May your Christmas wish be granted

It is traditional for reporters and columnists during this season to churn out a Christmas list of changes they want to happen in the coming year.
It is often a “wish list,” a collection of expectations and desires that are an improvement or a departure from the frustrations of the previous year.
It’s a useful practice and should be encouraged so that change, no matter how small, can take place in society in general or in specific sectors or concerns like peace and order, justice, social services, education, housing and politics.
For this pre-Christmas piece, let’s take a moment to take stock of our strengths and shortcomings in sports from a national perspective and down to our entertainment needs and make a very short wish list for reflection during this time of the year.
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From a national and regional sports competition standpoint, it is time to be more strategic and selective in choosing the sports we should strengthen.
We cannot be good in all sports.
Even if it is politically correct to fund and encourage a vast lineup of disciplines, we cannot excel in all.
We can learn to fortify our ranks in medal-rich sports and create programs similar to Project: Gintong Alay to really develop athletes.
To date, the defunct Gintong Alay is still the most efficient, productive and sensible approach to elite athlete sports development. Talented athletes were trained and housed together and given opportunities to compete abroad and receive foreign coaching.
Many do not wish to revive the name or the concept of the program because it was connected to the Marcos era. But it worked and is worthy of replication, even if it should bear a new name.
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For local sports like basketball and the PBA, we look for a stronger push to connect audiences with the athletes. The PBA has reportedly made substantial gains in terms of gate receipts and TV ratings so far this season but it has its work cut out for them in keeping the local pro game in the fabric of Filipino social life on a consistent basis.
There are no longer sports magazines (such as Champ Sportslife Weekly, Sports Weekly, Sports World and Sports Flash—Ed) of the 80s and 90s nor video portraits of the players because they are just too expensive to produce.
There are almost no more local publications and profiles to keep the fans interested in the lives of the players. Thus, so much more has to be done today through social networks to keep PBA players connected to the audience.
You may not have noticed it but young men and even women are gabbing endlessly about the upcoming NBA season, sounding like armchair analysts in discussing the various trades and coaching movements.
They’re talking like crazy in gym locker rooms, basketball courts, bars and even on Facebook.
The young generation has a video game and Internet connection with the NBA. When they were toddlers, they began to play the video game “NBA Live” in all its versions. They knew the players by heart because they needed to in order to win one-on-one video duels with siblings or playmates.
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Our Christmas wish is that the PBA remains top-of-mind as a sports option for the Filipino audience and that people do talk about the games and the players.
It may no longer reclaim its strong grip on the audience like it did during its Crispa-Toyota heyday but it should work harder now to stay in the hearts and minds of the audience.
May your Christmas wish lists be merry and be granted in the year ahead.