SEVILLA, SPAIN – “Almost anyone can apply.”
That is the current consensus among several foreign media outfits as they mull hiring Filipinos to join their respective networks’ broadcast teams.
Media executives present in Spain for the FIBA World Cup of Basketball arrived at this conclusion after Filipino netizens displayed their penchant for know-it-all sports commentary and analysis during the course of the historic run of the Philippine National Team in the event.
“It’s amazing,” said one French analyst. “We spend years just to get the hang of calling and breaking down games. But Filipinos are in a league of their own. In a blink of an eye, virtually anyone becomes an expert at any given sport.”
“We’ve been observing Filipinos on the internet for a while now,” said an American TV executive. “At first we thought it was a fluke since majority of posts we read are about basketball and boxing. I mean, that’s normal because Filipinos are notoriously obsessed with those. But as other sporting events came and went, we just couldn’t help but take notice.”
The American executive revealed that they started to really pay attention to Filipino sports commentaries on the Internet while they were covering the Sochi Winter Olympics earlier this year.
The Sochi Olympics marked the first time in history that The Philippines participated.
Genius. (photo sourced from Facebook)
“When we saw how opinionated the Filipino people are online about figure skating – a sport that’s more prominent in temperate countries – we were awestruck,” admitted the executive. “We were impressed at how professional the average Filipino social media user is at breaking down Michael Christian Martinez’s routines and well, everyone else’s.”
Miro Habibi, a Fil-Iranian color commentator who is with Iran’s contingent to the Basketball World Cup, further attested to the growing interest of the international media community to hire Filipino talent.
“Madami sa mga nakakausap ko ‘yung natutuwa sa mga nababasa nilang post ng mga Pinoy sa Facebook at Twitter,” said Habibi. “Yung iba pa nga daw, kahit walang experience, parang mas marunong pa sa diskarte ni Coach Chot (Reyes).”
With unemployment rates in the country at an all-time high, this latest development is a potentially good opportunity for Filipinos to seek employment outside the country.
Gilas Pilipinas wrapped up their performance at the FIBA World Cup with a 1-4 record, falling in closely contested matches against Croatia, Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico before eking out their lone victory against Senegal. -BT
Barbero Times 