Maria Sharapova

Una kong nakita ang pangalan at letrato ni Maria Sharapova sa website ng ESPN nung 2002. Maliit na kahon lang, ang laman e yung mga bagong tennis player na tila daw sumusunod sa yapak ni Anna Kournikova, samakatuwid ay sa pagiging blonde, na naka-ponytail pa, aral sa Florida, at glamorosa.

Ngayon, alam ko na sa kwento ng mga fans, at maging kung tatanungin mo ang mga player na nakakita na sa kanya nang personal, si Anna Kournikova ang pinakamagandang tennis player, "more beautiful than anyone from Hollywood" ika nga ng isang kolumnista. Pero di ganoon ang dating niya sa letrato. Kaya nang makita ko ang letrato ng noo'y 15-anyos na si Sharapova, ang reaksyon ko ay "no she's no Anna K-clone. Anna never did this to me." Ano ba yung "this"? Tumigil sandali ang makinang pambomba ko ng dugo. Lilinawin ko uli, sa picture lang iyan. Si Sharapova kasi, photogenic at telegenic. Sa personal, iba na. Pero ano ba naman ang pakialam ko sa personal e wala naman akong balak pumunta pa ng ibang bansa para lang makita sila sa personal? Mahal kaya ng airfare, tapos wala naman akong visa.

Nagsimulang sumikat si Sharapova nung 2003 season, nung marating niya ang semis ng Birmingham at ilaglag si Elena Dementieva, kapwa niya Ruso at mas mataas ang ranking sa kanya nung panahon na iyon. Isang "upset" ika nga. Bagamat di naman siya ang nagkampeon doon ng taong iyon, ay iyon na ang umpisa ng kanyang love affair sa mga fans ng Britanya. Nang sumunod na taon, narating niya ang rurok ng kasikatan. Nanalo siya sa Birmingham, suot ang isang simpleng puting damit, habang nasa rurok din ng kanyang "kakyutan". Dalawang linggo pagkalipas, siya na ang pinagkakaguluhan sa Wimbledon. Ang isang pinakahighlight ng week 1 ng 2004 Wimbledon ay ang kanyang laro laban kay Daniela Hantuchova ng Slovakia. Tinext ko pa nga ang kaibigan ko "Sharapova vs Daniela on Star Sports" (first name ang tawag ko kay Hantuchova e). Sagot niya sa akin "already watching it." Sino ba naman ang di mapapapanood? Pareho halos sila ng porma, parehong galing Eastern Europe, parehong Slavic, parehong matangkad, blonde, ponytailed, identical ang Nike dress, Nike na sapatos. Sa nakasisilaw na liwanag ng araw sa English summer, halos magkamukha na sila, parehong maganda. Magkaiba lang sa dalawang bagay: mas maingay si Sharapova, at mas malakas ang pwersa. Straight sets.

(Sa puntong ito siguro e itatanong mo: puro lang ba ganda ang criteria ko sa pagsunod sa isang babaeng tennis player? Reality check: yes. Women's tennis depends some on sex appeal. Some would say a lot. Yes, most its appeal lies in the sex appeal of its players. Ibig bang sabihin noon e monster ako at ibang kagaya ko? Deal with it, it's reality. For the record, ang paborito kong style ng paglalaro ng tennis ay yung kay Martina Navratilova. Serve and volley. Walang naglalaro ng ganoong istilo ngayon, not even the great Steffi Graf. Na paborito ko rin, for her tennis, of course. E since wala naman akong mapapala sa style ng mga modernong player na pare-pareho na lang na power baseliner, dahil wala nang kagaya ni Navratilova, masisisi mo ba ako kung sa itsura tumingin?)

Naaalala ko yung week 2 ng Wimbledon, kasi madalas gabi na akong makarating ng bahay. Quarterfinals, dinatnan kong naghihingalo na si Maria laban kay Ai Sugiyama ng Japan. Pero bumawi at nakatabla, pagkatapos, e umalagwa sa 3rd set. In love na ang mga Briton sa kanya. Ang kanyang itsura, mukhang genuine na emosyon, mukhang genuine na pasasalamat sa Diyos sa bawat swerteng tira na pumasok pa ang bola, bawat retrieve, bawat winner, e talaga namang nakakalugod.

Semifinal, medyo maaga ang uwi ko, pero inabutan ko, tambak sa 1st set laban kay Davenport. Dehado pa sa 2nd set. Tinext ko yung kaibigan ko "we better enjoy this, maybe her last night." Ganoon ako kasigurado na laglag na siya.

