The Champions Who Can’t Stop Arguing

THEY ALWAYS ARGUE, Sanford says.

It starts small: Someone misses a call, a rotation goes wrong, a sync comes late by half a second. Voices rise, hands move in quick gestures, the replay flashes again and again. 

They point, explain, disagree. And yet in that noise, something takes shape.

“Mahilig kasi kami mag-argue,” he says, not as an apology but as fact. It’s how the team breathes. It’s how they learn where each one ends and the other begins. 

“Mahilig kami mag argue pero team banter lang. Dini-discuss lang namin what went wrong, kung ano ang dapat ayusin, kung sino dapat ang magsi-sync sa laro. And also kapag ako may pagkakamali, like may pagkakamali, tinatanong ko yung teammates ko kung ano ang dapat kong ayusin. Same with them, at doon nagsisimula ang arguments. Itong team na ito, gusto talagang mag improve kaya palagi kaming nagkakaroon ng arguments.”

(“We love to argue, but it’s all just team banter. We talk about what went wrong, what needs to be fixed, and who needs to sync better during the game. And when I make mistakes, I ask my teammates what I need to work on. It’s the same for them—and that’s usually where the arguments start. This team really wants to improve, and that’s why we always end up arguing.”)

“Kapag hindi na nagkakaroon ng arguments ang team, wala nang chance mag-improve.”

(“We argue a lot. When we stop arguing, that’s when we also stop improving.”)

There is truth in that. The best teams are the ones that know how to fight among themselves without breaking. They’ve learned that silence is worse. Silence means no one cares enough to correct you.

When the arguments end, they go back to being brothers. They eat, they laugh, they rest. 

“Iniisip namin na trabaho talaga ito, walang personalan,” Sanford says.

(“We just remember that this is just work, nothing personal.”)

“Pero within the game, pupunahin talaga namin kung anong mali. Kalmado lang. Hindi kami nag-ooverheat sa mga arguments at walang nangyayaring masama.”

(“But within the game, we really point out what went wrong. We stay calm. We don’t overheat in arguments, and nothing bad ever comes out of it.”)

The words sound like routine, but they carry a kind of grace, the understanding that love can live even inside disagreement.

You can hear it, if you listen closely: the beautiful noise of a team that refuses to stay quiet.

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