I know what you’re thinking. You come here every day to get news from the Southeast Asian Games and every day you leave disappointed with just news, commentary and features on football, combat sports, basketball and soccer. Well, you can stop with the angry, impassioned emails. Your message has been heard. We’re going to talk about the Southeast Asian Games.
Specifically we’re going to talk about the game-changing dives of 21-year-old John Elmerson Fabriga and 17-year-old John David Pahoyo of the Philippines. Sit back, relax, grab your beverage of choice and watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToPRDDPN4xg
That right there is two perfect scores of 0.0. You may never see its like in international competition again. The two men are now famous as the “Splash Brothers.”
The Germans have a word, schadenfruede, for what you’re feeling right now. It’s a word that can’t be translated into any other language because there isn’t a word for it in any other language. It’s a uniquely German word for a feeling that isn’t uniquely German. Though, considering their history in World Wars and whatnot, they’ve certainly perfected it. Schadenfreude, pronounced “shaa-din-froy-da” is defined as “pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.”
The joy and laughter you got from watching those two young men flail and flop their way into internet infamy is schadenfreud. And it’s a pretty spectacular feeling. But now that I’ve pointed it out, you’re probably feeling something else. I’ve killed your buzz, made you examine your own sense of humor, your empathy and your humanity and now you probably feel bad. Well, stop it. And I’ll tell you why.
The Southeast Asian Games have been held every two years since 1959, with 11 participating countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and, of course, the Philippines) and just wrapped up on Tuesday. It’s basically a mini Summer Olympics and allows these countries and the athletes in them, to earn some recognition and medals in the lead up to the big Olympic dance every four years.
In the history of the SEA Games, Thailand has won 1,715 gold medals. In the 2014 Sochi Olympics, they didn’t even send a single qualifier. So you can see why this might be important to the countries involved.
But the fact is some people in those countries don’t see it that way and the Philippines is one of the worst countries in supporting its international and Olympic athletes. After the dives went viral, Philippine Aquatic Sports Association president Mark Joseph wasn’t surprised at all by the poor performance of his country’s divers.
“They’re new, they’re young they’re fist-timers at this level, so don’t expect fireworks,” Joseph said. “We only have one training center…. The amount of money that is spent in our sports is nothing compared to our kalaban (opponents). It’s that simple.”
Which then makes the comments from Cristy Ramos, former Philippine Olympic Committee president, even more ridiculous.
“Pity the Philippines!” Ramos wrote. “What a joke the Philippines has become in sports… Definitely a reprimand is at hand. The NSAs need to meet a standard and obviously this group didn’t. They are accountable for the public funds given to them for this event.”
But they were and with the piddling amount the Philippines invests, this is what they get. When a country puts its money behind its athletes in international competition, the results show up on the medal stand, beyond even local tournaments and competitions. These types of events matter as a point of national pride and the Philippines has taken a black eye along with Fabriga’s and Pahoya’s sore backs.
“We always like it to be better,” Joseph said. “But maybe it should teach a lesson to everybody that if you don’t invest, don’t expect. It takes years and years to make a champion. The reality is we are really left behind.”
And for divers like Fabriga and Pahoya, they don’t have to stay behind. While their first attempts from the three-meter board went hilariously awry, both men got another shot at it.
Let’s see how they did. First, Fabriga.
Now, Pahoyo.
Not too shabby. And for the rest of us, feel OK about that laughter. Because the divers are fine and have nothing to be ashamed about.
“This was not the first time I failed at a dive,” Pahoyo wrote on his Facebook page. “I am still proud because not all of us has the privilege to represent our country in a big sporting event like this.”
But their financiers in the Philippines should feel shame. Put in the investment, Philippines, in trainers, in facilities and in promotion. It will pay off.
