By Les Tan/Red Sports. Video by Ian Chew/Red Sports.
You know how when you go to someone’s house, you put on your best behaviour? But if it’s your own place, you do what you like. You put your feet up, dig your nose. Whatever.
When the Singapore Slingers were introduced last Wednesday night, the booing started in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. When the Ginebra Kings were introduced, most of the crowd went crazy.
And this is supposed to be our house.
But, hey, you can’t blame the Filipinos. They support the team they love and they have every right to. They know who they, and they know where they come from.
Do we?
If we don’t support our own boys – and there are seven Singaporeans on the 12-man Slingers roster – nobody else will. And whether or not you like Pathman, Wei Long, Wei Jian, Michael Wong, Steven Khoo, Wai Sian or Desmond Oh is besides the point. Because one day, that player could be YOU.
For all the complaints we Singaporeans make about foreign talents (both in sports and outside sports), when it comes down to it, we don’t collectively step up in enough fan numbers to support Singaporean athletes at actual games. Oh, the bitter irony.
The national netball team played to fairly empty stands at Toa Payoh Sports Hall last year in the 2008 Nations Cup. When the 2009 Netball Super League was on at Jurong West Sports Complex, the stands were filled mostly with friends and parents.
The last near-full house for the Singapore national football team at the National Stadium was in December 2008 while the S.League attendances are poor.
The support at the Asian Youth Games for our local athletes at some of the venues? Embarrassing. You shudder to think about the Youth Olympic Games.
Everyone wants to be supported, but no one wants to do the supporting. It doesn’t work that way.
If we are going to ever have a sports industry in which more Singaporeans can take pride of place as elite athletes, coaches, trainers, physiotherapists, administrators, writers and photographers, then we have to come out and be counted.
The lifeblood of a thriving sports industry is not simply government money. If it is, you and I should ask serious questions because there are other important priorities in health, education and defence. Our government can only build infrastructure and put administrative systems in place but they cannot afford to and should not subsidise sports from cradle to grave.
The lifeblood of a thriving sports industry is commercial sponsors.
Gaping, empty stands suggest to commercial sponsors one simple thing – most Singaporeans don’t care. And if you don’t care, they don’t care. And if they don’t care, they don’t spend.
And what do sports sponsors spend on? They spend big money on the properties like English Premier League and the Formula One grand prix because they assume we care more for foreign talents.
And whatever we say about foreign talents, it’s what we actually do that is more telling.
For example, do you know how much money people on this island are willing to blow on the English Premier League just in subscription fees alone to line the pockets of foreign talents?
$75 million to $105 million.
Every year.
For the last three years.
An estimated 250,000 to 350,000 people subscribe to the Sports Group Package on StarHub cable at $25 per month.
So last Wednesday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the Filipino fans made it THEIR house because there just weren’t enough of us Singaporeans there.
We were outnumbered.
In our own house.
No surprise then when Mark Caguioa of the Ginebra Kings duly obliged and decided he could get away with his punch on Kyle Jeffers of the Slingers. Just check out how he struts around after his punch on Jeffers in the video while the crowd cheered him on. I doubt a Slinger would be able to get away with that in Philippines. The Filipinos would be insulted, and so they should.
This is our house, people.
Claim it.
Or lose it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZavNb8d1aM
You can also see pictures of the hit here: Caguioa of Ginebra Kings punches Slinger Jeffers
If you think I’m fabricating things:
Results last FIBA Asia 2009:
Philippines 77 – Chinese Taipei 70
Philippines 78 – Japan 69
Also last SEABA:
Philippines 117 – Singapore 69
I don’t deny Philippines sucks in basketball. Some Filipinos hate the millions of dollars being spent for these sport while the other sports are languishing.
Let’s just hope ABL can improve the skills of all ASEAN Nations. I play with Singaporeans. Some are very very good.
Hi all,
For information of some people here who claim they know the game:
Philippines has beaten Taiwan and Japan last FIBA-Asia tournament.
Philippines leads head-to-head matchups in ASIAN games and FIBA-ASIA tournaments versus Taiwan and Japan for the past several years.
Great game by AL. Nice to see Al starting to get some love from the Filipino fans after the game. Filipinos here in Singapore should identify more with this guy, a fellow OFW.
