Dedication To Basketball Does Not Translate To Wins

Top 10 Rejected Gilas Fans Cheers.

1. Let’s enamor the foreign press with 0-4 record.
2. If only style points counts towards medal determination
3. Show me a good loser and I will show you… never mind.
4. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose As Long As You Keep Saying Puso.
5. We May Be 0-4 But Globe Telecom Still Sucks!
6. We got respect by not advancing. The qualifiers are posers.
7. PBA referees are better .
8. Good thing we vote better than we play basketball.
9. Who cares about FIBA’s Constitution, let’s ” clamor” to get into the win column since pinoys are the bosses of basketball.
10. We still have our perfect record.

 

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He has something in common with Noynoy

He has something in common with Noynoy

I will let you in on a little secret. The more you are proud to be pinoy, the more you will hate what I am going to say and the more you hate what GRP has to say. As of the time I write this 24 teams are playing in FIBA 2014. Twenty one of them have at least one win. The fanbase of one of the three teams that has yet to get off the schnied  loves to talk about bad referees, respect of commentators they did not know existed, being the shortest team and “puso”. I get deja vu from 2010 when Noynoy’s articulate response to critics that he did not accomplish anything to be worthy of being president . Noynoy’s simple answer was that the presidency was his destiny. He is entitled to being president, no results or work necessary. Noynoy is popular with the Juan Tamads of this country the same way Ron Jeremy is popular with the segment of the male population who will not be mistaken for Chippendale’s Dancers.

 

I don't shoot tied up women with a crossbow I just ask questions of the one culture in the world devoted to basketball.

I don’t shoot tied up women with a crossbow I just ask questions of the one culture in the world devoted to basketball.

Some of that fan base that venture into our little corner of cyberspace love to claim many of us know little about sports. In the immortal words of Pontius Pilate, I have written what I have written and go ahead judge me from that when it comes to sports knowledge. I won’t bother to give you a pompous sounding resume of my qualifications as a sports observer. I do know that living in this country for three decades that pinoy men’s sole outlet for team sports is basketball. No other country in the world has that going for them. Yet the Philippines has not appeared in the tournament in almost four decades. Here is the disconnect that bothers me that no critic has yet to answer. How come that basketball tunnel vision does not translate into a consistent contender let alone a power house? A further question is where does this sense of entitlement to basketball notoriety come from when there is no evidence of minimal success in FIBA or the Olympics? Then again Noynoy felt the position of  president was his destiny with no evidence of minimal success in his life. His mother dying does not count as a success attributable to him.

 

Many in my timeline yesterday were trumpeting this. Too bad no other sports outlet in the world cared.

Many in my timeline yesterday were trumpeting this. Too bad no other sports outlet in the world cared.

 

Pinoys are so proud of this “endorsement” by Mark Jones. I doubt many of you ever heard of this guy till he met the narrative you are so desperately trying to sell me and maybe sell yourselves. I have known of Mark Jones as a professional for over twenty years. You can Google his bio if you want but I know his role in the scheme of sports broadcasting going back to the early nineties. He is not Hubie Brown, Dr. Jack Ramsey, Mike Fratello or Bobby Knight. His role as a play by play man is to sell you what is in front of you. Even if “puso” is not in your vernacular. Pinoys in the last week like to think that because of Gilas “puso” they are winning hearts all over the world. I guess somebody forgot to tell the world.

 

The US sports fans barely cared about their own team. Not sure where this respect for "puso" is coming from.

The US sports fans barely cared about their own team. Not sure where this respect for “puso” is coming from.

There is no feature on Mark Jones words on the website of Jones’ employer ESPN. There is no actual section of FIBA news in the middle of this tournament. If there was a competition in terms of care towards FIBA the Philippines would easily beat the US. In my personal consumption of three days worth of ESPN’s Mike and Mike In The Morning, SVP and Rusillo and The Thundering Herd there was one sentence made total on the any FIBA event. The Dan Patrick Show has not mentioned the tournament since the withdrawal of Kevin Durant. No I will not do research whether talk shows in Lithuania and Serbia are talking about Gilas but I doubt they are. The US could care less about their team that is 4-0 while the Philippines talks itself into believing the world is in love with 0-4 team.

 

“You are what your record says you are”.

Bill Parcells.

 

You win or you lose. No wonder pinoys feel entitled because Parcell's bottom line attitude is foreign to them.

You win or you lose. No wonder pinoys feel entitled because Parcell’s bottom line attitude is foreign to them.

There is a sentiment out there that all people should be happy for Gilas. Another secret is the team will do what it does, it’s the exuberant self entitled KSP fans I have a problem with. How they excuse the failures of the team annoy me. Yeah blame the refs, blame lack of height just don’t say the other teams are better. One critic reacting to Benign0’s piece brings up “overcome the mere 23 points (points differntial) we currently have in the standings?” . The standings I look at solely look at wins and losses. You get two points for a win and one point for a loss. The teams that place 5th and 6th in their group will not move on. Why this guy brings up this 23 points that are not part of the standings is beyond me.

 

Let us coin unique euphemisms so we can pretend we won

Let us coin unique euphemisms so we can pretend we won

Pinoys in defeat "bring up" the height argument.   A pill to accept their basketball destiny.

Pinoys in defeat “bring up” the height argument. A pill to accept their basketball destiny.

Ironic I am bringing up the words of a dwarf when discussing a team whose press and fan base like using height as a built in excuse. This particular story not satisfied with playing the height card adds the original rhetoric of “surreal won game” Denial is not just a river in Egypt. There is a reason why the Philippines have not been in a truly international tournament since 1978. They are too accepting of those “surreal won ” games. Then again we are the country that made a man president solely based on the timing of his mother’s death. I wonder how Bill Parcells would have judged 2010 Liberal Party Standard Bearer Noynoy Aquino.

When fans blame racism , refs, height and other things on a loss they are portraying their team as helpless as Princess Peach.

