PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said it’s understandable that Filipinos are expecting Pinoy Olympians to deliver the goods in the Tokyo Olympics.
It is heartwarming to note that in this time of the pandemic, Philippine sports is boosting our spirits. We’ve lost a lot of friends already, businesses are shattered, movements are limited, and some of us are still waiting for the first jab. We should not make fools of ourselves and turn blind to reality.
The last two years have been the most challenging for athletes, be it student athletes, amateur athletes, or professional athletes. Sports grinded to a halt when the pandemic began, leaving athletes with no choice but to keep training not knowing when sports will resume.
THE mushrooming of self-styled experts after Gilas Pilipinas Olympic qualifier campaign in far but picturesque Serbia pains me. I’ve been reading a lot of stories from the social media regarding the tremendous improvement of the national team to the point that the write-ups tend to bury that glaring fact that we didn’t win a single game in our group, thus kissing our Olympic hopes goodbye for the nth time.
![Frank Grillo [Wikimedia Commons | Gage Skidmore]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/859px-Frank_Grillo_by_Gage_Skidmore-400x200.jpg)
The documentary features fighting already imbedded into the fabric of the cultures of the featured countries, Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar, Senegal, and Israel. Fighting isn’t just a sport to them, it’s a tradition and it’s also cultural.
![Tab Baldwin [FIBA.com photo]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/image-2-1-400x200.jpg)
It takes me quite a while before I sing high praises for Gilas Pilipinas.
Two peas in a pod. Brothers from different mothers. Cut from the same cloth, and same pages from different books (Michael Jordan: The Life and Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant), both bestsellers authored and written by Roland Lazenby.
![Yuka Saso [photo credit: USGA]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/yuka1-400x200.jpg)
Yuka in one brief moment of time showed the world that Filipinos are worthy of being respected and adored by all races.
Nav Bhatia never missed a Raptors home game since 1995. He migrated to Canada in 1984 during the anti-Sikh riots in India. He couldn’t find work as a Mechanical Engineer so he worked as a car salesman.
![Kiefer Ravena of the NLEX Road Warriors. [PBA Images]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PBA-Images1-400x200.jpg)
I can only offer my sympathy for budding basketball superstar Kiefer Ravena. I very well understand his desire to embark on a Japanese expedition. His athletic abilities and his proven fighting heart will be a potent mix for the Shiga Lakestars in the Japanese Basketball League.