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| World cop? What world cop? By Antonio C. Abaya June 20, 2002 The Philippines may be the only country on the planet, aside from the United States of America (from which we obviously acquired many of our idiosyncratic tastes), which, having enjoyed the blessings of electricity, television and satellite broadcasting, has nevertheless shown a total indifference to the football madness that has swept across the world as a result of the World Cup matches in Korea and Japan. Even in impoverished and war-torn Afghanistan, where cable TV has yet to make its appearance, those who can afford them are buying satellite dishes to follow the fortunes of their favorite teams. In the massage parlors of Thailand, masseuses are dressing up in the jerseys of their customers� favored national teams, the better to enliven their enjoyment of the teams� blow-by-blow progression towards the finals. In many countries of the Third World, from darkest (and poorest) Africa, to the souks and bazaars of the Muslim world, to the teeming urban jungles of Southeast Asia, to the hovels and favelas of Latin America, football mania has infected billions in its wake in what could well be the most widespread global �disease� since the flu epidemic of 1918. But in the Philippines, nada. World cop? What world cop? ***** I have a theory that the reason the Americans have not developed a taste for football - or soccer, as they prefer to call it - is that it is one sport that cannot be reduced to statistics the way baseball, American football and basketball can be. Every baseball aficionado can rattle off the batting averages of his/her favorite players, plus other arcane data such as runs batted in, errors, runners left on base and, of course, home runs and their distances relative to current standards. In basketball, it is not only the stratospheric height of the most flamboyant genetic freaks, but also the number of points scored from the floor and from the foul line, the assists, the rebounds, etc�these are all studiously noted down and recorded for all posterity. In American football, which is the sport closest to war (with skirmish lines of heavily armored gladiators grappling with each other for territory), the record books contain not only the humungous weights of the combatants but also the yards won or lost, the passes completed, the interceptions, the yardage of end runs, and, of course, the touchdowns and the points-after-touchdown. In football or soccer, there are also statistics, of course, but they seldom add much to the enjoyment of the game. Some of the most memorable matches in any soccer tournament, including the present, have often ended in 0-0 or 1-1 draws. All that physical effort, all those nasty injuries, all that running and kicking, all that huffing and puffing, seemingly for nothing? But such low scores often do not tell the real drama of the encounter, the expert ball-handling, the accurate passing, the ingeniousness of attack, the steadfastness of defense, the perseverance of individual players, the clockwork precision in teamwork�all of which are such a joy to watch but may be lost to someone looking for statistics to encapsulate the experience. ***** Having crashed into the quarterfinals with a convincing 2-0 victory over favored Mexico, the US may see a surge in interest in the world�s biggest sport. But what about the Philippines? We do not even have a national team that can compete successfully with Brunei or Bhutan. And we are not addicted to statistics the way the Americans are. What is the reason for our indifference? Simply put, it is lack of exposure. The present World Cup is a case in point. The company that won the TV franchise for the Philippines is one called Dream Broadcasting System (a rather unoriginal name borrowed from the DreamWorks company of Steven Spielberg et al.), and it is strictly a satellite outfit. But to connect to Dream and watch the World Cup in the comfort and privacy of your living room, you have to spend about P21,000 for a satellite dish, decoder, cables and other paraphernalia. Right then and there, we have made soccer a spectator sport for the rich, to be enjoyed by them in their yachts, their Tagaytay Highlands villas and their Punta Fuego mansions. Dream did make a concession of sorts to the proletariat by authorizing PTV Channel 4 to replay one match a day, but in the ungodly hours between midnight and 2:00 am when most of the proletariat have to be asleep if they want to earn their daily bread the next day. Compare this with the giant outdoor TV screens put up by the government and private corporations in the cities of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to enable everyone who was interested, including the poorest of the poor, to watch the games for free and in real time. Even in the matter of sports development, the Philippines is such a total bummer. ***** Since, by the time this article sees print, the World Cup will have been over (and Dream can no longer turn it off), let me tell you a secret. I have been watching the World Cup matches every single day since Day 1, mostly in real time, without spending a single centavo, and in the comfort and privacy of my son�s bedroom (he is currently enjoying the soccer in soccer heaven, Brazil). There may be a God, after all: his TV happened to be cable-wired to Paranaque Cable, unlike some of the others in the house which are cable-wired to SkyCable. At the start of the World Cup, we were able to watch the games via a Malaysian or Indonesian channel on Sky, which carried the live telecasts in English. But after two days, this channel showed only color bars at the precise moment of kick-off, turned off, no doubt, by those nasty killjoys in Dream. (In previous, Europe-based World Cups, we had to wake up at 3 in the morning to watch the matches.) Enter Paranaque Cable and a little known station in its stable, EM-TV of Papua New Guinea, through which we have seen most of the matches, and mostly in real time. An embarrassment of riches, in fact, when, during the first round, they showed all four games each day, back to back. By the middle of the third game, this couch potato was often totally exhausted. But, thank you, Paranaque Cable. And, thank you, EM-TV Papua New Guinea, not only for the wonderful games but also for those wise messages in Pidgin English, such as: Usim kondom olgeta taim! Get it? Use condom all the time! I�ll remind Cardinal Sin. ***** As this is being written, Korea is preparing to meet Germany in the semi-finals. Who can ever forget the tenacity of the Korean players in their encounters with the Italians and the Spaniards, both of whom they sent packing home in sour-graping defeat? Whether they prevail over the Germans or not, is no longer that important. What is more important is that the Koreans have shown their mettle, and the whole world salutes them for it. Listen, you stupid politicians! And you, too, you bellyaching columnists! This is what instilling national pride is all about. It is about harnessing the latent energies of a people and, through hard work, self-discipline, visionary leadership and a consciousness of a shared destiny, hammering out a breakthrough that the world recognizes as an outstanding achievement. Communists and pro-communists, take note: It has nothing to do with hating, and spreading hatred against, other people for real or imagined sins. It can be attained on the football pitch, or on a battlefield, or in the global marketplace, or in intellectual, scientific and cultural endeavors, even in the more humdrum arena of daily governance. But for it to happen, there must be inspired and inspiring leadership. Lucky is the nation that is blessed with such leadership; cursed is the one that is barren of it. ***** The bulk of this article appears in the July 8, 2002 issue of the Philippine Weekly Graphic. |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �World cop? What world cop?� June 30, 2002 Your essay is very entertaining, far more entertaining than the TV programming I saw when I spent March and April in Manila. By the time I left, I couldn�t bring myself to turn on the TV anymore. The TV nets apparently think every Filipino is an idiot. And that Rico Yan thing was nauseating. TV now seems even worse than I remember when I lived in the RP for three years in the late 90s. Everything seems to be going downhill there. Hpconnect. [email protected]. ***** Thank you for your very enlightening articles which I would have missed were I not included in your recipients� list. Are you related to the Abaya of Erehwon? Please keep the articles coming. [email protected]. Abaya of Erehwon. That�s me. ACA. ***** Dear Mr. Abaya. I totally agree with you and everything you wrote in that article. Incidentally, I read your �Europe by Scooter� when I was in my teens and when I got the chance to go to Europe myself, I remembered your book each time we used the autobahn. God bless you and keep on writing. Mario Bautista. [email protected]. After 37 years, someone still remembers �Europe by Scooter.� I�m flattered. Thank you very much. ACA. ***** We also need soccer pitches. But can you imagine how hard it would be to keep a public space the size of a soccer pitch, where kids play, free of squatters, vendors, land grabbing and stupid concreting projects? I pray to God that we get some of the passion which the Koreans play with in the way we run this country. Gideon Javier. [email protected]. If the Brazilians can do it, I don�t see why we Filipinos can�t. Two of my children have just arrived from Brazil and the pictures they took of Rio show vast tracts of public land, such as the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, �free of squatters, vendors, land grabbing and stupid concreting projects.� All it takes is a strong state and government that enforce the laws, and less bleeding heart liberals bleeding for squatters, vendors, etc. The squatters are confined to their ghettoes called favelas. ACA ***** Dear Mr. Abaya. Regarding Dream Broadcasting�s treatment of the World Cup coverage in the Philippines, I have made an online petition to FIFA to disallow them from bidding in future World Cup coverages starting with the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The petition is located at this URL: http:/www.PetitionOnline/eching98/petition.html You may sign it if you believe that the company is deserving of censure. Like the majority of other football fans who can�t afford to be in a resto, pub or at a rich man�s park to watch the games, I too was disadvantaged by this. Thank goodness, the World Cup coverage �nightmare� is over. Sincerely, Ed Ching. [email protected]. Count me in in your petition. ACA. ***** �In basketball, it is not only the stratospheric height of the most flamboyant genetic freaks�..� I understand your points, sir. But to call some of the most talented athletes in the world �genetic freaks� seems too much. Gary Mercado. [email protected]. Sorry if that upset you. But in my books, anyone taller than 6 feet 6 inches is not normal. ACA. ***** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |