The Cambridge Dictionary defines league as a group of teams playing a sport who take part in competitions between each other. That same dictionary defines misnomer as a name that does not suit what it refers to, or the use of such a name. They further define paradise as a place or condition of great happiness where everything is exactly as you would like it to be: Remember those three definitions boys and girls as I dissect something published by the Philippine Star.
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There are very few things more moronic on the face of this earth as Pinoy sports media.
- Featuring a yaya in Singapore like she had any bearing on the 2016 Olympics.
- Shaming James Harden into saying that his favorite place in the world is Manila.
- Blowing a loud horn about an assistant coach after a medal win in the NBA summer league.
- Never consulting in a dictionary what a dugout is.
“In its latest project, the NBA takes a deep dive into the country’s love affair with the sport of basketball.”
Luisa Morales – Philstar.com
February 19, 2023 | 5:28pm
The usual suspects trying to capitalize on the pinoy’s natural thirst to be in the NBA. A thirst that has yet to be quenched by any Filipino native. The NBA is a basketball league that has the best players in the world which they cram into 30 teams. That league makes money charging admission to the games involving NBA teams , selling the broadcast rights and selling the merchandise.
I have no idea how Philstar extends the production of basketball podcasts with employees from ESPN, GQ, Foxsports, Spin PH and equate that to “The NBA”. Yes, they cover the NBA but just because Philstar does a review of Antman does not make Philstar Disney and / or Marvel. The NBA logo is on the Hoops Paradise podcast and is promoted on the NBA website. The problem is the hosts of those podcasts (CJ Toledano, Cassidy Hubbarth, Sarah Kustok,Nikko Ramos and Alex Wong ) are employed by the media outlets I mentioned above. If they all don’t work for the NBA directly then how is the NBA doing a deep dive? They devoted their best people to it even if they aren’t their people? The NBA has bigger fish to fry. A lot of media cover the NBA using podcasts without being the NBA. Usual KSP ploy of grasping at straws by looking at the slimmest connection and then exaggerating it. Didn’t I just define a misnomer?
The podcast brags about people they perceive as ” Filipino American”. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was born in Illinois. He played high school and college basketball in Oregon. Neither US state is in the Philippines the last time I looked. He did visit the Philippines several times and hosted basketball camps because of his connection to the Miami Heat. The Heat website talks about members of his family that carved out a career in sports and no pinoy sports are mentioned.
Someone else that is supposed to give the people insight on how the Philippines is a Hoops Paradise is Houston Rocket Jalen Green. Again , he was born in California and played all his high school basketball there. He went straight to the G- League after high school. He is only 21 years old. I have no idea if there is a better researcher than can show how both Green & Spoelstra can cite the Philippines as a reason for their success or how they can explain “Hoops Paradise”.
The world never cared about pinoy basketball. I doubt this podcast will change anything. Download numbers mean nothing since we all know Filipinos love to stuff the ballot box when it comes to international voting. All that matters is the number of people who download who are actual customers of the sponsors. Statistics show that if you are born in the Philippines or played high school and/ or college basketball in the Philippines you will not make the NBA. Only pinoys care about pinoy basketball and the NBA is the only league that pinoys give two flying sheets about that is not pinoy. This pinoy devotion to the game with the orange ball may be cute to pinoys but that is the best it can be. That tunnel vision does not translate to either NBA players or even wins in the international stage.
“To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?”
Kevin Alfred Strom.
When you read the article from Philstar, they want you to believe the world and the NBA worship how Filipinos love the NBA. The NBA as a league does not worship the Philippines. However they worship China as I detailed in this piece written back in 2020. LeBron James , Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich proved that China ruled them by denying any wrong doing by the Chinese government. The funny thing about Kevin Alfred Strom , the Associated Press said he is an American white nationalist and Holocaust denier.
Pinoys obsess over basketball and no other sport comes close. No Filipino men have ever won an Olympic gold medal in any sport. Filipinos are invisible in other high profile team sports where many other nations including Asian nations thrive mainly because basketball gets all the funding and attention .They have nobody from here playing in the NBA. They have not even qualified for the Olympics in half a century. They consider it a badge of honor to be recruited by a league that has been only opened it doors seven years ago. The PBA is unknown to international basketball audiences. Anytime the Philippines is involved in FIBA, the announcers exaggerate their value despite the lack of wins. The devotion is there, the lack of tangible results abroad are not. Did I just define paradise??
Putting a very sharp needle into the balloon known as Pinoy Pride since 2012.
All the short people.
