WORST GAME EVER

The field of sports is one area that is highly damaged by COVID-19. The government put restrictions in place to protect athletes’ health, including the cancellation of all major national sporting events and on-site physical preparation for competitors. They are compelled to stay at home and give up their passion for the time being.

Most major sporting events, including marathons, football tournaments, athletics championships, basketball games, weightlifting, wrestling, and more, have been canceled or postponed on a local, national, and international level in order to protect the health of participants and players. For the first time in modern games’ history, the Olympics and Paralympics have been postponed.

Hence, COVID-19 puts millions of jobs at risk throughout the world, not just for athletes but also for those working in the retail and sporting services sectors tied to leagues and events. Professional athletes face extra pressure to reschedule their training while attempting to keep in shape at home and run the danger of losing professional sponsors who may not provide the support they had originally been promised.

In contrast to transitioning to the online style of academic learning and athletic training, studentathletes had to reconstruct their sports lives, including their training habits, goals, mindsets, sources of motivation, and social connections with the team. They must manage sudden and abrupt changes in their athletic and academic lives, as well as the uncertainty of what their future in sports holds. Anxiety, sadness, and long-term stress can be brought on by a persistent threats to their health, social isolation, and other world altering events brought by the pandemic.

In addition to having an adverse effect on the economy, game cancellations have a negative social impact on many aspects of international and regional sporting events. These events can strengthen social ties, increase fan excitement on a social and emotional level, and inspire fans to engage in more physical activity through their identification with athletes. Sport has long been regarded as a useful instrument for promoting communication and creating barriers between generations and communities. Particularly in polarized countries, athletics enables a variety of socioeconomic groupings to take a more active part in social development and transformation. In this setting, sport is employed as a strategy for developing educational possibilities and reaching communities that are usually marginal or at risk.

Numerous sporting organizations have expressed their support for initiatives to stop the virus’s spread. For instance, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have partnered to launch the “Pass the message to kick out coronavirus” campaign, which is being spearheaded by well-known football players. The campaign encourages people to adhere to five key steps to prevent the spread of the illness, including hand washing, proper coughing technique, avoiding touching one’s face, maintaining physical distance, and staying at home if they feel under the weather.

During this time, various worldwide sports for development and peace organizations have teamed together to help one another in solidarity, for instance, by holding recurring online community talks to discuss problems and concerns. Participants in these online discussions have also attempted to come up with creative solutions to more significant social problems, such as ways that sports organizations can address the issues faced by vulnerable people who would typically participate in sporting events in low-income communities but are now unable to.due to restrictions.

There will be important challenges to be resolved to guarantee the safety of sporting events at all levels and the well-being of sporting organizations as the world starts to recover from COVID-19. They will initially involve modifying events to ensure the safety of competitors, spectators, and merchants, among others. In the medium term, it might also be necessary to take action to encourage involvement in sporting organizations, especially for young athletes, in the face of nearing worldwide recession.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have very significant effects on the world of sports as well as on people’s physical and emotional well-being. The following suggestions aim to maximize the advantages that sports and physical activity may offer in COVID-19 and beyond, as well as to encourage the safe reopening of sporting events and competitions following the pandemic.

ECHO sweeps defending world champions Blacklist in M4 finals

BY: KURT G. BICOL

Just like M3, a Filipino civil war ensued on the international stage once more as ECHO Philippines vanquished Blacklist International, 4-0, to claim the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) World Championship season 4 (M4) trophy in Jakarta, Indonesia last January 15, 2023.

It was a sweet victory for the purple and white whose luck has not been kind when facing the Blacklist dynasty. The upset came unforeseen as this series featured a rematch of the tournament’s upper bracket finals and the MLBB Professional League - Philippines (MPL-PH) season 10 finals which saw BLCK winning both. Unlike MPL-PH season 10 however, the Orcas broke the code and blew the Agents right out the water. ECHO carried out a retribution for the ages with complete and utter domination, never giving the three-time MPL-PH champs an inhibitor turret during the series.

Gold laner Frederic Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales was hailed the Finals MVP following a dominant display in the final round, highlighted by his classic ‘backdoor’ sneak push to lift ECHO in game 2. He tallied a total KDA of 16/4/15 in the series.

While ECHO’s jungler, Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno makes history as he becomes the first player to ever win the world championship twice, with his first one coming two years prior in M2 as part of the historic Bren Esports squad.

On a familiar note, Filipino fans had nothing to worry about coming into the finals. A win-win situation was once again served as PH secured the championship early after both representatives earned themselves a trip to the grand finale.

This title also marks a three-peat for the Philippines in the MLBB world series, taking home three of the only four trophies to date. Philippines will have the chance to defend the crown at home for the first time in the next installment, the record-setting country will host M5 this coming December 2023.

Meanwhile, the University of Batangas (UB) Brahmans will head into the national stage after dominating the regional scene and claiming their second consecutive championship in the E-SportsFiesta hosted by the Philippine Institute of Industrial Engineers - CALABARZON last December 11, 2022.

ECHO topping the world of MLBB professional scene serves as a reminder and inspiration to the UB Brahmans that when you dare to be great, you are truly destined to be legendary.

Rested after the halftime break, UB outright dominated the opposing side, increasing their advantage to 72-52 at the end of the third period.

After a masterful quarter, what came next was a forgettable period. Disaster struck UB as they struggled to find the bottom of the net in the last 10 minutes of action.

With that, GMC took advantage as they rallied back from down 20, the squad scorched the boys in maroon and found their rhythm in the first four minutes of the final quarter. They poured in 10 unanswered points before the Brahmans could even bat an eye.

With two minutes left of game time, GMC managed to trim the lead down to just three, trailing 79-76.

Facing a possible GMC come from behind win, UB surged with a spectacular series of play on both sides of the floor, a block which then resulted in a fastbreak layup to claim a much needed fivepoint advantage heading into the last minute.

The next 45 seconds featured great back and forth defensive plays from both teams, not allowing either one to score. However, Guang Ming was not ready to give up just yet. With 15.7 seconds to go, they finally scored by means of a layup to inch closer, 81-78.

Desperate to get the win, GMC committed a crucial technical foul allowing UB to add a point to their lead. Guang Ming then executed the quick foul strategy as they tried to get the ball back as soon as possible. UB’s Villarez split the free throws just enough to make it a two-possession game. A perfectly designed play drawn during the timeout allowed GMC to pull off a rapid strike from beyond the arc, 83-81.

With 8.4 ticks left on the clock, Guang Ming sent Jem Carlos De Ocampo to the charity stripe. His two points from the line paired with the team’s great defense on the other side ended UB’s miserable 11-point quarter on a good note, securing the win, 85-81.

Brahmans’ guard, De Ocampo was named the PG Flex Linoleum Player of The Game, tallying eight points, to go along with six boards and six assists.

Although the game concluded much closer than UB would have wanted, De Ocampo never stopped believing in his coach and teammates.

“Naniwala lang ako sa sistema ni coach at syempre nagtiwala lang ako sa mga teammates ko, yun naman pinaka importante sa lahat,” the guard stated in the postgame interview.

With the nail-biting finish, the Brahmans advanced to 2-3 in the season with a lot more games left to play.