Mission accomplished in World Cup?

THE DINNER was in honor of  badminton  national   player  Gerald  Sibayan, who is retiring from the Philippine team,  but  he  received  only a small fraction  of  media  attention.

The  focus   was  on comedienne Ai-Ai de las Alas   who  made  an  appearance right  after  every member of  the  national team  had  taken his  place  on  the  second  floor of the restaurant in Quezon City.

De las Alas was wearing a revealing outfit and  a pair of 5-inch heeled  shoes  that  made  her look very  tall and attractive.

Of  course,  we  were  very  surprised to see a  show biz  personality in  what  was  supposed  to be an exclusive  affair  for people  in  the  sporting  community.

“But I  consider  myself  a  member  of  the sporting  community. In a way,”  she  said.

“I  am  the  team  manager of  the De La Salle badminton  team  in  the UAAP,” she   added.

She  was  also  the  host of  that  evening’s  expensive  crab dinner,  the 20-year-old  Sibayan  being a member of  the De La Salle  badminton  team and  one  of  her  favorites.

“Gerald  isn’t  going  anywhere, he’s  just  retiring  from  the  national  team  because  he  wants  to  concentrate on  his  studies.  He  will  still play  for   the La Salle  badminton  team  though.   When  he  gets  his   college   diploma,  Gerald  plans   to enroll in   an  aeronautic  school.   He  wants  to  be a pilot  someday,” the  comedienne  informed us.

For  her part, the   comedy  queen,  who  earns  millions  making  people  laugh, said she’s planning  to  put  up a  sports foundation  to  help  fund  the needs  of destitute  athletes  with  potential.

“I’m  not   sure  if  it’s a worthy  project,  but I’ll  think  about  it,” De las Alas  said.

* * *

“Mission accomplished!” broadcaster Magoo Marjon  kept  yelling  after Gilas Pilipinas  triumphed  over Senegal  last  Thursday  night, Manila  time.

I’m  not  sure if  Marjon’s  partner, Quinito  Henson,  shouted  the same, but  I  guess  they   must  have  been carried away    by  their  euphoria over  our  first  victory in  the  World Cup after 40 years.

Mission accomplished?  Are   they  saying  that our only  goal  was  to  win  a solitary  game  in   the  Fiba World  Cup?

Millions  were   spent,  enormous  sacrifices   were  made,  the  team  worked   very  very  hard to  get to Seville.  Only  with  the  mission  of  winning  one  game?

In  case  they  have  forgotten,  the  target    was  to  win  at least  two  games   in  the   first  round so we  could  advance  to  the  round  of 16. Deemed  most  beatable  in  our   group (B)  composed  of Croatia, Greece, Argentina, Puerto Rico  and  Senegal,  were  the  last two.

We almost  made  it  but  we  were one  win  short. We  can  now  only look  forward  to  the Asian Games  in Incheon  as Fiba secretary general Patrick Baumann  tries  to  intercede   for naturalized  cager Andray Blatche,  whose  eligibility  to  play in  the  tournament  is  being  questioned .