Kasaysayang Magilas

Naging tampulan ng tukso at katatawanan
Sa sports na atin pang kinahuhumalingan
Ilang dekada ba namang walang pinatunguhan,
Pinapadala sa FIBA ay mahihinang koponan

Dati na rin kasi tayong naging mga hari,
Mula 50s hanggang 70s tayo'y natatangi.
Powerhouse ng Asya, lumalaban sa mundo,
Nung 1954, sa World Cup nagbronze pa tayo.

1954 RP Team FIBA World Championships Bronze Medallist

 

Nagsimula ang PBA, kumpetisyon ay tumaas,
Subalit sa FIBA games tila nawalan ng oras.
Sa Asian Games na lang tayo nagconcentrate
Sa ABC competition, mga players ay di pa graduate.

Kahit sa Asian Games, tayo ay nahirapan,
Namulat din ako noon sa katotohanan,
Ang ating paghahari unti-unti nang nawala,
Lakas ng mga kalaban ay sadyang nakakalula




  

Hindi inaasahan ang ating pagkakagising,
Nang nagulat sa nangyari itong si Mang Peping,
"National team" nating lumalaro sa lokal na liga,
Tinalo ng koponan ng ating mga artista.

Mga visionaries ng Pinoy basketball nagsimulang magplano
Si Chot at si Noli para mabawi na ang trono.
Mga basketball fans ay agad ding nabuhayan,
Sa FIBA tayo'y babalik at makikipagbakbakan.

Subalit hindi ito lahat naging madali,
Mga basketball bodies ay nagkahati-hati,
Preparasyon ng team na ipapadala natin sana,
Nahinto ng kaunti dahil sa suspensyon ng FIBA.

BAP-A, BAP-B, PB,  ATBP
Mga letrang sa forum at internet mababasa,
Hindi maintindihan kung bakit di magkaisa,
Mahirap talaga pag nahahaluan ng pulitika.

Itong si MVP naman biglang to the rescue.
Pagbuo ng programa ay kanyang inasikaso,
Pati ang puso ng FIBA kanya ring napalambot,
Naalis na ang suspension, tagumpay itong naabot.

Hindi naging maganda ang ating pasimula,
Pagbalik sa FIBA Asia, tayo ay natulala.
Group of death ang ating agad napuntahan,
Eliminations round pa lang, pag asa ay nawalan.

Subalit hindi naman tayo susukong basta basta,
Pagpapadala ng malulupet na players natin sa FIBA,
Pang 9th at pang 8th sa ating mga unang sultada,
Nakakadisappoint pero una lang yan kabarkada.

Nagkaroon bigla ng pagbabago sa ating programa,
Ng ilang teams sa PBA ay ayaw makisama,
Kaya kumuha agad ng mga kabataang manlalaro,
At naturalized player at foreign coach na mamumuno.

Dito nagsimula ang tinatawag nating Gilas,
Nagsimula nating ipakita ang programang pang-alas.
Ang kanilang training ay talagang matindihan,
Kahit na mga bata, kitang-kita na lumalaban.

Gilas 1 with Coach Rajko Toroman

Minanduhan silang maigi ni Rajko Toroman,
Si kuya Marcus Douthit, sa loob ang ating hitman,
Kasama ng ilang pros, sila Kelly, Jimmy at Asi
Sa mga malakas ng team ng Asia, lumaban tayo ng matindi.

Subalit sa ating target, tayo pa rin ay kinapos,
Sa dulo ng labanan, sa fourth place tayo ay nagtapos.
Hindi na rin masama kung ating titingnan,
Mga bata pa nga halos ang players na ating pinanlaban.

Sinagad na din natin ang sumunod na labanan,
Ang bakbakan sa court dinala sa ating bayan,
FIBA Asian Championships 2013 sa Manila,
Buong bansa ay makikitang tunay na nagkaisa.

Gilas 2.0 ay binuo at todong naghanda.
Walang sinayang na oras, hindi tayo ipapahiya.
Sa harap ng taumbayan, dugo't pawis ang inialay,
Ticket pabalik sa World Cup, itataya ang buhay.

