Joke or no joke, it’s still sports

It was no joke when comedy queen Ai-ai de las Alas announced her plans to put up a sports foundation for promising but destitute athletes.

She indeed looked out of place in a recent dinner for national badminton player Gerald Sibayan in Quezon City, with practically all guests coming from the sports community.

As it turned out, Ms De las Alas is the manager of the De La Salle badminton team in the UAAP, of which Sibayan is a mainstay.

She has been quietly pitching in for Philippine sports all these years.

Mabuhay Madame Ai-ai!

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Anyway, what many sports buffs find truly odd was this one about two young senators filing separate bills to set up a national sports academy for young grassroots athletes to enhance their chances at winning and excelling.

That is indeed commendable, but there were those who could not help but laugh after it was reported that the proposed academy would be left in the hands of, hold your breath, the Philippine Sports Commission.

“Comprehensive studies must be made before implementation,” said former chief national sports statistician Joseph Dumuk.

Without touching on the PSC, Dumuk said: “I fully agree that the project should be in the hands of competent and committed sports people with education, training, knowledge and experience .”

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Meanwhile, it was not very funny what happened to NBA veteran Andray Blatche, who pillared for the Gilas Pilipinas national team in the Fiba World Cup.

As it would turn out, Blatche was not eligible to play for the Philippines in the Incheon Asian Games.

Was the Blatche case also a dirty joke on Philippine basketball, like that shameful Gilas-NBA fiasco?

Or is this a signal to the esteemed tycoon MVP for him to steer clear of politics’ dark tentacles; and maybe try the tips of objective outsiders against the advices of swarming bootlickers and assorted clowns.

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While at it, let me tickle you with these few lines sent in by the benevolent trader/sportsman Sebastian “Baste” Chua of Star Sports:

“When we are gone, there is a lot of money not spent. One tycoon in China passed away. His widow with $1 billion in the bank remarried his driver.  His driver said:  All the while, I thought I was working for my boss. Now, I realize my boss was all the time working for me.”