More of Hardball

This week marks the 13th year of the sports talk show “Hardball” on the ABS-CBN News Channel, definitely the longest-running sports TV show in the Philippines. You’d have to go outside of sports to find programs that have been around longer, and they would most likely be nightly newscasts like “TV Patrol” and “The World Tonight”. This writer was once involved with both of those programs, and I can tell you, it takes a lot to keep them going. Luckily, Hardball only confines itself to issues on sports. Fourteen years span seven SEA Games, three Olympics, and three Asian Games. All told –º including when Hardball started out as a daily show, we have had over 2,200 episodes. 

From an initial cast of three hosts, which included Jinno Rufino and Boom Gonzalez, and no less than five (yes, five) schedule changes, Hardball has been on the air uninterrupted since November of 2006, the day after Manny Pacquiao fought Erik Morales that year. Strangely enough, Pacquiao has never been physically in the studio for the show, owing to his previous contracts with other networks. He has, however, been interviewed live on the phone twice. Perhaps when he retires and Hardball is still on the air, we will get to commemorate our unintended connection.

Hardball has had a virtual “Who’s Who” of sports personalities appear over the years, the ridiculous traffic notwithstanding. Almost every PBA, NCAA and UAAP champion basketball team has been on the show. We’ve had world boxing champions, US ambassadors, senators, congressmen, a couple of Cabinet members, and the occasional NBA player. Strangely, French NBA player Roni Turiaf once walked into our studio, but politely declined an interview, as he was only there to support Ana Julaton, who had crossed over from boxing to mixed martial arts.

Hardball has had its share of triumphs, too. My broadcast partner since the very beginning, Boyet Sison, has parlayed his stint on Hardball into regular work doing the daytime news on ANC, and sitting in on practically every news and sports show on the channel. He has also become the immortal Freddie Webb’s partner on DZMM’s only sports show “Fastbreak”. The guy with the bowtie has also become a featured host and speaker at many events, and is an accomplished DJ. Our writer, Warren de Guzman, has transitioned to becoming a credible business correspondent for ANC.

We’ve also tackled our share of issues. We’ve fought for athletes’ rights, supported their advocacies, defended women athletes, and challenged corruption in the Philippine Olympic Committee. Hardball has been in the fight for the right before other sports programs were even born. We’ve helped a radio sports broadcaster get justice after being assaulted by a karate official, and got a blogger fired for defaming us and other sports personalities. We’ve helped oppressed athletes in dozens of sports from basketball to figure skating and many more.

Ironically, it’s been the last few years that Hardball has reaped its greatest success. The program has won the last three Gawad Tanglaw Awards for Best Sports Show (an overall award, and not just for sports talk shows). This we sometimes smile about. The academe recognizes us in spite of our irreverence. We’ve been invited to host, cover, speak, judge, and attend events because of our sustained presence on the air, which we owe to the kindness of ANC management, the diligence of our executive producer Paul Loyola, and the creativity of our director, Tito the venerable Robles. We are seen internationally, and have made millions of people smile. You can’t be anything but happy about that.

Like anything, consistent quality is the secret. You have to show up, ready to do the job, sharp, focused and insightful. There is no way around it. The audience sees, more so with the abundance of replays designed to hit all the major time zones abroad.

A friend once joked that he saw me in his bedroom with his wife one evening. I replied that all she had to do was turn off their TV, and added that, if Hardball was more entertaining in his bedroom than he was, then he had a problem. 

On second thought, maybe we are. I certainly think so.