The SEA Games Debacle: Let The Political Games Begin!

Within a day of Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano getting ousted as Speaker of the House, it seems like his replacement, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, will make good on his threat to pin Cayetano down for supposed financial irregularities by the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PhisGOC) which Cayetano chaired.

In fact, within hours of the change in House Speakership, news outlets were already reporting that Philippine Olympic Committee director Clint Aranas was already readying charges against Cayetano and PhisGOC chief Operating Officer Ramon "Tats" Suzara.

Here are three things you need to remember about the SEA Games issue:

1) It's not about sports, it's about politics - About a week ago, while the nauseating drama around the House Speakership was at its hottest, then-Speaker Cayetano shared to the nation that Congressman Velasco told the President that he wanted PhisGOC investigated. Cayetano then challenged him to do just that, with the payoff being if anomalies were found, Cayetano will not only resign from his Speakership but would also be willing to go to jail. But if no anomalies were found, Velasco should be the one to resign. Which makes it obvious that the issue isn't really about the SEA Games. It's just a convenient way for either Velasco or Cayetano to kick the other out of the Speakership.

2) The projected total cost of the SEA Games was 7.5 billion pesos. One of the most controversial items in the SEA Games was a ceremonial cauldron that cost 55million pesos...which was not used in real-time, anyway. After the close of the Games, roughly 2 weeks after the ceremony when it was supposed to be used, the cauldron was extinguished and has not been used since. Oh, and it has been more than 10 months since the Games have ended and PhisGOC has still to give audited financial reports of the Games' finances. PhisGoC was expected to turn over said audited financial reports last February 9, 2020. 

3) The Philippines did emerge as the overall champion of the Games, its first in 14 years. It also supposedly received the "Best SEA Games Organizer" award, as announced by Cayetano himself . What made this "feat" even more outstanding was that this award was given right in the middle of the SEA Games, which I guess meant the judges already predicted that nothing could happen to make the SEA Games hosting less than the best.

Regardless of how this ends, one thing is for certain: This isn't about doing right by the Filipino athlete or the Filipino people. this is just about Filipino politicians trying to out-politic each other.

Lakers Win Their 17th: Thoughts that Bubbled Up

 

So, when it was all said and done, it was the Los Angeles Lakers who prevailed over the Miami Heat and copped their 17th title, tying their long-time rivals the Boston Celtics for most NBA championships.

Here are three thoughts on the Lakers championship run:

Thought #1 Was it ever in doubt? Yes, it was. The truth of the matter is that the Lakers were never the overwhelming favorites to win this year's championship. I personally had the Bucks winning it over the Clippers, which shows you just how much I know about basketball. The thing is, the Lakers' not being the "sure thing" just makes this championship even more amazing. 

Thought #2 Stop the LBJ hate and give the man the respect he damn well earned. Truth be told, Lebron James was never my favorite player. He still isn't. But anyone who doesn't have him at, at the very least, the top three players in the world is a hater, straight out. Any team with Lebron James should be considered a serious title contender (remember the 2007 Cavs, with Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and Zydribas Ilgasukas?) In my opinion, LBJ has earned his place in the GOAT debate.

Thought #3 Defense (and a better bench) wins championships. Playoff Rondo, Bald Mamba, and the shadow of former DPOY Dwight Howard made most significant difference in this series. Rondo did it with defense and timely threes, Caruso did it with energy and instant offense, Howard did it with physicality and rim protection. The Heat had a decent bench with Tyler Herro, Kelly Olynik, and Andre Iguodala but only Herro delivered any oustanding value from this trio and Nunn was not ready yet to replace what the Heat lost with Dragic's injury.