By Yvonne Yap/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
The passionate Ginebra Kings fans got to their feet often during the game. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 – If you ever wanted to see a contrast between Filipinos and Singaporeans, come down and watch a Singapore Slingers game against a Filipino team sometime.
The Singapore Slingers slumped to their second loss of the pre-season Challenge Series, but not without giving the Ginebra Kings a run for their money before falling 72-77.
"The loss was not that big a gap. The Slingers are surprisingly better than I thought! I might come for more games," shared Damien Woo, winner of two Red Sports corporate box seats, after the game. But few Singaporeans are impressed enough with the Slingers – because there aren’t many there in the first place.
Once again, the Filipinos were out in drives, providing vocal support for the Ginebra Kings while the volume from Slinger fans, while turned up a slight notch from the previous game, was nothing in comparison.
The Filipinos got to their feet each time the Ginebra Kings made a decisive shot and chanted slogans to taunt the Slingers. "Beat them up!" Their chants were accompanied by stomping which set the floor vibrating throughout the stadium.
Certainly, the rah-rah added hype to the action-packed 40 minutes of play. However, it was disappointing to see vulgar signs from Ginebra fans reacting to debatable calls from the officials. But there was no questioning the Filipino passion.
In comparison, the Slinger fans took quite a while to warm up to the idea of cheering their team on. It was only after the second and third quarters, which both ended with the Slingers in the lead, that they got pumped up and rallied behind the team.
“The first time I came here I was surprised. But now I kind of expected it and Filipinos are very, very supportive of each other. It was really nice,” shared Ginebra Kings small forward William Wilson about their fans. Definitely, the enthusiasm of the fans boosted the visitors' morale for the game, even when Ginebra Kings fell behind the home team at the end of the second and third quarters.
However, both sets of fans had me riled for different reasons.
The rude gestures and cursing from the Ginebra fans turned the sidelines into a barbaric display of support.
The quieter Slingers fans were a letdown. Do we only cheer out loud when there is a chance of winning? Such pragmatic home support does nothing for athlete morale.
By the end of the game, the Ginebra Kings supporters were in a state of frenzy and drowned out the Slinger fans with their cries.
Did the Ginebra fans contribute to their team's winning performance?
I’m sure it did.
Filipino fans pump their fists in excitement … (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
… and fly the flag with pride. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Ginebra fans make their emotions clear… (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
… but some hand gestures left much to be desired. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
And of course, once somebody starts, everyone joins the race to the bottom of the gene pool. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
“Beat them up!” (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
With kids present, sometimes there’s some explaining to do with regards to some hand gestures. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
But there is no doubting the passion of the Filipino crowd. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
They know who they are, and where they come from. Do we? (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Damien Woo, winner of two Red Sports corporate box seats, cheers on the Slingers from the sidelines. We told him he had to cheer if he sat there. đ (Photo 11 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Weijan had an injury and could not play against San Miguel. Well, Danny Ildefonso did not play for San Miguel in that game, he happens to be the best player (aside from Danny Seigle who did not play also – but I doubt this guy can still make a difference in that game) on that team.
But I agree, It’s very possible Slingers could have thrashed San Miguel with Weijan even if the 2 Dannys played for San Miguel – that’s the beauty of sports – you have to play the game. You have to walk the walk not just talk the talk.
Filipino Passion for the game?
Wait till you see David Nye (the Channel News Asia Broadcaster) whenever he attends his Alma Mater’s (Ateneo) game. I’m not sure if he’s still as passionate as before. I really pity the opposing team’s players.
@ andrew….It’s either you are not a fan of any sport or you were not bred as a Filipino….My kababayan, we are known to be passionate….even chess players cuss dude!!!!!as “Chen Munn” said and I can’t say it any better : “Verbal referee bashing is all part and parcel of a hyped-up and passionate game. Watching a live game and being engrossed in it is part of free expression. Our society frowns upon such rude gestures but seriously, itĂąâŹâąs not all that harmful isnĂąâŹâąt it? The long term harm is when the Singapore sports scene becomes too sanitized. Gosh, we are already killjoys arenĂąâŹâąt we? This may sees off, but itĂąâŹâąs related: Know why Singapore sports is dead in many ways? ItĂąâŹâąs really the lack of such avenues for harmless expressions. ItĂąâŹâąs really an inate human behaviour!”
Even though I’m a Filipino, I found the Ginebra fans’ behaviour to be inappropriate. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with cheering your team, but such rude gestures would only give us a bad name. What a disgrace.
The difference between filipino basketball fans and singapore basketball fans is that the filipino fans showed up; if the singapore fans had the same number in the stadium, i have no doubt they would have been equally vociferous.
I don’t care much for rude gestures, and for all the support the Filipino fans give to their team when its winning, you should see what they do if their team is playing below expectations…scary.
