ONE GAME AT A TIME
Other sports
By Sev Sarmenta
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:19:00 09/26/2008
Filed Under: Sports Events, Basketball
MANILA, Philippines—When I was doing college sports on TV, the production staff and I would often grope for another term for sports outside of basketball. We wanted anything else but the often-used “other sports.”
The term was self-explanatory. And yet it ached for a creative and more respectable alternative. I don’t know if any other term has been coined.
Now that the Metro college hoop season is about to end, the “other” sports will slip in quietly and vie for the support of school communities. Some of them have already been played out but have been unintentionally overshadowed by the hoopla of hoops.
No blaming basketball. It is still the uncontested crowd drawer, a rah-rah, emotional roller coaster perfect for young and even not so young viewers. You cheer lustily in one stretch and then clam up in frustration in the next.
Put rivals like De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University in the Big Dome and they can play a best-of-seven finals and the frenzied scramble for tickets would still be there. San Beda vs Letran can fill up any venue just as well.
It’s now time, though, to get students to discover new games and cheer for schoolmates who play varsity sports outside of hoops.
Spend weekend afternoons at the ballpark. Take in the sights, sounds and even the smell of a game that was once the nation’s most popular. Even the old-timers in the stands are part of the experience.
If swimming hasn’t begun, bring the barkada to cheer for some very fine human specimens who didn’t get the Vs on their backs by simply floating in the pool. Get caught up in the races to touch the wall first.
Or take in a little sun on the tennis court. You’ve been spending too much time in Internet cafes or hiding in your room with music plugged in your ears. See how hard it is to chase a topspin serve or even the gentlest of lobs.
Watch badminton players deftly keep the shuttlecock afloat just when you thought it was going down.
Taekwondo, fencing or judo might still be on the schedule. Expose yourself to the intricacies of self-defense and self-expression.
Following chess might just be a tad intricate at first but once you get the hang of it, you will understand why the players have their hands on their chins.
Volleyball is always thrilling. Talented and good-looking players are always a draw but look at how strategy plays out for quick spikes or open sets.
In football, look how hard and yet how easy it seems for the players to control the ball with their feet. Share the excitement of goal scorers going bananas when they get past the goalie.
There are heroes in track and field. When Far Eastern University athletic director Mark Molina asked me to host the launching of their sports book last year, I reacquainted myself with Mona Sulaiman, Lydia de Vega and Elma Muros who all came from FEU.
The best among your basketball schoolmates will get a chance to make it to the big leagues and you can still watch them. Your “other sports” friends will, at best, have college careers unless they’re really good to make the national team.
See them play. Their effort for your school will be just as heroic and significant.
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