When fans blame racism , refs, height and other things on a loss they are portraying their team as helpless as Princess Peach.

If Pinoy Pride is so important then why is it so cheap??? If I am a proud member of Assumption College’s Department of History will I consider somebody employed by St.Scholastica’s History Department as part of the work I am proud of?? Why bother dividing the tournament by countries then? People who accuse me of knowing nothing about sports in the GRP FB page bring up the names Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon representing the US. Well Duncan is a native of the US Virgin Islands. Hakeem became a naturalized US citizen after studying and working in the US for two decades. Somebody enlighten me on how exactly Andray Blatche is pinoy other than the fact he is not good enough to be on the US team.

 

In the Philippines there is a noticeable brain drain. The brightest and the best can thrive elsewhere where they are better appreciated and better compensated. There is very little jock drain though. Azkals come from all corners of the globe with foreign sounding names since the state of Filipino football is what it is. The only country on Earth devoted to basketball does not export basketball players instead imports them from North America. If we are as good as we think are, shouldn’t foreign leagues be mining us for talent? The same way some Brazilian kid ends up playing for Liverpool? In 2010 the city of Cleveland had major hate for hometown boy and MVP LeBron James spurning them for Miami. I guarantee you nobody in the US will accumulate any venom for Andray Blatche sporting a Filipinas jersey.

 

All these rhetorical pleas that excuse losing of “Puso!” It implies the opponent does not have any and the pinoy is special in the eyes of God. The only race with heart. Remind me of something else annoying. The rhetorical pleas that we should not impeach a popular president. The appeal to emo. It assumes that the President is indeed “popular” and that popularity automatically means that he is entitled to do what he wants.

 

This by no means represent all fans but by no means an isolated fanboy incident. Demand respect yet act KSP.

This by no means represent all fans but by no means an isolated fanboy incident. Demand respect yet act KSP.

Don’t misinterpret this as a critique on the basketball output for the Philippines representatives. I am not very fond of the gross misrepresentation of the basketball output for the Philippines representatives. I have a simple rule, love what you love and do what you love. Just don’t expect the world to notice if you are not the best or challenging the best. Yet when you read the local media and the fanboys plaster your feeds with barrels full of praise based on shot glass results coupled with trays full of entitlement, KSP is truly the root of all evil and about 90% of my editorials.

 

If you truly know who you are then stick to it. Sharknado 2 knows exactly what it is and what it wanted to be. They were not Terms of Endearment or Schindler’s List. They were Sharknado 2 and they succeeded in being what they are. Peter Dinklage knew who he was. He turned down numerous opportunities to be typecast as dwarf till he met a production that appreciated what he brought to the table.

The heads of that organization decided to do so as a symbol of unity among the PBA teams composed of various companies. Furthermore it used to be called SMART GILAS simply because Smart communications were the main ( if not the only ) sponsors of this program since its conception hence, the name and proof why there’s no ”epal” factor in naming the team with a brand’s name from a couple of years ago.

from the GRP FB page rationalizing a product fused to the national team’s name.

 

A nation in denial over 11 Abad family members in Malacanang being nepotism will gloss over a commercial product being inseparable from the only significant national team with a considerable number  of organic players .

A nation in denial over 11 Abad family members in Malacanang being nepotism will gloss over a commercial product being inseparable from the only significant national team with a considerable number of organic players . Both practices are tasteful in the eyes of the Pinoy.

Nowhere else on Earth do you mention the national team that plays the one team sport the populace is passionate about and a cell phone carrier’s automatically pops out. That is corporate epal. None of the other 23 FIBA participants are synonymous with a corporation or a product. Denying the whole idea of Smart Gilas being epal is as “smart” as denying 11 Abads in Malacanang being nepotism. The person denying the epal has totally forgotten the existence of the PBA. A league that distinguishes its teams not by schools or civic communities but by products that often try to hawk themselves with annoying jingles when Filipino noon time shows take a break from providing you with mind numbing song and dance numbers. The only professional sports league has always been epal.

 

 

 

There you have it. A rich government that does not spend a dime for a basketball team to represent us opening the door for MVP to epal his products onto the national team’s name. Basketball is all you have. The sum of every pinoy boy’s sporting ambition in team sports. Yet you support a rich government that won’t spend for the only sport that defines your identity in the world. Conversely you resent the people that point out this relationship. Calling you emo detractors, Gilas fans because the word Smart does not come to mind.

85 Replies to “Dedication To Basketball Does Not Translate To Wins”

  1. If people here (and anywhere else in the world) would care more about things that are really important, then maybe this country and the whole planet would progress.

    I never understood the moronic fascination about rooting for some team or person. Why? For what? I don’t even know those people.

    Will it affect my life in any way if they win or lose? (Gamblers exempted)

    No? So why on earth should I care who is better at playing with balls, running faster, hitting harder, jumping higher and all that other brain numbing, dick comparing nonsense.

    I really hope for the apocalypse. Most humans are such shallow assholes.

    1. Dick-measuring (or rack-counting) contests are kind of universal; they don’t do us much good beyond diverting us from bloodier pursuits and killing time, but it’s not doing us much bad either.

      As Idina Menzel (to quote but one instance of my brand of shallowness) would sing: “Let it go, let it go…”

    2. >I never understood the moronic fascination about rooting for some team or person. Why? For what? I don’t even know those people.

      Filipino Fried, that’s the only & desperate move to differentiate other country from ours. Our government sucks and the only way to equal this is to gain something such as winning in any international competitions.

        1. did I mention that?
          where the hell did I mention that?

          I’m targeting Filipino ‘fans’ not all sports fans. 🙂

        2. “I never understood the moronic fascination about rooting for some team or person.”

          You targeted ALL sports fans.

  2. From the GRP FB page. I answer mail from the fans there. Who time and time again remind me why I write. People out there prove you are right by insulting you without substantiating why.

