SEA GAMES and the Pinoys' Output

After 11 days the vaunted South East Asian Games finally closes its curtain. In glittering ceremonies, the event opened with an extravanganza highlighted by a song number (Together We Will Shine) with Agnes Monica (Indonesia), Jaclyn Victor (Malaysia) and our very own KC Concepcion.

KC Concepcion*

This evening, the formal closing was aired over IBC 13 and Studio 23 live via satellite. Our athletes were either very brilliant or they were completely forgettable. As expected, Basketball stood out among the outstanding sports we competed in. Of course, we captured the gold in this sport! Arguably, the most popular sport nationwide, it had the most sponsorship coming into the SEA event. Why am I not surprised?

The Philippine Men's Basketball National Team**

Incidentally, most of the young players in the National Men's Basketball Team belong to the Ateneo squad fresh from their four-peat at the UAAP. Coach Norman Black earns kudos for bagging the gold opting to sign up a mostly Atenean team. But what about the other outstanding players from the other universities? I don't begrudge the good coach for his bias in picking most of his wards, though. He probably wants to work with players he's already honed to his style of coaching... And they did win...

Overall standings show a  lack-luster output from the Philippine contingent. We placed sixth in the medal tally. But there was a time (that seems so distant now) when the Philippines reigned supreme as far as sports was concerned. Every so often we find ourselves sliding down the teams' medal haul. Our ASEAN neighbors who used to lag behind in medal standings have eventually surpassed us. There's got to be something they're doing right in their sports training that we have somehow discontinued... or forgotten!

Denise Dy and Treat Huey - Gold Medalists for Mixed Doubles in Tennis***

Incidentally, in the waning moments of the SEA Games, the Philippines still managed to snag the gold medal for Tennis mixed doubles with the tandem of  Denise Dy and Treat Huey. They were one of the last nine gold medal winners that added to the 36 golds that we garnered in total. Haven't heard much about Denise Dy but her doubles partner is indeed a Treat. 

Don't you think?

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* from image bucket

**from AllVoices

***from Google

*** from Google