LIKE most Filipinos, I don’t follow American football that much so I didn’t pay much attention to Tim Tebow being a favorite for the Heismann trophy. Though I know what the award is about, as I read a lot of American sports columnists, there was no reason for me to be curious about Tebow.
That all changed when I found out that the former American collegiate star was born in the Philippines to US missionaries and had stayed in the country in the past doing missionary work. He was and is deeply religious, something that resonates with a lot of Filipinos and I think it was about that time too when he shared a story about how his parents consider his difficult birth nothing short of a miracle.
That was when I started paying attention to his career, and I assume, a few other Filipinos who learned of his story. So, I was disappointed when he became the latest entry of college stars who couldn’t find success in the pros and his NFL career was cut short. However, I took comfort in the fact that he didn’t seem too hang up about it, which shows how his parents raised him and the values he considers as important.
That was the last I heard of Tebow until I read that the former Heisman trophy winner was going to suit up for the Philippines in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). My first question was how was he qualified as I knew that though he was born here, his parents were both US citizens at that time. I was going to a quick search on the nuances of Philippine citizenship when I read that the WBC has loose qualifications; one can play for a country where one is born without the need to hold such country’s passport.
So there you have it, Philippine baseball will have its most famous face in the lineup in the WBC qualifiers next month in the US. The WBC started in 2006 only and is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation in partnership with the Major League Baseball of the US and is patterned after the football World Cup.
Will Tebow in the lineup translate to success in the field? I don’t know. What I do know is that his stint will be a boost to a sport where I think we can really excel at given the right support. Tebow’s stint for the Philippines has been picked up by US media outfits and I’m sure, given that the WBC is an MLB project, their games in the qualifiers will get a lot of publicity too.
And that’s a win for Philippine baseball.
And if the extra publicity might lead to a few members of the Philippine team getting stints in the US minor league system, that would be quite a boost, too.
But then, I’m getting way ahead.
I hope Tebow’s stint will also raise the profile of the sport in the country.