Tim Cone Formula

The war in the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is still raging.

PSC chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann and PSC Commissioner Matthew “Fritz” Gaston are still not seeing eye to eye after the latter took the brazen move of reporting to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the “questionable financial decision” by the former, his boss in the government sports agency.

Worse, Gaston had the audacity to leak his letter to Marcos to make sure that Bachmann would go down if the President does nothing about his letter.

Last week, Bachmann and Gaston were in the same building at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex to grace a small birthday celebration of a senior employee.

There were no pleasantries exchanged between the two. Instead, they looked distant and cold, a sure sign their relationship had greatly deteriorated following Gaston’s “act of war.”

It is no secret that Gaston is hot for Bachmann’s seat. Sideliners say that Gaston has been lobbying hard to replace Bachmann, even reaching out to some members of the President’s inner circle.

But Gaston isn’t the only applicant being considered.

Reports have it that Malacañang is seriously looking at other top sports officials like former Philippine Olympic Committee secretary general Patrick Gregorio, gymnastics president Cynthia Carrion, and former football boss Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, the chef de mission when the country won its first ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.

Lately, the name of Akiko Thompson-Guevarra has been floated by some quarters that want to see her become the second swimming great to be appointed PSC chief after Eric Buhain in 2002.

The race for the PSC chairmanship has become heated, not because of the power of the position, but because of the massive funds that will come its way next year. Based on computations, around P25 billion will pour into the PSC coffers should the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation forward all of its unremitted shares since 1993.

The Office of the President should be very careful in appointing the next PSC chairman.

Aside from qualifications, experience and personal background, the next PSC chief should have humility, kindness and a gentle heart for the stakeholders in Philippine sports, especially the athletes, coaches and national sports association officials.

To maintain a harmonious relationship within the PSC board, the Palace should give the chairman a big voice in the nomination of the four commissioners. After all, it is the chairman’s neck on the block should he fail to do a good job, so he might as well be allowed to pick the four commissioners who could help him attain his goals.

Just as in basketball, where Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone has been very successful because he got to pick his assistant coaches. He based his decisions not just on friendship but on their abilities to fulfill certain tasks like manning the offense, defense, scouting, and player development.

Now Cone is the winningest coach in the Philippine Basketball Association with 25 titles. He also did a tremendous job in improving the Gilas Pilipinas program since he assumed its mentorship from Chot Reyes after the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year.

Malacañang has to apply the “Tim Cone” formula in naming the members of the PSC board. They should appoint a “Tim Cone” and let him run the show, giving him a free hand to decide on the members of his coaching staff.

In this way, there will be cohesion, peace and harmony in the PSC board with the commissioners blending perfectly and moving in the same direction as their boss.

Just as in any organization, teamwork is essential in a government agency like the PSC. Sadly, PSC executives in former basketball players Bachmann and Gaston have failed to display it — a heartbreaking reality for an agency that’s supposed to promote the values of friendship, unity and camaraderie among young athletes.