666: The Number of the Least

Aug. 9, 2000

OR BETTER still – The Number of the Bested.

Julio Cesar Chavez’s six-round loss to unforgiving Russian-Australian Konstantin Tszyu is a lesson all aging athletes should bear in mind: No amount of veteran savvy (even backed up by 103 wins in 109 matches) should go up against youth and its accompanying strength and enthusiasm. A Tszyu left hook to the cheek and right straight to the temple knocked down Chavez on his bare knees and gloved knuckles. He got up before the count of 10 only to get another couple of hard punches before his cornerman and the referee mercifully called a stop to the carnage.

Chavez’s stubborn pride and downfall should serve as a cautionary tale. Talented and not-so-talented athletes should realize that a lot more difficult than winning games is beating Mother Nature. She will not be denied. She will get her pound of black-and-blue beaten flesh, cracked bones and torn tendons.

If Chavez understands English or if someone could translate this into Spanish, all I (or maybe Señor Homer “Second Overtime” Sayson could get the message across the next time they meet) is that it shouldn’t have taken the great Mexican warrior all of six rounds to acknowledge defeat. The Willy Wise loss was as big and ominous a sign he deserved. If he lost to a forklift operator, how much more to a young but seasoned boxer like Tszyu?

MERCY. Tszyu, who looks like the end product of the dalliance of a Mongol maiden and a Russian rogue was more than wiling to teach his elder a lesson in pugilism. And he did say he wouldn’t show mercy. He was merciful enough though not to carry Chavez six more rounds and punish him for the maximum length of the championship bout. (Earlier, Roy Jones’ showboating got the better of him and he sweated 11 rounds to dispose of an otherwise overmatched journeyman whose name is too hard to remember.)

Speaking of the number 6, it occurred to me that the Sun.Star team that took part in last year and this year’s sidelight of the Adidas Streetball Challenge in the media category, was cursed (or blessed) with the very same number in every game the S.SD Blackened 3-on-3 squad played.

Last year we lost 6-9 in the elimination round. This year we won 6-4 in the eliminations but lost 6-7 in the Finals. Never been a big fan of numerology but three times in a row seems to be too much of a coincidence. Plus the two 3s in 3-on-3 added equal 6.

Bring on Armageddon!

With the MBA's first games on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday unceremoniously relegated to the no-man’s-land of post-primetime’s “delayed telecast” in favor of the not-really mobbed UAAP basketball, has ABS-CBN conceded failure to dislodge the PBA from its double-decade and a-half position as basketball provider to the masses? A monolithic, monopoly-loving entity like ABS-CBN (look at how its cable affiliate Sky Cable has swallowed Cebu’s market) of course has foremost on its mind...profit.
But consider its in-house: Karangalan...Kayamanan...Adhikain...Prinsipsyo...Hindi pera. Puso. Puso kabayan. Yeah, yeah. Ilara's lola nimo. The MBA will always have its audience/market. It will always be easier and more gratifying rooting for one’s hometown/city/province/region instead of a softdrink or hotdog brand. But can that market (no matter how captured) sustain a business?

It was predicted in many quarters, sometimes with self-serving agenda in mind (the PBA for one), that the MBA won’t last long. That would be a sad turn of events not only for ABS-CBN and the Metroball but also for “regional” basketball fans, players, coaches, color commentators, et al. After all, the MBA is the “passion of the nation.”

So all you provincianos y provincianas, rally around your MBA and let’s show those imperialists in the National Capital Region (what’s wrong with just plain Manila or Metro Manila?) that they’re no better than us. Of course it would help if the Metrostars fail to defend their crown. Pampanga did it first. Perhaps it’s the Southerner Cebu Gems’ turn this year. If you still can, keep the faith. Pass it on.