In The Zone

While most people loathe waking up on Monday mornings, some actually look forward to it. Especially for sports enthusiasts, this is the best time to get In the Zone. The weekly interactive radio sports program debuted last April 15, 2002. And since then, Mondays have never been the same.

"The concept came about from my love to talk about sports in depth.  Since television is very expensive, most of the interviews and discussions on TV are very superficial.  Radio allows us to dig deeper and tackle more issues about different sports topics," explains sports broadcaster Jude Turcuato, one of the four anchors of ITZ.

Regularly exchanging banter with Turcuato on air is PBA analyst TJ Manotoc, who comes in for the second hour of the program, after touring wet markets in the metropolis, doing reporting for one of the morning television programs. This sports-palengke combination has already stirred some listeners to call and tease Manotoc about his "palengke king" alter ego.

While most of the show is about sports, there is airtime for just about anything else under the sun. As Turcuato puts it, "One unique fact is that the hosts are actually friends off air as well." This gives listeners the feeling of eavesdropping on a regular conversation among friends; except that this barkada is composed of hosts who are from television and who revolve around the sporting circuit, making them more like experts on the highlights and sidelights of the field (read juicy bits). The hosts regularly dish out information to clear topics from PBA, NBA, UAAP, NCAA, PBL, to other sports like tennis, golf, and so on. And occasionally drop blind items involving controversial stars and issues. This combination has tempted a lot of listeners to sacrifice a few more minutes of sleep after the weekend and wake up at eight on Monday mornings to catch ITZ.

Tin Gamboa, a senior at De La Salle University taking up AB Psychology, also one of the anchors, puts it this way, "Our discussions are really in-depth. We never cross the boundary of ethics, but we’re never too afraid to call a spade a spade."

And this gutsy radio reporting has encouraged a lot of the show’s guests to come up with very memorable and shocking revelations. Jojo Lastimosa once guested in ITZ to talk about the PBA players’ association. During the interview, he told the story of how a Fil-Am confronted him once. Apparently, the Fil-Am player thought Jolas was standing in the way of his permit to be able to play in the PBA. One caller put him on the spot by naming the Fil-Am he was talking about. And without batting an eyelash, Jolas said, "Yes, I’m referring to Eric Menk."

Avid followers would also recall a phone patch with then UP Maroons rookie, JR Reyes, when he openly admitted on air that one of the leading universities offered him a car so that he would enroll in the said school. Aside from college ballers being offered money and incentives, other controversial issues touched in the show were Mike Cortez and how he allegedly threw the ADMU-DLSU championship; why veteran sports anchor Ed Picson left the PBA coverage; and even the much talked-about delayed salary of sportscasters from Viva.

Why Norman Black was sacked as coach of Sta. Lucia remains a big question mark in a lot of observers’ minds. He will be the in-studio guest of ITZ today. Catch the answers from 8-10 a.m. over at sports radio 918AM.

Other memorable topics include the passing away of DLSU Archer Migs Gozum. Everyone in the booth was saddened by the tragic news. Tin Gamboa was a personal friend and she was in tears. But she had to keep emotions at bay. ITZ producer Noel Zarate also recalls the December 30, 2002 episode where former Commissioner Jun Bernardino was a guest. "We were about two questions short of making him cry. It was exactly 38 hours before he would step down as PBA Commissioner."

Regular segments of the show include Sports Buzz where hosts give a rundown of issues that happened in the sporting world throughout the week; NBA In The Zone which focuses on games and topics about the much loved basketball league; Power Hour Powwow where interesting and controversial guests are interviewed; Fearless Forecasts where hosts predict the outcome of much anticipated sporting events; and the Zone Quote of the Week.

The best things about ITZ is summarized by Turcuato. "They can get the inside scoop on the biggest sports stories from the weekend.  They can empathize in their loyalties and opinions of their favorite teams.  They can see different angles to different sports issues.  They can be entertained by the banter of sports buffs."

The offer to co-host this show with Jude, and TJ came only last August. Apparently, there were two other female hosts considered for the slot. The first two choices had too many commitments to accommodate a weekly radio program, which was why the task fortunately landed on my lap. As one of the ironies in life goes, "A person’s trash is somebody else’s treasure."

ITZ has indeed gone a long way since it went on air in April. Commissioner Noli Eala has scheduled In The Zone on the PBA’s official media tour for Feb 10. Watch out for exciting discussions at ITZ. This also serves as an invitation to join Jude, TJ, Tin and myself every Monday. To be unstoppable in life, you’ve got to be In the Zone!

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