Pinoy Pride

The Flash and the Furious was an ambitious boxing promotion taken on by Solar Sports at the Araneta Coliseum. Since the "Thrilla in Manila" was staged in 1975, very few boxing events have met any success in Manila. It was after all, the first time we were going to have two bonafide World Titles at stake in one card.

We already had to postpone the fight mainly because of sponsor requests. Many detractors took pot shots at Solar as a company having financial difficulty because of it.

But then, it all came together. I'm thankful some sponsors took the risk (and it definitely paid off!). Even our non sponsors wanted some tickets last minute to watch the fight. The tickets sales started to pick up. The media coverage gained momentum. Most of our on ground plans to mobilize tickets sales worked. I have a feeling the ratings will also be better than expected.

And of course, the Pinoy boxers cooperated by submitting back to back to back world class performances. Denver Cuello got the WBC International Minimumweight Crown. Brian Viloria gave the performance of his life and dethroned Ulysses Solis. And Nonito Donaire, Jr. was impressive in his domination of challenger Raul Martinez.

Everything worked out. The one month postponement turned out to be the right decision. A world class event that highlights the Filipino's boxing talent was showcased at the Araneta.

Thank you to all who made it happen.

Triple Assault

If you're a Filipino boxer not named Manny Pacquiao, you would be hard pressed to get the attention you deserve in your own country let alone the rest of the world.  The Pacman has dominated the consciousness of Filipinos and boxing fans that others who are in the vicinity gets lost in overwhelmed with the exposure Manny gets.

We arguably have the three (3) best weeks of Philippine boxing ever lined up from April 19 to May 3 this year.  Four (4) World Title fights are happening (would have been 5 if Lluevano didn't injured against Concepcion) in the span of two weeks.  Donaire, Viloria, Penalosa and of course Pacquiao are all fighting for World Championships with Donaire and Viloria doing it right at the Araneta Coliseum.  

If you love boxing, then these 3 weekends are going to be heaven.

UAAP TV Rights

It seems we (Solar) really can't avoid crossing paths with ABS-CBN when it comes to sports television broadcasts.  They are a giant network with deep pockets and vast resources who want to be a big player in the business.  It's just the way it is.

The UAAP rights are no exception.  In my opinion, 90% of all basketball sponsorship money are placed in three leagues.  The PBA, the NBA and the UAAP.  Solar beat ABS with the PBA bid last year.  ABS failed in an attempt to carve out a portion of the Solar's NBA contract the year prior after BTV was booted out of Sky Cable.  That leaves the UAAP as the third league who eats up from that sponsorship pie.

It seems that ABS-CBN will be getting another chance to bid this month after their first attempt last Feb.  Maybe they underestimated the competition (GMA and Solar submitted separate proposals) once again.  Or maybe they forgot to mention some things when they first did it.  But they are going to be given another chance to "re bid".  I don't understand why they have to bid again given that they have the right of first refusal anyway.  All they have to do is match the highest bidder.  Was the UAAP not satisfied with their bid that they are doing it again?  Are they privy to the other two bidders proposals so they can match or exceed?

No matter what happens with the TV contract, the UAAP will be the clear winner with the rights fee being much higher this time around.

MORE THOUGHTS ON PACMAN TV RIGHTS ISSUE

Most of those involved have moved on from the most recent Pacquiao incident about TV rights.  For my part, I am certainly glad it's over as it was a huge unnecessary distraction mostly for Manny and his training but for me as well since it took a week out of selling advertising packages for the fight.  It was a stressful week to make sure the public knew the truth and was clear with Solar's position.

I am of the impression that most don't really care where the Pacman fights are televised.  The attention though I think given to the issue was mostly because of its ethical and moral implications.  Can someone really turn his back on contracts as easily as you deciding to switch cars when you want to replace the current?  Can a third party really claim they are free of any fault  just because they did not make the first move?

ABS-CBN, in my opinion was very sloppy in the way they handled the situation.  If I were going into a situation as high profile as Pacquiao's television contract agreement, I would absolutely make sure that I had a strong legal foundation to stand on.  At no time did a legal representative from Channel 2 go public because I am sure no lawyer in their right mind would want to justify and risk ridicule for defending what they did.  They ran with it based on a video and a letter that had no factual basis.  There also seemed to be a well orchestrated series of articles from one sportswriter that set the whole thing up.  But you need more than one sided articles and cowardly "unimpeachable" sources to see it through.

