TAMPA DIARY (DAY 2)
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 02 Dec 2006
TAMPA, Florida -- I began the day nursing a throbbing headache, a malady directly caused by jet lag, sleep deprivation and, ahem, a little intoxication. But like an NBA player who dutifully plays hurt, I did leave enough strength and sense to write my stories.
After meeting my deadlines, I wandered around the Hyatt Regency, where a menagerie of spectacular sights soothed my weary eyes.
I saw Shane Mosley hitching a ride in the escalator. I met Winky Wright at the lobby, he wore clothes fit for two people. I also chanced upon Bernard Hopkins mindlessly leafing through the pages of a magazine at the Golden Boy Promotions media room.
At sometime aorund 10 am, Salven Lagumbay of Cebu Daily News, the Inquirer and Philboxing.com joined me for a few laps at the Hyatt hotel pool. Amazingly, Salven was a good swimmer, a sort of Mark Spitz, who waded the waters with effortless grace.
Joining us for lunch was the man himself, Philboxing.com founder Dong Secuya. We ate at the Avanzare lounge. Salven had chicken, I gorged on a hamburger, while Dong, looking chic in a cordoroy blazer, had another one of those vegetarian delights.
Much of the day was occupied by the official weigh-in, the anticipation of and the work that would entail following the event. At the weigh-in I saw more camera bulbs flash than a Tom Cruise wedding. It's where Dong Secuya is often at his best, freezing timeless moments from various angles.
We dispersed from the Hyatt ballroom at 5:10 pm. Salven darted off to update the Philboxing.com website while Dong retreated to his room to edit the pictures he just took. I took a different path and followed BoomBoom everywhere, chronicling his every move.
The rush slowed down to a canter by 7:30 pm. Salven and I went back to the Avanzare lounge for dinner. He had blackened chicken with rice and I had skewered shrimp plus a bowl of clam chowder soup. He had diet Coke. I sipped rum and Coke.
Edito "Ala" Villamor and BoomBoom Bautista joined us later. They each had clam chowder soup.
With expectations of an even more hectic day today, I went back to my room at around 9:40 pm. I watched a little NBA on TV, made a few calls before putting the lights out.
(Homer Sayson is SunStar Cebu's hugely popular sports columnist, and DYAB's top sports analyst based in Chicago. For compliments and threats, email him at Homsay@hotmail.com)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Homer D. Sayson.
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