I was saving this for the next couple of weeks but maybe this can serve as a preamble to the upcoming six-part series titled Smart Gilas: Year One.
The reason why I have not written about the team for the longest time is one, I got busy with a lot of things. Working with the Noynoy-Mar campaign, doing some corporate work (I've been fielding a number of offers and sideline stuff), following the Ateneo teams, writing and re-writing a book that will be out soon, traveling, and even more traveling. I'll be off to Europe in a few months and that will be some time off again and will force me to miss other regulars such as the Blue Eagles. And it's certainly hard writing. There are days when I don't feel like it. I'm not a hack and never will be one. I gotta get into the mood for it. Let the others have their stories whether game accounts or sensationalist stories. Like I care. I'm in this for a good story and Gilas is a great story.
The biggest reason is obviously that I did not go with the team to the Middle East. That was huge. There is so much back story that I missed out on. Some people take my silence on the issues supposedly plaguing the team as an admission that it's all true. It's far from that. t's all about writing a story about a team and what they go through. Not every bump in the road is newsworthy unlike what other may have you believe. You have to treat it with all due respect because there's no telling what can happen on a day-to-day basis.
Even before Gilas got off the ground, I was aware of the program. Unlike other writers who just sit down and take notes, I don't. I spend some time before writing. My orientation to writing isn't the local way of sports writing. I was weaned on American sports even before I followed Ateneo or the PBA. I was abroad following sports even before I was aware of the local teams. I grew up on Sports Illustrated, Street and Smith, and The Sporting News before I began purchasing Sports Flash, Atlas Sports Weekly, and Sport. I've always wanted to follow a team on a regular basis. Obviously, writers like John Feinstein, Jack McCallum, and Michael Lewis were a huge influence on that.
That's something new here. Even among owners, team officials, and players, they've never had anyone get unrestricted access to the team and its affairs. So it is not an easy task for me.
For me, it's not about the scoop but the story. I've had my scoops (and duds) in my time and I certainly do not bask in it.
The Tokushima team was something I have been writing about for some time and I'm way past 60 pages. Obviously, I have to chop it down. But that is pretty much an accurate re-telling of everything that RP-San Mig team went through. I figure it bears some re-writing and more interviews. But it's plenty big enough.
That was always my preamble to Gilas: Year One.
Gilas: Year One. This long long story tracks the team from its inception to it's forays abroad and home. It brings everyone up to speed on who and why. It's an objective look at the team and as I've always done, portrays the team in a different light. Beyond the stats, beyond the glare. It talks about the flaws in the system and how the team and the SBP is growing with it. It ends with the Middle East trip that was a make or break for the team.
I know that some say that I'm like a pro-SBP writer. Ah, what do they know? I'm not even paid by the SBP. And if they only knew how much I get from my paper, they'd have a cow. Even if I am, so what? But that's okay.
It was hard to write about Gilas when I wasn't there in the Middle East. At that time, I was only communicating with a few players -- Mark, Greg, RJ, Jason, and some on the coaching staff. I followed what my colleagues were writing -- my good friends Joey V. and June N. but that wasn't obviously enough.
Gilas: Year One obviously needed a lot of research and help from so many people. That's why it's taking longer. But it will be worth the wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment