Bleachers' Brew #247 The Home Game

This appears in the Monday, February 14, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

The Home Game

by rick olivares

The home game – Philippines versus Mongolia -- was without a doubt a resounding success. The Azkals won. The atmosphere was great. The fans packed the stadium in much larger numbers than the Tiger Cup in 2006 (also in Panaad) and in AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers 2008 (in Iloilo). The quantum difference now is how the national team and football has detonated in local cyberspace and throughout the country.

If people are grading new coach Hans Michael Weiss, it is only fair that we grade everything else.

Tickets. I thought that the Philippine Football Federation should have either 1) assigned it to an outside party; or 2) have someone from their office handle it full time rather than attend to other federation duties on the side. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out how massive an undertaking ticket selling entails. Based on complaints from fans who I spoke to (and witnessed in their exasperation and anger) here in Manila and Bacolod, they said that selling of tickets and dissemination of information regarding their availability was wanting. More than answering via email which can be tedious, maybe those handling ticket sales should have come out with official notices on a website or in the newspapers. There was information that tickets were released to the local football associations and there was news that it was available at Panaad. There should have been a help center for all of these concerns.

Many people were late to arrive in Panaad because their flights were delayed then they had to weather the traffic going to the stadium. Imagine them being told they could no longer enter to watch because the venue was packed! How the heck did that happen? Was there a surplus of tickets produced? I can understand not releasing the tickets early because of concerns regarding counterfeiting but the lack of information is not an excuse.

A refund will not suffice. If you look over to the problems of the NFL with regards to not being able to give seats to those who bought tickets to Superbowl XLV, they offered free tickets, airline and hotel accommodations to the disenfranchised for next year’s big show. Yet they still got sued. But that’s America where slapping lawsuits on one another is a national pastime.

The PFF must address this and ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

Security. During the penultimate practice before game day, there were only three security personnel on hand to deal with hundreds of fans who ran down from the stands for picture ops and autographs. There were none available when they ducked out towards their bus afterwards.

And during the game, I was surprised to see a soldier wave off Phil Younghusband after he ran to the track after he scored the second goal. Whoever briefed the security obviously does not watch football. Let the goal scorer celebrate. It’s up to the security people to keep people in the stands not ward off someone who just blasted in a fabulous goal.

That reminded me years ago of an international match held in Barotac Nuveo when a dog entered the pitch during a game (it was a women’s match) and an overzealous cop ran after it with an M-16. Jeez.

However, the lack of briefing aside, I would like to commend the local cops for being very polite and very helpful during the match. There were more than a few testy moments as they thoroughly inspected the bags of patrons even if it earned the ire of many who couldn’t wait to get it. An inconvenience it might be but I’d rather they err on the side of caution than complacency.

Stadium. The pitch in Panaad is one of our better ones (I like the pitch at Cuenca Field and UMAK) but the stadium is not. We had time to prep for this match, why wasn’t the venue given a paintjob? It looked old and the lights that hung from the top were rusting. It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do. They should have gotten one of those paint companies as a sponsor.

The comfort rooms gave only momentary comfort (when one was able to relieve themselves). Other than that – it assaulted everyone’s olfactory sense. When I informed stadium personnel about the stink (and this was five hours before kick off) that wafted around the press conference room (the CR was a few feet away), they simply sprayed Lysol that all but kept the stink out for 10 minutes.

And the local organizers should have worked out a public transportation scheme to ferry people to and fro the stadium. Not every one had a car. If they had one in place the traffic would have been more manageable. Many left late in the evening and had to hoof it all the way to the far exit to the main road (a 25-minute walk from the stadium). It’s supposed to be safe, right? Am not sure. When our media group left at 11pm, we saw some youths chasing one another with broken bottles and lead pipes.

The availability of food and merchandise stalls as well as the tailgate parties held outside the venue greatly added to the party atmosphere. The fun began outside and continued during the match all the way up to the fireworks display (that went on for more than 10 minutes) that was a perfect ending to the night. Good idea on the fireworks for whoever thought of that.

Television coverage. I didn’t see the match on television as I was in the stadium but the one thing I will say is, “what were those A-boards doing so close to the pitch? They should be several meters back. Their placement at the end of the pitch and obviously for their corporate sponsors is ironically a danger to the players and a detriment to the game.

Press relations. No press kit. No press statement. Not enough chairs and tables or even a proper work area in the stadium. No wifi (despite Smart saying the whole stadium was connected so we all improvised by using our Globe broadband). No microphones. No water cooler or coffee. This is no way to deal with the media.

Fans. Obviously we have not had much of success in our footballing history and the lack of proper fight songs or cheers showed. But I have to give props to the fans and for those who worked the crowd in chants and cheers of “Ole” and “Who let the dogs out”. Next time the PFF should identify these booster groups who are willing to sing loud and proud and place them in one section where their efforts will lead everyone else in the get the stadium rocking. And I have to mention good friend Ebong Joson for showing guts in running across the grandstand and the track as he waved the Philippine flag.

Notwithstanding the problems of that home game here and there, it was a good start in this new era for Philippine football. The PFF leadership under Mariano V. Araneta has had their hands full from the moment of the change in leadership. They have not had any breather from all the work. But it’s nice to know that their hearts are in the right place and that they are dead set on turning things around for Philippine football.

Forza.

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You know what I forgot? The whistles. Damn those who brought them and blew them. They should be shot.