Tapos, malakas yata sa panalangin, umulan ba naman. Rain break. Regroup si Sharapova, recharge. Nung ipagpatuloy ang laban, siya na ang lumalamang. Tambak sa 3rd set si Davenport. Nasa finals na si Sharapova! Wow!

Finals day, syempre, dehado. Ang kalaban lang naman, yung defending champion na si Serena Williams, na mula nung French Open 2002 hanggang Australian Open 2003 e siyang may hawak ng apat na "majors" ng tennis. All-time great. The most feared woman in tennis. Si Sharapova, 17, tatatlo pa lang ang titulo, wala ni isang "major" (madalas na tinatawag na Grand Slam, pero mali iyon). Patpatin. Sabi pa nga nila, braso pa lang ni Williams, hita na ni Sharapova. Sa career achievements, maging physical, mismatch talaga. Ang lamang lang ni Sharapova, mas matangkad siya ng 2 inches. At ng araw na iyon, nasa kanya ang puso ng British crowd.

Walang isyu ng oras nung araw na iyon. Sabado kasi, walang pasok, kaya umpisa pa lang, nakabantay na ako sa TV. Text ng kaibigan ko: "if she wins, I'll marry her." And of course, if you saw it, you know what happened. Biglang arangkada si Sharapova, si Williams naman parang nawawala sa sarili. 3-1, 4-1, kamukat-mukat mo, 6-1 1st set to Sharapova na. Lahat, na-shock. Nung maka-break si Serena ng 2nd set, akala ng lahat iyon na ang comeback. Hindi nangyari. Nakabreak din si Sharapova, so balik sa on serve. May tira siyang tumama at nagpadugo sa ilong ni Serena Williams (di naman sinasadya, na-deflect ng net, e, pero sa katawan sana ang patama :) ). Nadulas at natumba pa si Williams. Lob shots na mukhang tsamba na hindi, pati si Williams napapa-palakpak. Panalo. Nang manalo, habang trophy ceremony, inantala pa niya ang mga pangyayari dahil tinawagan sa cellphone ang nanay niya. Cute!

Siya na ang focal point ng tennis. Interview dito, interview doon. Leno, Conan, TRL, Letterman. Nasa Sports Illustrated. Nagbaga ang internet sa dami ng searches, basa ng news, basa ng biography niya, download ng picture. Alam ko na nga ang palayaw niya ("Masha").

Kung iisipin mong mabuti, dapat doon natapos ang istorya. Eternal honeymoon. At her cutest, prettiest, most photogenic best. With the most famous, most important trophy in tennis.

Kaya lang, hindi doon natapos. Lahat ng talo niya pagkatapos ng Wimbledon, nasa spotlight. Sa Beijing. Sa Pilot Pen (di na siya bumalik doon). Sa US Open kay Mary Pierce, after leading most of the first two sets. Nakabawi lang sa Korea at Japan. Pagkatapos, nanalo sa year end championships laban uli kay Serena Williams. Wow, sabi ko, may pattern na. Kaya na niya talaga si Serena. Ang laki ng pag-asa ko.

Semifinals ng Australian Open 2005. Nagharap si Sharapova at si Serena Williams. Ang head-to-head record nila, 2-1 in favor of Sharapova. Kung meron daw characteristic si Sharapova na malaking bentahe, iyon ay yung hindi siya natatakot sa magkapatid na Serena at Venus.

Laban na. Parang Wimbledon ulit. 6-2 sa 1st set, tapos lamang na siya 5-4 sa second. Serving for the match. Wow! And then it happened. Nabreak, nakahold si Williams for 5-6, then nakabreak uli for 5-7 second set to Williams.

In my opinion, that was the turning point of their rivalry, at ng kanya na ring career bilang player. Si Sharapova ang dapat sana'y papalit sa magkapatid na Williams bilang primerang player ng tennis pambabae. Yun ang huling sandali, sa aking palagay, na wala pa talagang takot si Sharapova kay Serena Williams. Pagdating ng 3rd set, nauuna nang mag-serve si Williams, so pressured si Sharapova na mag-hold ng serve. Naka-sabay naman, kahit paano, pero bandang huli talo siya, 8-6. Hindi na siya nanalo ulit kay Serena. Not anywhere. Who would have thought her victory at the 2004 YEC would be her last over Serena? Ang pinakamasakit siguro niyang talo ay nung finals naman ng Australian Open din, year 2007, kung saan pinaglaruan siya ni Serena, 6-1 6-2. Nun ngang manalo siya ng isang game sa 1st set, natuwa na ako. Kita mo kasi sa mukha niya, hindi na siya naniniwala sa sarili niya na kaya pa niyang talunin si Serena.

Of course she would disagree with me. Lahat naman ng top athletes, hindi umaamin ng kahinaan. Pero alam ko. I just know. Bagamat mananalo pa siya ng dalawang majors pa, US Open ng 2006 at Australian Open ng 2008 (finally), alam kong sumisingit lang siya sa magkapatid na Williams. Para ngang naging self-fulfilling prophecy yung sinabi niya kay Serena nung 2004 Wimbledon, sa trophy ceremony, nung pinasalamatan niya si Serena "for letting me borrow this trophy for a year". Nagkatotoo. Kung hindi Serena, Venus naman ang nanalo sa mga Grand Slam tournaments.

Ngayon, si Sharapova pa rin ang aking paboritong player. Hindi siya ang pinakamagaling. Ni hindi siya ang pinakatalented na Russian. (Kuznetsova holds that distinction, ang bentahe ni Sharapova, e yung kanyang mental toughness.) One dimensional siyang maglaro. Hataw lang nang hataw. Walang masyadong diskarte. Maingay pa. Kahit pinapanood mo lang sa TV, nabibingi ka na, imaginin mo na lang ang parusa dun sa mga nanonood ng live?

Hindi na rin siya ganoon ka-cute. Di na natin maibabalik ang kabataan, maging ng artista man o ng atleta. Hindi na siya magiging 17 ulit, payat, as in naaaninag mo ang tadyang sa sobrang payat, underdog, di pa gayon kayaman, di pa ganoon kasikat, di pa ganoon kataas ang ranking, 13th seed lang na nakikipaghamok sa isang top seed, multiple major winner. Hindi na muling babalik ang 2004. Ngayon si Sharapova ay 1 inch taller(6-2 na siya), millions of dollars richer, andaming sasakyan, may sariling model ng Nike at Prince racket, may sariling perfume, 5 years older at mas malaki nang di hamak ang katawan. Pag nakita mo ang balikat niya, well, hindi mo na siya iisiping underdog. Astig na e. Ngayon, siya ang inaasahang manalo, pag natalo, upset. Except pag ang kalaban ay may apelyidong Williams.

Hindi na rin ganoon ka-in love sa kanya ang mga British fans. Nabu-boo na rin siya. Marami nang napapansin na hindi maganda tungkol sa kanya, lalo na ang kanyang kawalan ng concern sa isang injured na kalaban, at ang kanyang pagiging "haughty" sa loob ng court. Ang kanyang mga giggles (hagikgik) na sinasabayan ng tawa ng mga nanonood nung siya'y 17, e nagmumukha ng trying hard at pilit ngayong siya'y 22 na. Marami na ang nagrereklamo sa kanyang pag-atungal sa loob ng court habang pumapalo. Ingay naman talaga kasi.

Nakikita kong lahat iyan (dinetalye ko na nga e.) Hindi ako bulag na tagasunod.

Pero siya pa rin ang paborito ko.

Basta lang. Basta lang.

"Anna never did this to me" sabi ko nung 2002. Even now, that's still true.

Pagpapalit Ng Pangalan

Nitong mga nakaraang araw, e nabalitaan kong balak daw isulong ang pagpapalit ng pangalan ng EDSA to Cory Avenue. Di ko alam kung tutoo ito, pero bagama’t nanatili ang aking paggalang kay Tita Cory mula sa simula ng kanyang public life hanggang sa huli (tingnan ang artikulo sa ibaba), hindi ko ma-gets ang katuturan ng panukalang ito. Sa katunayan, in general e tutol ako sa pagpapalit ng pangalan ng kalsada o baryo, bayan, siyudad o probinsya man. Wala akong nakikitang mabuting dulot ng pagpapalit ng pangalan, at ang sinasabing layunin nito na pagbibigay-parangal sa taong pinagpangalanan ay madalas na hindi nakakamit.

Tutal karamihan naman ng tao, ke mapa-driver o pedestrian o pulis o residente ng lugar, e Buendia pa rin ang tawag sa Buendia, ano ang katuturan ng pagpalit ng pangalan niya ng Gil Puyat? Don’t get me wrong, si Gil Puyat e importante sa aming mga Kapampangan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampanga#Notable_people_from_Pampanga), pero kung hindi kinakagat ng tao ang kanyang pangalan, at ang Gil Puyat e sa stationery lang ng mga opisina at sa mga karatula ng gusali mo lang makikita pero wala sa kamalayan at puso ng tao, e ano ang saysay nito? At least, ang EDSA ay EDSA, sino man ang tanungin mo. Well, except dun sa mga matatanda na sasagutin ka ng “Highway 54.” Pero kokonti lang sila.