I suspect that nearly every small college basketball team in the USA would lay waste to any team in the PBA, even if they were not any taller. The quality of play here is abysmal because there is no concept of team play and passing the ball. It seems that at least 90% of the time, the person who gets the inbounded ball is the guy who shoots it without ever passing it.
You said something similar before in an older post and yes nothing has progressed. The Philippines could use a lesson from Norman Dale. But they rather yell “puso!”. I do talk about the
cheerleaders, I mean commentators they have on those Gilas games where they mandate the use of rose colored glasses.Princess Diana could have chosen any nanny in the world to raise Prince William, the future King of the United Kingdom. She chose a Filipina Nanny! Why, you ask? Because Princess Diana knew that Filipinos embody hard work which leads to excellence. So when Prince William is crowned King William, I have no doubt he will be one of the greatest Kings in UK history. So to all British people in the world, “you’re welcome” and you better show some effin gratitude to the Philippines.
Just because the maid who raised him is a Filipina doesn’t mean that the British people owe Philippines gratitude, that’s nothing.
I am sorry I missed the Yayalympics. You bring up a yaya choice to validate your point and belittle mine. You can’t make this up. Well it looked like you made up your name so you probably did make it up. Anyway go back to your yaya trivia. Writhe in my cage of torment.
“No Filipino men have ever won an Olympic gold medal in any sport.”
Gogs, the best boxer in history (Manny) and the best pool player in history (Efren) are both Filipino men. Who needs a gold medal when you have LEGENDS!
I would agree with Efren being at being the best or close to it, but the best boxer in history would be Muhammad Ali.
Legends?? I am talking about the sports of basketball. I dare you find me a major sports publication that covers pool. It has to be something that you read for years. I read Sports Illustrated for years and pool was never covered. I stated a fact and you come back with a bar game. Have you seen Manny’s last 10 opponents? Have you heard of them?? Writhe in my cage of torment.
Gogs, you said “No Filipino men have ever won an Olympic gold medal in any sport.”
Why do you measure excellence in terms of Olympic gold medals? I gave two examples of legendary Filipino Male Athletes and your mind is short-circuited. You talk about Major Sports Publications? ESPN, Sports Illustrated? The world is changing Gogs, the West is in Decline and the East is rising. Yet your mind is still a prisoner of Western Colonial values. Furthermore, print media is on its last legs in America. It only Filipinos who worship Western culture who think “major sports publications” still matter. You probably watch CNN too and think its cool. News for you: publications are almost dead in the USA. You are showing your age, old man. Keep up with the digital age.
You are the worst kind of Filipino who hates our own. You deserve a gold medal in the Crab Mentality Olympics.
OK so I am not a millennial. Funny how you did not give me something that I should be reading that worships pool. One more thing. Not one culture abroad cares about the PBA and how pinoys do things in the world of sports. None. Who the hell worships pool players even 1% compared to a Cristiano Ronaldo? Pinoys corner the market on baduy. What Crab Mentality Olympics? You also on board on the Yayalympics? Worship on the altar of the gold medal ever for this country?? Go nuts with that. I am not there. PBA pa more Raul. It is made for you.
Philippines a basketball paradise? Did Philippines ever become a paradise?
No Data, many foreigners consider the Philippines as a paradise (Becoming Filipino, FinnSnow, Making it happen, Nelly, Juicy Vlog, Jessica Lee, Sylvia Kim,Hungry Syrian, etc). These foreigners have figured out that its not worth living the Western rat-race, which is all glitter but with no substance. They are living a happy life here as they have discovered that being happy is more important than being a cog in the machine. Do yourself a favor and watch their vlogs and you will realize what a beautiful country and culture we have.
Don’t be like Gogs who hates his own country and culture. He is quite pathetic really. Nakakawa talaga siya. Feeling superior pero galit siya sa sarili at bulok ang kaluluwa. Kung away niya dito, bakit hindi na lang siya umalis tulad ni Benign0?
Western-rat race? I’m going to assume that it’s a racist statement until you clarify what you really mean by that.
You’re resorting to personal insults towards Gogs. Tackle the issue or topic, don’t attack the person. I have no respect towards racism and attacking a person in a discussion or debate.
Philippines being a paradise is hoax. Do you even know why many Filipinos work in other countries?
For those of you who think the NBA is the sum of all sports in the world.
