Die-hard fan ka rin ga ng basketball? Talagang a good number of Pinoys are really into basketball. Dumaan man ang ilang henerasyon ng mga basketbolista, mula sa panahon ni Bogs Adornado, Atoy Co at Jaworski ganun din kina Patrimonio at Lastimosa at ngayon nga kina James Yap at Jimmy Alapag, mukhang hindi pa rin nawawala ang larong ito sa buhay ng maraming Pinoy.
At hindi lang Basketball dito sa Pinas. Most are also addicted to NBA. I’m sure marami ang nag-abang kung sino sa Miami Heat at OKC Thunder ang tatanghaling champion ngayong taon. And who between Lebron James and Kevin Durant will be this season’s MVP. (So it’s Miami Heat and LeBron James stealing the season’s victory)
Pero there’s one thing na mukhang kakambal na ng basketbol dito sa Pilipinas, yan ang ending. Ending is a number game, it involves betting on the scores of local and U.S. basketball games. In short ito ay sugal at dapat ay ipinagbabawal. For some, ending is just a sort of “katuwaan” but for others it’s a business that involves hundreds if not millions of pesos.
On Ending as Katuwaan
Way back in elementary, meron akong kaklase na nagpapataya sa ending. Of course, it was a small-time thing. Piso piso lang ang taya. I remember myself placing a bet on 0-6. At sa pagtaya ko ay iniisip ko nang mananalo ang favorite team ko noon — ang Alaska, kung saan kabilang ang idol kong si Johnny Abarrientos. Hindi ako nanalo sa taya ko noon at hindi na naulit ang pagtaya ko sa ending not because i didn’t win but because of what my tatay told me, “huwag kang tataya sa ending kasi sugal iyon.”
Gaano man kaliit o kalaki ang taya, the fact doesn’t change. Ending is still a form of gambling. At ang mga bata na tulad ko noon ay dapat napapagbawalan ng mga teachers or parents na huwag tumangkilik sa ganoong mga uri ng laro. I don’t know if this game still exist in schools or in barangays pero sana ma-ban na ito kasi without us knowing, it nourishes the greed in us – na isugal ang baon or inipon para makuha yung malaking premyo. Okay, let’s probe on this. What happens when we gamble?
The Bad Side
Sometimes we see near losses as very encouraging and then we are very likely to continue playing the game at ayan na nga, tataya tayo ulit. Kapag paulit ulit nangyayari ang isang bagay, ito ay nagiging habit. And now what’s next after habit, ayan na ang addiction. We might become addicted to it. Mas tumitindi ang feeling kapag nararamdaman mo na marami ka nang naipatalo and the next thing is, tataya tayo nang tataya para mabawi ito.
Kapag naman sinuswerte, isang taya lang nanalo na kagad. And you kinda liked that feeling, when there’s no hirap but you get to win something big. At kapag hindi napigilan ang ganitong kasiyahan, you’ll find other games kung saan may mas malaking premyo (syempre, mas malalaki na rin ang pusta dito at malaki rin ang pwedeng mawala sa’yo.)
In the end, Ending could pose a very dangerous effect on growing kids and adults na rin. There were some cases pa nga in some areas na highschool student pa lang pero daang libo na ang naipapatalo sa ending. That case is not impossible to happen in some schools or communities here in Batangas lalo na kung hindi nasasawata ang mga ganitong activities or babaliwalain lang ng mga guro at magulang ang mistulang maliit na katuwaan tulad nito. Sabi nga, The best throw of the dice is to throw them away. Sa madaling salita, kailangan itong iwasan.
Hey, this isn’t just a mere “katuwaan”. It could mean some serious attitudinal and social problem in the end.