives the newly-relocated franchise an instant recognizable and well-loved player. Mason played college ball at OKC and he also played there when the Hornets were temporarily relocated becaue of Hurricane Katrina.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have done their best to reshape their roster this year, and this latest trade looks to be helpful for them. Giving up Williams might seem like a bad idea, as he was their second leading scorer, but he does have a reputation for not playing defense too well. Under new Head Coach Scott Skiles, not playing defense is a mortal sin, so it might be best that Williams leave anyway. Plus, it never hurts to relieve yourself of a huge contract, and WIlliam's six year, 51.5 million dollar deal is now the Cavs' problem. Young PG Ramon Sessions played well in the previous year, and the Bucks will give him a shot to prove he was no fluke. In any case, he would then have two veteran back ups in Jones and Ridnour, and those two would also benefit from less expectations. Both guards were under pressure to perform in their previous teams, so being back ups in Milwaukee might help them build confidence.

Losers

Cleveland Cavaliers

Adding a good point guard in Williams seems to answer two of the Cavs' concerns (a playmaker and a number two scoring option behind James), but it also means taking on another huge contract. They are already paying the bloated long term contracts of aging veterans Ben Wallace, Zyfrunas Ilgauskas and Wally Sczerbiak, and adding William's contracts gives them little room to make more moves. If Lebron decides to leave hometown Cleveland for the bright lights of New York or the glitz and glamour of buddy Jay-Z's Nets, the Cavs will be stuck with a bunch of old guys sucking in paychecks and losses.

Meanwhile, the bigger concern for Cleveland is solving their frontline problem. Having Ilgauskas, Wallace and Anderson Varejao sounds like you have a great frontcourt, but the three can't seem to play well enough together to make an impact. However, if (and it's a big IF) the three big men finally figure it all out and play well, then it will make Danny Ferry look like a genius by executing this deal (and make me look like a fool).

Delonte West (restricted free agent)

He's not included in the deal, but he seems to have lost because of this. The Cavs indicate that they want to keep West and he's still in negotiations for a new contract with the Cavs. Unfortunately, with Williams in the roster, he loses more negotiating power. After all, the Cavs will survive without him. Futhermore, if he does sign a new contract, he wil almost certainly lose his starting position and his minutes. Cleveland just signed PG/SG Daniel Gibson to a new contract, and they figure he and Williams would form their starting backcourt. He also has SG/SF Sasha Pavlovic to contend with. With his good but less than spectacular performance last year, West might be better served looking for a nice fat contract in Europe.

While this newest trade in the busy NBA off season did not produce winners on all sides, it does cause fans more reason to take note of the Eatern Conference. Are these moves enough to dethrone the reigning NBA Champs, the Boston Celtics?

Brock Lesnar: Real Thing?

Brock Lesnar, former pro wrestling champion for the World Wrestling Entertainment, caused a lot of controversy by signing on with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His entry piqued the interest of fight fans everywhere, with everyone wanting to see how a "fake" wrestler would do in a real fight. His detractors hated that he was getting all this exposure and vocally rooted for his complete and utter failure. Last February 2, Lesnar fought his first fight against former UFC Champion Frank Mir, with all the pressure in the world hanging on his shoulders. While he lost that fight via a knee bar in the first round, Lesnar made some believers out of his numerous detractors.

The UFC, though, like all fighting sports, is all about winning, so when he stepped back into the octagon against Heath "the Texas Crazy Horse" Herring last August 10, he knew he had to win. He had to put up a win to show his much ballyhooed speed and power. He had to win to show everyone all that potential he was supposed to have. He knew he had to win to prove he was the proverbial, "Real Thing."

Last Sunday, he did just that. Right off the opening, Lesnar absolutely crushed Herring with a powerful right hand, sending the UFC and Pride veteran to the ground. After that, the rest of the fight was all Lesnar, as he dominated the fight completely en route to a 30-26 unanimous decision victory. Lesnar showed his great amateur wrestling skills, which he developed as an NCAA All American during his college days. He also showed a much improved striking game, not only with that huge punch, but also some devastating knee strikes, one of which caused Herring to double over in the second round. However, what was most impressive about Lesnar's domination Sunday morning was that he showed more patience and restraint, which was sorely lacking in his debut fight against Mir. He never rushed his attacks on Herring, carefully setting himself with side or back control before doing any striking. What Lesnar showed was a lot of that potential he was supposed to have.

Make no mistake about it. Herring is not a lemon. Herring is a powerful striker himself, and was actually a few punches away from beating current UFC Heavweight Champion Antonio Nogueira before. Last Sunday, however, he wasn't able to showcase any of his power. He wasn't given much of an opportunity because of Lesnar's constant takedowns and pressure, and when he did get stand up opportunities, his strikes were rendered useless by Lesnar's size and speed. Besides, eating that first right hand from Lesnar really took a lot out of him.

