The FIBA Basketball World Cup wraps up this weekend in Manila, where we will host the Finals game between a still-to-be-determined match-up.
International sports media showered attention to this tournament with worthy news bites and stories. This tournament was the biggest sporting event in the world for a time. The other contenders were the US Tennis Open in New York and the PGA FedEx Cup final weekend in Georgia.
While traffic suffered in parts of Manila, coupled with the inclement weather that caused flooding for several days, the city was able to adjust to the FIBA tournament, especially after the games at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan ended. There was less need for players and staff to traverse the entirety of EDSA from their hotels. The Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City takes center stage for the remaining games, and this will be less of a logistical nightmare for the organizers.
With the world’s top basketball stars arriving and going around the city, more and more stories of how they were spending their time in Manila were being shared. The US Team reportedly practiced at Kerry Sports at Shang BGC and enjoyed eating at restos in the area.
Restaurants that were visited by other teams posted photos of their tall, athletic diners. Basketball enthusiasts camped outside hotels to get photos and signatures of the famous players. Filipino fans gushed over tournament latecomers to Manila, such as Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, Germany’s Dennis Schroeder, and the Canada team.
Tournament coverage, using expensive cameras and with a more entertaining program, is a breath of fresh air showing how a top-class basketball tournament should be held.
We can all give ourselves a pat on the back for how the tournament is handled. But we can all indeed do better.
I am now in Singapore, where the city is preparing for the Singapore F1 Race to be held a week from now. The racetrack is the public road used by local cars, but signs are everywhere advising which roads will be closed next week. We can see the podium and race car garages from the highway from Changi Airport.
Mild traffic can be expected once the race begins, but it should be fine with Singapore’s efficient public transportation system. To compare, if we close a few roads in Manila, the entire city is nearly paralyzed.
The only hope for us is to begin moving out of Manila. I am particularly glad about the developments in Bulacan, where the SMC Group is building an airport. Ramon Ang was in the news when he launched his exclusive Ferrari distributorship and said he intends to put up a Ferrari racetrack in Bulacan, near the new international airport. The racetrack will be world-class, and Ferrari owners can have their own garages with their pit crews, making them feel like F1 drivers.
Manila is exhausted and congested enough. Adding a subway would be a great help, but the government must move fast and add more lines to this subway. More focus should be shifted to what can be done underground, instead of aboveground, i.e., elevated trains and expressways. And instead of reclaiming more land, we should expand to the provinces like Bulacan, Laguna, and farther.
Soon enough, we could host more significant sporting events, which should boost us culturally and encourage more of our youth to play competitively.
For comments, email him at darren.dejesus@gmail.com