An Open Letter to MVP
Sunday, 31 July 2011 6,239 Views / 112 Comments
Manny Pacquiao and the NBA All-Star team.
Dear MVP,
It’s been a full week since you put together one of the most thrilling basketball weekends the country has ever experienced and I still can’t believe that it actually happened; me and millions of other hoops fanatics around the country. It seems like a dream and yet it was all true. Even several days of dark and damp typhoon weather can’t wash away the fact that the likes of Kobe, Derrick, Kevin and Chris had taken Manila, well, by storm. The proof is all over the Internet: photos, videos, blogs, expired links to overpriced scalped tickets. They all prove that you successfully organized two days that have forever altered the landscape of basketball in the Philippines.
Yes, we’re a full week removed from the Ultimate All-Star Weekend and all nine hoops demi-gods have since left our shores. In light of the NBA lockout, the event caused a slight ripple in the international media, a ripple that traces its origin to a basketball tsunami all of your creation. I have to ask: how in heaven’s name did you pull it off? The word on the street is that you got it all done in three weeks. Three weeks! That’s about as long as it takes me to summon up the courage to ask a girl out to dinner. You, on the other hand, went ahead and invited some of the biggest basketball superstars in the world to come not just for dinner, but for a weekend extravaganza. And you got them to agree to it. You, sir, are a dream weaver.
Was this really your gift to Philippine fans in celebration of your 65th birthday? If so, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us for your 75th! But I guess that would be selfish of me. Actually, I really wrote this letter to say thank you for what you’ve done. For at least one weekend, you provided a much needed escape from the hardships our country continues to experience.
Somehow, though, I have a feeling that you had grander plans than just bringing together a few NBA players to put on a show. You’ve always had your sights beyond “just a weekend escape”, haven’t you? Hmm. Let me see if I can, for just a minute, think and feel like you. Let me know if I get it or not.
While most of us saw the Ultimate All-Star Weekend as a stand-alone event, you saw it as a catalyst for similar, more significant events in the future. While most of us saw it as a way to forget our nation’s ills, you saw it as an opportunity to prove that if you put your heart and mind to something, anything is possible — yes, even finding solutions to the very problems we wanted to forget. While most of us saw this as a celebration of NBA superiority, you saw it as a step towards building confidence in the Filipino athlete towards global success.
If this is the case, you really couldn’t have set the stage any better. The stadium was filled to the rafters and millions of fans had their eyes glued to their TV’s. As the Smart Gilas Pilipinas team fought valiantly for national pride versus the world’s best, in strode a self-assured Manny Pacquiao. In a matter of minutes, the worshipped became the worshippers, six- and seven-foot giants starstruck by the 5’6” Pacman. He is, after all, more a world champion than any of them. Whether you arranged it by design or not, that turned into the defining moment of the weekend you put together. And the message was loud and clear: we Filipinos can – and will – achieve greatness.
Thanks again for the gift, MVP, and belated happy birthday! Let this hopefully be a start of something big — no, something bigger than all of us could ever imagine. Maybe by your 75th birthday, we will reap some rewards from what you’ve started. Maybe by then, we will witness the country’s first NBA player. Or celebrate the country’s first Olympic gold medal. Or better yet, see the beginnings of a less corrupt government and a society rebuilt on strong Filipino values. You’ve just lit a tiny little flame of hope in us, MVP. After all, haven’t you already proven that it all begins with a dream?
Sincerely,
Mike Yu
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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