Can’t win ‘em all

I’m feeling a bit lousy these days what with my teams falling out of contention.  First to get booted out of the UAAP  Season 81 Volleyball Final Four was three-time defending champion La Salle Lady Spikers. Then a week later, the Boston Celtics were eliminated after the second round, after almost being swept away by the rampaging Milwaukee Bucks. La Salle looked well on its way to making history anew but lost to FEU to set a date with the UST Tigresses.  Well, the Hungry Tigresses with Cebuano skipper Sisi Rondina on the prowl, had the Lady Spikers for dinner and sent the ladies in green to an early vacation. On the other hand, the Celtics couldn’t find an antidote to stop GianisAntetokounmpo, as he gored the defense thrown by Boston’s big men that worked during Game 1.  Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward  looked helpless and failed  to inspire the team that was just remarkable last year,playing with an almost  rookie cast and nearly upsetting the Lebron-led Cavaliers for the Eastern Conference crown.  As Barbra Streisand would sing “Some Good Things Never Last”. 

Hidilyn and Gretchen

The sporting world was shocked when a matrix released by Malacanang implicated Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz and Volleyball star Gretchen Ho as plotters to oust President Digong.  After being lambasted by the netizen, Presidential Spokesman Sal Panelo cleared Ho and Diaz. Hidilyn brought honor to the country after winning the weightlifting silver in the Brazil Olympics, ending a 20-year medal drought.“Pataka lang si Panelo da”.

Did You Know?

DORANDO PIETRI. The Italian runner’s photo is visible in almost all sports books and magazines. In the 1908 Olympics in London, Pietri collapsed just about 200 meters from the finish line.  He was actually heading to a wrong direction when he entered the White City Stadium.  He staggered on a few meters,then collapsed again.  Officials helped him up and assisted him to the finish line (this is a violation of athletics rules).  Two of the officials who helped the semi-concious Pietri were head organizer Jack Andrews and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.  Pietri was declared winner and the Italian flag was raised in his honor as he lay in a stretcher.  The Americans however protested and Pietri was disqualified. Queen Alexandra awarded a gold cup to Pietri for his heroics.  Hayes trained on a special track constructed on the roof of Bloomingdale Department store where he worked as a clerk. To settle the issue as to who is really the best, Hayes and Pietri ran in two special (one-on-one) marathons in New york City.  Pietri won on both occasions.  Hayes went on to become a wealthy man while Pietri had his money stolen by his brother and had to work as a taxi driver for the rest of his life.

KOKICHI TSUBURAYA. The Japanese marathoner who placed third in the 1964Tokyo Olympics marathon event, was not so happy with his performance, but looked  forward to the 1968 Mexico Olympics.  He trained for the race but soon fell into a depression.  He committed “hara-kiri”, a ritual suicide and left a note apologizing for not getting the gold won by AbebeBikila of Ethiopia.

Note:Former Gatorade Marketing Manager Nino Sinco never fails to send me a message every Mother’s Day. It says “Happy Mother’s Day sa lahat na babae na ginawa mong nanay”.