So there goes another four years down the drain. The Olympics happens every four years, so we have around that time to turn enthusiastic kids into world-class athletes. We have around four years to scout around for individuals who, in my opinion, should be as of this point born with the ancestral DNA of mythical creatures; demigods who were kissed by the deities' own bloodline, giving them superpowers that will allow them to perform great feats.
So we ask the same question every time our athletes go home with store-bought souvenirs instead of gold medals: Why did we NOT win a single medal?
I admit, I am not a sports official so I will not be able to answer that question. Instead, I will ask a question that the ordinary guy-off-the-street could ask (and possibly answer): why do we even bother sending athletes when we know they will not win anyway?
I tried to ask a couple of people that question, and almost all of them have the same answer: Its not winning that counts, its the experience. Its the fact that we were able to represent our country in the prestigious sporting event. Its the camaraderie, its the friendship, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah.
I got no qualms about that; but isn't it the reason why we join competitions is to win, at least? If they sent athletes for the sake of camaraderie and world peace in the first place, then they just should have sent ME instead; they will not need to spend four years training me. They will not need to spend money for my gym usage, my foreign coaches and their hotel expenses, among others. I could just show up on the day, fly out to London, march, smile, and wave on the opening ceremony, and just be crappy on the competition itself because after all, that's all I came out to do. This means that if an official from the Philippine Sports Commission would go on record in saying that winning is not important in this case, and they do not even bother thinking about ways on how to make our athletes win, and it's all about representing the country and winning just comes at a close second, then I take back everything I say.
If the coaches knew that their swimmer could never reach the best qualifying time for the medals round, then what's the point of sending him out?
MY point is, if the trainers even knew that their athletes will barely pass qualifying rounds and will have absolutely NO CHANCE of reaching the medal round, then why even bother sending them out there in the first place? If the swimming coaches knew that their swimmer could never reach the best qualifying time for the medals round, then what's the point of sending him out?
I remember two or three days ago when Olympic Team Philippines' final bet, Danny Caluag for the BMX competition, was able to qualify for the second round of eliminations. Caluag barely made it (he was in final qualifying position), and when asked if he was worried for placing last in the qualifying round and if it worried him at all, he shrugged and with all confidence, he stated that the time trials did not worry him at all, and placing last did not mean that he can't get a medal.
As of this writing, I've read in an Inquirer.net article that Caluag placed LAST (yet again) in the second round of eliminations, therefore disqualifying him from moving forward. I held on to his every word. I believed him for I did not know much about the BMX competition, so who am I to question what he can do? What happened to the bravado, the machismo, and the attitude? It would have been better if he admitted to the public that he knew that he was not going to win a medal, and he was there for the experience and the prestige of adding the title of 2012 Olympian to his name.
This being said, I say we completely FORGET about the Olympics because its hopeless and pointless; please spare us the time, money, effort, and the emotional investment because we already know the outcome. I say we invest all our powers to other sporting endeavors like football (the Azkals), Boxing (Pacquiao, Julaton, Donaire, etc.), Softball (Team Manila, recent champions of Big League Softball Championships in Michigan), and others.
Like I said, I am no sports specialist, but I suggest during the next Olympics, we should just watch the opening ceremony and then turn the TV off.
