Silence Before The Spike

There is nothing like doing a joyride on a weekday afternoon.

A weird class schedule allowed me to leave my day job at ten in the morning and drive wherever the hell I wanted to. Of course the ideal and usual destination is Tagaytay City, but going the usual route seems to be so lame, so I took a longer route… a route that took me to Tanza, Naic, Maragondon, Ternate in Cavite, then Nasugbu in Batangas, then finally to Tagaytay. It was a longer route, sure… but I’ll bet my car that it was a lot faster than a car ride from Alabang to North Edsa on a Friday evening rush hour.

Adding more fun to it is the fact that there was almost NO ONE driving the route that I took. It was a legitimate public road, similar to what is seen on European cross country drives. But really… there was no one driving that route but me! On a 40 kilometer stretch, there was only like 30 vehicles that I came across to. The only time that I saw other vehicles was when I got to a town center where commercial establishments are present. On an evening drive on the same route, it might get really creepy, but on my drive where the sun was so up, it was the smoothest drive of my life.

So what does this have to do with sports?

Nothing, really. I just told the story of a personal adventure that I did in preparation of a REALLY, REALLY loaded November… specially in volleyball.

You see, the last time we saw PSL volleyball was back in July… JULY! We are approaching THREE SOLID MONTHS without PSL volleyball. Let that sink in. If you are solid followers of the Cignal HD Spikers, the Petron Blaze Spikers, and the F2 Logistics Green Archers (yes they are), then I feel you, you are longing for some PSL action.

In addition to the upcoming All-Filipino Conference of the PSL, they’ll be introducing a pocket tournament for collegiate teams called PSL-Collegiate Grand Slam (PSL-CGS). Six teams of a mix of UAAP schools and South Luzon schools will battle for a chance to win an international training camp. An already loaded PSL-AFC with the addition of the CGS? This is volleyball heaven!

But wait… there’s more!

PVL began their third conference a lot earlier, where two UAAP schools are also participating. Once the PSL-AFC and CGS opens, a lot of volleyball enthusiasts can now develop their fantasy matches, fearless forecasts, and predict their UAAP team standings, as seven of eight UAAP schools are participating in these leagues: Adamson and Ateneo in PVL; UP, UST, FEU, and UE in the CGS; and De La Salle in the AFC. Seven schools are now in training camp for the upcoming UAAP Season 81 volleyball tournament.

God knows what would NU be doing while all of these are ongoing. But one thing I know is that I’ll be seeing their juniors squad in the upcoming Rebisco Volleyball League Girls 18-and-Under National Finals that will happen on November 17-23 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. The last time I saw them a year ago, they only lost a single set in the entire tournament. My fearless assessment was their juniors team can compete against any seniors team and manage to get a win. Yeah, their core competed in the first conference of the PVL, but that one doesn’t really count.

But… it doesn’t end there…

In case you haven’t heard, Spikers’ Turf is back. If you still find women’s volleyball pretty slow (even though it is really not), watch men’s volleyball. Where the trajectories of the spikes almost reach 90 degrees downward and at speeds of 380 kph (I just made this one up… but they are really fast!) are still diggable (lack of a better term) at best. Best news is that Hyper on Cignal is covering the games… high definition and all! Other news is that I got to call the games on TV, and as of this writing I have a five-setter match under my name in the tournament. Yes Mr. Sev Sarmenta… I will not argue with you the next time you insist that I am a member of the five-setter club.

To sum it up…

PVL started last month, and it’s bound to conclude by November. Spikers’ Turf started a few weeks ago and bound to conclude early December. Rebisco Volleyball League Girls 18-and-Under will happen on November 17-23. And the PSL-AFC and CGS will start on October 30 and will conclude just before Christmas. Three out of four of those leagues, I’ll be calling it either as a court announcer or as a panel. So expect a lot of volleyball entries in this site starting now.

So yeah, the nice drive of the mountain roads of Cavite and the cool breeze of Tagaytay is the silence that I need before I hear the sound of hard volleyball spikes.

