CHICAGO – Except when I’m on the road for a huge NBA or boxing coverage, I’ve always tried to faithfully devote Saturdays as a time to do some e-mail bonding with you, my dear Sun.Star Cebu readers.
Today, however, permit me some indiscretion as I cavort with a few Paclanders, those smart, boxing-crazy dudes that Dong Secuya has assembled through the genius of his insanely popular Philboxing.com website.
Under the screaming headline: “Homer Sayson favors Ablaca over Paclanders!” my Sun.Star column yesterday (“A ‘scapegoat’ named Ablaca”), which favors Juanito Abalaca to be kept at Randy Suico’s corner, is now a topic in the sacrosanct Philboxing.com forum.
Being in that testosterone-oozing forum isn’t always a good thing. The Paclanders can be nasty as a Manny Pacquiao left hook, mean as an Arab slur. Acid boils in their ink, and shy doesn’t come to mind when Paclanders pen their opinions, right or wrong.
I had high expectations of being crucified at the forum, burned at the Paclanders’ cross of dissenting opinion. Much to my surprise, however, I was spared. The postings have so far been civil, intellectual, and pleasant, although one dude, heroe_del_silencia wondered: “The name Homer Sayson sounds a lot like Homer Simpson. Is he bald and fat?”
Let me indulge him, for the benefit of Pacland nation.
I’m not quite that cartoon character Homer Simpson, and I’m not bald as a billiard ball. In fact, if the money is right, I would gladly model for a shampoo and conditioner product.
I’m not fat, either. But I’m doing an excellent good job becoming one. Shoving hamburgers and French fries in my big mouth is a hobby, which explains why I now flirt making weight at 154 pounds, a junior Middleweight, if you may.
Another Paclander, Api2000 aka loverboy, threw me a wicked uppercut: “Homer is a very good writer, he can make you laugh even if you’re mad. But I just don’t think he has the expertise when it comes to boxing.”
As an accredited boxing writer, I covered the following fights: Lewis vs. Tyson, Dela Hoya vs. Vargas, Chavez vs. Tszyu, Lewis vs. Rahman, Pacquiao vs. Morales I and II, and two of Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista fights in the US.
For someone with supposedly “no expertise” in boxing, I seem to be qualified enough in the eyes of the world’s top promoters, who in this age of the Internet media, have become parsimonious in issuing credentials to big-money fights.
Other Paclanders were nice, and I wish to thank them – Ellis, Ironwood_Cebu, Malcolm1 and Tootsuite. a special holler goes to Rocky, who turned Dalai Lama on me with this wisdom: “Insanity is defined by repeatedly doing the same things but expecting the same results.”
Thank you, again, Paclanders, for agreeing to disagree agreeably.
You convinced me that diplomacy is a better message-sender than vitriol. And you proved to me that after all, when it comes to voicing opinions, these flame-throwing Paclanders can be pugnacious without being strident.