So is Lesnar the real thing? Yes. Is Lesnar good enough to be heavyweight champion? Not yet. While he was indeed dominating, he has not shown much capability to defend against Jiu Jitsu holds and and he never got the chance to show any defense against stand up strikes either. (Then again, Herring never really got to attack him all that much) Furthermore, Lesnar got numerous opportunities to finish Herring with a choke as Herring showed his back at various points of the fight, but Lesnar seemed hesitant to try a choke hold. Obviously, Lesnar still has a lot of technique and styles to work on, and it seems working on new things is not something Lesnar is against doing. In this fight, he already enlisted the help of Rodrigo Medeiros, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion, to work on his defense. With months of additional training, Lesnar will no doubt be able to plug all the holes in his game.  

The smart thing to do for both Lesnar and the UFC is to line up Cheick Kongo for his next fight. Kongo has made a bit of a name for himself (he won a first round TKO in the same card), but he is predominantly a striker as well. He will be a good match for Lesnar, as he can take on Kongo while still learning the ropes on grappling and submission techniques because Kongo isn't going to beat anybody with grappling anytime soon. That would give Lesnar more time to work on his game and maybe in 8 or 10 months time, Lesnar would be ready to take on the "big names" in the UFC heavyweight division, Werdum, Nogueira and Mir(again).

One thing is for sure though. After his domination of Herring last week, Lesnar has announced his big presence (literally) into the UFC. He has become the "Real Thing" others claimed he would never be. I don't imagine too many heavyweights are getting too excited to face him in the octagon.

Pacman Vs DLH?

Just as thousands clamor to see the, "Dream Fight," between WBC Lightweight Champ Manny Pacquiao

and sure-fire Hall of Famer Oscar de la Hoya, just as many people are talking about why "Pacman" shouldn't take on

this fight. Now, Manny has never been anything but his own man in deciding things, but here are my two cents worth

anyway.

As far as I can see, there are two things that Manny has to consider before agreeing to this fight. The first factor 

to consider is the physical aspect of the fight. Size, power and speed are the keys to every boxing match, especially

in a big-game match like this. The second factor to consider is the "reward" aspect of the fight. Boxing fights are brutal

and always dangerous, even if a big-time fighter is battling a tin can, so the rewards must always be worth it for the

protagonists.

The rumored catch weight for this fight would be at 147 lbs, a dozen pounds more than Manny's limit in his first fight 

at the lightweight division. Meanwhile, 147 is bit of, "the good ole days" for Oscar de la Hoya, as this was his first weight 

division of his pro boxing career. With this kind of a set up, how does the physical aspect of the fight look for the Philippines' 

People's Champion?

Manny will probably come to the weigh in a little over 135 (maybe even 140), while Oscar will work on coming in at 147.

If the rumored "same day weigh in" clause is accepted, then both fighters will not balloon too much by the time the fight

arrives. Oscar, however, will definitely have the size advantage of this fight.  The reach advantage for Oscar will also be

pronouned as he is around 5'10", a giant compared to Manny's 5'7". Manny will have to fight an uphill battle size-wise and

now, more than ever, he will need to step up his mobility to counteract this clear disadvantage.

Power-wise, though the issue is not as definite. While Manny is smaller, gym rumors have talked about how Manny's power is tough to handle, even for

bigger welterweights. Meanwhile, de la Hoya, towards the end of a stellar career, may not possess as much strength as before,

especially if he has to work on bringing his weight back down to 147 lbs. despite all of these proclamations, though, I have to 

concede that Manny is giving up the size and power factor. It may not be much, but it's there.

While most casual fans have loved Pacquiao's speed, his quickness and speed is what is most dangerous about him. There

are worries that if he moves up another weight division, he will lose his speed. With the proper training, his move up in weight to

the lightweight division didn't do much to slow him down. (Just asked the battered but game David Diaz) With proper training anew,

his move up probably won't take away too much speed. Besides, Manny will probably not try too hard to reach the 147 weight, so he 

won't be gaining too much weight. De la Hoya, on the other hand, will be trying hard to lose weight which has been known to take away

from a boxer's mobility. His age, too will become a factor as evidenced by his losses to Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins. When 

it comes to moving around the ring, Manny will be in his element, as he will again be the quicker fighter.

Meanwhile, the reward aspect has been the most prominent content of newspapers today. The rumored payday for Pacman is

rumored to be at least in the 10 to 15 million dollar range, easily the largest for any Filipino fighter in history. Another reward for taking

on this fight is that Pacquiao gets to fight a de la Hoya, a boxing legend. A win over de la Hoya, even an aging and retiring one, would

be a feather on his cap. That honor is probably as tasty as the money, but the question is, "Is it worth it?"

The answer is yes. Manny is in the prime of his career and in the best shape of his life. Moreover, he trains harder and takes on a much more serious

whenever he faces a great fighter. When Manny has trained hard, he is tough to fight, even if he is smaller, so he can overcome any of the physical

disadvantages he may face. Meanwhile, this fight doesn't seem to contain any risk to Pacquiao's marketability for the future. Even if he loses, he will

remain one of the game's biggest draws. After all, he's not fighting a lemon, but the "Golden Boy" himself. Furthermore, imagine all the press and media

mileage he is already getting and will be getting in the future.

Overall, this fight, while it has its dangers for him, is a win-win for Pacquiao. Take it Manny, and treat boxing fans to a once-in-a-lifetime fight. While

many hem and haw about whether you take this fight or not, they will be solidly behind you on fight night.