Mad dogs
and Joshua Webb
There’s
no method and there’s no madness to La Salle’s talented and mercurial forward.
He is in his words, “an ordinary guy who’s driven.” So what drives him?
Rebound’s Rick Olivares sifts through the layers.
When the drums reverberate inside the
Araneta Coliseum, Joshua David Webb initially cannot hear them. He’s got his
headphones on and the decibel level gets cranked up. The three-chord riffs of
Iggy Pop and the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be
Your Dog,” that classic distortion heavy proto-punk anthem for a
dispossessed generation, is like a fuel injection that courses through his
veins. It pumps him up further and is a moment away from maximum overdrive.
“So
messed up I want you here.
In
my room I want you here.”
Webb
has three tattoos. On top of his right breast is the Latin word “Veritas.” It’s
for his Uncle Hubert who has been incarcerated inside New Bilibid Prison since
Joshua was five years old. Every Sunday, the entire family goes to visit
Muntinglupa unless there’s a game to be played. Visiting never gets old except
for the age that begins to show on his uncle’s face. It hurts Joshua. But he
never lets anyone in on it. What his uncle has been teaching him is to be
strong in the face of adversity.
Family
is what is important to De La Salle University’s designated human energizer
battery. After every match, what follows is an hour or two of dissecting the
game – of what went right and what went wrong. His grandfather Freddie, a Philippine Basketball Association legend, is always present to
give his grandson some pointers to ponder. So is his father Fritz and his Uncle
Jason when he is around. Joshua wouldn’t want it any other way. And his
parents, his face lights up when he talks about them. They set him straight and
bring him back to earth when he gets overly anxious about things. These are the
people who care about him. And they mean only the best.
His
eyes light up when he sees former Zobel teammates Simon Atkins and Nico Elorde
in the seniors’ line-up. The three of them share a bond that became stronger
when in 2005; they led their high school team to La Salle’s first secondary
title since 1955. Webb and Elorde would later team up once more for a second in
2007 over Ateneo. It was a victory that showed that 2004 wasn’t a fluke and
that the Junior Archers were for real.
Webb
thinks that they have the makings of real pride right in Taft now that there
are more homegrown players on board. There’s also the addition of freshman
Luigi de la Paz and LSGH standout Ferdinand still manning the slot.
“Now
we’re gonna be face-to-face.
And
I’ll lay right down in my favorite place.”
The
rush tingles up his spine as Webb runs onto the court with his teammates. He
bounces around brimming with energy. He’s got so much charge in him that
someone should stick a meter on to him.
“I
have to find a release for it, man” he declares. He’s finally into the joys of
running. One time, he ran for 10 miles that during practice, his shots were
flat. New Head Coach Dindo Pumaren chewed him out albeit in a good way. Webb
had this sheepish grin on his face but he nodded in agreement. “It wasn’t for
the lack of effort,” he explains. “It was more of proper timing and channeling
it properly.”
Webb
has a second tattoo; this one below his left wrist. It’s the word “freedom” in
Arabic and comes with a double meaning -- one again pertaining to his uncle and
the second to himself.
The basketball court is his canvass where he can express himself. Everyone sees the antics and trash talk. He confesses he has no idea why he’s like that. He folds his arms and thinks about it. It is a startling contrast. Off the court, he’s a homebody who prefers to watch DVDs for hours in his room or lose himself in his a steady mix of classic rock that ranges from Led Zeppelin to Cream to Jimi Hendrix and to the Doors among many others. “I’m a throwback,” he laughs. “The music then was real. No pretensions. And I’m like that.”
If
he weren’t playing sports, he’d be a rock star. He says that without
hesitation. It’s evident because his eyes light up and that definitely gets his
juices flowing. While in high school, he once sang in front of the whole school
with an orchestra backing him up. “That was a dream come true.” he smiles.
But
as soon as he steps on the court, he’s got his game face on.
Webb
fears no one. As a child, he played a lot of pick up basketball at Bilibid with
prisoners. He got so used to it as a kid that never did he once think that it
could be dangerous. Uh-uh, he shakes his head. “Maybe that’s why I play with no
fear,” he surmises.
Sometimes,
that over eagerness leads to mistakes such as when he kicked at Ateneo player
Raymond Austria during a scuffle for the ball. “I make mistakes. I have to
learn from them.”
The
inmates have never given him any advice that has stuck with him. That comes
from his head coaches.
“I
want you to give your team all your energy.” He’s heard that from his Boris
Aldeguer as well as from Franz and
Dindo Pumaren who just took over a few months ago. “I like my role. I’ve got a
large supply of that. And hopefully I can infect everyone with it.”
He’s
the type of player that everyone loves to hate but would like to be on their
side. He knows that so he doesn’t get bothered by the jeers and catcalls from
the gallery.
“Oh,
I love it,” he says of the heckling. “I feed off it. In fact, it makes me even
more focused. But that’s only on the court. Off it, man… I’m actually a
sensitive guy.”
He’s
no tortured soul. Far from it. He just relishes life. “I learned that from my
uncle. One day you’re free and the next you’re not.”
He
isn’t blind to failure and the change that comes with it. Being a part of the
first La Salle team to miss the UAAP Final Four rankles him. And then there’s
his closest friend on the Green Archers squad Hyram Bagatsing not being on the
roster anymore. He keeps quiet, takes it on the chin, and soldiers on. “Life’s
like that. One day you’re on top and the next you’re losing left and right.”
“Now
I’m ready to close my eyes.
And
now I’m ready to close my mind.
And
now I’m ready to feel your hand.
And
lose my heart on the burning sands.”
The third and last tattoo on Webb is
just above his left wrist: Joshua 1:5. He admits to not being the overly
religious sort but he does believe in the passage that says: “No one can withstand you while you live I
will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Webb thinks about being a third
generation basketball star and how he would like to lead La Salle back to the
Promised Land. “Have to learn from all of this, man. What’s it’s like to lose
and to fail. At first, it seemed so easy. I should know better than the others
of not taking things for granted.”
He knows that the school has been
building a contender. All of a sudden, he is no longer the newbie but a veteran
on a very young squad. “My teammates are also looking up to me to lead the way.
I don’t mind the responsibility.”
When “I Wanna Be Your Dog” comes to a
thrashing end with Iggy Pop urging, “So c’mon!” Webb is ready to kick in the
afterburners. Webb lets out a primal yell and he bounds up and down like a pogo
stick. His music then segues into the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy.”
It’s game time.
No comments:
Post a Comment