Yung Herrera naman, bakit kailangang palitan ng Rufino? Is one obscure Kastila worthier than another? Hindi ako galit sa mga Kastila, ha? All I’m saying is, hindi ko kilala si Herrera o si Rufino man. Anong meron si Rufino na wala kay Herrera? Nakakalito na nga ang paghahanap ng direksyon at babaan sa Ayala, papalitan mo pa ang pangalan ng Herrera? Ano ang susunod na gagawin nila, papalitan ang pangalan ng Paseo de Roxas?

By the way, bakit hindi na lang sa mga kalsada ng Makati Business District sila maghanap ng ipapangalan kay Gng. Cory?

Isang ikinalulungkot ko ay ang pagpapalit ng pangalan ng Montalban patungong Rodriguez. Sigurado ako, yung mga fans nung Mamang Rodriguez ay may sapat na dahilan para magkaroon ng bayang nakapangalan kay G. Rodriguez (ni hindi ko nga alam kung alin sa mga Rodriguez). Pero kailangan ba namang ang Montalban pa? Ang Montalban ay nakadikit na sa alamat ni Bernardo Carpio. Kung babasahin mo ang kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, lalo na sa panahon ng Katipunan at Himagsikan laban sa mga dayuhan, madalas na nababanggit ang Montalban. Bakit ang isang lugar na napaka-historikal e kailangang palitan ang pangalan? Balik tayo sa unahan ng artikulong ito at isipin: bakit kailangang palitan ang pangalan ng EDSA?

Saying goodbye to Cory Aquino

Today, I stood at Ayala Avenue, in the fierce August sun, in the cramped company of many, to say goodbye to Cory Aquino. Ayala, and especially that small, maybe a couple hundred meters between Makati Av. and Paseo de Roxas, plus the place we used to call Ugarte Field, has been second home to Cory since her husband Ninoy's brutal death. Ayala had become the New Plaza Miranda, the place where politicians were weighed and often found wanting. Today, for the last time, Cory called home. And we made sure she had a fitting welcome.

Of course, there's no replacing those halcyon days from 1983-1986. No event on earth could bring back those days, when people gathered under a rain of yellow confetti to tell Marcos, then still very much the strongman, with the backing of the military, and let no one forget, the US of A, to go to Hell. But at least today we had a glimpse of what it was like. Today, we bid Cory goodbye as she goes, we hope, to Heaven. We went to thank her for the simple gift she gave us; herself.

Cory became president when I was in the 3rd year of high school. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end. We really thought People Power would change the world. And in many ways, it did. When the former Warsaw Pact countries decided they've had enough of Communism and rose against their rulers,we smiled. Yes, some of us even claimed that that was the Euros finally picking up on our cue, finally getting the People Power message. Of course, story of our lives, we didn't get credit for it, Solidarity did. But that's a small matter. We know what we had, and People Power, in its pure state, remains precious, our gift to the world.

Cory wasn't the perfect president. But who was? Anyone who came after Marcos was going to reap hell, and Cory did. Because she held such promise, every one of her missteps was on a highlight reel. Like when one of her uncles was included in the Constitutional Commission. Because she had promised to abolish political dynasties, the announcement of her relative's name drew catcalls and hoots from the crowd. And this was during the so called honeymoon period!

There were other lows, of course, and one of our my friends is reminded of one of them everytime she celebrates her birthday, because it coincides with the Mendiola Massacre.

Then there's the fact that power in government basically remained with the elite, and that many of those "elites" happened to be her relatives.Then there's the awkward solution that they devised for her own family's Hacienda Luisita.

Then there's her march to the Senate in a bid to stop the senators from evicting the Yanks from their bases here.

And yeah, there's also Kris Aquino joining showbiz. But I'll give Cory a pass on that one, she was just a loving mother letting her daughter pursue her happiness.