    Wala daw ”minimal” success eh anong tawag mo sa pagiging part ng The best 24 basketball teams in the world? being arguably the best in Asia? No minimal success? How about you having to follow GILAS games all the time while criticizing their fans for doing so like the hypocrite that you are? Diyan pa lang they own you na.You really wanna know another thing that’s wrong with some Filipinos?Some of them actually think that they are so much better than the others,pointing out their flaws without realizing that they are the embodiment of such flaws.You say Pinoys are cowards, you HIDE behind an Anonymous blog for Pete’s sakes.You say that we suck at sports?Heck you don’t even know anything about Sports judging from the obvious lack of substance from your posts.You say that they sell out by adapting within the system yet here you are trying to exploit GILAS’ popularity by lambasting them in order to get a few page views,pathetic.You criticize about the lack of accountability and credibility within the system? Try reading your ill researched write ups as of late and see for yourself if anything else out there is half as laughable. Like I said before, take your own advice and stick to something your good at, and whatever that is apparently, that ain’t sports. LOL

    Glenn Ville

    1) Minimal success- Again if FIBA, Olympics and the NBA are considered the best oh please tell me where this success was from 1966-2013?? Where?? I am owned??
    2) “You say Pinoys are cowards”- I did a word search of my own blog post and that word is not there.

    3)” exploit Gilas popularity? “- I wouldn’t be writing this if you guys shut up. Sorry, you came to the wrong website if you are looking for sheep who move along with the crowd and rejoice after 1 win.
    4) “ill researched write ups- if you stated where I lied and made things up I would have legally changed my name to Edwin Lacierda. But since you are suffering from emo butthurt all I got was the insult.

    5) pinoy emo sports is tied to our pwede na mentality of supporting mediocre politicians and baduy entertainment. The only country in the whole world that is devoted to basketball and you celebrate one win in fifty years that is out of the region. Not one championship but one win. Standards are so low no wonder people love Noynoy and Erap.

  3. What is it with Filipinos and their constant infantile need to affirm themselves?

    I noticed that Brazil and Spain are leading the rankings with win-loss ratios of 4-1 and 5-0 respectively. Granted, Spain has long been a powerhouse when it comes to basketball. But Brazil? It’s a country we all know is more dedicated to football/soccer than basketball and yet they’re leading the rankings.

    Meanwhile the Philippines, a country wholly dedicated to basketball, ranks lowest in their grouping.

    If anyone here is a fan of Gilas, please enlighten us about what exactly it is we should be proud of?

        1. This isn’t about national achievement. I will explain to you why Filipinos love Gilas even if they’re sad sack losers and it seems I have to spell it out for you. Now what have your siblings achieved? Do you love them because of their achievements or despite of them?

        2. “This isn’t about national achievement.”

          That is one of the topics being addressed in this article. Why do you insist on going off-topic? If you have a point to make, make it and stop asking rhetorical questions that have nothing to do with what the topic.

        3. It is YOU that has brought up the topic of national achievement:

          “What do familial bonds have to do with national achievement?”

          And now you complain that I am off topic. 🙂 I am just explaining to you why we are proud of Gilas even if they lost WITHOUT talking about national achievement.

          Get you sh!t together, please.

        4. Christ, are you dense? 99% of commenters here including me ARE tying this with national achievement. We are talking about national team aren’t we? You’re the one who insists it has nothing to do with national achievement and you asked about sibling love in another comment of yours WHICH IS going off-topic.

          You’re one disingenuous nimrod aren’t you?

  4. I just do not get it how a country can be proud because of a sport. A sport cannot, after all, define a certain quality which will apply to the national populace.

    But, there is one that comes to mind. Think along the lines – Koreans and the Hyundai Motorsport…. well sort of. The Hyundai Motorsports is in the World Rally Championship. They may have originated in EU with Europeans working in it, but if your a Korean then you can be truly proud and say that even people around the world are working under a Korean badge, a true mark of the country’s superior industrial prowess, and other Korean qualities which has brought this name Hyundai toe where it is now.

    Proud Pinoy!!! For what again? Puso? What a joke we are!

      1. So all Koreans are billionaire industrialists, even the blue-collared ones who helped to make Hyundai what it is today, a world-class world-renowned company?

        Are you high? What joeld was saying is that Koreans have shown they have the capability to compete with the best in the world, because theirs is a culture that does not settle for mediocrity but REAL achievements, hence Hyundai.

        Does the Philippines have a world-class homegrown company comparable to Hyundai? I think not.

        1. The issue here isn’t Hyundai and the Koreans. The issue here is your apparent confusion on why Filipinos love Gilas even though they haven’t achieved anything. You people apply analogies that we should just be proud of and love people that achieved something. So it just means that you people are only proud of people that achieved something. You apply that analogy to the Filipino’s love of Gilas and that they are not worthy of our adoration. So I think you should apply that analogy to your personal relationships as well.

        2. No the issue here is that Pinoy Pride for Gilas does not really mean anything in the bigger scheme of things. Somebody else mentioned it’s all about “spiritual upliftment”.

          How does this pride and upliftment translate into poverty and crime reduction, job creation and overall prosperity of the country? Inspiration? If Filipinos are looking for inspiration, why not build a world-class company that provides employment for thousands, one that raises the international profile of Philippine products, create innovation and creativity, etc. something that Filipinos can truly be proud of?

          Why not build and create instead of latching on to the accomplishments of others as Filipinos like to do?

        3. Sadly, that person who commented about spiritual upliftment was mistaken. He was being too optimistic. But I do not find anything overtly wrong with what he said, because if it does indeed make a difference in his life (but not mine), who am I to argue? I mean, anything that does inspire positive change, superficially or not, I am not against it.

          However, I don’t think you understand what sports is about. It is not about “poverty and crime reduction, job creation and overall prosperity of the country”. It is all about “latching on to the accomplishments of others”, as you said. 🙂 That’s what a fan EXACTLY is about. But as you said earlier, that behavior is UNRELATED to anything else in that fan’s life. (e.g., Korea) So why do you continue to insist that there is a relationship with Filipinos, in particular?