Simple rule. Argue with my points. If you wish to make conclusions about me at least base it on the points and suggest where I am off base. Any obscenities or baseless insults get put in the spam folder. Pinoys have a tunnel vision for basketball and can’t even get that right. Of course their performance in other sports suffer and they are so KSP with the lack of results. Somehow this is “paradise”. I laugh at the suggestion. No detractor has been able to argue that so far. Just insults directed at me. They can bring up Yayalympics or bar games. At least it is not obscenities. Tell me why the Philippines who are not significant in world basketball is the world’s basketball paradise . Don’t bring up obscene acts or insult me without telling me why my premise is wrong. The truth hurts.
I could see how the philippines could be seen as almost an alternate universe for someone like, say, justin brownlee, who in any other part of the world, would be just another pro baller..but here, he gets to jump like kobe and run like lebron..the crowd, electric, pulsing with the roar of a thousand ghetto sons..urging you on for one more steal, one last rebound, one final impossible heave for the last final points your soul can squeeze..it is not really heaven, but i could not blame justin if he were to call this his own personal paradise.
Did you hear the promo for this podcast? They try to describe this as a “special ” place. Your idea made me think of a quote that always stuck with me from the dark comedy Addicted To Love.
The whole idea of what Gulliver felt like when he was with the Lilliputians. I doubt this podcast will differentiate between being crazy about basketball and being good at basketball. Try to read that Philstar article. Thank you for bringing up a real example of what is really happening here.
Hoops Paradise is just a title of a podcast that makes a reference to basketball being the most popular sport in the country. That’s it. I have no idea why you needed to write a thousand words complaining about that.
But it’s not surprising considering that everytime I read an article written by Gogs, it sounds like he’s trying so hard to look like he has a thousand IQ points. He sounds like a pretentious pseudo-intellectual who likes the smell of his own farts, which if true, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Parang sampal na sagot ‘to kay Gogs! Pero, tatablan kaya?
Simon. Au contraire mon frère . You do realize that I wrote that back in Feb 22 and your observation was March 3. No , I don’t log into this website everyday and it is the weekend. Find your victories elsewhere. The PBA is perfect for you.
Jose, I defined paradise from a well known dictionary and included it in what I wrote. It talks about something being exactly as you like it. Pinoys are losers abroad. They love the NBA and can not sniff from here what it is like to be in it. Nobody holds pinoy basketball on any kind of pedestal. So you are telling me the idealized form of pinoy basketball matches the reality?? Not the way the media and fans react.
You can call it paradise , I call it sports myopia. That narrow focus is why pinoys do lousy in other sports. The pinoy athlete is not in demand anywhere. There is a difference between being most popular and a group that is ineffective even with that popularity. The locals keep yearning for more like real KSPs. The media misrepresents so many things in order to attract that yearning that is not satisfied. That is not paradise.
I see it as, the reason why Filipinos are all so fired up about basketball but ignore other sports is the same reason the jeepney hasn’t been improved or made safer (until they replaced these with minibuses): no desire to improve, violent resistance to change and the ‘kawawa us’ mentality which is used as an excuse to resist change (we are too poor so let’s keep things the same).
Oh, may I add, also like the reason a Filipino drunkard will refuse to stop his habit: I’m so poor so this is my escape, let me stay at it even if it kills me. Plus, preferring the temporary feeling over the long-term implications.
It doesn’t help that the tax on Tanduay and local cigarettes are quite negligible so that the poor can easily have an excuse to be rowdy and piss their health away.
Hence points I have been making with any kind of international football. The populace expect the team to compete when they don’t support local football in any significant way. They decide to cut corners and depend on inorganic players. Expect me to mock the woman’s team during the World Cup when a lot of them learned the game in California .
“I have no idea if there is a better researcher than can show how both Green & Spoelstra can cite the Philippines as a reason for their success or how they can explain “Hoops Paradise”.” – Gogs
I understand the admission of lack of idea on your part because you twisted everything around basketball and then make it a convoluted cross Filipinos have to bear. Why? Just so you can sleep better at night.
Now to straighten the mess you just made up to clarify the story and arrive at the truth, the Philippines is not being cited as reason for success of Filipinos abroad. She’s being cited to highlight the roots and affinity of those foreigners with Filipino blood that gained some prominence in their respective countries.
The problem with you is you take a beautiful happy story about Filipinos and make it worse and lie bout it. That is not a good character for a Filipino like yourself. That is not a good character for a human being.
There’s a lot of bad stories that you can talk about but this penchant for bad mouthing basketball and Filipinos only implies that you’re somebody who maybe is suffering from some physical disability that makes you hate basketball. Or mentally crippled that you abhor Filipinos like yourself.