Guys, let me tell you the truth about Singapore’s basketball, as one who knows the game well and even coached before. Stop saying that our players are lousy. They are not. They have improved tremendously. Look at Pathman and WeiJian. They can match the skills of those in the PBA. The PBA may appear better because of all the hype about the players they have in the country. In Philippines, these players are treated like celebrities as if they are as good as NBA players. But if u look at Philippines basketball, are they that good? No. They aren’t even top 8 in Asia. They can’t even beat Taiwan. Our players aren’t far from them. With a little more support, guys, we can see Singapore’s basketball soar to greater heights. We have beaten 2 PBA teams, including San Miguel which is the best team in that league. Did we do it only with imports? NO!!! The locals did step up and play. We won. And our boys deserve the praise! Please give due respects to our local players!
@Slingerrocks:
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
Hear! Hear!
San Miguel beermen is a sister team of ginebra but different in character.SMB esp. if complete is hard to beat bec. of their deep talent till to the last player is consider a star material.offence oriented team.
I can see a lot of singaporeans teens nowadays are shifting to ballin bec. of kobe and king james is more of a hype. but if there is a program and a lot of competitions you will see good ballin future for these young kids.Basketball is now global though second to soccer only but entertainment wise i still prefer basketball than soccer.
I myself sometimes play with them and found they understand the game and some have excellent moves.A lot of Phil. or pinoy and other natioanlity organizing a league or small competition then try to join and get some exposure for your team.
@Les LOL, True that, I remember flashing my student pass and entering Jalan Besah for free entry + free popcorn
BAS should concentrate on the grass root level and more exposure by going to phil or other countries with strong bball program.Look what we have in the phil. Top tier college/university Division like UAAP,NCAA etc then it will go down to the collegiate championship aside from commercial league like liga,pbl and pba.Its endless competition.
My fav. ginebra is a never say die team which means win or lose they give it all and that’s what fans want.When they play even w/o star players ppl flock to the stadium bec. they know how this team will play… So if singapore will create a ballin prog. and aggressive media coverage definitely it will change the ballin sport in singapore and more ppl will support the slingers team.
Basketball is a very physical and contact sports sometimes even playing in a community level you will feel too emotional esp when the crowd started to involved and chanting.Hmmm miss my university days…Ariba LETRAN!!! Try to watch phil collegiate basketball (youtube hehehe) you will see what i mean.
I agree with the article. The crowd is really a factor. I’m a Ginebra fan but I hate San Miguel. That team raids talents. Hehe. Slingers please beat San Miguel!
Reasons for lack of support:
1. Only few singaporeans like Basketball. Singaporeans will still choose Soccer anytime. Its the other way around in the Phillipine Islands, Filipinos love and will always love Basketball.
2. Television/Mainstream media exposure. Go to Channel News Asia, MEdiacorp tv Channels like 5, straits times, those free tabloids in the MRT, do you see any news, write-ups or ads about Slingers?
3. Lets accept it that Foreign Talents makes the Slingers competitive. Jeffers and LeBlanc are American, Al Vergara’s a Filipino, Marcus Ng is Chinese Australian. Without them, Slingers will really suck. Thats the reality. Even Coach Arsego will agree. They even wont stand chances to collegiate teams in the PH.
Singapore does not want to support foreign talents, so less peeps will watch.
Before asking for singaporeans to support Slingers Basketball, i suggest teach them first how to play hehehe… Passion and Love for the Ballin comes out if they are playin it hands-on.
Basketball leagues in the island state are mostly played by foreigners. Basketball courts scattered in the island are use by footballers to play futsal. so how?
So Singaporeans, you got the Filipinos calling you sissies and saying few of you like basketball.
You got any pride?
@Desmond: Nobody is saying that the Slingers are the national team. The ABL will be full of foreign talents for every team. In any case, there is a tradition of Americans becoming naturalised Filipinos to play bball in the Philippines, isn’t there? CJ Giles is one example.
Basketball is one of the most popular sports at school level, at the same level of popularity as football.
The football covered in the media is not even local football, it’s international football.
So don’t take the local media as an indication of what goes on at ground level. Sports is considered a step-child in the local media, to use the word of a media industry veteran.
The average Slinger game has more PAYING customers than the average S.League game.