        4. Why do you assume that it’s making a difference to him? I disagree with him, but I think he’s merely describing what he thinks it means to many Filipinos.

          “That’s what a fan exactly is about.”

          So let me get this straight, you’re admitting that this whole shenanigan about FIBA should have nothing to do with national pride nor national achievement? Haha try telling that to the Philippine media. Try telling that to the politicians. Try telling thar to the Gilas fans. Try telling that to the Gilas players. That is exactly what GRP and likeminded people here are trying to tell numbskulls like you and we’re getting flak for it, but that’s okay with us because we’re expecting it.

          You on the other hand are trying hard to play devil’s advocate. GET REAL.

        5. “Why do you assume that it’s making a difference to him?” But why do you assume that it is not? Maybe it would inspire people other than him and he’d be correct. Your problem is that you assume that getting inspired by these things is a BAD THING FOR EVERYBODY. I don’t know why anyone would think that inspiring other people to do good is A BAD THING TO DO except if you really hate Filipinos.

          The problem with you people is that you are so obsessed with something so INNOCUOUS and impute bad intentions to it. The way you talk, it’s like Gilas is inspiring Filipinos to riot like in soccer matches. 🙂 The only reason why you are so obsessed with this harmless and TRIVIAL matter is that you hate Filipinos. Seeing Filipinos have fun boils your blood.

        6. When did I ever say that inspiring people to do good is a bad thing? You’re the one who is assuming a lot of false things.

          You’re assuming that I said that inspiring people to do good is a bad thing when I said no such thing ever.

          You’re assuming that I hate Filipinos, even though I do not. What proof do you have that I hate Filipinos? Just because I’m critical of the Philippines and Filipino culture does not mean I hate Filipinos.

          On the contrary, what I noticed is that a lot of Filipinos who leave this country tend to be the better, smarter ones. Those left behind tend to be the worse ones. Once these smarter Filipinos got out of the rut of the Philippines, they tend to do a lot better. There are a lot of excellent Filipino professionals and workers all over the world. Filipinos are and can be capable when put in the right places and the right situations. They have the potential.

          Do you know that in the United States, Filipino-Americans have the second highest average household income among Asian Americans (after Indian-Americans)?

          I guess you probably didn’t know that. But for some reason you assume that I hate Filipinos just because I’m being critical of Pinoys. You’re the presumptuous type aren’t you? You assume a lot of things that are simply not true. You assume I hate Filipinos even though I don’t. You assume I’m a robot in another comment of yours, even though I’m not one to hop on board every little fad that gets along the way.

          GET REAL.

        7. You pretend to love Filipinos but your blood gets boiling when something as HARMLESS and INNOCUOUS as cheering for OUR TEAM and being passionate about it comes along. You are absolutely steamed when we Filipinos express PRIDE for OUR TEAM’S achievements, however infinitesimally little. You even scoff at the idea that ANYONE could get inspired to do anything GOOD because of Gilas’ exploits. It’s like Gilas is inspiring the WORST things about Filipinos that you are complaining about. If that is not HATE, I don’t know what is.

          You mock that Gilas’ exploits could inspire pride and that Filipinos are so stupid to feel pride because of this. But how about a foreigner? Are they stupid if they feel pride for OUR TEAM?

          “For me, a foreigner who lived in the Philippines, fell in love with its basketball culture, and came to see the country as a second home, watching Gilas play swelled me with the kind of FULLHEARTED PRIDE (emphasis mine) I’ve felt only a few times before. Gilas showed that Philippine basketball — this thing that I’d felt was special since I first landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2005, that I’d dedicated much of my career to — was not just a quirky hoops human interest story but instead a brand of world-class basketball that charmed and impressed fans all over the globe. Basically, Gilas validated me. And I imagine that millions of Filipinos felt a similar fulfillment last week, only several times greater, because in my case Philippine basketball is an interest that I care deeply about, and for them, it’s in their bones.”

          http://grantland.com/the-triangle/philippines-2014-fiba-world-cup-andray-blatche-jordan-clarkson-los-angeles-lakers/

          That’s Rafe Bartholomew, a writer for Grantland. I bet he’s as stupid as us, right? How can a foreigner feel PRIDE for OUR TEAM? He isn’t even Filipino! 🙂

        8. I pretend to love? I never even claimed I love Filipinos. I merely denied your accusation that I hate Filipinos which I don’t.

          So you base your entire opinion on an obscure sports writer’s article nobody cares about? Why? Because he’s a foreigner? How long has he been in the Philippines? How much does he know about the country? Hasn’t it occurred to you that maybe there are other foreigners who think otherwise? One foreigner’s opinion is enough of a foundation for you for your views?

          How pathetic.

        9. I added Bartholomew’s views here because you are confused why Filipinos have PRIDE for Gilas; something they have not worked for and just latched onto. You people love to mock concepts of fan appreciation, but ONLY IF they pertain to Filipinos. Bartholomew is not confused about his pride, even though he is not Filipino and did nothing for Gilas. As I said before, pride for Gilas is the same as pride for your favorite sports team. As for love for Gilas, it is not the same for love for your family, but something like a crush for a barkada. It is something close to it. But that explains enough.

          The issue here is that you don’t like TOO MUCH PRIDE, you hate FILIPINO PRIDE, period. You hate it when Filipinos actually feel good about themselves. That’s messed up.

        10. Now you’re admitting it’s not the same as love of family. Then why make that comparison in the first place? And no it’s not even close. It’s the worst comparison one can make.

      2. Unlike failipinos like you superunfortunate666, the South Koreans’ Miracle on Han River will not be possible without learning their lesson from their dysfunctional mindset since the 70’s-90’s. Take Korean Air for example. That airline suffered a lot of incidents and accidents in which the worst was in 1999 that it suffered 3 separate crashes and majority of them is because of pilot error. Now they’re one of the world’s safest airlines today.
        In short, it’s progress you utak squatter! You just can’t accept what GRP is saying because your mindset is still stuck in the middle ages. Don’t deny it you indiot!