@Sonny: You hit the nail on the head, Sonny. Singaporeans don’t show up.
i never liked Ginebra. they’re the team of the masses. their patron, Robert Jaworski, once said “basketball is a physical game, if you don’t want to get hurt… PLAY CHESS.”
any team playing against Ginebra in the PBA is always at an instant disadvantage with their “Barangay” (Tagalog for “village”, their posse. like the Liverpool KOP). just understand that it’s a clash of cultures more than anything else. Singaporeans aren’t boring, you just get fined for being caught spitting. Filipinos aren’t violent, it’s just that spitting is normal here.
@kettch
Singaporeans have values that we don’t want to lose. We can loosen up, but we know where to draw the line. You can expect us to cheer, but for me, I won’t curse and swear vulgarly even when loosening up. I trust many Singaporeans will do the same.
Singaporeans are not sissies. We stand by our team – the Slingers. We defend our home court- the Indoor Stadium. That is why San Miguel lost in the fourth quarter. Singaporeans stood by the team and the team came back and won.
By the way Weijian was playing thru a hand injury, otherwise he would have performed much better. And we could have thrashed San Miguel by way lot more.
Singaporean pride!
In the Philippines, one player from San Miguel attacked a Ginebra fan because the fan yelled at him: Sana mamatay ka at ang pamilya mo! (“I hope you and your family dies!”). That’s how intense fans are here in the Philippines. So the gestures in that Slingers vs. Ginebra game are really nothing. Hehe. Singaporeans must play less video games and watch sports live more often so that the games are appreciated more.
@gordon… i dont think anyone crossed the line. maybe you need to watch NBA, NFL, MLB etc. doing hand gesture or booing the ref is all part of the game. it not a violence or a crime. a line is crossed if someone throw a bottle or something towards the ref or onto the court. or if a fan hurt another fan. you should watch a collegiate basketball game, the fans are more passionate as the pride of their schools is at stake. a game will be boring if the spectators will just sit and watch the game….might as well just watch a movie or go to bed….
What the Filipino fans did is no worse than what the yobs of The Barmy Army do at England games or Boston Fans when the Yankees are in town. Sports arenas are the perfect place for otherwise civilized males to loosen up, express their pent up emotions, and generally be MEN.
It wouldn’t hurt Slingers fans to do the same. What say you, Singapore? Unbutton your shirts, loosen your ties, and most importantly, GROW A PAIR. Stop being sissies and whining about sneaky punches or illegal contact. Shout, stamp your feet, cuss the refs, and break out those middle fingers. You’ll feel a whole lot better. And who knows, you’ll discover that watching professional basketball is FUN.
That’s what you get when a person gets carried away by their passion for the game. Still, it doesn’t excuse the rude gestures. Better to just shout at the refs. đ I would like to see more singaporeans become vocal and passionate about their teams. The singaporean fans should definitely just loosen up and enjoy the games.
This was the first time I got to watch the Slingers play and I must say I’m quite impressed with the level of play.
Since this series is just an exhibition, I would’ve preferred if the Slingers’ coach gave more playing time to the locals though so that they would get the necessary experience needed to play in a professional league. Relying too much on the imports would take their toll on the team eventually. Specially if one of them gets sidelined.
Would try to support the Slingers in the ABL. Except if they play against the Patriots. :p
Yes Chen Munn! Do come down! Get your athletes to come down too! Trust me, it is extremely entertaining! You would love it. Better than liverpool vs chelsea!
But what you said is right as well, Singapore’s soceity is waytooproper! Everything must be prim and proper and a little bit of deviance is greatly frowned upon and maybe even punished. That’s definitely not good and that might be a reason for the lack of support? (No passion, no feel, no support) (Honestly, how many Singaporeans can say they are passionate Singaporeans?)
While this is true, what will happens if it swings to the other end of the spectrum? Violence?
It is all about balance I guess. Apparently, people can’t meet that balance.
Hey Chen Munn, come on down on Sunday. We can shout and scream together. We need the backup. đ
You got to hear the Filipinos cheer. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Awesome. I take my hat off to them.
Verbal referee bashing is all part and parcel of a hyped-up and passionate game. Watching a live game and being engrossed in it is part of free expression. Our society frowns upon such rude gestures but seriously, it’s not all that harmful isn’t it? The long term harm is when the Singapore sports scene becomes too sanitized. Gosh, we are already killjoys aren’t we? This may sees off, but it’s related: Know why Singapore sports is dead in many ways? It’s really the lack of such avenues for harmless expressions. It’s really an inate human behaviour!
It’s ok to have a little bit of fun and banter but plenty of them do cross the line sometimes. When it gets tight, everyone will boo the refs, they have a job to do after all and decisions go against the Slingers too. That being said, I applaud them for their passion, it’s really something we can learn from.