Umabot sa labanang kalaban ay pamilyar,
Ilang beses tayong pinaiyak sa marami nang lugar.
Laban sa South Korea sa semis ay tila isang sumpa,
Hanggang sa dulo ng labanan, ayaw nilang kumawala.

Buong bayan ay nagalak ng atin silang nagupo,
Ticket papuntang Spain naseguro ng hukbo.
Sa Finals naman ay naghihintay na ang team Iran,
Ang ating koponan ay mga sundalong sugatan.

Gilas vs Senegal, FIBA World Cup 2014

Kahit na kulang-kulang hindi sila basta nagpatalo,
Ang Gilas Pilipinas ay lumaban pa ng todo.
Subalit sa dulo tayo pa rin ay kinapos,
Pilak na ginto, pagkauhaw sa medalya'y tinapos.

Pagtuntong sa World Cup, atin muling nasaksihan,
Gilas Pilipinas vs Croatia, hindi ko mapaniwalaan,
Kinurot ang aking sarili dahil baka panaginip lang,
Subalit totoo pala ang aking minamasdan.

Kumuha pa ng resbak na malakas sa NBA,
Blatche ang apelyido, pangalan nya ay Andray,
Malaking mama na panentro, ang galaw ay parang forward,
Ang pagsama nya sa Gilas ay dagdag sa ting reward.

Unang laban sa Croatia, ang score agad na lumayo,
Naisip kong baka ganito ang ating ilalaro,
Masyadong malakas na kasi ang ating mga kalaban,
Pero ako ay nagdasal, kahit sana dumikit man lamang.

Ng sumunod na mga quarters, pumutok ang outside shooting,
Mga Croatian players ay nagsimulang mapailing,
Mga Pilipinong players na di nila kilala kung sino,
Umabot sa overtime, nakuha natin ang respeto.

Natalo man tayo sa Croatia, ginulat natin ang mundo,
Pati laban sa Greece, Argentina at Puerto Rico.
Sa huling laban natin sa Senegal, nasungkit natin ang panalo,
Apat na dekadang hinintay, wala nang tatamis pa dito.

Dahil napasarap, sinubukan pa nating itodo.
World cup na susunod, bakit di natin gawin dito.
Nagbid tayo sa hosting, subalit sa dulo ay natalo.
Sa China napunta, o ang sakit naman nito.

At para sa Olympics na gaganapin sa Rio,
FIBA Asia na kasunod, sa bayan pa rin ng Tsino.
Gilas 3.0, sinimulan nating ikasa,
Akala mo'y ok na, dami pa ring problema.

Ang namuno naman dito ay si Coach Tab Baldwin,
Mahusay na coach at talagang sobrang inspiring.
Subalit ng nilabas na, list ng players na isasama,
Marami ang umatras, nakakawala ng gana.

Pero hindi ito dahilan para tayo ay sumuko,
Tayo pa rin ay lalaban, kahit pa nadedehado.
Nagtraining ang bagong Gilas, sumali sa mga torneyo,
At dito nasilayan ang tikas ng ating grupo.

Nagsimula ang FIBA Asia, malaki ang ating pag-asa.
Subalit sa first game, agad tayong nadisgrasya.
Palestine na unang beses sumali sa FIBA Asia,
Ginulat ang buong mundo, nawala bigla ang saya.

Tulad ng isang mandirigma na mas lalong tumatapang,
Pag nabahiran ng dugo at nasusugatan.
Kanilang inilampaso ang mga sumunod na mga kalaban,
At dinurog ang malalakas, pati depending champs Iran.

Natapos ang round 2, na tayo ang number 1.
Biglang parang napadali ang ruta ng ating koponan.
Mga kalabang iniiwasan, napunta sa kabilang bracket.
Pero sabi ni Coach Tab, teka muna hold it.

Hindi naging madali ang laban natin sa QF at Semis,
Lebanon at Japan, tila baga di nagmimintis.
At sangkaterbang freethrow na kanilang itinira,
Ang laban ay dikit, di tayo makarekta.

