Until consequences are final

This writer warned of how the Asian Games would become a buffet for armchair critics, and that basketball would be one of the biggest targets of (some unfair) criticism along the way. It is becoming more and more evident not just with the sheer volume of amateur commentary on the national basketball team’s every move, and may not be helping at this point. Are we becoming a sports community of “take my ball and play somewhere else” or “my way or the highway” fans? I know the Philippines is a democracy, but are we becoming a bunch of whiners?

With the speed of the Internet, we’re so busy reacting to events while they’re going on, in such a hurry to post something ahead of others, we broadcast knee-jerk, first-impulse thoughts. We sacrifice depth for speed, and put ourselves in a position where we’ll never be able to take it back, or get carried away with the emotion of the moment. Worse, some of us just ride on the snowball of negativity building up around an event. “I’m having a bad day and Gilas Pilipinas just lost to Iran. Let’s bash somebody.” I think the more relevant question is: what do we stand for? What are we really saying? Or are we saying something just to be heard, and ironically just add to the noise?

One example was an opinion piece disguised as an article on a popular newer news website (not The STAR’s) postulating that Andray Blatche would have done better against Hamed Haddadi, and the outcome of the game against Iran would have been different. This writer considers that an irresponsible statement. First of all, we don’t know that for a fact. Secondly, the Blatche eligibility issue was settled, it was not Reyes’s choice, and in fact burdened him with making adjustments most people don’t really understand. Third, in what way can that claim even be substantiated? Is there any mathematical formula that would make that appear true? You play with the players you have. Any comments outside of those parameters is just sour-graping. Incidentally, the same piece both criticized the other players on the team for the very same qualities in praised them for. 

I’m not defending the outcome of the game or whatever Chot Reyes did. Nobody likes to lose, particularly after the emotional high of the FIBA World Cup. Let’s bear in mind, however, that the team is playing at a very high level of competition, and some of those trams are, like the Philippines, among the elite teams of the world. They have also prepared, almost all of them much longer than the Philippines has. And the players are compensating for travel, fatigue, injury, food, time differences, land travel, weather, officiating, and even being away from their families. All part of the job, I know, but still factors to consider among many. Also, is it fair to keep rendering judgment on something on someone during an event which is not even over? All these vocal critics will be silent in their own embarrassment should Gilas Pilipinas win the gold medal. But if and when they get eliminated, then have at it, within reason. In other words, let’s reserve judgment for when the results are final.

It is so ironic and almost hilarious that everyone was complaining about how JunMar Fajardo got little playing time throughout the FIBA World Cup, then many turn around and say he played too much against Iran, resulting in an ineffective performance. So how do you reconcile the two? 

Many of us in the broadcasting profession who began our careers in the late 1980’s started noticing the change in the temperament of young adult Filipinos during those times. Remember, in the late 1970’s there was a great change in the influence of media that came with the launch of music channels like MTV and later the explosion of media after the EDSA Revolution, which was in turn followed by the immense growth of internet penetration all over the world. Speed became a major consideration, editing became more fast-paced, even though there are actual psychological considerations to look at. But what became noticeable was that those who have grown up since those times developed a certain impatience, and a certain unwillingness to take any kind of feedback they disagree with. This has permeated the work environment, as well, as large corporations now face the phenomenon of new management trainees leaving after only two or three years, before the company has recovered its investment in the person. Previously, entry-level employees stayed with a company three to five years on the average before seeking other employment. That turnover number is closer to two to three years today.

What does this mean? Because we largely followed those influences from around the world, we have also been experiencing their effects. Impatience became more prevalent. You used to have to get out of your chair and cross the room just to change the channel. Now, you just zap away with the remote control. The standard news soundbyte used to be 20 seconds long. Now, it can be anywhere from just three to nine seconds. Sometimes, while flipping through all the choices, you wind up not choosing anything, after all that. The generations that hit their adolescence in the 1980’s and beyond who were fed a steady diet of brain-frying editing and quick cuts, started to crave instant results. And that also influences us as sports fans.

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EDSA did wonders for our self-esteem and self-expression as a people. But couple this with the anonymity, loose regulation and lack of consequences of social networking, and it can also transform into unhealthy expression. We lose one game, and everybody wants to make wholesale changes. Imagine if we had an NBA team. They’d have to disconnect from everything on game days and the day after a losing game. In the aftermath of his infamous “one step backward, two steps forward” PBA Finals Game 4 against Toyota, then-U-Tex coach Tommy Manotoc was vilified by the press and even summoned by then-commissioner Leo Prieto for knowing when to quit and resting his imports to fight another day. Tommy explained that he wasn’t trying to win the game, he was trying to win the championship. The Wranglers closed it out in the deciding Game 5, and Manotoc, in his own words, became “the most popular guy in town” just two days later. In other words, he gambled and won. But the point is all the criticism heaped upon him could have waited another 48 hours, when the consequences became final.

Even in past international tournaments, Filipino coaches have dropped a game for better placing to ultimately win the gold medal. Many purists disagree with this, saying you try to win every game. I guess the relation to the current Asian games basketball campaign is this, the Philippines could afford to lose the game against Iran. But many Filipino fans were not in a position to realize that small consolation, as they were frantically posting, sharing, Tweeting, liking and commenting while trying to watch the game. Personally, I turn all my gadgets off when the game starts. But that’s because it’s my job.

The distance provided by watching a game on television vis-a-vis being in the coliseum live is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can be more objective (if you so choose). But on the other, you can become impersonal, or even inhuman. There are things that take time, like the maturing of a team. If you’ll notice, you will hardly see any PBA coach or player comment on game results, except to continually encourage the team. That’s because they know that the fight isn’t over.

And judgment isn’t due. Yet.