        1. The achievements of the Koreans are beside the point. The point is why you think Gilas is not worthy of our support even if they haven’t achieved anything yet. See post above.

        2. superlucky,

          The Koreans could have contented themselves with supporting their football/soccer team with all the passion they could muster and left everything else to chance but it wouldn’t mean anything to their country’s prosperity. The fact is, they didn’t stop there. They didn’t stop with sports. They aren’t a shallow people, so they realized it’s all fluff anyway, but it does make them feel good for a while. What really matters is true nation-building to achieve national prosperity. Now that they’re prosperous, they have earned the right to be proud and to brag.

          Filipinos on the other hand still haven’t earned the right to be proud. This is how I’d sum up how Filipinos think “Nation-building? Nah. Mag-inuman na lang tayo at suportahan natin ang Gilas! Let’s just drink and support Gilas. Let’s leave nation-building to the government.”

        3. Exactly! The Filipinos’ support of Gilas is NOT CONNECTED to other national affairs. Like the Koreans, we know that it is ENTERTAINMENT. You are fudging those two very different things. We all know there is nothing to be proud about our government but sports is another realm entirely. When Gilas or Manny wins and people say they are proud to be Pinoy, it’s the same as someone says they are proud to be a Laker fan or an Arsenal fan. They are proud of their association because in sports, that’s all their relationship will and ever be. But ask that same fan if they are proud of their government, do you think that pride will carry over? 🙂 You sell the Filipino short; they know the difference. It’s you that is confused.

        4. So what exactly is it you’re arguing with me about? You agree with me but you say I’m confused?

          No I’m not confused. They’re supporting Gilas because it is the Philippines’ representative team in an international competition, diba? By supporting Gilas they think that whatever small triumph their team will have will rub off on them and they’ll feel good about themselves. That’s okay until Filipinos started getting all superior about themselves, disparaging the Senegalese a

        5. *and acting like sore losers whenever their team loses (saying things like Filipino referees are better etc.).

          I think it’s you who is confused.

        6. The problem with you people is that you equate the wrongs of SOME fans as a NATIONAL TRAIT. 🙂 Sure, some Filipinos probably bitched about the referees or whatever, but SOME fans ALWAYS do that. In fact, in every country, there are SOME fans that ALWAYS bitch in any sports event. There will always be HOOLIGANS in any sports event.

          This is called confirmation bias: the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs or hypotheses. You concluded that it is a Filipino trait to bitch about any sports event involving Filipinos because you found some comments in the Net of Filipinos bitching. But those who DIDN’T BITCH didn’t bother to comment at all, so you DIDN’T NOTICE IT. The fact is those who didn’t bitch or didn’t care outnumbers those who did bitch. But you disregarded them so you concluded that bitching is a national trait. Right?

        7. Some? How about a lot. Filipinos tend to get butthurt a lot lot more whenever they feel their “Pinoy Pride” is being threatened.

          Yes it’s true that other fans in other countries do that. But there’s a lot lot more of that among Filipinos than other nations. Just because it exists in other countries does not make it right. Filipinos wouldn’t have earned the reputation of being onion-skinned and racists if there weren’t any basis for it.

        8. Your problem is not that you hate TOO MUCH PRIDE by Filipinos. Your problem is that you hate PRIDE by Filipinos, period. There’s something wrong with you.

        9. If you’re in the Philippines, look around you. Hell, if there is better candidate for a real-life Soddom and Gomorrah, this country would be it. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

          I know countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in worse states than the Phils. but you’re not going to see Burmese, Congolese, Afghans, Haitians, Somalians etc. chest-thumping with pride for their country. They have no pretensions about the wretched state of their country. That at least I can respect.

          But Filipinos? They pretend like they’re the greatest people and country on Earth.

      3. When did I ever say that inspiring people to do good is a bad thing? You’re the one who is assuming a lot of false things.

        You’re assuming that I said that inspiring people to do good is a bad thing when I said no such thing ever.

        You’re assuming that I hate Filipinos, even though I do not. What proof do you have that I hate Filipinos? Just because I’m critical of the Philippines and Filipino culture does not mean I hate Filipinos.

        On the contrary, what I noticed is that a lot of Filipinos who leave this country tend to be the better, smarter ones. Those left behind tend to be the worse ones. Once these smarter Filipinos got out of the rut of the Philippines, they tend to do a lot better. There are a lot of excellent Filipino professionals and workers all over the world. Filipinos are and can be capable when put in the right places and the right situations. They have the potential.

        Do you know that in the United States, Filipino-Americans have the second highest average household income among Asian Americans (after Indian-Americans)?

        I guess you probably didn’t know that. But for some reason you assume that I hate Filipinos just because I’m being critical of Pinoys. You’re the presumptuous type aren’t you? You assume a lot of things that are simply not true. You assume I hate Filipinos even though I don’t. You assume I’m a robot in another comment of yours, even though I’m not one to hop on board every little fad that gets along the way.

        GET REAL.

  5. “How come that basketball tunnel vision does not translate into a consistent contender let alone a power house”

    I think it has a lot to do with the polotics behind philippine basketball – sbp vs bap – so no organized effort to compete internationaly.

    About being proud – actually, the team played well. Well enough to “almost” get a win. So to put it in terms that you might understand – imagine one of your readers gets elected to congress or to the senate amd tries to initiate changes that this nlog will want. Even if he fails but “almost” succeeds, wont that make you proud?

    Think rocky 1, rocky 6, the battle of thermapolye, custers last stand, or a cripple finishing a marathon in last place – all “failures” but all still “great.”

    1. Being proud of a team doesn’t need an excuse. They could be the worst team in the world and continually be for years. But if it is YOUR TEAM, you will love them no matter what.

