Saturday, October 13, 2007 Libre: Sports, the great equalizer By Mel Libre Seriously Now
IT is interesting how events can have an impact on the mood of people in a country. This was glaringly clear on Oct. 7, 2007.
While the Philippines stood still as Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao fought Mexico’s legendary Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas, the most feared and much heralded All Blacks rugby team of New Zealand battled the French national team in the birthplace of the sport, France.
Rugby is very much like American football but in other parts of the world athletes play it without protective gears. Fifteen players of each team chase the ball then bring it to the opposite end of the field following a pattern that, in most times, allows them to physically block the opponents to prevent them from going forward or stealing the ball. The ball can also be kicked into the goal.
New Zealand embraced this sport as its own when it established the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 1892, although it first competed internationally in 1884. Rugby, which is New Zealand’s national sport, is very much like basketball in the Philippines that has playing fields in schools as well as in stadiums.
In 1905, the national team, wearing black with a silver fern on the breast side, became known as “All Blacks.” It won the inaugural World Rugby Cup in 1987 and has always been a contender for the Cup every four years. It is currently the world’s top ranked team and was chosen as 2006 International Rugby Board Team of the Year.
Every Kiwi, and many other sports fans in the world, seemed resigned to the idea that All Blacks getting this year’s Rugby World Cup is a mere formality.
Heralded as heroes out to bring the Cup back to New Zealand, the team has four years training from the best coaching staff, is manned by the best players and is well-oiled, with a NZ$ 50 million war chest. It easily hammered its opponents in its pool.
Last Sunday was the team’s quarterfinal meeting with another qualifier, France. In the first half, it led by 10 points and a win seemed inevitable. But with French spectators singing the “Marseilles,” the wind changed in France’s favor, giving the All Blacks its worst finish.
Days of mourning in Aotearoa followed as the demigods of New Zealand rugby were found to be human after all. The respect has remained, though, for it was obvious the players gave their utmost best until the final seconds of the game.
The story was different in the Philippines. Even if basketball is the national pastime, Filipinos have come to accept that they have no chance ever of becoming a major force in it. The fallback has always been boxing, which has produced Filipino world champions every decade and earned for us our only two silvers in the Olympics.
Our best include professional fighters Pancho Villa and Gabriel “Flash” Elorde and amateur boxers Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco. The current toast is Manny Pacquiao, who has not really been a model as an athlete.
Obviously overwhelmed by his popularity and his fat bank account, Pacquiao has fallen into the celebrity whirlpool of vices, lavish spending, mixed up priorities and politics. He should be thankful to his trainer Freddie Roach, who has put order and discipline in his training. But let us not deal with that for now as we savor Pacman’s triumph.
In a civilized world, the field of sports is an arena for national pride. A victory of one of its own makes people of a troubled nation believe in themselves. A loss humbles a proud nation, allowing citizens to reflect on their vulnerability. Sports is, after all, a great equalizer.
