Pinoys Only Dig The BBall

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The NBA Finals are on. Somebody correct me if I am wrong but that is the only sporting event that does not involve Filipinos playing that Filipinos care about. This year like last year the official international team of the masa is involved: The L.A. Lakers. It's not Manchester United or The Boston Red Sox or the Montreal Canadiens or even the Washington Wizards. It's the Lakers. The team every jeepney driver who can't even comprehend a red light can tell you a handful of players. Hence that spoof I found in Facebook. It would not work for anything else. There will not be an online depiction in Tagalog of any other team anywhere in the world. It works fine for the Lakers since that is where the baduy convene.


There is nothing wrong with the Tagalog text. It's just that I doubt you will see that in any kind of sports context except for basketball and some sort of Floyd Mayweather bashing.What I am trying to say the presence of Tagalog signifies it's something Tagalog viewers can relate to. You were not going to see Tagalog in a picture taken during the Stanley Cup final between Philadelphia and Chicago. Besides Chris Pronger would have a hard time looking like Allen Iverson.

It's an indicator of what pinoys relate to. Basketball and that's it. At least with the PBA the baduyness is spread out over all the teams owned by the Cojuangcos . In the NBA the baduy quotient centers on the Lakers. Maybe 15 years ago it was centered on the Bulls. Moral of the story? Phil Jackson is a baduy magnet. Which is ironic considering I really enjoyed his book The Last Season: A Team In Search of Its Soul and one day I hope to read Sacred Hoops. By the way, true anecdote. Back when Scott Skiles was coach of the Bulls (Maybe 4 years ago) I asked a guy at work who watches the NBA who the coach of the Bulls was and he said without hesitation Phil Jackson. They only have to pay attention to one sport and they can't get the coaches right.

I am not giving away all my thoughts on Pinoys and basketball since I am also planning a blog contextualizing the World Cup and how that affects Pinoys. Believe me, in it's own twisted way it does.



Culture is culture. Filipinos only relate to team sports with an orange ball (see mock interview below) and the net is circular. Now here is where I will make an out of left field speculation. You squeamish sensitive types leave now. You have been warned. I think our being only able to digest basketball says a lot about our culture. The fact that the man on the street only comprehends basketball and he only relates to dominant teams. Basketball is essentially a low concept sport. You can explain most of it in one sentence. All 5 guys can pass, dribble and shoot the ball into that hoop. There is more to it than that but that is all a spectator needs to understand the game. Because the game does not demand much more than for the spectator and street ball player, that is where pinoys are comfortable. Hence you don't see any thinking from the people in arenas that don't matter like tele novellas and noon time shows. You also do not see much thinking in arenas that do matter like the ballot box and the consumption of news.

Another manifestation of the game of basketball in the culture is basketball is the easiest team game to be selfish in. Any one of the 5 positions can be " swapang " and just hoist up shots for their own vanity eschewing the pass to a teammate in a a better position. Hockey and soccer have their share of "goal sucks" but those sports by definition have one player on the ice or field whose role is to stop scoring as opposed to engaging in it. That is a critical and unselfish role. There is no such equivalent in play in this culture. I am merely suggesting when this unselfish role of teamwork is not enforced in your play and in entertainment that you value, just maybe it does not manifest itself as much in daily life. I am talking about the mayhem with jeepney drivers, or people that butt in line in the MRT or people that throw cigarette butts in the pavement expecting them to be absorbed there.

You could not begin to explain the concept of an offensive lineman to your typical jologs that only appreciates scoring in basketball. It is the most thankless job in team sports. At least goalies have stats attributed to them . An offensive lineman's job is to help his glamor teammates accumulate stats and to prevent his opponents from accumulating stats. Yet they are essential to the success of any football (NFL type) team. But the baduy do not see beyond the surface in anything so they will never appreciate subtlety. Just like they will not vote for somebody who was not a former champion in the box office or someone whose mother's funeral and history was not shown on TV.

As for me, I am not too worried about the baduy flaming me, they tuned me out a long time ago. Unlike the Lakers.



Ed

World Wide Scope of Sports

Interviewer: Can I ask you some questions about sports?

Typical Pinoy: Sige.

Interviewer: What is the fastest sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the roughest sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the game of inches?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the sport of Kings ?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the most physical sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the thinking man's sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the coolest sport on ice?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : Name an indoor sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : Name an outdoor sport?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is the sport known as "The Beautiful Game" ?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What is America's pastime?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport consistently draws the highest TV ratings in the US?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport consistently draws the highest TV ratings in Canada?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport consistently draws the highest TV ratings in Ireland?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport consistently draws the highest TV ratings in Jamaica?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport is played outdoors that requires 22 players on a field all wearing helmets?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport is played outdoors that requires 22 players on a field all not wearing helmets and only one person per side can legally touch the ball with their hands ?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : What sport uses a ball that is not round and is thrown forward?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : Name a sport where the defense has the ball ?

Typical Pinoy: basketball

Interviewer : Thank you for your time.

Typical Pinoy: Anong thank you?? Madali naman yung tanong mo!!!

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Tags: baduy, pinoy culture, sociology, subtlety, basketball, pinoy sports, culture, selfish