Subalit tayo pa rin ang syang nagtagumpay,
Laban sa Finals kung saan China ang nag aantay,
Homecourt advantage, at kung ano ano pa.
Siguradong kakaharapin kaya sila ay naghanda na.

Unang quarter ay dikit, hanggang gitna ng 2nd quarter.
Subalit lumayo bigla, ang laro nawala sa order.
Mga kwestyonableng tawag ng referee ay sunod sunod,
Pati mintis natin sa freethrows, tayo'y nagkakandahilahod.

Papunta pa lang pala sa venue, ang team pala'y na late.
Bus na sasakyan, hindi nacharge so they had to wait.
Then nung nagwawarm up na, biglang inayos pa ang net.
Sinadya nga ba ito o may balat lang tayo sa pwet.

Balik tayo sa laban, unti unti silang lumayo.
Pero di tayo nagpagapi, lumaban pa rin at tumayo.
Didikit na sana tayo, pero may travelling pa na tinawag,
Palo sa mukha at katawan, sa team ako ay nahabag.

Natapos ang laban, tayo nga ang syang natalo.
Nalusaw ang pag-asa na makakalaro sa Rio.
Sumabog ang Twitter at Facebook sa mga fans na Filipino,
Imbes daw kasi basketball, ang nangyari'y cooking show.

Gilas 3.0, Silver Medallist, FIBA Asia Championships 2015

Ang hirap man makamove-on dapat na nating tanggapin,
Talagang di pa panahon ng ating Olympic dream.
Pero sa tamang panahon, Gilas din ay papalarin.
Ang gintong medalya sa Asia ay atin ding susungkitin.

Sana rin ay dumating na ang ating bayan ay magkaisa,
Lalo na ang mga lider ng sports na ating sinisinta.
Sa ating mga players, sa skills  ay walang problema.
Kailangan lamang natin ng maayos na programa.

Sa mga fans ng Gilas na Pilipinong tulad ko.
Lalo sa mga bata, alam nyo ang suerte nyo.
Mga heartbreaks ng Team noon, hindi nyo na naabutan.
Consistent na winning team ang inyo ngayong nasasaksihan.

Wag sana nating pagsawaan na sila ay suportahan,
Ang kalibreng pang worldclass, atin nang nasaksihan.
Malay natin sa susunod, magagamit na natin ang ating play.
Laban sa kinatatakutan ng lahat, yan ang Team USA.

Laban Pilipinas! Puso!







   

The Secret To Winning Our Country's First Olympic Gold Medal

For other nation’s athletes, the quadrennial event is the place to showcase their talents while beating their similarly world class competitors. But for our country, it’s a 4 year cycle of frustration. We always hear about the “it’s not about winning” slogan in sports. I am a sports man myself. I’m not that competitive though in many games that I played, but I did play a lot.  I don’t win all the time but I still love doing sports. So I understand this “it’s not about winning” attitude. It’s about doing our best and learning from our defeats. But in this case, I'm still waiting for the learning part for our sports committees from the bunch of defeats that our country had been experiencing from decades of joining the Olympics and other sports event.

We might have world class sports people like Manny Pacquiao, Paeng Nepomuceno and Efren “Bata” Reyes. But in general, there’s no consistency. What I see is the blaming game debacles after debacles.  For a general long term program visioning our athletes to be consistently world class, I see none.

Onyok Velasco, Silver medalist in '96 Olympics. Our country haven't won a medal since.

Like you, I’m one of those who believe that our athletes, given the proper training and exposure can become top tiers in their fields. If we look back at our sports history, many had already proven this. I’m sure you can give a name of a Filipino athlete in our past that marked their names in the international stage.  And I’m sure that most of which you can name are the same as those who I can also remember. And that really means how few our world class athletes were in history. Well, except in boxing and billiards of course.

And after decades of being part of the modern Olympics, the gold is still as elusive as ever. As embarrassing as it is, a lot of other small and new member countries in the Olympics already overtook us in the overall medal tally. Since being a member of the tourney exactly 90 years ago, we only have 2 silver medals and 7 bronzes to show.

