My thoughts on Pacquiao vs Margarito - A Story of Playground Supremacy

I realize I am a week late for this blog. I meant to do this blog sooner, but I was out and about working for the community. Not to mention, I had a lot of things on my mind that I am not really at a liberty to discuss here.

But about this fight... if you are a Manny Pacquiao fan and/or you are a Filipino (which, in both cases, I am), then you loved this fight. From the introductions when he came out to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" (from the Karate Kid Soundtrack), all the way to the Larry Merchant post-match interview, you were entertained if you were a Pacquiao fan.

Since I am clearly not a boxing analyst or expert, instead of telling you my specific thoughts of what took place during the match, I am going to summarize my thoughts through a story that some people may relate to when they were kids...

Imagine if you knew a kid who was probably one of the smallest in the playground. He was always short, and initially was grouped with all the small kids. Since this kid is a small kid, he had to continuously prove himself. So in time, when kids his size pushed him back, he continued to hold his own and knock them down, until they were no longer a challenge for them. He then became the toughest little kid in that group.

As time went along, bigger kids started to notice him. These kids are part of 7 different groups, with each group having bigger kids than the previous group. Many of these kids tried to get a piece of this kid, but, as time went along, he got stronger. When each of the top kids in each of these groups tried to push him, he kept knocking them down.

After beating some of the best kids from the last 6 groups, out comes a very big kid from that last 7th group. Now the kid has some doubters that he might not do so well. He already went a tough road beating up kids from the last 6 groups. To add on, this big kid towered over the little kid. As big as this kid is, he could have easily been part of the 8th group. Not to mention, because the little kid got so popular standing up to the bigger kids, his classmates elected him class president. He was taking a lot more responsibilities, and probably cannot focus on standing up to the bigger kids as much. Therefore, there were a few people saying that he might not win if he fought this bigger kid, who was naturally much bigger than him.

However, the time came when the little kid had to confront the biggest kid he's ever seen. When the big kid tried to push the little kid around, not only did the little kid push back, but he hit him a lot... and I mean a lot. He hit the big kid so much, that his face was messed up really bad. And to add on, when it was obvious the big kid was already beaten, the small kid decided to show mercy and not "make a statement" by knocking him down.

In my opinion, this story of playground supremacy may somewhat mirror Pacquiao's journey through boxing. He started his career as a flyweight, then he kept moving up, beating guys and winning world championships in 7 different weight classes. This all then culminated into an 8th world championship in his fight against Margarito, who was a pretty big super welter-weight (Margarito had to cut weight to get this fight, while Pacquiao had to bulk up). And despite being elected to the Philippine Congress and taking a lot more responsibilities and having a lot more distractions, he managed to do his job and easily win his fight against Margarito, so much so, that he didn't need to send a message by going for a knockout at the end of the fight.

However, if I could add something else to the story, to make it even more accurate... a kid who's arguably as good as this kid (Mayweather), needs to get a confrontation with this kid to settle who really is the best in the playground. Every kid in this playground wants to see this confrontation, and kids from other playgrounds all over the world do as well. However, there's always an excuse being made (mostly from the other kid) to prevent this from confrontation from happening.

I doubt Pacquiao will move up another weight class and go for a world title in a 9th weight class. That would be unprecedented if that happened. But right now, the only fight that the boxing world wants to see, and the only fight that matters, is Pacquiao vs Mayweather. Hopefully, they would find a way to make it happen, but as it looks right now, with Mayweather's legal problems, it's highly unlikely that it will anytime soon.

But before I end this entry, I just thought I'd throw out one more factoid out there (which I posted after the fight). Manny Pacquiao has more wins all year in Cowboys Stadium than the Dallas Cowboys (with Pacquiao having two wins in 2010, while the Cowboys are still winless in their home stadium in the 2010 season). And as a Redskins fan, that gives me a comfort. LOL

D4P...PD!!!

-OBE

When Your Mad... Change the Channel

Here in the DC area, I notice that on a Monday after a Redskins loss, depending on how bad the loss is, people are very somber around this area. Today was no exception...

It just seemed, today, people were missing something. People lacked the energy, and some people just felt down all throughout the day. Even while checking my Facebook and Twitter earlier today, people were posting status updates of discouragement. People were overly defensive with some trash talk, people were angry, and one of my friends even posted that she doesn't like football season, because it makes people grumpy. It just goes to show how much influence the Redskins have on people in this area, and how much influence the NFL product has in general. People are so emotionally invested in their teams, that it pretty much determines the whole attitude for the week. And considering that many would consider the Redskins loss yesterday is almost as bad as the Detroit loss last year, people were really down today.

As I said, it is a bit senseless to be angry about things that you can't control. However, we're only human, and at times, it's just a bit hard, especially if what we love keeps disappointing us. 

So with that, my advice is to try to get your mind out of it by momentarily focusing on the other stuff that may give you joy or pleasure. If you can also productively expel your negative energy as well, then even better. This doesn't apply to just sports fandom, but also in life in general.

For example, if I'm angry, I write (either here on my blog, or in a journal), I exercise by doing pushups, etc. If I'm mad about the Redskins, I either write here on my blog, or I try to find something else on TV. To rephrase the latter, CHANGE THE CHANNEL.

It's not really rocket science. When you find a bad and un-entertaining TV program, it wouldn't make too much sense to keep watching, would it? No it wouldn't. Same thing goes for your emotions. If whatever is around you is making you feel terrible, you should either change the channel and find something else, or just turn the TV off and walk away. It's that simple.

And as an avid DC sports fan (and not just of the Redskins), one way I am metaphorically "changing the channel" by hyping myself up for the upcoming NBA and NHL seasons. The Wizards kick off their training camp tonight with their own version of "Midnight Madness", and the Capitals have their annual convention this weekend that I plan on attending. So, if the Redskins are bad, as a sports fan, I'm glad I have other DC sports teams to fall back on and root for.

But, don't confuse "changing the channel" for abandoning your loyalties. You can still be interested in whatever you are interested in, but if it's making you feel terrible at the moment, you have to momentarily get away from it and find something else and not be immersed to it. Comeback to it later when it's the right time. More often than not, programming usually gets better, eventually.

So if you're disappointed at something, one thing to deal with it is to change the channel. There are a lot of options out there, and you just have to be open enough to find them. And like I said, the programming should eventually get better.

D4P...PD!!!

-OBE