And for volleyball fans… Merry Christmas!

SPORTING JOURNEY: A Chance To Give Back

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

I have only made myself available for sportscasting for about three years, and just about to enter my second year in doing court announcing gigs regularly. It is a guaranteed thought that my combined experiences are still nothing compared to anyone you see on TV doing sports, but in my perspective those experiences that I got are sufficient enough for me to give back to the industry that has been very good to me.

I am not rich. Whatever allowances I get on these gigs, I use it to pay for my monthly liabilities. But all the same, it doesn’t give me an excuse to not give anything back. More than the money, the exposure and the opportunities I get from all of these are something that some people wanted (and wanted so bad) but are not getting it. That thought is enough for me to know that I am blessed. And what kind of douche would I be if I become so selfish to not share it?

The common fear in giving is that the giver might not get anything in return. It’s human nature; I don’t blast people for it. But I am a living proof that it is not the case. When you give, something will be given to you in return.

Somebody talked me out of doing the PSL opening ceremonies (and also talked the PSL out of me doing the opening ceremonies) back in February this year so I can do the dry run of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers home game against Japan. It’s a regular gig that has pay (and of course, volleyball players) compared to a one-shot thing that has no pay, except for an accreditation ID that would allow me to enter the venue and watch the actual game the next day. It was a no-brainer for me… I took the latter. If it means that I can see my favorite local basketball team (the national team) play live without the hassle of falling in line on the box office for good seats, then hell yeah! I’d do it for free! It was the happiest game that I called at that moment and I won’t get paid for it… AND IT’S FINE! The next day, I got the best seat in the house… table official’s row, beside the Japanese bench. I was one of the very few witness of Julio Lamas repeatedly giving the substitution box a variety of kicks. One of the best weekend ever!

Aside from the joy that I got from watching the game live, the more valuable thing that I gained is that I got to know more people that do pretty significant stuff in the industry that I am in. I got to know the people from SBP who work so hard in putting up the FIBA WCQ games as great as possible. Every person in that group is so dedicated to what they do, it made me want to work with them more. That’s why I make myself available every time a home game will be held here. Calling the dry-run game and doing everything else in between within my boundaries in exchange for free food, free fast internet, and the live FIBA home game. Best volunteer work ever!

True enough, they are able people that can do those tasks without me. It would much better if I would also be able to give back to people who wants to be in this industry as well. When I was the one aspiring to become one, opportunity was all I asked, and almost none was given, so I chased opportunities. It was pretty difficult and exhausting, but it was so worth it. Somehow, I’d like to give back to aspirants by giving them opportunities as soon as I get them. If I find a way to get somebody in the business and get a chance to teach them a thing or two about what I know so far, I’d gladly give them.

It's the joy and luxury that I am getting right now from the Metro League. It’s a tournament run by the Metro Manila Sports Fest that is a project of the Metro Manila Development Authority in partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association and Barangay 143 (yes, that Pinoy made cartoon to be shown very, very soon). Coach Bonnie Tan and his group gave me the greenest of the green light to train court announcers and let them do actual games. The game officials that are handling the games are the exact people from the PBA and PBA D-League. The games are using PBA D-League rules. Some teams also have some ex-PBA and PBA D-League players. With this kind of setup, CA trainees will definitely get some more intense game experience while maintaining a high (perfection) standard in conducting the games. It’s a learner’s paradise!

It’s the opportunity that I wanted to share that hopefully all aspirants should take advantage of. It’s not every day that these kind of opportunities show up. I’ve been there, and I know how difficult it is.

You might ask the reward again… well, it also allowed me to do something productive in my down time, since the PSL is still in its off-season. Furthermore, it also gave me the opportunity to do commentating for the Metro League. For the first time in my six-year stint in the world of sports broadcasting, I will get to call on broadcast livestream/TV the game of basketball.

Give something. Give anything. The universe will always find a way to repay you.

---

Follow the writer on Twitter and Instagram: @sportscastengr