Learning experiences as a sports writer....

I just beat my deadline last night. I barely managed to do so. I've only done a couple of articles yet I feel the pressure is really getting into me. I didn't have problems finishing the very first article for the magazine I'm writing for. Ok maybe I did. Just run into some problems with names though but I was able to submit the goods before the deadline. That's good news for me. Then came my second assignment. It was the most important of all. And all of a sudden, things don't go your way.

Being a rookie writer, is really tough. You never know what's gonna happen whether in an interview or while trying to finish your article. Now I fully understand what this industry is all about. I'm just lucky that my editor is a little bit lenient and I'm not getting yelled at on the phone like most editors do. But I sure don't want to take my chances on his slight leniency. True enough that writing for a sports magazine can be pretty much demanding.

At some point in time, when things go wrong you tend to panic and point the blame on your editor. That's the last thing you wanna do if you're just starting your career. The only person you can blame is yourself. I know there are some circumstances that happen while trying do an article. Let's just say, some "accidents" do occur in such situations. Like what happened to me about a couple of days ago, I was about to send my article on Quinito Henson when I accidentally deleted my article while doing my spelling check on Microsoft Word. I don't know how it happened, believe it or not. I'm still trying to figure out how spell checks on Word can delete your document completely (my article just went blank after the spell check though it never prompted that it was already done or it has some sort of error in it). Worse, the document recovery feature didn't have my article saved. I was like "what the fuck just happened?!!!" Deep in my head I was screaming "noooooooooooooooo!!!!!"

I had to start from scratch. The good news was the recorded interview was already encoded. The good stuff I wrote was completely gone and it was a long one at that. talk about bad luck. No matter what, I did submit the article but it wasn't as dope as the one that was originally written. I just didn't want to disappoint my editor and cooperate with him. So, that's exactly what I did. Yet I wasn't satisfied I had to redeem myself somehow. I updated the previous article I sent to my editor and I was glad I remembered some of the stuff I had written on the original document that was deleted. I was determined to make the article as good as possible as I also didn't want to disappoint my Idol in sports writing, Quinito Henson. And the only way for my to make for all the bad vibes, so to speak, that had transpired is to update the article and make it better somehow.

When I did my interview with Mr. Henson, things were already going well when my mp3 player, which is also my voice recorder didn't have enough memory to record the other half of the interview. I was disappointed of course but alas, the good stuff and most important info was recorded. I'm just glad Mr. Henson was still nice and accommodating despite having recorded the session only 50% of it. Of course, I was as nervous as hell while I did the interview.

Anyways, I've learned a lot in this experience. I know I have a long way to go and I have absolutely so many things to learn along the way. One of those I've learned is that, you have to be able to compromise. Use whatever information you have for your article or research more. It helps. Another thing is, your recorder must have more than enough memory before going on an interview. Don't settle for anything less. I'm saying that because, that happened to me and I don't want to make the same mistake again. This is important, always and I mean always, submit your articles on time. I know what happened to me was an accident but the best thing for me to do is: always save the progress of your document before making any final checks on the overall article. Accidents can be avoided, as some people would say. That's another thing I need to keep in mind. Maybe I've just forgotten about it. Damn it, I'm really getting old.

I have some 3 rules to remember when doing interviews and writing articles:

1. Never fuck up.
2. Never, ever fuck up.
3. Never, ever, ever fuck up (I'm serious).

You don't have to be perfect. I know I'm only human but the last thing you wanna do is, well, fuck up! I mean who wants to screw up? Nobody does. But of course, that also happens even to the best in the biz. Heck, we all screw up. I guess the only thing to do is to simply avoid it in any way you can. It's either you put up or shut up. You just have to step up to the plate.

Michael Jordan: Me Vs. Kobe, Not Even Close

I may be biased on this long debated topic but if you ask me, I would have to agree with Money in that predicament. Sure, Kobe may be the best player in the L today but if Kobe does go one-on-one with Money in their prime, Jordan would win it. No doubt. He's just the G.O.A.T. period.

From the video, Money is kinda fed up with the Kobe-Jordan comparisons. For sure he meant what he said about Kobe. Hands down, Mamba will win for sure if he went one-one-one with Money at age 45. "Kobe would win because I'm older. In my prime, not even a contest." MJ said.

