Tag Archives: Pacquiao

Basagketbulero

4 July 2018

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Basketball at boxing. Ito ay dalawang libangan na paborito nating mga Pilipino. Pero sa Pilipinas, kadalasan pinagsasama ang dalawang sports na ito sa iisang event.

Mula basketball sa kalye, liga sa baranggay, tournament ng mga kolehiyo, hanggang professional basketball games sa Pilipinas, ay minsan (o madalas), nauuwi sa suntukan. Ngayon umapaw pa ito hanggang sa international games. Siguro naman ay alam ng lahat ang nangyari sa FIBA games sa laban ng Pilipinas at Australia.

basketbrawl

Siguro may mga ilan din sa inyo ang nakakatanda noong 1998 sa isang exhibition game sa America, ang ating Philippine Centennial Team, kasama sila Marlou Aquino at Andy Seigle, ay nakipagsuntukan sa Minnesota college basketball team.

Ang mga Pilipino ba ay sadyang “Basagketbulero?” Basketbulero + basagulero.

Hindi ko sinasabing hindi ko naranasan ito. Dahil noong ako’y naglalaro pa ng basketball sa kalsada sa aming lugar, may mga panahon na nagkakainitan ang laro, lalo na kung ang mga kalaro (o kalaban) ay taga ibang kalye o mga dayo. Kahit nga iyong pa-liga ng aming simbahan, oo magkakapatid na sa pananampalataya, ay nauuwi pa rin sa away. Pero hindi naman ako nakakasama sa suntukan, dahil mabilis akong tumakbo – tumakbong palayo!

Bakit nga kaya?

Dahil kaya sadyang mapusok tayong maglaro ng basketball? Dahil kaya tayo ay lahi ng mga palaban? Dahil kaya may dugo tayong lahat na boksingero at gustong maging Pacquiao? Pero in fairness kay Pacquiao, kahit naging basketbulero din siya, hindi siya nakipagboksing habang nasa basketball court, sa boxing ring lang.

Baka naman dahil may mentality tayong “walang iwanan,” na kapag inapi ang ating kasama ay igaganti natin ito ano man ang mangyari? Ito ang rason na ginagamit ng iba sa ating mga manlalaro. O kaya naman ay mayroon tayong “rumble mentality” – hindi masaya kung walang away. O dahil ba madali tayong mapikon at wala tayong “self-restraint?”

Hindi ko alam ang tunay na dahilan. Ngunit nakakalungkot na inaalis natin ang “sport” sa larangan ng “sports.”

Kahit ako ay Pilipino, ang boksing sa basketball ay hinding-hindi ko maipagmamalaki.

(*photoshopped image from the web)

Kagat-dila

22 February 2016

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Nakakalungkot ang mga bali-balita na nagliyab sa ating bansa noong nakaraang linggo at nakarating pa ito sa ibang bansa. May mga nasaktan, may mga nagalit, at may mga nanindigan. Nahati ang sentimyento ng ating bayan. Kulang na lang magbalibagan tayo ng sapatos sa ating pagbabangayan. Ah, eh, may nagsiliparan din palang Nike na sapatos.

Ano man ang inyong panig o pananaw, maraming nagsasabi na sana raw ay hindi na lang sinabi ang mga nasabi. Sa madaling salita – wah sabi. Dahil pagnasabi ang isang bagay, para itong wasabi ng sushi – masarap sa iba, maanghang sa iba. Kagat dila na lang sana raw.

Hindi ko hinahangad na malagay sa sapatos (hindi na Nike) ni Manny, ngunit kung sakali mang magkataon ay kakagatin ko na lang ang aking dila at aking sasabihin:

“Tat Thritian, tawal taman ‘tung tame-tex tarriage. Tinawa tang tatae tara ta lalati, tinawa tang lalati tara ta tatae.

Tati tara ta takin tito tang, tommon tense tang. Takakita ta ba tang tany tanimals na lalati ta lalati o tatae ta tatae? Mat mabuti ta ‘tung tayop.  Matunong tumilala, tung lalati o lalati, tatae, tatae.

Tayon tung lalaki ta lalaki, tatae ta tatae, mat matahol ta ta tayop tang tao.

To ‘di ba? Tayop tang… tindi talaga twedeng magtama tang lalati ta lalati, tero I’m not tondemning them. ‘Tung tarriage tang, ‘tung tommitting tin tagainst Tod.”

*********

(*altered quote from the full transcribed statement of Pacquiao)

P.S.: wala pong kinalaman sa pag-tatae ang artikulong ito; ang pagkakatulad ay hindi po sinasadya.

 

Lumang El Bimbo

4 May 2015

1 Comment

Hinintay ko nang matagal,

Gabi ng ating pagkikita,

Ngunit ako’y naimbiyerna,

Sa pagganap mong ipinakita.

 

Ang yakap mo ay kay higpit,

Braso ko ay iyong iniipit,

Bitiwan mo na ang aking kamay,

Pagka’t hindi naman tayo bagay.