      The people here are confused by that concept while applying that same concept in their PERSONAL lives. 🙂

      1. “Love them no matter what.”

        See that kind of thinking is dangerous. Why don’t clarify what you said. Do you mean that, if for example your son was a rapist and a drug addict, no matter what, you’d still support him?

        1. I hope you’re not equating Gilas with drug addicts and rapists. 🙂 But yes, if you love someone, you can tolerate a lot. That’s my point. The relationship between Filipinos and Gilas is not like the relationship between Filipinos and their public officials. The function of sports is not the same as the function of government, so they must not be equated as willy-nilly as many of you people do here. You imply that Filipinos (actually all sports fans) are so stupid to even support sports teams at all. But sports is ENTERTAINMENT. It’s the same as music and movies. Their lifeblood is the SUPPORT OF FANS. Directly or indirectly, their funding is dependent on how popular they are. So Gilas, irrespective on how outstanding they are, is popular for the simple reason that basketball is popular in this country.

          You seem to be afraid that the “mindless” zeal we give Gilas will translate into mindless zeal for anything else. You’re too late. We already have mindless zeal for a lot of things: our family, our friends, our religion, our hobbies and other forms of ENTERTAINMENT. My ultimate point is that the same scrutiny for things that directly affect us (our livelihoods, who we vote, day to day decisions, etc) must not be applied to things that are meant to AMUSE us.

        2. These are what you said:

          “I hope you’re not equating Gilas with drug rapists and addicts”

          “But if it is YOUR TEAM, you will love them no matter what.”

          No I’m not equating them with anything. But you’re talking about loving something no matter what. That is a very strong assumption for you to make about fans support of a basketball team. You like to make inconsistent statements do you? You said:

          “My ultimate point is that the same scrutiny for things that directly affect us (our livelihoods, who we vote, day to day decisions, etc.) must not be applied to things that amuse us.”

          “The people here are confused by that concept while applying that same concept in their PERSONAL LIVES.”

          You said those things right? Why don’t you scroll above and see what you said earlier. You asked me:

          “Do you have a brother or sister? Why are you proud of him or her? What are their achievements?”

          Basically you’re accusing us of connnecting things that you said have nothing to do with fan appreciation but you’re doing the exact same thing you accuse us of. What do family relationships have to do with what we’re talking about? Nothing.

          Like I said a few posts below, South Korea and Egypt have worse records than the Philippines in FIBA right now. But you don’t hear Egyptians and South Koreans getting all butthurt about the loss of thier teams and they don’t obsess over “puso”. Only Filipinos do that, and it’s embarrassing.

        3. Not equating them with anything? You equate PINOY PRIDE with all sorts of things, namely that Filipinos shouldn’t feel proud of the basketball because everything about their country sucks. 🙂 You’re asking every Filipino fan to EQUATE their pride for Gilas with their sh!tty lives, and therefore not cheer about Gilas at all. 🙂 That’s what you call equating.

          As I said before, if Gilas inspires someone to do good then good for him. That guy doesn’t have to, but if he did, then that’s a good thing. There is no relation with the fortunes of a basketball team with their respective lives, but if someone TRIES to make a relation with both and it leads to him making a better life, then good. That’s my point. The fan doesn’t need to make a relation but if he WANTS to make a relation, it’s up to him and his world viewpoint.

          Anyway, my point about asking you about your family is that the reason you are not as exacting about your family is because you LOVE them. That’s the reason Filipinos put up a lot with Gilas is because they LOVE Gilas. Or something approximating love. What Gilas achieved the last 40 years does not matter, the same way the achievements of your siblings does not matter. And when I said, you’d love them no matter what, you should be smart enough to understand figures of speech. As I clarified in an earlier post, it means that you can tolerate A LOT about the person.

          Why do I need to explain that to you? You’re HUMAN, right? With feelings? Or are you?

        4. Here we go again. You like hitting at strawmen and misattributions don’t you. You said I hope I’m not equating GILAS with rapists and drug addicts to which I retorted, I’m not equating them with anything. I relate Pinoy Pride with a lot of things. This is part and parcel of GRP discussions and is to be expected. BUT I’M NOT EQUATING GILAS WITH ANYTHING. Isn’t that clear enough for you?

          And fans’ love isn’t the same as love of family so your analogy does not hold. You question my propensity to feel, to have emotions, yet you’re trivializing love of family as if it’s as fleeting as fans’ love of sports teams. Is the love of a family member the same as a fan’s love of his/her favorite sports team? Hell, no.

          Stop acting like a jackass.

        5. What we’ve established is that you don’t love the Philippines and you claim not to equate Gilas with anything. We’ve also established that cheering for Gilas only betrays our pride for Filipinos, of which any manifestation boils your blood.

          Conclusion: You hate it when Filipinos feel good about themselves. That also means you hate Filipinos, despite your pretensions.

          Please don’t deny it anymore. Everybody can see through you.

        6. I’ve just suddenly remembered superunfortunate666. Your “Love them no matter what” excuse is very similar to playing the victim card for those pinoy drug mules and flor contemplacion who were sentenced to death in china and Singapore respectively because of their crime they committed.

        7. Who is this everybody you’re referring to? As far as I know you’re the only one I’m having this debacle with. Are you a spokesperson of an organization? You really are deluded aren’t you?

          “What we’ve established is that you don’t love the Philippines…”

          That’s a stretch. What’s your evidence for that assumption?

          “…and you claim not to equate Gilas with anything.”

          Bravo! You got one right! You have a brain after all!

          “We’ve also established that cheering for Gilas only betrays our pride for Filipinos, of which any manifestation boils your blood.”

          Incorrect. Cheering for them to do well is fine. Nothing wrong with that. Taking pride in them despite their losses, pretending they’re great, and using them to legitimize the “Pinoy is da best!” mentality is not okay.