But for a time, for too short a time, we thought we had a chance. The economy was on the upswing, and the people, still euphoric from victory, were willing to endure any hardship just to get the country on its feet again. All our hopes effectively ended when in August 1987, the flamboyantly egotistical, messianic RAMBoys thought they were far more important than they really were, and tried to wrest power from the civilian government. In later interviews, Enrile would say it was a mistake for Cory's government to ignore the military aspect of EDSA 1, that portraying it as a purely non-violent civilian revolt was an injustice, that it robbed the RAMBoys their due, and rubbed them the wrong way. What? Was it not enough they got to parachute in Luneta during Cory's inauguration, in what was the largest gathering of civilians in our history? Was it not enough they became more famous than they deserved, for being basically Johnny-come-latelys? Was it not enough that their sins during Martial Law, especially those they committed against Cory, were put under the rug? What Enrile and the RAM Boys missed was the obvious, without the crowds in EDSA, they didn't stand a chance. They had no armor and no air power. For all their skills, Marcos's men would have wiped them out. (Just to show the reader I'm not making that up, Proseso Maligalig, a military man and a participant of EDSA 1, summed it up in no uncertain terms: "sa tingin ko lalampasuhin kami"..."People Power saved our lives." Maligalig knew the odds, when 500 men meet 5,000 or more Marcos loyalist troops in an all-out shooting fight, the outcome is inevitable, even if the 500 happen to be RAM Boys. They would have been routed.)

Something else they all missed, and most of us miss: EDSA 1 was just the event that represented the long struggle against Marcos's tyranny, a struggle that began in the early 70's, a struggle that required the sacrifice of many. Cory, and before her, Ninoy, was just the one person who became the face of that struggle. For anyone to claim credit for EDSA 1, let alone the RAM Boys, is the height of arrogance, and ignorance. Yes, Cory became the face of EDSA 1, not because she claimed it, but because we willed her to be so.

A lot of old timers will disagree with me on this, but Cory's government before the first coup represented, in my opinion, our best chance to truly introduce and implement reforms. There were good men there, who unfortunately, were thought by their enemies to have been wearing the wrong color. It was still the height of Cold War, and any mention of Red triggered panic. After August 1987, the trapos crawled back in. The opportunity was lost forever.

Cory should have become president in another country, where her first job would have been to inspire the people to help themselves, and where the technical aspects of the job could be tackled with the help of others without feeling guilty about it. But she became president of the Philippines, where the president is expected to "do everything on his/her own" and "satisfy everybody". Where, if you told the people you have advisers to help you in the technical aspects of the job (like economics, which is something few people really understand, even today), the people reacted with "hindi niya alam ang trabaho niya". Where to even get sick, or to duck for safety when bombs and shells are coming down, is a sign of weakness. No man could have performed the job we asked Cory to do. And since women are probably more capable than men, I should add, no woman could have either.

But in spite of her shortcomings, in spite of the transgressions of the people around her, Cory somehow remained unstained. I guess it had something to do with how she lived. She had what I would call "sense of honor," and lived accordingly. She lived honorably, honestly, simply. Cory was labeled many unsavory things, but never, never was she accused of lying or stealing. Especially stealing. People just knew she wouldn't do it. Their logic, our logic, was, Cory was "dati nang mayaman", an aristocrat, born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Money had never been a problem for her, money held no special power over her. And while one can argue that that logic is faulty, in Cory's case it works. You could just see it. She was never greedy. She never was guilty of extravagance. She lived simply, so others may simply live.

It was after leaving office that the true measure of Cory's legacy became clear to me. It was when Grant Hill, then still healthy and a rising NBA star, went to the Philippines and pronounced he was visiting, among others, Cory Aquino, an icon of democracy all over the civilized world. A few years out of power, and living a very quiet post-Malacanang life, Cory still had that pull on people.

In her last interview with Jessica Soho, Cory said what would probably go down in history as her most memorable quote, surpassing even those heights she reached during the period after Ninoy's death and during the first year of her office, including that famed address before the US Congress. "Ipinagpapasalamat ko sa Panginoon na ginawa niya akong isang Pilipino... karangalan ko iyon, na maging katulad ninyo."

So today we went to relive the old days when Ayala became the hotbed of the protest movement. We went to say goodbye to a woman who left her comfort zone to take up the fight for us. We clapped, we cheered, we wore yellow shirts, we wore yellow ribbons, sowed yellow confetti. Deep down, we know this could all be just symbolic, that in the end all this is futile. The people in power now are too drunk with power to let go. The people are too numbed by the pain of their own labors, too numbed by the outrageousness of the transgressions of those in power, too cynical, to demand change. Maybe this is just one last defiant thrust of the fist into the darkening sky.

And maybe we went there to see Cory one last time, and to welcome her home one last time, and to send her away one last time, because we know with her passing comes the end of an era, of a time that will not come again, when we thought good will trump evil simply because that's what's supposed to happen. That was the hope Cory gave us.

And maybe we went there because we know, in spite of our cynicism and callousness, we just know, and if we are honest men and women we had to know, that Cory represented, and still represents, the best hope we ever had. And we didn't want to let it go.