Afterthought from a very strange experience...

A couple of years ago, my wife's friends encouraged us to join a badminton club. Since I've been thinking of getting serious with the sport, we joined without much hesitation.

Just like any club, we met and played with several folks, some became very good friends. Aside from that, we were able to hone our skills thanks to training sessions and tips from member-coaches.

Last Saturday, I was one of the players from our group who participated in the annual inter-club tournament. Players from their respective mini-groups called pocket e.b.'s (eye balls) were matched with other pocket e.b.'s from the club's ever-growing roster. The whole idea of the event was meant to foster camaraderie among fellow members and not so much on whose team had the most wins.

Alas, somehow the whole event reminded me of an inter-barangay basketball league gone bad. Well, at least no such things as fisticuffs and the dreaded patayan ng ilaw (setting up a free-for-all by turning the lights out) escalated. The atmosphere simply became tense with some players complaining about the rules, mechanics and other players who seemed to have miffed (or riled) them.

I scratch my head and sigh...