That statement is certainly the exclamation point on the comparisons. Who can blame him? Watching the video, at age 45, I think he can still play. There are some shades of the old Jordan before retiring for the second time in 1998. And yeah, he can still dunk.

For more about this clip, you can view the link here.

Nasty and Boomdizzle spoofs the movie: Step Brothers... Hilarious!!!

I got this from Slam Online. Steve Nash and Baron Davis did a great job on making this short spoof on the movie "Step Brothers." Looks to be a possible career venture for both Nasty and Boomdizzle perhaps, when they hang up their sneakers. Just watch the video and see for yourself.

I was laughing so hard watching this clip. They should make more of these short films in the future or better yet every off-season. They filmed it in Sta. Monica, CA. I can't wait for these two to make another spoof. Here's another link to the clip. Oh and by the way, Nasty can dance.

Some thoughts on the recently concluded 2008 NBA Madness, Agent Zero Tour and my upcoming interview with "The Dean" Mr. Quinito Henson

The writer with the Sacramento Kings Dance Team
(Photo By Roy Afable 07/12/08)

Yeah, I know I should've posted my stuff on this topic like a couple of weeks ago but I didn't. I sort crammed a little bit (ok, maybe I did cram too much). Been playing some video games, surfing the net, sleeping at home, heck I was merely bumming around and I've forgotten about blogging already. Anyways, I went to the final leg of the 2008 NBA Madness last July 12 at Glorietta but I first went to the meet and greet session of Malik Rose and the Sacramento Kings Dance Team at the Alabang Town Center on the same day, before heading to Glorietta later in the afternoon. I had a blast of course.

Considering that the NBA Hype didn't fade even after recent Manila visitor Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas aka Agent Zero had his Asia Tour courtesy of Adidas (they are also the official outfitter of the NBA). So it's no surprise pinoy fans are still thrilled to see another NBA player (even though he's not the superstar caliber), New York Knicks forward Malik Rose pay Manila a visit. It was also my first time to see upclose a real NBA Mascot. I'm talking about Charlotte Bobcats mascot Rufus the Lynx. It would've been nice if he made some sort of performance in the event. He just made an appearance and posed some pictures for the fans. I got my picture taken with Rufus the Lynx as well.

The Sacramento Kings Dance Team were very nice bunch as well. When I was at the their meet and greet session, they were nice enough to pose for pics with the fans. I was obviously one of the priviledged few to have that rare opportunity. I even got autographed photos of the members (I only got 5 out of the 6 members' signed pics). It was also great to get upclose with Malik Rose. I got an NBA postcard signed by Malik Rose. Another NBA autographed memorabilia added to my collection. It was still dope getting his autograph even though he's not as big as Gilbert Arenas. Of course it was way more dope getting my NBA jersey signed by Agent Zero but it's still all good y'know.

Speaking of Agent Zero, it was nice of him to mention how much he loved Manila/Philippines. It would be hella cool if he comes back next year, bring some fresh NBA talent and have an exhibition here in the country. I wouldn't miss that for sure. You can check out his post about his recent visit here in the country through this link I know I could've given him that artwork of him I did when I had the chance but that's ok. If he does come back here next year, I'll make an even better artwork of him than the one I previously did. And next time, I won't forget to bring the artwork again. Mad props to him again for giving positive feedback to my beloved country. I just couldn't take my eyes off my autographed jersey by Gil. I need to have it framed. I just don't have enough cash at the moment to preserve it.

Right now, I'm really stoked on interviewing one of the most respected sports analysts in the country, "The Dean" Mr. Quinito Henson tomorrow. You know what, I never expected this. I've met and spoke to him in some rare occasions but interviewing him was beyond my imagination. When I called up my Editor-in-Chief (he actually asked me to call him) last Friday, I was expecting an assignment on another PBA player (I interviewed Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings guard Ronald Tubid for my first write-up) to interview and write about for the upcoming PBA lifestyle magazine called "Offcourt" (I hope the name is already finalized as I type this). Or so I thought. He asked me if I was free on Wednesday. Of course, I told him I was free for that day (heck, I'm always free these days) and then he told me that "The Dean" was going to be my next assignment. Somewhere in my head I was screaming "Holy Shit! Are you kidding me?!!" while talking to my editor on phone. I was surprised when he brought up Quinito Henson's name for my next assignment but at the same time, I was happy. I mean, I never thought I'd actually be interviewing someone whom I've Idolized for a long time (well, I've also idolized the likes of Michael Jordan and Jim Lee, to name a few). Who'da thunk it?!! Man, this is just dope.

