MY MONDAYS are pretty much routine. After breakfast, I prepare for my regular Monday morning radio program (?The Scene Around”, DZSR Sports Radio 918 kHz, 10:a.m. to 11:30 a.m.), make a few calls to confirm guest availabilities and scan the papers and internet for the topics I intend to discuss.
Then I?m off to the radio station, where for an hour and a half, I discuss sports news and developments with resource persons and through text messages from listeners.
Then I come home for lunch, after which I hunker down to write this column to beat my usual mid-afternoon Monday deadline.
It was pretty much the same thing for me yesterday, except that I woke up rather sluggishly and went about my early morning chores with a lethargic feeling I just couldn?t shake off.
I thought about calling the radio station and my Manila Bulletin editor Ding Marcelo so I could just stay in bed and curl up like an over-grown child nursing a sissy headache, but like most people nowadays, I drew inspiration from Manny Pacquiao, who bucked a temperature and tonsillitis to not only get into the ring with Erik Morales, but also to pound out a sensational 3rd round KO victory.
Now I?m not so presumptuous as to compare my pathetic claims of being under the weather to Pacquiao?s superman-like adventures. But I just wanted to call attention to the many ways that Manny gets to elicit positive vibes in his people.
His uncanny focus on the task at hand, his work ethic in training and his all-out determination in the ring move many among us to as Jack Nicholson said in the movie As Good As It Gets, “be a better man”.
Thanks, Manny.
* * * *
In yesterday?s edition of the Manila Bulletin, I already gave my take on the Grand Finale. If you missed it ? in a nutshell I thought it was simply Manny being a mean fighting machine. Suffice it to say that Manny?s transformation has been phenomenal and he and Freddie Roach should be credited for the vast improvement.
Erik Morales didn?t see it coming and neither did most people.
Morales said he had no problems with his physical conditioning as he felt really good with how he trained. It was Manny?s power and speed he had trouble with.
But something gnawed at me during and even after the fight, involving referee Vic Drakulich.
I had seen Drakulich at work when he was the third man in the ring in the Eagle KyowaRodel Mayol championship fight in Tokyo last summer. I thought he was pretty fair and authoritative. This, even as my broadcast partner Quinito Henson revealed that Drakulich had refereed in two other fights involving Filipinos and on both occasions, the Filipinos lost. Mayol also bowed to Kyowa, but no way had Drakulich had a hand in the defeat.
But in the Grand Finale, I had some reservations.
I called Bruce McTavish, the jolly international referee who is now more Pampangue?o than New Zealander (after almost 40 years as a resident of Angeles), to ask him to clarify Drakulich?s actuations on my radio program.
First, there was that incident when Morales held Pacquiao?s head with his left hand then proceeded to hammer away at Manny with his right. Drakulich came in to break them up, and I thought he was going to warn Morales not to do that again. Instead, he reprimanded Manny!
Then after the second knockdown, after giving Morales the mandatory 8-count, as Manny was coming in from the neutral corner, he kept shooing Manny away, giving Morales precious seconds to clear his head somewhat.
We all know this is all moot and academic because of the result, but what if things turned out differently, could these strange actions have contributed to a Pacquiao defeat?
McTavish, who is never one to disparage a colleague, acknowledged that what Morales did in the first situation was a foul and that he was surprised at what Drakulich did in the second situation, since he had already finished counting and Morales was already up. Manny should have been allowed to come in and resume action.
However, he said that he has the highest respect for Drakulich and perhaps the pressure of the moment might have caused the oversight. At times, especially in a big fight, with all the things going around you, there will be more chances of overlooking something. As is often said, referees are also human.
If you say so, Mac.
