The roar of the home crowd must be deafening at the SM MOA Arena, the venue of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship. We would have wanted to watch the games live. We would have shouted our voices hoarse for the Philippine team. But we’ve decided not to watch the games live. Last time we watched a game live to support a team, the team we were rooting for lost. This time, to ensure that we won’t jinx the chances of Gilas Pilipinas to get into the championship match, we would do the ultimate sacrifice by not going.

The knock-off round of the FIBA 2013 Asia Championship starts today, with the national team of the Philippines, the Gilas Pilipinas, battling Kazakhstan at the SM MOA Arena.