After the call, the only word that came out my mouth was "wow." Interviewing Mr. Henson could be somewhat the highlight of my young sports writing career. Now I'm getting the jitters already. I couldn't get over the goosebumps all over my being. I'm excited and at the same time nervous. I mentioned in my post here in my blog a month ago about wanting to meet Mr. Quinito Henson again someday, but I never thought it would be that soon already. I still have no idea what kind of questions I should ask him for the interview until now. I'll just ask my editor on that one before the interview. Oh well, I just hope I do well tomorrow. On that note, I'ma get some shut eyes already. I wanna be fresh for tomorrow and I don't wanna be late for my appointment with "The Dean" Mr. Quinito Henson. I'll catch you guys later. I'm out like Josh Childress going to Greece to play for the Olympiakos.

Agent Zero rocks Manila

Gilbert Arenas aka Agent Zero makes an appearance at the Adidas Shop in
Rockwell Makati City.
(Photo by Roy Afable 07/06/08)

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas made an impact as soon as he arrived here in Manila, Philippines. He didn't disappoint his Filipino fans when he visited selected Adidas stores yesterday as part of his Agent Zero Asia Tour. It was truly a treat for us NBA fans. From the looks of it, Agent Zero pretty much enjoyed his stay here.

I was lucky enough to be invited for a rare opportunity to meet and greet Arenas in his second leg of his Adidas store visit at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall in Makati. Special thanks to Sir Rommel (I didn't get his last name) for the invitation. When I got there yesterday, it was already packed. I got there about 10 minutes before the said time his arrival there.

Armed with my handy dandy digital camera, Adidas replica jersey of Gilbert Arenas and of course, a pen. The crowd was really excited. I really wished I was able to witness all of his mall visits but I'm just happy to just witness one of them.

Fans roared when he finally arrived. He did a little trivia contest and gave away some Adidas goodies (I think) to the winners. Then he went inside the store and only peeps in the guest list are the fortunate ones to get close to him. I was able to get a piece of his hand when he was giving hi fives along the way. He was wearing wearing his white NBA Live 08 shirt underneath his white sweat jacket (that matched his pants of course) and I presume he's wearing his NBA Live 08 Gil II Zeros to go with it.

There were some who were able to get his autograph and at the same time, get a photo op with him but getting Gilbert Arenas' autograph on my jersey was something what I really wanted. There was this supposed "line" to get his autograph. When I was almost getting close, Arenas stood up and bade farewell to his adoring fans (it was after he put his hand print/mark on a cement). I thought I had already lost hope of getting my jersey signed by Agent Zero himself. With that in mind I had to fulfill my mission or the opportunity given to me will be for nothing.

The opportunity came for me when he was mobbed by his fans on his way out of the store. Lucky for me I was in the middle and I saw him signing autographs while walking. I reached out my jersey almost in front of his face after he signed a fans shirt. He signed it quickly (he kind stopped a little bit while signing my jersey) and the rest was history. Mission accomplished! There were some fans pushing me. I had to go with the flow before I get myself injured in the process.

Everybody was all smiles after he left the store. Who wouldn't be? All the fans had a great time including myself of course. Had to get my picture taken with my freshly signed jersey by Gilbert Arenas. Speaking of pictures, I had a hard time taking pics of him inside the store. I'm just not blessed with a height of a basketball player.

The writer with his Adidas replica jersey freshly signed by
Agent Zero Gilbert Arenas
(Photo by Roy Afable 07/06/08)

I was supposed to bring an artwork I did of him that I really wanted to personally give it to him but I wasn't able to bring it with me. I was thinking twice whether I should head to Trinoma Mall for his final leg of Adidas store visit to personally give the artwork to him or not. The problem is, there's no guarantee that I'd be able to personally give the artwork to Agent Zero, plus I don't have enough time to back to my house in Las Pinas, pick up my artwork and head to Trinoma Mall in Q.C. I'm sure he'll love it. In the end, I just went straight home. I was just too tired to go there (Trinoma). Yeah, I still feel bad that I failed to personally give the artwork I did to him (some of my artworks can be viewed in my deviantart page). It's still all good though.

On that note, I have to go back to work. I have to finish an article on a PBA player which is due this Friday. I'm out like Baron Davis signing with the LA Clippers.