Sunday, December 18, 2005
Essay: Dealing with victory
By Erma M. Cuizon
Sun.star essay
The Philippine team, as the overall champion of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, is dealing with the situation for the first time at the conclusion of the grand fight. In the grandstand, the crowd is screaming, jumping, cheering mad.
What are the things victors do at this point?
A total of 114 golds, 82 silvers and 91 bronzes could even surprise the winners, who might not quite know what to do with the glory –angayan ba? The sportsman/woman has earned his victory every bit of the way but how does he deal with the winning moment and the thought of more challenges ahead?
Of course, there’s the party and the fireworks. The quiet tears, too, at the moment of conquest and when the gold is given during unforgettable ceremonies---the hugs and kisses, the pat in the back, the handshakes.
Least anyone forget, there was the rigorous training before the day 23rd Seag opened, even without enough funding. The athletes trained until their eyes popped out, not to talk of the anxiety before the day, night, hour or minute of the competition.
You would worry in a big way about your chances in the games, yes, if you were in the athlete’s shoes.
No one has really appreciated this aspect of the career of a sportsman or woman. Each game he competes in has concerns not just about the game. A public would care, too, about the standing of the kapamilya in the eyes of Asia.
You remember how Manny Pacquiao looked crushed when he lost to Erik Morales because he felt he let his country down. He didn’t have to say anything much during an interview immediately after the fight, you could tell. In that moment, he seemed to be on the verge of tears, perhaps while under the weight of a loss equivalent to losing a war.
Then consider the tension greater with the parents of the young sportsmen and women, a feeling perhaps more than anyone can bear. Hope simmering in everyone, including the family, could boost the athlete or wear him down. A mother of a young athlete would want him to win, but at what expense? A wrong foot forward or a swing too far could haunt the athlete all his life, as it does, too, his mother.
Young bowlers Liza Clutario and Markwin Tee in both the women and men’s masters struck gold. How are they taking it? How long will the sweetness of victory keep them awake during nights of recalling the moment? Or, for being so young, do they simply fall off to sleep as soon as their head touches the pillow in a moment of relief that the stress is over?
The need to win for the country is a big concern that could give an athlete a boost or weigh him down. Obviously, in the case of the Filipino, a fervent audience inspires more than you can imagine. But it’s not imagination; the truth of this was clearly seen in the 23rd Seag. Still, the spur works two ways---scare an athlete numb when he throws or swings or runs less than he expected or throw him roses in winning glory. It’s part of the game, a stress that is intrusive as a rule.
Then imagine how a player feels if he does not make it. Then it’s not just a game; it’s a matter bigger than a boat race, bowling, golf, archery, bodybuilding, water polo, tennis, marathon, volleyball, badminton, etc. To him, it’s the country of volcanic mountains and lovely seashores in all its 7,000-island glory--–and some 80 million people watching, listening, waiting.
Big stuff, it is.
So, about a couple or more weeks after, we go back to that moment. The memory sticks, of 11 golds in the wushu art, six golds in swimming, 18 golds in aquatic and athletics, 8 golds in boxing, six golds in taekwondo, five golds in fencing, counted nearest the closing time of Seag, maybe more, adding up to 114 golds. Remember the crowd’s thunderous applause and reaction, the fits of ecstasy, why, they could have fainted in the galleries.
The next time you watch a Filipino athlete in an international competition, don’t ask too much from him, more than he can show his skill and strength. The thought of our victory in the Seag will come back ever so often. Let’s hope it doesn’t clip the wings of those who didn’t win or spoil the winner.
(December 18, 2005 issue)
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