The Flipside of Sports

There’s a couple of days every June where self-professed geeks like yours truly feel relegated to the peripheries of public discourse so that the louder, more pumped-up jocks and dedicated sports fans can have their moment of uninterrupted enthusiasm. The reason for this sidelining? The NBA Finals.

As early as the middle of May, NBA fans begin jeering at each other and start placing bets on the last two teams remaining in the league and jostling for that much-desired championship trophy. There are a number of ironies one can note about this phenomenon from our context: the fact this is a sport that originated half a world away, that we have no stake in it (it’s not like there are any Filipino citizens playing in the league), and most notably, our biological limitations (the average Filipino males’ height is just a little over five feet; a good number of NBA players exceed six). Still, I can understand why it can be entertaining to watch. There’s a lot of movement and contact involved that can make or break an entire team’s performance, and the energy of the audiences, both within the stadium itself and those watching from a TV, can prove quite contagious.

While basketball isn’t exactly the most popular sport in its home country, it has found a surprisingly loyal base here in the Philippines, where, as Joaquin M. Henson of The Philippine Star notes, “There are makeshift courts on sandlots and neighborhood nooks all over the country.” In local sports leagues and school intramurals, basketball is the sport that stands out, with lean players donning bright, colorful jerseys leading the pack of athletes during opening parades and other ceremonies. Friendships are formed both within teams and across team lines—bonds that would not have existed had these sports not been played in the first place. Meanwhile, fans like to turn themselves into pundits by analyzing the performances of the players before, during, and after the game.

In the case of another sport, boxing, Philippine society halts to a standstill as we all gather around TVs, radios, and other devices to keep abreast of Senator Manny Pacquiao’s performance in the ring. Streets and thoroughfares are famously empty, and zero crimes are reported on such days.

Simply put, it cannot be denied that sports play a huge role in Philippine society, and this passion does have its positive effects on our health and well-being, our social bonds, and our critical thinking, among other areas of our lives. In recent decades, though, social critics, psychologists, journalists, and members of the academia have delved into the flipside of sports—the negative effects, the aspects you don’t hear mentioned by your run-of-the-mill sports commentator.

A few summers ago, as my younger brother and a couple of other family members were preparing for a trip down south, which involved a brief stopover in the municipality of Alcoy, I remember quipping to him, “Don’t tell them what school you come from. They might beat you up.” This was in reference to a brawl that happened just a few weeks prior, between students of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and members of the Alcoy Football Club—all over a football match that started when one player from one team hit a player from the other team, and the teammates of the affronted player jumped to his defense, and one thing led to another (“Statement of the parents”). It was an unfortunate incident that no doubt embittered and/or traumatized both sides, and it definitely warranted a proper looking-into by authorities, not just to determine who exactly was at fault and who else should be held liable, but also to formulate proper measures to ensure that something similar does not happen again.

Alas, just last year [2016], another sports brawl ensued—this time involving a different sport and different schools, but the parties were still about the same age. In July of 2016, players from the UV Baby Lancers and the Don Bosco Greywolves figured in a “bench-clearing brawl,” as reported by Rommel Manlosa of Sun.Star Cebu, which resulted in the suspension of several players from both teams for the rest of the Mayor Teche Sitoy-Cho tournament. And while there was a mention in the same article of penalties expected to be imposed, senior sports officials would be naive to assume that we’ve seen the end of sports-related scuffles among high school athletes.

Altercations rooted in team affiliation are not unique to our vigorous youths, and even the most grown-up men can succumb to such violent behavior. If anything, perhaps our biology is to blame. Humans—no matter how reserved or antisocial some may claim to be—are naturally social beings. Back in our hunter-gatherer days, one’s attachment to or expulsion from a tribe meant life or death in a world full of larger predators. Over time, our tribalism evolved into more complex forms that allowed us to associate with other individuals, while at the same time dissociating ourselves from others—guilds, social classes, political parties, fraternities, fandoms, and nation-states.

One such modern form of tribalism is our affiliation with sports teams—whether it’s our actual membership in one or just a casual admiration of another. As with other “tribalisms,” sports fandoms are a double-edged sword: they can form bonds among mutual enthusiasts for a certain team or sport, but they can also drive a wedge between, say, your cousin, who’s a Golden State Warriors guy, and his dad, who’s a Cavs fan. Michael Taft, in his Huffpost op-ed “Of Touchdowns and Tribalism,” detailed an incident in his youth where his father, a coach for the local high school football team, was yelled at by a close family friend of theirs for moving the man’s son to a different position in the middle of the game. So yeah, another unfortunate incident resulting from this double-edged blade.   

Another downside of sports that tends to be overlooked is the self-proclaimed punditry of many of its enthusiasts. While it is great that sports and tournaments and the performances of the athletes inspire debate, discussion, and digestion of ideas among the most diehard of fans, what is particularly ironic about this sort of critical thinking is that it fails to translate itself into more important spheres of society, such as international and domestic affairs, which Noam Chomsky laments is discussed with “a level of superficiality that’s beyond belief.”

The renowned linguist, activist, and social critic goes on to discuss why this is so: although both social issues and sports share the problematic of the individual bystander having little to no influence over a specific event or issue, the distinct advantage of the latter is that it’s a lot more fun. Chomsky isn’t saying your average person is stupid, or that political matters are too complex for anyone to grasp; it’s just that people dedicate their energies and critical faculties to the “fantasy world” of sports, consequently distancing themselves from some “unpleasant” realities that are of more pressing, far-reaching concern.

Making matters worse is how the spectacle of sports is translated into other spheres, such as the media. Many correspondents, for example, have a tendency to use sports commentator lingo when covering news stories. Our own senate hearings are depicted just like a typical sporting event, where many a citizen takes pleasure in live-streaming footage of two politicians lashing at each other, exhibiting a whole range of emotions but ultimately failing to fulfill the real purpose of such hearings: to craft new policies and legislation for the betterment of the nation.

All told, sports in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Its reputation is only tarnished when fans take its worst aspects and conflate them to affect other arenas of their lives, such as allowing it to mangle their personal relationships or letting it cloud their political and social views. In essence, sports is just like any religion or interest—immerse yourself in ample amounts and you should be fine, but too much of it will ultimately prove detrimental to both yourself and others who could have otherwise made great tribe- or teammates.

Works Cited

Chomsky, Noam. “Noam Chomsky: Why Americans Know So Much About Sports But So Little About World Affairs.” Alternet, Independent Media Institute, 15 Sept. 2014, 11:15 a.m. GMT, www.alternet.org/noam-chomsky-why-americans-know-so-much-about-sports-so-little-about-world-affairs.

Henson, Joaquin M. “Why Filipinos Love Basketball.” PhilStar.com, PhilStar Daily Inc., 23 Mar. 2016, 12:00 a.m., www.philstar.com/sports/2016/03/23/1565867/why-filipinos-love-basketball.

Manlosa, Rommel. “High School Brawl.” Sun.Star Cebu, Sun.Star Publishing Corporation, 11 July 2016, www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2016/07/11/high-school-brawl-484730.

“Statement of the parents of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.” PhilStar.com, PhilStar Daily Inc., 29 Mar. 2014, 12:00 a.m., www.philstar.com:8080/freeman-opinion/2014/03/29/1306465/statement-parents-sacred-heart-school-ateneo-de-cebu.

Taft, Michael. “Of Touchdowns and Tribalism.” Huffpost, Verizon Communications, 23 Jan. 2012, 6:37 ET, www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-taft/psychology-of-sports-team-loyalty_b_1110797.html.