If You Can't Beat Them, Import Them!

As I clear the cobwebs and dust from months of disuse off this blog, I'm a little pissed off.

You see, I watched the Commonwealth Games badminton mixed doubles bronze medal playoff yesterday and I was very annoyed.

Why? Because Malaysia lost. But that's not why I was pissed off. No, I was pissed off mostly because they lost to to a pair from China/Indonesia, passing off as Singaporeans.

Yes people, if you can't beat them, import them!

After all, it's just a medal right? Who cares who's playing for us, as long as we get the medal right?

I don't know, I have a real problem with countries importing players and passing them off as their own. It's the same with footballers in Europe jumping around and playing for another country just because they couldn't possibly get a sniff at the national team of France, England yada yada yada.

If it were a foreign import playing for money in a professional league for a professional club, I don't have a problem, because they're getting PAID for it. But when it comes to national duty, playing or competing for your country is probably one of the proudest moments one can have as an athlete.

But when that player playing for our country really isn't FROM our country in the first place... that's where it all gets a little hazy. Do we support him or her the same way we support our own homegrown 'talent' (who couldn't get a chance to make the team because he/she was not as good as the import)? Would the imported player have the same pride and passion playing for his/her adopted country?

Don't mind me, I just hate the idea of getting a player from another country to play for your country just for the sake of winning. It just doen'st feel right, even when they win. When Singapore came close to an Olympic table tennis gold in the last Games, they were trumpeting that 'feat' all over the place. But can you really feel pride at 'winning' when the playing winning it for you isn't even FROM your country in the first place?

Geez. At least Malaysian shuttlers are actually Malaysian.

At least when we lose, we know we suck, not because we didn't import the right players.