While I covered a PBL game with Alex Compton, I remembered that my sportscasting career is intertwined with Compton’s basketball story. Compton’s first game in the Philippines, the inaugural Manila vs Cebu game of the MBA in 1998, was the first-ever game I covered as a courtside reporter.

We used to call Alex the Heartbreak Kid, not because he suffers a broken heart often during games, but because he breaks hearts like a bad habit during close contests. He would make three pointers from 30-feet out, no-look lay-ups, pull-up jumpers against three defenders all with games on the line.

Compton’s most impressive virtue, however, has nothing to do with basketball skills. It has everything to do with embracing the Philippines. Compton speaks better Filipino than most basketball Fil-Ams or Fil-Foreigners. He studied the language. He worked on it with the same fervor he used to work on his perfect free-throw shooting form (I believe he once shot over 90% for the season in the MBA). As a result, he can converse in full Filipino. Believe it or not, Compton speaks better Filipino than some home-grown Filipinos I know.

Of course, Compton’s Filipino-speaking encounters a hiccup now and then. Even the most accurate free-throw shooters will miss one or two at some point. So during the season opener of the PBA in 2003, Compton wanted to say that a certain player was a fearless daredevil on the court. If I remember correctly, he ended up saying, “tignan mo si Tubid, walang-hiya siya.”

So to Alex Compton, my basketball batchmate in a sense, Happy Birthday. Sana dumami ang mga “walang-hiya” tulad mo. MH

Yep, I felt ya. Heard your cries of anger, pain, frustration and sheer heat exhaustion as we all went through the rotational blackouts here in the metro not too long ago. We weren’t spared either from the blackouts either during coverage of the 2009-2010 PBL PG Flex Erase Placenta Cup.

In fact, when it hit the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig one day, despite promises that the arena would be spared because of the scheduled games, the action was delayed almost two hours, and the entire venue was literally plunged into darkness.

One high point of having to wait in the dark and heat: overhearing this wacky comment from a PBL player (don’t know who; it was too dark to tell):

“Brownout! Dito malalaman kung sino talaga magaling shumoot!”

Hehe. Needless to say, the coverage team sought refuge in the airconditioned (and fully functioning) OB van, which uses an independent power source. Here’s what it (kinda) looks like inside:

L-R: Miakka Lim, yours truly, Mico Halili, Magoo Marjon and Chiqui Reyes, all escaping the wrath of sun/stagnant air/tropical climate in the OB van. For some reason, Coach Ronnie Magsanoc opted to stay indoors in the dark (?!?!)

Miakka, Magoo, and I posing before hitting all the weird equipment in the van. “Ooooh, what does THIS button doooo???”

Last October, I hosted the Ateneo bonfire to celebrate all the athletic accolades the Ateneo had garnered in the UAAP. With the devilish assistance of the dastardly FHM blogger Macky Escalona, a high school swimmer named Jared asked me to be his ball date in front of the thousands of blue-clad sports supporters in the crowd. Everything was caught on video. Watch it here.

And so last weekend, I did go to the ball, held at the Ateneo High School covered courts. I was the oldest freaking nincompoop there But I had fun, and I would like to thank Jared for really making the night memorable. See how silly I looked in the photos below

That’s my date, Jared and myself at our table

The setup at the Ateneo high school covered courts

Jared and his friends at our table

Goofing off at the photo booth. Why didn’t we think to have these when I was going to proms/balls back in high school?! They are tons of fun!!!

About to finish reading This is Next Year“by Philip Goldberg. It’s a novel spun around real events from the Brooklyn Dodgers’ championship season of 1955. The NBA’s New Jersey Nets are set to relocate to Brooklyn soon. They will try to recapture the magic of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but they’ll fall specatcularly short on their bid.

The Brooklyn Dodgers were loved more for how they lost than for how they won. Which is why they’re affectionately called the “Bums” by a working class fan base who could relate with every loss to the mighty first-class Yankees and every heartbreak at the end of another fall classic. Read the rest of this entry »

A Pacquiao fight is an annual pilgrimage to places that show Pacquiao fights sans commercials. At the Club Filipino in San Juan last Sunday, I saw familiar faces, the same Pacquiao t-shirts, bottles of beer before noon and plates of peanuts and calamares that serve as lunch.

Part of the experience is to be able to watch a clean feed of the fight (minus on-air commentary) while another part is hearing the running commentary by the enthusiastic gallery. Some comments made perfect sense. Other remarks simply cannot be printed verbatim. Overall, it just showed how passionate we are about all things Pacquiao. So here’s what I overheard at the Pacquiao-Clottey fight:

• Ang laki ng loko na ‘to ah
• Aba pasayaw-sayaw pa
• African yan diba?
• Manny’s so cute
• Sino yan? (Arnel Pineda on the screen)
• Siya yung sa Journey
• Parang pumiyok sa dulo ah
• Batikos na naman abutin niyan
• Ang laki talaga ng loko oh
• Manny’s so cute
• Go Manny!
• Ang itim talaga hindi ko makita
• Yang body shots masasakit yan
• Kilala talaga for defense si Clottey
• Ayaw talaga bumuka ng depensa
• Matibay
• Booo laban naman
• Hahahaha pompyang!
• Mala-FPJ yun ah
• Yun Manny go go go
• Ang laki talaga eh
• Iba talaga pag itim ang kalaban
• Manny’s so cute
• Jenkeeeeee!
• Kung Mexican yan, tumba na yan
• C’mon Manny let’s do this
• I guess it’s going the distance
• Buhay ka pa
• Ayaw talaga bumagsak
• Corny ng laban
• Hindi ko hintayin scorecards, Manny na yan
• So when’s the Mayweather fight? MH