Monday, August 18, 2008
lost the gold or won the silver?
I'll go and say it outright - Malaysians do not deserve successful sportsmen. Labels: musings
It's actually not the first time I have said it, and certainly won't be the last. But let me explain. Again.
Sure, Lee Chong Wei lost. He got spanked for his efforts. But less you forget, he was the second seed, playing against the world number 1 in the enemy's den. He lived up to his seeding, and even though his good just wasn't good enough, he lunged for every shot, he dived and ran himself ragged through the four corners of the court, never giving up a shot. Yes, the nerves got to him, but he still fought for every shot.
What else can you ask for?
And in spite of doing all that, I have been reading some blogs and seeing some people's nicks on MSN condemning his performance. Some claim to have been 'let down' while others feel that it was 'memalukan'. A well known madman questioned why there was a need to give credit to a 'loser'. Then some introverted assholes and idiotic housewives must inevitably bring in the political card - he is a MaChAi, you know. Meanwhile, other people have conspiracy theories about bookies and how he stands to make more money by losing.
Screw you people.
This is why our football team is in the doldrums. Even when they give their all, people still dump crap all over them. And support Chelsea in the process. Malaysians love to build up heroes and then tear them down when they fail. Before you say that you were 'let down', how many of you watched all his previous games? Or are you just a glory hunter waiting for him to get to the finals? How about a little support? 'Support' doesn't mean gathering a bunch of your best pals to hang out a the mamak and cheer him over a glass of milo ais. Support means following him through the earlier rounds even when he was playing against relatively weaker opponents. How many of you followed the games when he destroyed Ronald and Soni?
It's not just badminton, you know?
How many of you follow Nicol David's career? Again, 'following' the career doesn't exactly mean picking up the papers in the morning, reading the headlines and going, 'Ah Nicol won again. Good lah that girl' and then proceeding with your business of the day.
We have two really awesome cyclists but how many of you bothered? How many of you watched the keirins (do you even know what the keirins are) yesterday? Did you follow the men's sprint (not the 100 metres, you idiot) today? Did you cheer for 'Mohamed Ah-weng' when he made it through the first repechage and them jump a leap of joy when he did a wheelie to beat a former World and Olympic champion at the end to make it through the second repechage?
Or do you just not give a shit, but instead wait to discredit people when they ultimately fail to beat other world class athletes?
Lee Chong Wei carried the hopes of the entire nation on his shoulders today and he failed. And he admitted that he failed. But it was not really fair because he never had the REAL support of the entire nation in the first place.
Old badminton player.
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August 18, 2008 2:59 AMYES. YES. YES.
Watch badminton then talk about MCA. What the fuck man.
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August 18, 2008 12:17 PMAnd speaking of losing to the top seeds, the performance of that gold-chain wearing Ah Beng pair was the most malu-fying performance of all.
I wanna shout it out that thank you LCW for the effort.
Pls don't you DARE to try and pin this rubbish on Malaysians and Malaysians alone. This happens everywhere, and is pretty much PAR FOR THE COURSE.
Think back, World Cup, France '98.
Brazil reached the final, played against the host nation (similar cases yes?). They then proceeded to give a listless performance, lost heavily.
What happened?
Brazillian press said, "Hey, no worries guys, we are happy that we are no. 2 at least?" Or they did a victory parade down the streets of Rio with whatever the hell they got for 2nd place?
Like h*ll they did.
It was not good enough for Brazil, the team got REAMED a new ****hole in the press, the fans were upset and the coach resigned under a cloud.
See, thats why Brazil is one of the best in football - they don't settle for 2nd best. At least not without some conviction from their players - even if they reached the final.
Conversely, your attitude is exactly why we are so lousy at sports - similar to our govt ministers actually - "oh, we are still better than Myanmar"........
Remember that one?
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August 21, 2008 2:11 PMFirstly, Brazil were the pre-tournament favourites and Ronaldo was in the form of his life. Here, the pre-tournament favourite was Lin Dan since he is the reigning World Number 1.
Secondly, Brazil put up a useless performance. Ronaldo, epileptic fit or not, was no where to be seen and Dunga wasn't even close to Zidane during the two corners. France wasn't even good. They scored two corners and defended well. That's all they did. On the other hand, this guy ran himself ragged but was destroyed by a much superior player.
