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    COLUMN: This night belongs to the athletes

    A Lifetime Achievement Awardee for Sports Journalism says he doesn't belong in the same stage as Hidilyn Diaz
    Mar 5, 2023
    Hidilyn Diaz, Caloy Yulo, EJ obiena
    PHOTO: SPIN.ph
    benchwarmer

    THE Philippine Sportswriters Association’s Annual Awards has always been a night for athletes. Since 1981, when the awards were revived following the long hiatus caused by martial law, the PSA has reserved one good night to honor the country’s best athletes who shone through the year past.

    This year’s affair will be no different. The association held several serious meetings before announcing its choices. As is often the case, a few issues needed threshing out involving some athletes nominated. But after some clarification and, yes, a little lobbying, the list was finalized and the editors who approved the list, led by Rey Lachica of Tempo/Manila Bulletin, quite likely toasted each other for a job well done.

    There is no issue, certainly, with their choice of Athlete of the Year. Hidilyn Diaz, who gave the country its first Olympic gold medal during the Tokyo Games, earned her fourth Athlete of the Year award by winning another gold, this time at the World Weightlifting Championships. She also won as Athlete of the Year last year and in 2016 and 2019.

    Hidilyn Diaz highlighted the Philippines' three-gold haul for Team Philippines.

    While Hidilyn’s feat is amazing, the record for most Athlete of the Year awards still belongs to Manny Pacquiao, who had six. He could have had more, but the PSA, perhaps thinking that his continued domination could dishearten other athletes, decided instead to lift him, as a seventh award looked imminent, to the PSA Hall of Fame.

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    The awards night, incidentally, is often the only day in a year when sportswriters can be spotted in their most elegant incarnation. T-shirts, denims and sneakers — their standard attire, often branded — are replaced with well-cut coats, ties, and leather shoes.

    Women sportswriters, whose number has clearly swelled through the years, are also seen in their rare formals, which go with resplendent high heels, too.

    Lifetime Achievement Awards

    There is something unique, however, in this year’s awards night. This time it is not just athletes who are being honored — sportswriters are, too. Or, more exactly, a number of retired and semi-retired sportswriters are to share the spotlight with the champions and the record-breakers.

    How this came about is a mystery to me, who, by the way, will be among those cited. I think it’s a kind of lifetime achievement award. Also cited are Recah Trinidad, Jun Engracia, Eddie Alinea, Al Mendoza, and Percy Della. The admired sports editors Joe Antonio and Ernie Gonzales, who passed away in 2022, are to get special awards.

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    While I am proud to be included in this select group, I find it a bit odd to be on the same stage with Diaz and other athletes whose achievements animate the whole country and ignite national pride.

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      I think of the countless hours they spend to sharpen their skills, the discipline they exact on themselves to be the best, the injuries they suffer in pursuit of their goals, and the pain and heartache they endure when they lose to a better opponent.

      On the other hand, we sportswriters don’t suffer at all. We have one of the nicest and thrilling jobs out there. Many times, we get to places we only dream about, feast on food we can barely afford, meet personalities others would die to shake hands with, or, as it goes these days, take a selfie with. This is besides being witness to sports history in the making without having to pay for a ticket.

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      We seldom sweat for a coverage, literally. Press rooms are often air-conditioned and, in out-of-town trips, there’s always a driver in a van that is of course also air-conditioned.

      But for this night, here we are being told to go up the same stage once graced by Pacquiao, Diaz, Muros, Nepomuceno, De Vega, Bata Reyes, Biado, Donaire, Minoza, Torre, Jaworski, Bong Coo, and other greats.

      Some can argue that, without sportswriters, the achievements of athletes may not reach a large audience. That big sports figures are what they are because sportswriters made them the talk of the town, the stuff of tall tales, the heroes of a nation. That, in other words, they are partners, and that one’s skill impacts on the other to create the exciting world of sports.

      All right. Maybe for just this one night, sportswriters can share that stage, but it is best that we do not forget that this night, along with many other bright nights, truly belongs to our athletes.

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