Famous sports columnist on Yolanda victims Albom heeds ‘phone call from heaven’

MANILA, Philippines - Mitch Albom extending a hand to thousands of Yolanda survivors could be likened to answering a “phone call from heaven.”

Saying he owes it to his Filipino followers, the great author and award-winning sports columnist yesterday said he’s in the country to do his share in the effort to help the typhoon victims.

Albom said that on his Facebook page, the second greatest number of readers or fans outside the United States comes from the Philippines.

“That’s amazing to me and I’m very inspired and that’s one of the reasons I’m here. I wanted to come to meet all these readers who’ve been writing me all this time and after the typhoon I really wanted to come,” he said.

Albom said he’d been asked to come to the Philippines countless times over the last 10 to 15 years, and wasn’t able to do it.

“But after the typhoon happened my heart really went out to this country,” he said.

“I’ve seen that kind of devastation in Haiti where I have an orphanage that I operate and I go there every month and I’ve seen what happens to a country after a disaster and what happens to a country after everybody forgets about the disaster which is what happened to Haiti and I don’t want that to happen here,” Albom added.

Albom is here to promote his latest book, “The First Phone Call from Heaven,” but he said it’s more important for him to come and see the typhoon victims on Monday.

“I’m hoping that my visit will call some attention. We’re going to dedicate a library and bring in a lot of books from American authors and I hope that helps inspire more contributions,” he said.

His books can be found  in every corner of the world, having sold more than 35 million copies. He’s also a music lover, saying he always has a song in his head. He’s a playwright, a radio and television host. He’s into charity work, and loves doing it. As a sports writer, he’s covered all the bases.

“I’ve been to everything and I’m very lucky to do that,” said Albom, who authored the iconic book “Tuesdays with Morrie” as well as “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” and a handful others.

The 55-year-old American, warm and friendly, sat down with The STAR yesterday, up in his luxurious suite at Raffles Makati. The exclusive interview was arranged by the National Bookstore, the chain that brought him in.

The text message said the interview was to last 30 minutes. But it took a little longer than that because Albom was in a great mood to talk. He just went on and on.

Sports was on top of the lunchtime menu. And even before he planted himself in the middle of a cozy sofa, Albom mentioned something about the Filipino figure skater who made heads turn in the ongoing Winter Games in Sochi.

Albom was quite surprised to learn that Michael Christian Martinez, the first Filipino skater to make it to the Winter Games, was among the most followed athletes in Sochi.

“Is he good?” asked the award-winning sports writer. He got a positive response.

“He made it to the final group? That’s a big deal isn’t it?” added Albom of the 17-year-old Martinez who finished 19th among 30 qualifiers.

Then he shared his memorable experiences writing a sports column for the Detroit Free Press, and how he’d been to the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the World Cup, the World Championships, the NBA Finals, the Masters and the French Open, Wimbledon and some of the great fights in boxing.

He remembered as the bloodiest the one between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, and how he, seated on second row, had blood splattered over his notebook.

To get a better view of how it really was, Albom said he tried a hand on the different sports. He tried to box and tried surfing, went mountain climbing and dog sledding, took a lap on a race car and ran with the bulls in Pamplona.

Albom said he once played one-on-one with former Detroit Piston John Salley, and learned how to dunk with ball on a trampoline. He did other crazy stuff, saying he once interviewed an ultra-marathoner as they ran so he could find out how the latter could talk while he was running.

“I wanted to get a better understanding of what it was like. It was very educational,” said Albom.

When the topic turned to boxing, there was no way Manny Pacquiao wouldn’t be mentioned. First off, Albom was asked if he wanted to do three rounds with the Filipino superstar.

“Sure,” Albom said laughing.

“Because that would mean I would last three rounds. But I don’t think I would last three seconds with him. I have boxed but I never boxed the real person. I know what it’s like to get hit in the face and it’s not fun. Maybe we could do this (touch gloves) and the bout is over,” he said.

He remembered travelling to Las Vegas to cover the fights of Sugar Ray Leonard, whom he said he knew well, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman and even Muhammad Ali’s last fights.

“In those days in the eighties and nineties I went to everything,” he said looking back. He was in his early 30s then.

Then seriously he talked about Pacquiao, and spoke nicest of the Filipino fighter.

“He’s a freak of nature. He just goes on and on. He’s a fantastic fighter,” said Albom, rattling it off.

“Highly, highly skilled. Every time I watch him I marvel at his ability. How fast he is and how long he’s been at it. Boxer’s generally come and go very quickly. They don’t last very long,” said Mitch, who has yet to cover any of Pacquiao’s fights.

“I haven’t written about him but I covered him for television and commented on him on TV (ESPN). We talked about some of his fights,” he said.

Of course, you can’t talk about Pacquiao without mentioning the name of Floyd Mayweather Jr. The two boxing superstars are the sport’s greatest rivals although they haven’t fought yet.

Then why isn’t the fight happening?

“Floyd Mayweather is a tough guy to understand even for an American. So I don’t really know what his motivations are. I think everybody would like to see much of that (super fight) as they can because those are two biggest names that we have,” said Albom.

“He’s (Mayweather) a great fighter, too. I wish he was a little more humble about it. Americans admire humility even though we produce a lot of people a lot of athletes who aren’t very humble. American fans like more of the humble champion and Mayweather doesn’t make a lot of friends with his approach.”

Albom knows whom to pick if the fight ever takes place.

“I personally prefer the quieter (fighters), the guys who just get it done and don’t have to brag about it. So I’d probably be rooting for Pacquiao in that fight,” he said.

Finally, it was time to cut the interview.

But then again, Albom wasn’t done yet. It looked like he could talk all day.

“I boxed just long enough to know I didn’t want to do that for a living,” he said, again lighting up everybody’s mood.

“And once I got hit in the head, I saw stars and said I think I can probably make a living doing something else,” said Albom.

So he became a writer – and the best there is.