IN one of the worst spins I’ve ever read, Philippine chef de mission to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games said her 50-gold projection for the Philippines was an intentional “over-estimate” to motivate the athletes in the biennial meet where the Philippines just had its worst finish ever.
I guess our athletes are very motivated now that they failed to meet a target that was from the very start, made impossible for them. We won 24 gold medals, 24! and Cynthia Carrion was quoted by ABS CBN news saying, “I overdid. I did that to motivate them.”
How does one motivate an athlete? Well, for one, Carrion could have spoken up when Mary Joy Tabal was being bullied out of the national team. Now that would have been a wonderful motivation for the Filipina who won the first gold medal, right?
And of course, if you really want to motivate the athletes for a meet like the SEA Games, you don’t do it by giving them impossible targets to meet but by being with them in their training from Day 1, not playing politics so you could keep your seat via a questionable election. (Here’s looking at you Peping.)
So, what now?
We could wish that all the heads of the National Sports Associations develop a sense of delicadeza and submit their resignations along with all officers of the Philippine Olympic Committee to give Philippine sports a fresh start and a fresh perspective.
But that’s as wishful as wishing that you’d get the winning numbers for the lottery.
Everyone except the NSA presidents beholden to Peping have lost confidence in the grand old man of Philippine sports, so I guess it’s time to play their game? Those NSA presidents who are beholden to Peping should each receive a vote of no confidence, so they’d be ousted. Then after that, the new NSA presidents can oust Peping by having a vote of no confidence.
It’s quite a process but it’s what has to be done to get rid of what some critics say “a sports mafia” that’s running the country.
“Here’s what veteran writer Dennis Principe said in an comment thread about ousting Peping, “ With all due respect Comm (Fernandez), this is easier said than done. Most NSAs are beholden to Peping. What Peping did was give all favors to NSA heads and he gets to keep the numbers. Even if we get Zero SEAG Gold medals, Peping gets to keep his post as long as he wishes to and he can do that for as long as hawak nya mga ____ ng NSA heads. Actually, Peping Mafia is running PH Sports show.”
That observation is proof that before the next SEAG, change in the POC is a must.