CHICAGO – It’s a glamorous gig, one filled with excitement, action and unique perks. But once the show goes on the road, as it always does in this line of work, sportswriting can be melancholic.
In my six years as Sun.Star Cebu columnist, I’ve been to some of the best hotels in the world—the Marriott in Times Square, New York, the Hyatt Regency in Philadelphia, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Marriott in downtown Miami, etc.
From my experience though, staying in $400-a-night rooms is really no different than camping in a cheap Motel 6. The longing for home always make those rented walls thicker at bedtime, and once you think about the wife and kids, you feel so sad you can hear your heart beating in your ears.
At age 38, I don’t like to travel much anymore. Airports are crowded and overly noisy. Airplanes are worse, their food is atrocious and the bathrooms are smaller than Shaq’s shoebox.
Try emptying your bladder at 30,000 feet, and good luck hitting the bowl. Try discharging stuff from your other hole and you’ll really know what I mean.This is the reason why I’m leery of people who brag about having sex in airplane bathrooms. They’re either liars or contortionists.
Anyway, I was recently in Tampa, Florida to cover Rey “BoomBoom” Bautista’s conquest over Giovanni Andrade. And like most travels, I endured everything—the strict airport checkpoints, the tiny airplane bathrooms, the smart-alecky cab driver, the whole shebang.
But you know what? l had so much fun in Tampa I felt sort of lonely after the fight. No, the $300-plus-a-night room at the Hyatt wasn’t the reason for my joy. Neither was the free meals I had at the Avanzure lounge.
The company that I kept in Tampa made my Bautista coverage the most fun I had in a long, long while.
International promoter Sammy Gello-ani was there. He provided me with hotel accommodations, which is such a relief since I pay for all my travels.
Unlike other newspapers, I don’t have an expense account and I rely largely on the generosity of my sponsors.
Sammy also made sure I was fed for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the bedlam that followed BoomBoom’s triumph, I never got to thank Sammy, who by the way is the same Sammy who billeted me at the Durian Hotel in Davao when I covered a Dan Nietes fight sometime in 1994.
“Better late than never,”my mom used to say. That being said, thanks a million, Sammy.
Salven Lagumbay of CDN, the Inquirer and Philboxing.com is a work of art. He hasn’t seen a deadline he couldn’t beat.
Peerless, no one is faster on the keyboards than this bespectacled 33 year old.
I was with him everyday in Tampa. He is every editor’s dream: hardworking and his reports are always stamped with quality.
At times he can be serious as a heart attack, but once his work is done, he can also be funny as a court jester.
Dong Secuya, the founder of philboxing.com, was another reason why Tampa was memorable. This stern vegetarian unselfishly provided me with a lot of pictures, which Sun.Star Cebu has since printed.
The enormous success of philboxing.com is a testament to Dong’s professionalism, his enviable work ethic and his admirable people skills. If this father of four would run for public office, Talisay City will be better for it.
On the day of the fight, and the day before it, the boxer’s hotel room is one of the most sacred places in pro sports. But BoomBoom and his trainer, Edito “Ala” Villamor, allowed me access to their space during those critical times.
This enabled me to write behind-the-scenes stories that our readers crave for. And so I’d like to thank Edito and BoomBoom for helping make my coverage a colorful one.
Yes, traveling on the road as a sportswriter is a lonely craft. But when you have good people around you, and the subject you’re covering is as accommodating as BoomBoom and the people at Golden Boy Promotions, the job can also be a blast.
