Alex, Manny and Efren

(Author’s note. I decided to write about these three great Pinoy sports figures in a single article because they have so much in common.)

Our triumvirate of Pinoy sports champions consists of Alex Eala, Manny (Pacman) Pacquiao, and Efren (Bata) Reyes, the Magician. They have common virtues of greatness, simplicity, and humility, which are the source of their utter charisma on the world stage.

Alexandra Eala Love Affair with the ‘Pinoy Diaspora’

Simplicity. Alexandra Eala wears minimal or no makeup. This reflects her character and her charisma all at once.

I read that she spent a lot of her pre-tennis years in the States with her family. But she does not have a prominent American accent. I guess she retained her somewhat “Filipino-American” accent because they perhaps speak “Filipino English” as their mother tongue in their US home.

Alex also talks spontaneously, off-the-shoulder, in a very sincere tone, which is why her charisma is so awesome, for both Filipinos and non-Filipinos. She can be straightforward, like, “I know what you are doing,” allegedly spoken without animosity to a referee making a series of bad calls. Alex is incapable of animosity. She is as gentle as a child,

The charisma of Alex is two-fold. First, her tennis skills are awesome. Thank you, Mr. Nadal. Hats off to you. Second is her synergy with her Filipino fans, who dominate the stands everywhere she goes. I call them the Pinoy diaspora, the endless sea of about 8 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) scattered across planet Earth. They are omnipresent, and together they are the largest dollar earner for the Philippine economy.

Once, when they assigned Alex to a forgotten back court, the OFWs still overflowed the stands, while Alex’s Belarusian arch-rival’s section stood empty. In truth, Alex has a love affair with the Pinoy diaspora. They are inseparable. A great part of her victories is attributed to the moral support of the Pinoy Diaspora.

Manny Pacman Pacquiao ‘He lets his gloves do the talking’

Manny was as gentle as a lamb, smiling even as one of his Mexican opponents made fun of him and his trainer, insulting them to the high heavens. As the sportscasters said, Manny simply let his gloves do the talking. They were too dumb to realize that they were fueling his anger that would end with his opponents’ faces bloodied and mutilated.

Just like with Alex, the Filipino crowd would chant “Manny, Manny, Manny” repeatedly, which had the profound effect of boosting Manny’s morale. In his early fights, when he was still relatively unknown, the stands were made up of 95 percent Mexicans. They would ask, “Who is this guy? You’re dead, man.” But they suddenly fell silent when their ‘invincible’ Mexican super boxer fell for the first time.

In succeeding bouts, Manny earned the respect of the Mexicans. He was becoming feared, KO after KO. By that time, he was the champion in as many as eight weight categories, a first in history. It did not matter if he was many pounds lighter; he would decimate his opponents with sheer willpower. Congratulations, Senator Manny. You are the best.

Efren Bata Reyes, the Magician, who combines the psychic and science

Sportscasters normally tried to analyze and predict Efren’s strategy in making a shot. But many times they were wrong. Other times, they were just plain confused about what he was doing. Efren beat the best American and European pool players. He is one of the highest-paid pool players in history.

Efren’s style is half scientific, half psychic. He measures, yes, but other times it is more by “feel.” Efren’s (open) secret is in learning from the best pool players, whether as an observer or a player. Indeed, many non-Filipino champions learned new ways of playing pool from Filipino players, especially Efren.

Just like Alex and Manny, Efren’s charisma comes from his total humility. When he makes a magic shot, he would say, “I got lucky,” and everyone would laugh because they know it is not true.

For in truth, as in the case of Alex, Manny and Efren, greatness requires humility. Arrogance, just like ego, consumes and destroys greatness.

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