Competition

The recent Australian Open Championship portrayed competition in sports at a level of excellence during the men’s finals. Appreciating the tennis skills of the competitors ranked first and second in the world made me wish such excellence could be experienced and observed in the on-going impeachment trial of the Chief Justice of the Philippines. Instead of becoming sad on recent developments of the trial, I find amusement in categorizing events, as well as, circumstances with tennis terms such as double fault, unforced error, break point and at deuce. We continue to patiently observe and learn with an occasional smile as the trial unfolds.

The tennis championship match which is now considered by some to be an epic; not only for the length of time of almost six hours for start to conclusion but also as to the amount of human effort, physically and mentally, exerted by the competitors. The swing of advantage from one to the other and back and forth over the duration of the game reminds us to let the flow of the competition of trial prosecution versus defense flow. The trial has also begun to reveal the impatience of concerned or involved parties and this is interesting as to whether such measures to hasten or shorten the trial will be for the benefit of the truth and the Filipino nation.

Another competitive game that illustrated a sudden swing of events that affected the outcome was the football game that saw Manchester United losing to Liverpool and exiting the FA Cup competition. The crucial goal was scored as the game was ending and again the event was a classic case of how significant it is to finish strong not only in our sporting game but more so in our own personal life. The lesson of finishing strong does not fail to elicit a smile when I meet the elderly doing their exercise walk at the oval or at the mall.

Let us end with an anecdote that should encourage us to finish strong. Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to drop off. Otherwise they were all going to fall.

They were not able to choose that person, but then the woman made a very touching speech. She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, and for men in general, without ever getting anything in return. As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping their hands...*