For a country still searching for its first Olympic gold medal, the national pastime for the duration of the Summer Games is to hope. We don’t expect. We hope. Oftentimes, we pray. Should praying not suffice, we plead. We plead for miracles to unfold. We enter the Olympics often betting all our remaining chips on a dramatic halfcourt shot, Hail Mary pass, 3-2 bases-loaded home run to win the game. It’s a strategy that’s destined to disappoint, a proposition that’s bound to break hearts nine out of ten times.

I salute our athletes. I pray for their success. I thank them for their intestinal fortitude. Ultimately, however, they sometimes appear like Civics forced to race against Ferraris. And it breaks our hearts.

Would it be so simple-minded if we asked for a paradigm shift in our Olympic participation?

Would it be so naive if we sought a better way of spending money for the Summer Games?

Would it be so unreasonable to ask officials to provide athletes with 50-50 odds as opposed to hurling them into 100-1 predicaments?

Say we lobbied aggressively, practically move heaven and earth, spent money a) normally allocated for international training for other sports and b) habitually spent for junkets, to make billiards an Olympic sport. Won’t that critically alter the objective of our quadrennial trips to the summer games? We’ll be flying in with purpose, no longer just scooting in with a prayer. The Philippines becomes an instant Olympic superpower. And we finally learn how it is to be truly competitive in the Summer Games.

Or let’s invent a sport. Yes, come up with our own pot of Olympic gold. Create our own quadrennial destiny. A new never-before-seen sport with a solid chance of gaining Olympic sport status within the next decade. Then, train kids in this new sport like there’s no tomorrow. It’s the recipe for instant domination. What taekwondo is to Korea, this new sport will be to the Philippines. If someone had the nerve to invent synchronized swimming in 1915 and the chutzpah to actually make this an official Olympic event in 1984, why can’t we?

Here’s another radical idea; convince Henry Sy to convert his ice-skating rinks into training centers for (get ready for this) the Winter Games! Heck, why not? If all we find is futility in the summer, let’s find our olympic destiny in the snow. Besides, Sy’s mall-based skating teams have had its own share of international success. Perhaps we can build on that. Answer this: What is the more improbable task: to win a medal in Olympic basketball or win a medal in Olympic ice-skating? Oh sure, someone might blirt out, “Ano yan Cool Runnings?”, and snicker afterwards in reference to the movie dramatizing the adventures of the Jamaican bobsled team. Still, we have been competing in the Summer Games since 1924 with still no official gold medal to boast of. Isn’t it time to think out of the box?
I do know once we factor in the devlish details, all these ideas might count for toast. Life is never that simple. Politics is never that easy to get away from. And luck is never a birthright. While I remain optimistic that Tsomlee Go and Toni Rivero produce thundering performances worthy of the gold, I also know it’s never right to send lambs to face lions and totally expect them to bring a lion’s thigh home for nanay’s famous lion kaldereta. It’s a strategy that’s destined to disappoint. It’s a proposition that’s bound to break hearts nine out of ten times.