25 years on the sidelines

2011 marks my 25th season of doing sports on television, radio and print.  From being merely a fan enjoying games and athletes, I’ve been fortunate to have been thrust into a sideline seat to cover some of the biggest and most thrilling sports events of our time.

It seems timely to draw up my Top 10 list of memorable athletes and events now that the PBA is on break and changes are happening everywhere in sports.  Come down memory lane to see how Philippine sports has succeeded, changed or failed through the last quarter century.  Here’s the first five:

1.  The PBA.  Without doubt the biggest thrill and challenge for any wannabe sportscaster.  I started on radio and then moved to TV and was witness to the league’s second great wave of Purefoods, Ginebra, Shell, Alaska and San Miguel going toe to toe nightly at the Ultra.  A new generation of heroes run on the PBA floor now, proving again that the country will never run short of basketball talent.

2.  The Olympics. I’ve been blessed to cover two—Seoul in 1988 and Sydney in 2000.  You are star struck by the abundance of international athletic prowess and feel honored to participate in humankind’s effort to attain a semblance of world peace.  It is painful to see Filipino athletes lose to the best of the world but exhilarating when they triumph even in the elimination rounds.  An Olympic gold medal remains a dream for my generation.

3.  Manny Pacquiao.  Nothing beats the thrill of a Filipino being the best in the world and an entire boxing arena acknowledging it.  Manny Pacquiao is revered by Filipinos, Mexicans and anyone else in the world that follows the sweet science.  My favorite Pacquiao moment was when he floored Eric Morales the second time in their third fight and Morales looked at his corner.  From my broadcast position, I turned to see who he was looking at.  Morales was telling his father, it’s over.

After the fight, Morales raised Pacquiao’s hand in a supreme tribute to the Filipino.

4.  The UAAP and the NCAA.  College hoops is raw and edgy.  Young men and women juggle athleticism, school spirit and a bid for a basketball future all at once.  Even the turnovers are exciting.  There is energy in the gallery and simply a good time guaranteed for all in a college game.

5. The MBA.  It lived only four years but what a life it was even without too many sponsors and believers.  The Metropolitan Basketball Association gave provincial folk a game to look forward to each week where they could sit with cabalens or kababayans (provincemates) and go bananas rooting for the home squad.

Our traveling band of broadcasters went from north to south to cover the games and lived in good and not so good hotels and ate what the locals were eating.  The MBA completed my formation as a sports coveror because it taught patience and perseverance to deal with hotel rooms, hot venues and early morning flights to the provinces.

The remaining five appears in our next installment.