“No Cheering In The Press Box” is the title of a book written by baseball scribe Jerome Holtzman.
Holtzman, a Chicago writer who prowled the baseball beat virtually until he died in 2008 at age 82, was a purist, both about the National Pastime and in terms of proper conduct in the confines of the workplace of what Red Sox slugger Ted Williams (my top sports hero outside of boxing) contemptuously called “the Knights of the Keyboard.”
But I’m here to tell you today that I’ve been writing about sports, with the emphasis on boxing for over 40 years starting as a “go fer” at age 16 at the now troubled Boston Globe, and there is plenty of cheering in the press section. You might need a special tuner to know that, though, since the vast majority of it is done silently.
I make no bones about the fact that I am rooting, I am hoping and I expect Manny Pacquiao to thrash Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas. Whether I get a press seat on the floor or in the Bob Uecker You Pissed Someone Off media auxiliary nosebleeds, I want to see Pacrule and Pacdomination to continue.
May the Best Man win, indeed, in the spirit of the Marquis Of Queensbury and all that but it says here that Pacquiao is a better boxer and a better hitter than plucky, never stop trying Ricky. I don’t mean to offend Ricky’s Royal Rooters for they bring plenty of adrenaline and get lager thirsts wherever he fights. (With Carl Icahn trying to push host MGM Grand into bankruptcy, you may be that the bartenders and waitresses of Sin City truly appreciate both Hattonite and Pinoy patronage.)
Megamanny is not only humble, refreshing and always a “value for money” performer in the ring, he’s a veritable tonic to the entire business. Too bad the Bosox don’t currently have a power hitter who can light up the scoreboard the way “Manram” (now a Dodger) used to. That Manny, last name Ramirez, collected extra base hits the way Pacman generates Internet clicks.
With Oscar De La Hoya, all-time PPV Money Champeen, properly putting his gloves into storage, Da Pacman is the heir apparent as boxing’s biggest breadwinner. The sure to come megabout between the Pinoy Idol and “Money Owes To IRS” Mayweather may smash all the records.
Money worshipper Bob Arum is salivating over the haul from the Hatton bout already as he told Philstar scribe Joaquin Henson:
“It’s really a 52-50 sharing,” disclosed Arum. “Hatton wouldn’t budge on 50-50 and neither would Manny so (Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard) Schaefer and I agreed to put in our share to give Manny 52 percent. Still, he’s guaranteed at least $12 million and his take could go up to $20 million with the pay-per-view sales taken into account.”
Through all the years, all the bouts at all the venues, I recall only one occasion where I saw a scribe lose it and verbalize his personal preference.
It was in Las Vegas and, though there was little doubt that the British-Canadian-Jamaican Lion Lennox Lewis would rip through drug-plagued but also talented Tony “TNT” Tucker (his “TNT” was self-destructive), UK sports columnist Hughie McIllvaney lost a grip on his emotions.
I was Don King’s press chief at the time and, as I tended to my literary flock, I watched in amazement as the Scotsman jumped from his press pew and roared: “Come on Lennox, finish him off!”
I remember more about this episode than I do about the fight. As I recall, some of McIllvaney’s colleagues told him to sit down and hush up.
The point is that the boss scribes as King likes to call them are not potted plants. They are men and now some women and they have their favorites.
Any fool who thinks media types are generally neutral are without a clue.
If you’re a Pinoy media person, why wouldn’t you want Manny to keep rolling? His success means more interest in your reportage not to mention more cushy excursions to Las Vegas. I mean, it’s not like reporting from the caves of Afghanistan.
I do admit that this homeboy enthusiasm can run to excess as it did for business writer Wilson Flores of Philstar.com, who analogized the nation;s economy to Pacman. Flores wrote, in part:
"I believe Manny Pacquiao’s fighting spirit, his disciplined training, his bold dreams, his overcoming of incredible odds throughout his poverty-stricken youth up to his latest match — all these reflect the resilience and boundless positive growth potential of our Philippine economy.
Like the Philippine economy, Pacquiao should hopefully be shielded from the mostly self-destructive, corrupt and chaotic world of Philippine politics. I strongly believe that if we have less crooked politics hounding our economy and Pacquiao, both will have a great future in 2009 and beyond!"
Similarly, in their heart of hears, the UK press corps is coming to cover Ricky and his large troop of fans who will be in Nevada singing their “Winterland Wonderland” song, you know “There’s Only One Ricky Hatton…”
It’s not Pacman who sells papers, garners radio and TV audiences or web hits in Old Blighty, it’s the Merry Mancunian, Hatton.
It feathers the English media’s nest if Hatton wins the fight. Just like it would behoove the Brits if their stocky Londoner, David Hayemaker Haye, can punch out Wladimir Klitschko when they fight in Germany June 20.
Nationalism is not on the wane in the press section.
In my view, opinionated, subjective reporting is fine. Write or speak in an unemotional, strictly neutral style and you sure to bore everyone.
These people, myself included, are pugilistic pundits and we have our favorites just like Manny and Ricky must like some media types better than others.
Full marks if Hatton can accomplish the unthinkable. Having a favorite does not preclude fair play.
But, I, Michael Marley, will be rooting—sotto voce, of course—for the Little Fellow from GenSan.
I’m no closet Pachugger.
Source: examiner.com
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