Posted on February 28, 2011 by Mo Twister
Let me start off by saying, clearly, that I don’t dislike the Azkals. I am not a “hater” nor am I looking for any kind of attention.
(The reason for the disclaimer is because I spoke about this on my radio show and I received a bunch of narrow minded tweets saying that I’m jealous of their fame, their good looks, and the best of it, I “lambasted” them.)
It’s just that everyday, whether it be on the news, on websites, on social networking platforms, I hear so much about the Azkals. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a huge football fan that I don’t get to appreciate all the hype that has come their way. But as a sports fan in general, I do believe that beyond my ignorance for the sport, that the national football team has received an unusual amount of attention—even too much.
Again, I beg you to not get me wrong, I’m happy for them and for the pride and interest they have brought to the country and the sport, but when will the media give it a break and start focusing on other national athletes that have largely surpassed the achievements of the Azkals?
Some can argue that Nonito Donaire’s recent dominant win of Fernando Montiel didn’t garner as much media attention as it should have. Sure, immediately after the KO, Twitter was flooded with congratulations for Donaire and newscasts/newspapers carried it as their top sports story, but it seems like the hoopla died down a day after. And that’s a championship belt!
What irks me even more is the lack of any attention given to the Philippine team for Dragonboat Racing, where not only is the Philippines considered as world champions (besting traditional powerhouse teams like the Americans, Germans, Russians, etc), but they also are world record holders! Yet, not a lot of media love for them and I hope it’s because they don’t have the matinee idol looks or rockstar personas that we are all so attracted to.
I can’t claim by any means to be a sports know it all. This is just an opinion I’d like to share based on my limited observation. Yes, I know football is the world’s most popular sport and there are many other sports that deserves more funding from our government and more attention from the media, but let’s try to give some well-earned attention to other athletes for a change.
The Azkals have a rabid fan base, they’ve earned it and fans have the right to put their support behind anything they feel is worthy. To see them go wild and crazy after the Philippines’ win against the 182nd ranked Mongolia is inspiring because it almost had the environment of a world championship match. So my point is let us also get behind the other athletes that prosper on the world stage.
There’s a lot that we are up against, aside from the opponents, we have to beat internal corruption in the organizations and lack of support from the government.