Wear red, come a little early, let’s gather and sit together, we all support the same team after all 😀
@miko very well said, I think with the next game coming up in a day, we should just move on and concentrate against San Miguel. Come join us at the south stand! 🙂
Write to the relevant authorities and I’m sure it will be laughed off. These things happen all over the world. If there was a case that warranted a protest, it would have been the De Ocampo foul on Sandrin. That was just downright dangerous and very unprofessional.
No disrespect but I’m sure most Singaporeans do prefer everything to be quiet, regulated and proper. As this is what most are used to. I’d prefer a passionate, noisy fun crowd anytime. Although I agree with you that a crowd egging on the players to resort to violence is to be frowned upon.
It’s actually fun to see some of the fans of both teams having friendly banter with each other. Like this caucasian guy who was making noises for Menk to miss his free throws.
You guys should not be scared to much with the filipino crowd. The basketball crowd is not like the football crowd where violence erupting is not an uncommon occurrence. Of course you should expect some teasing from the filipino crowd. But most of the hostility of the filipino crowd would be directed at the referees. Or the opposing players if they did something really wrong. (like what caguioa did. :p)
Btw, love the site as I can’t seem to get any info about basketball from the mainstream media.
Everyone just felt unworthy that he is beaten for nothing,and I thought the game starts to get rough and nothing goes right.
That explains the lost when Slingers committed uncalled for-fouls and made one person full court fast break when they can actually pass to AI to calm down,relax and control the game pace.
I thought that was unsportmanlike, what did Jeffers do to deserve that?
Shouldn’t a video of this be sent to the relevant authorities? Surely Singapore’s Basketball Association has lodged a complaint to the relevant governing bodies? Although it is true that crowds in Singapore haven’t been up to par but the actions of players should be regulated and the malicious players banned or suspended. Personally I would prefer a quite Singapore crowd over a rowdy one which eggs its own players into acts of violence, in my opinion, everyone should be disgusted at the response of the crowd after the punch instead of merely complaining that Singaporeans didn’t have a suitable response.
Les- Well-said.
Slingerrocks – Heart-felt comment.
And that footage of Caguioa strutting about reminds me of the wrestling guys after they’ve thrown someone over their shoulder.
We suggest that Slinger fans sit together in the south section. Not so lonely if we sit together. Cheering for the Slingers in the middle of opposition fans is no fun. Not to mention scary when things get heated especially towards the end of the game.
Thanks for sharing the video of Wei Long’s three-pointer.
Support the Slingers:
Watch this amazing play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VR9UKOYfyQ
Slingerock and myself are meeting to cheer the team on Sunday, anyone else wanna come?
I’m supporting the Slingers because i could have been one of them. But I gave up my passion for basketball because everyone else tells me that there is no future of basketball in Singapore. When I see the Slingers, I see who I could have become. Please Singapore, give this guys a dream. They sacrificed a normal path that Singaporeans to take to pursue their passion.
No excuse here really. When it comes to S.League, yeah sure, people can say they dont support because of the lack of quality. Grant them that.
Asian Youth Games? “Kids’ stuff,” some might think.
But when it comes to the Slingers, this is really a quality team that can actually win matches!
When we look back at the match against Ginebra, as this article pointed out, we kind of gave the game to Ginebra. Why did we lose? The Slingers couldn’t keep up with the pressure and physicality of Ginebra (of course this is debatable). And why were Ginebra so physical? The support of the crowd was pumping them up so much!
So in other words, the support (or the lack) of the Slingers is to blame for this loss.
I feel that its just a misconception that people have of sports in Singapore – they suck! And if for some reason they don’t, it is due to the foreign talents.
I get this vibe from a lot of friends of mine. Sports is simply something that is looked down upon in Singapore. They go like “Huh?! Slingers? Aiya lousy one la.” This is even before they even see them play.
I guess the big question is what can we do about it?
No adverts? No support. No support? No sponsors and adverts.
We are kinda stuck in a vicious unyielding circle, arent we? Who will be willing to break it?
And about the punch, IT’S A FREAKING HAMMER ON JEFFERS LA! Don’t tell me that is not intentional! You should get your eyes checked if you think so.
Well said Les, the situation is sad to be honest, we have some really good local players worthy of support like Wei Jian and Pathman