I also want to put into question the way Dyan Castillejo handled the situation based on Manny Pacquiao's account.  I have been a reporter for some international events including the NBA All Star Weekend and the Beijing Olympics.  The access given to us is to exclusively report on the event for our media entity.  We are specifically told that anything outside of what we're supposed to be doing would merit suspension of our privileges.  So using your access to get autographs, and making deals with athletes are out of bounds.  Ms. Castillejo used her access to broker a deal, not just report on Manny.

Manny Pacquiao has apologized.  ABS-CBN has not.  So I'm assuming the giant network does not see anything wrong with anything they did.  I am now curious to see if they will continue to cover Manny as extensively as they've done given what has transpired.  Because if the coverage suffers a significant decline, then maybe they were really just wooing our National Treasure to transfer.  

Lessons Learned

Manny Pacquiao after being asked what he learned from the experience of being in the middle of a controversy for his TV rights said "I am more intelligent now than I was yesterday".  Half joking but true in some ways, he really found out that he was not above the law and even our national treasure should adhere to basic ethical principals.

I was in the middle of the storm as my company, Solar Sports, who had the rights to Pacman's contract was surprised by his sudden announcement that he was rescinding the contract despite no valid reasons to do so.

After a few days worth of stress, lawyers, press conferences, and many phone calls, everything finally worked out and Manny honored his contract.

I, too am more intelligent after this experience.  As far as my lessons learned, I guess there were some...

Manny Pacquiao is one of the most unpredictable people in the world.  The Filipino people really are interested in his life and what he does.

There is no substitute for being right.  The passion and motivation to get the job done stems a lot from your belief in what you're doing.

You don't have to be educated or smart to be blinded by money and power, just human.  

You should always be prepared for all possibilities and cover all your bases.

Always be magnanimous and gracious in everything that you do.  

And my favorite.... "you can please some people all of the time, and all people some of the time, but you cannot please all people all of the time". 

Peace.

Valley of the Sun

I started this blog about a year ago after the New Orleans All Stars.  Many posts later, it's still going..... so it's been a year!

The Phoenix All Stars didn't have the normal extravagance compared to the others this decade.  In fact it had a toned down atmosphere.  Not as much merchandising within the city and hotels.  Transportation, food, and facilities were not as readily available.

The Rookie/Sophomore had its moments and the Slam Dunk contest on Saturday was pretty entertaining.  The All Star game actually had more than its share of serious moments where the players actually came to play rather than goof around.  I worked the game with Vitto Lazatin and although I've watched more entertaining games before, it was still a of fun doing the coverage.

The annual media pickup game was joined by Spurs player Roger Mason who obliged by having a nice conversation about his road to being an NBA player after being a Euroleague star.  Boris Diaw joined a few years back while Tim Hardaway played with us last year.  Spud Webb and BJ Armstrong were the other two from the last few years I've been involved as international media during the Allstars.

As with previous Allstar games, our broadcast position was once again right at courtside and beside a lot of the personalities who attended.  Seated right in front of us were Eva Longoria, Senator John McCain, and Spike Lee.  There were others whose names escape me but I do recognize them from various shows.  Beyonce was seated in the same row although on the other half of the sideline.

Overall, it was still very enjoyable for any basketball fan but if you've gone to the others from the last few years, you will notice that the league was more careful in this one as far as expenses were concerned.

One For the Ages

In most cases, game 7's of any series does not end up delivering in the pre game hype.  It's hard to imagine how a game with so much at stake can live up to the expectations of fans of being one of the best ever.  It happened Wednesday night.

I was more than happy when my boss postponed my trip to Phoenix for some pressing matters at work which gave me the chance to cover the 7th game as the television anchor with Norman Black as the analyst, Dominic Uy, Patricia Hizon, and Ceska Litton as the courtside reporters.  (Thanks to Ceska for the pic from the production room)  It was a first for me to cover the last game of the PBA Finals and it was "awesome".

As a commentator and a fan, I really was in "awe" watching the two teams combine talent and heart on their way to a masterpiece.  Well, sans the last possession(s) of Alaska, it was as good as it gets for the PBA.  The coaching was excellent.  The officiating was consistent.  The players were at the top of their game.  The fans were cheering in full force.  No Ginebra nor Purefoods, the two most popular teams and yet still a blockbuster with ratings and attendance that made Commissioner Barrios smile from ear to ear.

Congratulations to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters!