PSC super stinker in SEA Games tops them all

PALEMBANG, Indonesia—It’s clear as day in any language. The road to the dream finish of Team Philippines had all the while been closed—a fact that was reconfirmed after the 26th edition of the Southeast Asian Games got off last week to a festive start in this colorful, rising metropolis.
After the first-day action, the Philippines ended with four gold medals and was promptly stalled at sixth overall in its bid to improve on its fifth-place finish in the Laos Games of 2009.
Of course, there was no instant panic, even as host Indonesia strut its traditional hometown might for instant dominance, pulling away and lording it over Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, in that order.
* * *
No early panic, but at the end of Day 7, there was no mistaking how the Philippine campaign was shaping up.
The Philippines languished pitifully at sixth overall, way off its target: Dream-70 (gold medals).
Indonesia, meanwhile, flashed a total of 108 gold medals, followed by prodigious Vietnam (68), Thailand (64), Malaysia (37), Singapore (32).
The Filipinos, honestly not in the league, could only show 19 gold medals.
* * *
Team Philippines, in short, has clearly been humbled, towed out of sight in the region’s sports supremacy race.
The message has come out clear: The country, eager as it is, did not have the proper wares to mount an honest chase of the dream gold harvest.
Of course, there were a few bright spots in the dismal campaign, with most coming from the most unexpected events.
First to pull off a surprise was the sport of wall-climbing, which bagged one of the country’s early gold medals.
* * *
Tiny Iris Rañola scored a stunner and shone bright as PH’s first double-gold winner, despite having stayed in the shadows of the more eminent Rubilen Amit, whom she topped in the women’s 9-ball final.
The unheralded PH bridge team, which came here on its own, then started delivering as the Games headed for the homestretch.
“They got their uniforms and luggage from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). Hope this would be the case with the incentives,” said broadcaster Patricia Bermudez who’s here for AKTV.
* * *
It’s odd, but these scattered golden feats would be readily nullified by super stinkers.
Like the zero delivery, the big fat egg laid by the overhyped national swimming team of Mark Joseph.
Athletics was way off its initial gold-medal target of six, thereby reducing track and field president Go Teng Kok to a whimpering loser.
The biggest—if most pathetic—stink, however, would be delivered late Friday, when the national women’s basketball team threw away a won gold-medal game against Thailand in the most hideous way.
* * *
Broadcaster Bermudez, who saw it all, said she could not believe herself when a PH mainstay grabbed the crucial rebound then ran with the ball with still seconds left in the time clock.
The culprit was promptly slapped a traveling; Thailand rode on the miscue to sink a triple, extend the game, and steal the gold medal.
But that’s not all.
What takes the cake as the ultimate stinker for the national contingent came courtesy of PSC chair Ritchie Garcia, who was forced to zero in on what had caused this yet another debacle for Team Philippines.
“Our preparations were not good … We found it difficult to gather our best athletes in some regions because of the limited communication facilities such as the Internet and telephone,” Garcia, obviously in panic, told United and Rising, the Games’ official bulletin, in its issue of Nov. 17, 2011.
Members of the Philippine media here did not believe the PSC head, groping for an alibi, could’ve said that, considering that Smart Communications, which has successfully linked our islands, was one of their main sponsors in the Games.