London Olympics 2012 Gold Medal

Just this last SEA Games held in Myanmar, our country had one of its lowest showing in the history of the competition, winning only 29 gold medals and placed seventh overall. It’s our worst actually. But the cause is not really our lack of competitiveness but it is by not sending many athletes since our sports officials think it’s a waste of money to send those who don’t have much chance to win medals. Only those “winnable” are sent. Even the highly touted Azkals, our football team, was not part of the team. And our basketball NT was in danger also of not being able to defend the title that we only lost once in this tournament have they decided not to send naturalized big man Marcus Douthit with the team. If you look at it, it seemed to be not about the competition and exposure for our officials but more about the money and the medals. So what does all of this have to do with the secret to winning our first ever gold medal in the Olympics?

Since our sports leaders are officially on a budget cut, then they probably are not very much into grass root training nor sending our potential athletes into training abroad. Or maybe if private groups or individuals shoulder the fees, then it’s okay with them. And it is currently working with some of our athletes like how Wesley So is being handled well in improving his FIDE ratings, our billiard players are continuously winning world cup events, some of our tennis prodigies are competing outside and getting ample exposures and even education abroad, and having both Azkals and Gilas making big leaps in increasing their world rankings. Let’s not forget to thank these generous companies and individuals who are supporting our athletes.

But for the other sports, since our officials are on a budget cut and seemed to be on a hurry to win and only send those who have chance of winning medals, here’s a remedy they can do to discover top notch athletes across the country and finally win our first ever gold medal in the Olympics.

1. Concentrate on sports where world class competitiveness can be easily measured like swimming, weightlifting and athletics. Let’s say all sports where measurement of speed, strength, leap, etc is the metric.
2. Collect and list all the world records for these events.
3. Thru partnership with local governments and department of education, promote these sports in a separate annual event.
4. Promote this program as where only those who can reach or perform within world record level of measurement (speed in swimming and running, length and height of jumps or leaps, weightlift records) are allowed to join. Put a little tolerance on the measurement let’s say those who can perform at least .5% under the world record are only allowed to join.
5. To prove that they can do it, there will be auditions and screening. Or they can record it thru a video under a supervision of members of local government.

 

And those who will pass the requirements are the ones to be trained for the international events. Then for those who will be able to equate or surpass the current world records, they will be given BIG monetary incentives right away, and should be huge enough that those aspiring athletes will be motivated to train more to be able to reach international standards. Let’s be honest that besides competitiveness and winning, earning is one of the biggest motivations for most athletes. That’s the reason why there are so many athletes around the world who are chasing professional careers which promise big paychecks. Besides, it would be difficult for an athlete to divide their time with training for sports while making a living for their family which I think is what pushes back some of our promising talents earlier on.

Hidilyn Diaz, our best chance at a medal last Olympics. And on the next.

By following this program, we can easily pick our world class athletes easily.  By proper advertisement with an almost free assistance from government bodies (public schools and local government), we can see the promising undiscovered athletes presenting themselves at the doorsteps. I know that it’s not easy to coordinate with some schools and LGUs but for sure, media will pick this up as well. Let’s say we entitle it the “1 Million Peso Olympic Record Challenge”. Those who can break the current world records in swimming, running, or weightlifting will get 1 Million Pesos in cash right away plus assured world class training. And we may not need our government to bring out the money here since private companies can sponsor this event. All the government has to do is to spearhead.

Or maybe even without the hand of the government, some generous billionaires out there can make this idea into reality. If only I have the money, I will do this. But I don’t. I’m just a fan. And I’m not even sure if this program will surely bring gold medals to our country’s Olympic haul. But probably it can give us a fighting chance at least. And we really must do something about it and not leaving out the gold medal to chance that maybe, some super athlete out there is born from a Filipino parent who will be unbeatable.  Or let’s just continue day dreaming that we’ll finally be able to see in our lifetime our National Flag being raised during the awarding ceremony while our National anthem is being played in the background and our athlete is standing there on the top podium, wearing that elusive gold medal.