This might fire up your day guys going into tonights semis game between our very own Gilas Pilipinas and SOuth Korea. It was one of the most painful moments I had to endure as a basketball fan. My dad and I were seated together by our kitchen nook. A pitcher of cold water was in between us with two glasses beside it. We were in front of our old transistor radio following the 2002 Asian Games semis match between the Philippines and South Korea. In between plays, we chugged glasses of water because we were so nervous. When the signal got choppy, my dad would hold on to the tip of the antenna. He wouldn’t let go until the signal was back to normal. Up two. Olsen Racela at the free throw line to seal the game and arrange a gold medal match against China. But he missed both. Still, I believed the game was ours. One stop lang. The voices of the commentators were raised by a few decibels in the next play, trying to catch up with the significance of the moment. When play resumed, everything was a blur. All I got was that there was a loose ball. Then, as the seconds melted away, there was shouting, just shouting. I was confused. I didn’t know what was happening. “Mesambut tamu,” my dad told me. “Natalo tayo.” Lee Sang Min broke many Filipino hearts that day. Including mine. Including my dad’s. It was especially hard for him because back in 1986, he also witnessed the team fall to the Koreans. The Philippine team was also in the semis of the Asian games back then, with China waiting for an opponent. The Filipinos battled back thanks to Alvin Patrimonio, Ronnie Magsanoc, and their fellow amateur standouts. Down by one, with a few seconds left in the clock, Allan Caidic stole the ball and ran to the other side for a layup. Caidic was bumped as he went up but the referee called an offensive foul instead. Back in 2011, Gilas version 1.0 took on the Koreans again. This time at the FIBA Asia Championship. Instead of fighting for the chance to meet China, we were fighting for a ticket to the wild card phase; a last call for teams to play in the Summer Olympics. Gilas led for most of the game but fell short again. Three games. Three different decades. But the same sad result. On August 10 at 8:30 pm, countless Filipino basketball fans will once again put their hearts out there with the Philippine team. They know there’s huge risk of having their hearts broken again. The Koreans have a very strong team. They defeated the Chinese in the group stage. Their only loss was to odds-on favorites Iran. But that doesn’t matter. Nothing matters for Filipino basketball fans. Because even if everything points to the contrary, we choose to believe. We believe that Gabe Norwood can guard their best wing men, that Marc Pingris can stand his ground against any of their bigs. We believe Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, and Jimmy Alapag are too good for any of their point guards. We believe that Larry Fonacier, Jeff Chan, and Gary David can all wax hot from three. We believe in Marcus Douthit, in Ranidel De Ocampo, and in Japeth Aguilar. We believe that June Mar Fajardo will have his shining moment before this tournament is through. Our collective hearts have been broken time and again by the Koreans. But there will come a day when the basketball gods will finally reward us for our loyalty, for our passion, for our treatment of basketball like it is a religion. There will come a time when a Philippine basketball team will stand up and defeat the Koreans. We believe today is that day. This one is for Alvin Patrimonio and Allan Caidic. For Jeffrey Cariaso, Dondon Hontiveros, and Olsen Racela. For Chris Tiu, JVee Casio, and Mark Barroca. For all those who have tried and for all those who have failed. This one is for my dad, for me, for you, and for all the countless Filipinos who chose to lay it all in the line to support the Philippine basketball team. For too long they have haunted our dreams. For too long they’ve taken what we felt was rightfully ours. Today Gilas will fight. Today they will perform the final exorcism for 1986, 2002, and 2011. Today they fulfill their destiny.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 06:19:51 +0000