          “Conclusion: You hate it when Filipinos feel good about themselves. That also means you hate Filipinos, despite your pretensions.”

          Jumping to conclusions now aren’t we? Let’s see, you assumed I hate Filipinos without any evidence to prove it. Then a non-sequitur about me hating Filipinos because I hate it when they feel good about themselves. It doesn’t follow. It’s like saying you hate it when roosters crow, therefore you hate roosters. You don’t know how stupid you sound like.

          “Please don’t deny it anymore. Everybody can see through you.”

          Deny what? You haven’t proven anything. Is that a way to win an argument, by imploring me to accept your false statements? And again, who is this everybody you speak of? Do you have an imaginary audience with you?

      2. “Love them no matter what.”
        Implying that you must eat shit even if it’s very dangerous for your health. It also implies like if I buy a mobile phone, I must buy a cherry mobile or myphone instead of a Samsung, Sony, Nokia or Apple, even if the latter has far more better quality than the “local” ones, because they are 100% pinoy made while most of its parts are from china.
        In short, you’re a pinoy praydist. No wonder why pride is one of the 7 worst deadly sins.

  6. #PUSO?

    Heck it’s not even a Filipino word, I can use that word to support Brazil and Argentina.

    I kinda feel bad to other countries who also play with 100% passion and yet Gilas’ is hailing for the only team that who has #PUSO for it.

    ====
    Have you guys read the news article that Gilas’ gameplay is much better than the USA? that author must be blindly praising or 100% trolling.

    1. Somewhere along their little emo world Pinoys forgot the object of basketball is to have more points than the other guy when the clock hits zero. And if you read the FB feedback, I am the one who knows nothing about sports .

    2. Exactly. Don’t the other teams have heart as well? What are they robots simulating basketball? Are they rocks or human beings?

      I’d like to think the other teams have heart too, the main difference being that they were able to translate that heart into actual wins.

      It sounds really stupid if you think about it. It’s really irritating the way Filipino media subtly trumps up Pinoyness while denigrating other nations. I can’t help but sense an undercurrent of racism here. It’s subdued but it exists.

        1. Filipinos know other teams have puso as well. I wonder why you think that they do not. It seems that you got confused by the puso campaign and sorely misunderstood it.

        2. Newsflash genius, I’m not the one implying they have no heart. Rather it’s the Filipinos that do imply that. That’s my whole point. Stopping putiing words into my mouth. Can you read? Why don’t you read my posts again.

        3. Who said that? Give me your sources. He was wrong definitely. But for you to say that the entire campaign was a mistake because of a few bad apples is obviously misguided.

        4. Sources? Turn on your tv and see for yourself. The entire campaign is a mistake. Didn’t you say in another comment of yours that the entire thing about “puso” is just a marketing ploy? Do you have short-term memory problems?

        5. @Jmac, I’m not asking about how puso failed. I’m asking about what you said:

          “Newsflash genius, I’m not the one implying they have no heart. Rather it’s the Filipinos that do imply that.”

          I want your sources that say that the puso campaign implies that OTHER COUNTRIES have no heart. I’m not talking about the biases that swirl around your head because you hate Filipinos and you will predictably think the worst of Filipinos. I’m asking for your sources where the puso campaign is about belittling the puso of other nations.

        6. Wow the nerve of this guy to ask for sources yet earlier you gave one obscure foreign writer’s article nobody cares about to back your claims.

          The way this “puso” campaign is being shoved down our throats is for us to feel inspired by an underdog team that though they lost, still exhibited passion in playing. This makes for sensationalist journalism that appeals to sentimentality and melodrama, things which Filipinos are very fond of.

          This also makes for a typical formulaic trope in cinema – an underdog beating all the odds to achieve victory. Albeit, there’s one crucial difference; Gilas, the underdogs, didn’t achieve victory. But it still works for Pinoys, avid consumers of melodrama that they are.

          This leaves out a lot of important points to consider:

          -Don’t the other teams play with heart too?
          -Why keep reporting on Gilas’ heart if other teams have heart too?
          -BY IMPLICATION, either other teams don’t have as much heart as Gilas or they don’t have heart at all and only Gilas does.
          -Romanticizing about a losing team that, despite losing at least showed “passion”, inspires mediocrity and defeatism.
          -What exactly are the disadvantages of Gilas compared to other teams, and if there are, how significant are these disadvantages?
          -Why sensationalize over “puso”?

          Naturally these points don’t come up with credulous Pinoys. Or maybe they do, but it’s the Pinoy media that keeps overplaying the “puso” card. Or more likely it’s both cases.

          You asking me for sources without first addressing my points shows your inability to argue logically.

    3. Also, can you cite the source for what you said: “Have you guys read the news article that Gilas’ gameplay is much better than the USA?”

      I remember that there was a tweet before by an American writer that watching Gilas is more enjoyable than watching Team USA. Is this the story you were talking about?

        1. I’m asking spork. He is saying that:

          “Have you guys read the news article that Gilas’ gameplay is much better than the USA? that author must be blindly praising or 100% trolling.”

          I want to know where he got that news article.

  7. The problem with the people here is that they mistake fan appreciation and passion for MISGUIDED PRIORITIES. They don’t seem to know how fans are SUPPOSED to react regarding their favorite team and that they should think how crappy their country is while doing it. :)) Are you people even human? :))

    1. nothing wrong with fan appreciation. but there’s everything wrong with “pwede na” mentality that “fans” spew forth just to justify their “fandom”. a bit embarrassing considering we’re even beat by countries who couldn’t care less about basketball. fan support is fine, but don’t equate the entire thing into heroics and “pinoy pride” because not only is it embarrassing, it reeks of insecurity as a nation.

      1. That’s exactly what FAN APPRECIATION is. Rooting for your team even if they suck. If you are embarrassed by this, then turn the channel and watch telenovelas. There is nothing you can do about it.

        1. Nah YOU’RE the one who should watch telebasuras because obviously your mindset is like a drama queen here. Don’t deny it “genius”!

    2. I’m looking for the same pathological behaviors that Filipinos tend to exhibit among citizens of other countries. Can’t find any.

      Egypt and South Korea are two countries with worse records in FIBA right now than the Philippines, both of which have a win-loss record of 0-5. So far I have not heard of any Egyptians or South Koreans getting butthurt about the losses of their teams nor do they obsess so much over “heart”.

      As the poster above me said, it reeks of insecurity. And it is quite true, Filipinos as a whole are an INSECURE PEOPLE. How do we know this? They tend show it over and over and over again.

      Filipinos act like children. It is EMBARRASSING.

      1. Oh I see. The passion of FILIPINO SPORTS FANS is EMBARRASSING you. 🙂 That’s why you are crying all over the place. 🙂

        But as I observed before, hate for something as harmless and innocuous such as fan passion comes out if you REALLY hate those people. Anything they do ticks you off. As I said before, you are not up in arms with TOO MUCH PASSION, you are up in arms with the PASSION ITSELF. I read about an article by some GRP writer here about Filipinos complaining about racism in a certain match by the Azkals in HK some years back. (I forget where. I will try to look for it.) He kind of poo-pooed our complaints and said we should understand “football culture” or something like that. 🙂 I find it is some sort of double-standard to excuse some other race that their racism and rowdiness is their “culture” and then castigate our passion as inexcusable. That kind of double-standard only rears its head when you really hate someone.

      2. Here is the article by Gogs:

        “What is inspiring today’s rant though is not the play of the Azkals. I want to highlight one of the side effects of people who are late to the party. Like I call it , people who just jumped on the bandwagon. Football is the world’s most popular sport. Except for certain pockets, the average pinoy historically cared more about cock fighting than soccer at any high level. I wrote this about the country’s apathy towards the World Cup back in 2010. The only thing that has changed since then is the emergence of the Azkal bandwagon. Pinoys are so late to the party if they are even actually in the party of big boy soccer. You don’t show up to a party five hours after it has started then get steamed that the people there are wearing t-shirts, playing cards and drinking vodka straight out of the bottle. You may be invited but it is not “your” party if you feel a certain way.

        What motivated this rant is what some locals consider harsh behavior of Hong Kong fans. Pinoys are so late to this party that they had no idea that the party was always like that. There are those who attend the party and there are those who set the tone for the party. Pinoys need to know that because they are the ones who wanted in on the party. Pinoys love the Azkals but don’t know anything about soccer. Because if they did they would know fans being unruly in an international match is actually par for the course. Decorum at a big time soccer event is much much closer to wrestling than it is tennis or golf. Pinoys would know that, if they paid any kind of attention to soccer.”

        http://getrealphilippines.com/2013/06/that-aint-no-way-to-have-fun-says-the-azkals-fans/

        🙂 The Azkals fans are “late to the party.” Maybe, just maybe, you Filipino haters are also “late to the party”? Maybe that’s why you are so angered by fluff pieces and advertising gimmicks. 🙂

        1. That’s all you got to defend your erstwhile piece? “Pinoys love to jump on bandwagons”? 🙂

          I expected better. Please try again.

        2. In denial much you birdbrain? How many times have you morons showoff the whole world that you dumb pinoys are da best while the whole world don’t even give a fuck about you at all? pinoy nga naman oo masyadong nagyayabang at papansin pero hindi naman talaga magaling.

        3. It’s not the passion but the half truths, lies , exaggeration people tell themselves when they want to avoid reality. That is why I joined get real Philippines two years ago and it’s people who will just baduy up the place no matter how insignificant the accomplishment that we counter. If we annoy them cool. If we sow hope in people who think like we do cool. All I know Pinoys love to be baduy and someone has to call them out on it, if you don’t like us for doing it COOL !!!

        4. Filipinos can’t cry foul of racism if they themselves are chronic racists.

          And besides, that incident with Azkals. I’m not going to defend the Hong Kong fans’ boorish behavior and I can try to understand where they’re coming from. Instead of acting like an easily offended infant, try to look at it with context.

          Only three years before that football match, recall how a tragedy involving the hijacking of a tourist bus lead to the deaths of dozens of Hong Kong tourists due to the inept and incompetent handling of the hostage situation by the local and national governments, and the Philippine media’s careless coverage and involvement in it. Recall the utter lack of regard and remorse by the Phil. government for the victims and their refusal to issue an official public apology until a former president turned mayor gave one. Zero accountability, exacerbated by local idiots taking selfies while and after the fact further inflammed tense relations. I wouldn’t be surprised why Hong Kong citizens reacted with such hostility come the Philippines’ hybrid national football team in their home turf.

          Or maybe it’s just what Gogs said. Such an unruly atmosphere is to be expected in football matches.

          Whatever the case may be, Filipinos can’t cry foul at racism if they themselves can’t clean up their own act.

        5. *Correction: I’m not going to defend the Hong Kong fans’ boorish behavior BUT I can try to understand where they’re coming from.

      1. Nah you just conclude that because you’re an emo asshurt who hates critical thinking. Please reduce watching too much sensationalized shows superunfortunate666 because clearly you’re bitching like a drama queen. And no we don’t hate Filipinos at all. We do hate failipinos or da pinoys like you who have a dysfunctional mindset.

  8. I’ve always felt the urge to smirk whenever I hear that annoying chant “puso” but I just wasn’t able to put my fingers into it. Finally you spelled it out for everybody so thanks for that. I now know I’m not alone thinking something’s fundamentally wrong with that “puso”.

    Furthermore, thanks also for pointing out self-entitlement as one of us Filipinos’ genetic flaws (I just saw a separate article from ChinoF spilling it out in detail). I finally recognized it in a personal level and I am now working out to purge that bug. It’s a great thing to identify the problem but it’s just half of the solution because the other half requires taking action.

    Apologies for the wall of text. Again many thanks!

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