 

Ipagpatawad mo aking kapusukan,

Sa husay mong sumayaw di abutan,

Kasi El Bimbo lang aking alam,

Naiwanan tuloy sa takbuhan.

 

Ano ba! Ikaw ba ay lalaban,

O tayo’y magsasayawan na lang?

Kung akin lamang alam,

Sana tayo’y nagkantahan na lang.

 

(*For all the frustrated boxing fans who expected more, after watching Mayweather and Pacquiao fight.)

Changing Weight

17 July 2011

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With all the current fascination on weight-watching, it is interesting how our weight can fluctuate. And I am not even talking about the gamut of weight change over one’s lifetime. Our weight can change considerably even in a span of a day.

Are you not boggled on how a boxer’s weight is so much different during the official weigh in than his weight during the actual fight? And that’s just in about a day later. Like when Margarito fought Pacquiao in the super welterweight: he weighed 150 lbs. during the weigh in, and was 165 lbs. during the actual fight the next day. A difference of 15 lbs. in a day! By the way, Pacman weighed 145 and 147 lbs. respectively.

Pacquiao and Margarito weigh in

Pacquiao and Margarito during the weigh in

So I experimented, and checked my weight in 24 hours, without doing any extreme measures:

152 lbs. – That was in the gym, after running 2 miles in the treadmill with adequate hydration. Before you comment on how slight my weight is for a man in his 40’s, I want to tell you that I was a measly 115-pound kid when I was in college. I was so skinny I could fly whenever the wind blows. And that was in a 172-cm frame. (Sorry, I have to use metric system, since it sounded much taller.)

154 lbs. – After having dinner. I was 130 lbs. when I first came to the US. I gained the 20 lbs. in the first several months of living here. That must be the American hamburgers and fries instead of my previous rice and tuyo. However, since then I maintained my weight in the super welterweight (147 – 154 lbs.) for the past 10 years or more. That means eating healthier with less hamburgers and fries too.

150 lbs. – After waking up in the morning, and after a trip to the bathroom. That was more than 12 hours since my last meal. My dinner must have weighed 4 pounds!? I wonder if I fast for a day, how much less will I weigh? In the same token, if I eat like in a Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas feast, how much more weight will I pack?

149.5 lbs. – After taking a shower in the morning, and still before having breakfast. That was almost 5 pounds less than my heaviest weigh in. This just means one thing: my “libag” (skin debris) must have weigh half a pound. Yikes!

The conclusion of my experiment? I should take a bath more. And I don’t think that is an extreme measure.

Hunch and Punch

14 November 2010

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Boxing is not my cup of tea. I don’t take any pleasure in watching two hapless men beat each other up and turned their faces into hamburger. However, with history unfolding in front of my eyes, and with many experts claiming he is the greatest fighter of my time (or all time for that matter as others will argue), and him being my countryman, I just cannot pass this up. So I was one of the millions who watched Pacquiao vs Margarito last night, even if I have to shell out almost $60 to see it on my TV.

As I was watching Pacquiao pound his much larger opponent at will, my mind fluttered to another era…….

It was the era when my father was still around. He was a big fan, and is fond of boxing. He had stories that when he was a kid, he and his friends will wrap sackcloth in their fists and box. He even had stories refereeing his younger brothers boxing each other (they were 9, with 5 boys). I guess, there was no basketball court in their rice fields yet. He will tell us stories about great Filipino boxers of his time like Flash Elorde. His world would stop , as he would drop everything, to see Ali, or Frazier fight. And even though he made a rule in our house that we cannot eat our meal in front of the TV, he himself will break this rule so he could watch a televised boxing match.

(While I was watching the Pacquiao’s fight, my wife also told me that her late father was a big boxing fan too and even had his own street fistfights during his younger years. It is hard to believe that this 2 peace-loving men have such an appetite for such a savage sport like boxing.)

Though boxing is just a sports, to my father, perhaps boxing may have deeper meaning: to fight against the bigger adversaries of life. Being only a shade above five feet, not because of his short stature but due to a deformed back from severe spinal kyphosis (hunchback), he have faced more than his share of challenges.

I can just imagine the ridicule of other kids when he was young. He also had to work, or more aptly, fight his way to get a decent education due to the circumstances their family had. But he rose up to succeed against the unfair battle that life had thrown him. My father even remained in tip-top condition as he took up running to keep healthy despite his impairment. In fact, we had overlooked his deformity, for to us it was a perfect imperfection. Until a much tougher opponent, a brain tumor, decimated him. But I will say, he did not go without a fight………

When the boxing fight was over, and Pacquiao was officially announced as the winner, I was really happy for him and for all my countrymen. And knowing Pacquiao’s humble beginnings just made it more sweet. He definitely made us proud.

As I witnessed a good fight and perhaps boxing history, I just have one regret. I wished my father had witnessed it too.