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Saturday, July 09, 2005
Pages: Passion for sports is one virtue of Londoners
By John Pages
Match Point
TODAY’S bombings shocked everyone here,” wrote Jack Biantan from London.
Literally and figuratively, Jack was a 300-pound giant among Cebu sportswriters. He was this paper’s assistant sports editor before leaving with his wife for London years back to work in a north London hospital.
“I enjoy my work here now. I love working with patients and the pay is good,” he e-mails me. “Pounds man gud.”
After London snatched the 2012 Olympic hosting from Paris, I asked Jack to tell us more about his home.
“Ok lang ko dinhi sa England, bay. Nindot dinhi kay daghan og international sports action. Bag-o lang human ang Wimbledon.
I was supposed to go there kay motan-aw ko sa akong idol nga si Maria Sharapova ug si Roger Federer. Pero mikalit lang og kamabdos akong asawa mao nga cancel tanan.
“It’s ironic after yesterday’s jubilant celebration on London’s successful bid of hosting the 2012 Olympics. Luckily we live quite far from central London where all the bombings occurred. My wife wanted to go to central London to shop at Harrods, sale man gud ron. But luckily the rain discouraged her.
“There are people who did not support the bid but generally, most did. The bidding team led by Lord Sebastian Coe aggressively put up a brilliant bid that not only captivated us Londoners, but also the 54 IOC members who said yes for the 2012 Games.
“Since three years ago, the London bidding team with a budget of 50 million pounds from the government, have transformed London into a future Olympic city. Everywhere you can see the London Olympic logo, from double-decker buses (including the one that the terrorists bombed yesterday) to government offices to even our hospital.
“Still, there are those against the bid. One reason is that businesses and homes will be displaced. Second, the cost. The budget for the 2012 Olympics is 12 billion pounds. Where will the government get that money? Of course, from the taxpayers.
“They have calculated that by 2012, Londoners will double their annual council tax just to pay the Olympic bills. We pay around 1,100 pounds council tax every year. That is beside the income tax, road tax, national insurance and all the other taxes.
“Because of a successful campaign, Londoners have supported the bid for economic reasons, the infrastructure that it would create and mainly for the passion for sports.
“The main beneficiary of this is the borough of Stratford East London. Stratford is a poor area and once the Olympic stadium and the village are up, imagine how many jobs will be created and how many businesses will spring up.
“Passion for sports is one virtue of Londoners. Of course that passion is shown by their love of their football teams.
“There are 16 pro soccer clubs all over London. Six clubs – the Tottenham Hotspurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Charlton Athletics, West Ham, and Fulham – are in the English Premier League. The rest are in the Coca-Cola Championships League or in the Conference Leagues. Each of these clubs has its own passionate followers; some of them ready to die for their team.
“I was inside a patient’s room glued to the TV during the announcement of London’s win.
“There was an automatic celebration in the hospital. I rejoiced with my colleagues and patients and shed a tear when I saw Denise Lewis openly cry a river.
“What was sweeter in that victory was that we beat the French again.
“The Sun, Britain’s most popular tabloid, credited a lot of people like Tony Blair, who took time off from his busy schedule to sneak to Singapore to support the bid.
“The paper also thanked David Beckham, Mayor Ken Livingstone and Princess Ann of the London bidding team for the job well done.
“However, Lord Sebastian Coe, the 1980 1,500-meter gold-medal winner, got most of the accolades for his exemplary leadership of the London bid. The Sun has called him ‘`The Lord of the Rings.’
“According to The Sun, Coe devised a secret strategy in the last gasp to overhaul the heavy favorite Paris from the voting. He insisted that the London bid message should focus on youth and London’s future. He cited that the technical side of the bid had to be faultless to convince the IOC officials that London could build stadiums and deliver transport on time.
“But the most important thing Seb did was that he devoted a year of his life to study the personalities of the 116 IOC delegates. He planned how to win them over. He created friendship with sports chiefs from all over the world.
“Lord Seb Coe has been a Conservatory Party MP (congressman sa ato) for Falmouth and Camborne after he retired from athletics in 1990.
“One newspaper even commented that if Lord Coe could lead London to victory for the 2012 Olympic bid, why can’t he challenge Labour’s Tony Blair for Prime Minister next election? As of the moment, he does not think of politics but some quarters have already pushed him to oust London Mayor Ken Livingstone.”
To Jack Biantan and his fellow Londoners, our sympathies on the tragic bombings.
Also, cheers on London 2012!
(john@playhouse.edu.ph)
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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