Lessons from giraffes

There has been much written - and much said - about the campaign of the Philippines to regain the gold standard in Asian basketball. Much of it has been written by professional observers like yours truly, those of us who are close to the game.

But there is also wisdom in the layman’s view, as evidenced by this e-mail I am about to share with you. Mind you, this was not the only e-mail of its kind. There were more who could not help but reach out to our gallant players and coaching staff, who, as they proceed along this road further and further, seem more and more lonely. At times, they may even feel that some of their countrymen have already washed their hands of the team, even before the true battle has begun.

Christopher Manuel apparently could not contain his sentiments about the seemingly inadequate output of the two RP training pools currently competing in the PBA. He writes:

"I would like to share this to you and to our RP National Pool basketball team. This is a forwarded message of a friend and remind me of a message of coach Jong Uichico. He said that winning is not their main concern in their participation in the PBA, it is learning.

"Sometimes we win but gain nothing, lose but learn something. It is true indeed! Setbacks are not the end of it all. Though we wish both the RP Pool basketball team win most if not all the games... we cannot count the experience, familiarity to each other and rules, solidarity and raging motivation they can get that they will need in facing an improbable goal of winning gold in basketball in Asian Games."

Christopher then attached the essay "Lessons from Giraffes," which I have edited here only for brevity’s sake.

"Giraffes give birth standing up. The first introduction to the world for a baby giraffe is a fall of about 10 feet, to the dirt. It normally curls up and tries to remain stretching itself on the ground.

"Then the mother does a strange thing. She kicks it, sending it sprawling. If it doesn’t get up, she repeats the process. When the baby gets tired from its efforts to stand, the mother kicks it again, to spur it on. When the baby finally does stand, the mother knocks it down. She wants the baby to remember how it did it. She keeps repeating it ‘til the baby giraffe starts standing on its own.

"But why does the baby giraffe gets kicked by its mother? This is necessary, for the baby must learn how to stand, so as to stay with the herd. As harsh as this may seem to us, if the mother did not do this, the baby would be totally on its own, unprotected and vulnerable to the predators in their world."

He then adds an appended moral to the story.

"Many times the setbacks you face in life are all meant to make you much stronger so that you are encouraged as you proceed further. It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

"Remember, next time if you are up with an obstacle, it just may be the one to make you stronger so that you reach your goals more easily. If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity, the adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to benefit and bless us.

"You can never give up!

"Do not let failure get you down. It is a part of success. Learn from your failures. Make failure your teacher and not your undertaker!

"Just remember people are not finished when they are defeated.

"They are only finished when they quit!"

My sentiments exactly, Christopher. Thanks.

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The Center for Sports Communications’ second Basic Sportscasting Seminar will take place from April 1-3 starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) Bldg. on San Miguel Ave, Ortigas Center in Pasig City. Interested participants may call 9161017 (c/o Rose of Grand Slam Sports) or 3731974, 3739765, 3736447 (c/o Judith or Benjie of Bright Skies).

A veritable Who’s Who of the sports broadcasting profession make up the list of speakers (including The STAR’s Quinito Henson and yours truly). The seminar is sponsored by the PBA, Talk & Text, Shell, RFM and Welcoat.