Keeping sports divorced from politics is an ideal that is probably unrealistic. But if someone wants to mix sports with politics, he should do so with a certain amount of subtlety

This kind of subtlety was almost totally absent in Ronnie Nathanielsz’ play-by-play account of the Jones Cup championship match between the United States and the Philippines. It was not until it looked as if the Philippines had a good chance of winning that Nathanielsz started reminding one and all that President Marcos had supported the team.

The timing of Nathanielsz’ constant trumpeting of the president’s support pictured the President as a petty, insecure man who only grabs the credit for the achievements of other people but does not advance his claim until victory is assured.

Nathanielsz obviously thinks that he is doing the president a service by linking him to the San Miguel team. This tells us more about Nathanielsz’ character than about the kind of man the President is.
 

WILSON G. ABAYA