Purefoods in the spotlight

Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, rookie Jondan Salvador and veteran Richard Yee will be grilled in a "mock" press conference this morning at the Beato Angelico Auditorium on the University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus in Manila.

They’re the "guests" in the spotlight as about 200 campus journalists from all over the country–even as far as General Santos City–will subject them to some serious and not-so-serious interrogation on the third and last day of the annual "Inkblots" seminar organized by UST’s 77-year-old official student publication "The Varsitarian."

It’s the seventh straight year that the seminar, also known as the National Campus Journalism Fellowship, is being held.

This year’s edition features a three-day series of lectures on newswriting, features writing, culture and lifestyle writing, investigative journalism, sportswriting, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, campus paper management and many others.

The speakers in "Inkblots 2005" are Sheila Coronel for investigative journalism, Luige del Puerto for newswriting, Ruel de Vera for culture and lifestyle, Michael Coroza for Filipino literature, Nestor Cuartero for features writing, Jess Abrera for photojournalism, Rina Jimenez-David for column writing, Arnold Clavio for broadcast journalism, Joselito Zulueta for campus paper management, Marites Vitug for journalism ethics and yours truly for sportswriting.

I’ve been a lecturer for "Inkblots" the last four years.

As an "Inkblots" regular, I can attest to the depth of talent that is evident among the participants. The campus journalists come from different parts of the country and they congregate at UST to learn and share their experiences with one another. The students are the cream of the writing crop in their schools and they’re destined to be at the forefront of the media industry in the future.

Two years ago, I introduced something different in my lecture on sportswriting. After my talk, I brought in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Gerard Francisco, a UST alumnus, to be grilled in a "mock" press conference where the students played the role of inquisitive reporters. Then, I asked the students to write a story based on what they gathered from the grilling. I gave them the freedom to submit whatever type of piece they were comfortable with — news, features, newsfeatures or column. Since we couldn’t take all day, I set a word limit to their pieces and a time constraint, too.

After collecting their pieces, I chose the best ones and awarded prizes. Excerpts of the best write-ups were later published in this column.

Last year, Sta. Lucia Realty coach Alfrancis Chua, another UST alumnus, was in the hot seat.

Gregorio, Salvador and Yee will take their turns at 11 this morning. Purefoods team manager Rene Pardo is donating company products as prizes for the writing contest.

Luckily, Purefoods isn’t playing in the PBA doubleheader at the Araneta Coliseum today. The Chunkee Giants’ next game is against Barangay Ginebra in Cagayan de Oro City on Saturday.

The students should have a lot of questions for Gregorio, Salvador and Yee.

I’m sure they’d like to find out the inside scoop on how Purefoods managed to come from behind and score back-to-back overtime wins over Alaska and San Miguel Beer. The team now has a 3-1 record, good for second place in the standings.

The Giants never lost hope in rising from the grave to pull off the nerve-wracking wins. Against Alaska, Purefoods stormed back from a pair of 29-point deficits in the third period to outlast the Aces, 86-84, in extension last Friday. Then, two nights later, the Giants overcame import Marquin Chandler’s early foul problems to similarly push themselves to the limit and shock the Beermen, 92-90, in another overtime thriller.

Gregorio, 33, is suddenly the PBA’s man of the hour. He captured his only PBA title in his first-ever conference in 2002 and has established himself as one of the best young coaches ever to emerge from the woodwork in the pro league’s 31-year history. How he was able to motivate his players to believe in themselves and rise to the occasion not once but twice in the last few days is a story that begs to be told.

In three conferences last season, Purefoods failed to make it to a single semifinals. The team brought up the rear in the 2004 Fiesta Conference, was sixth in the Philippine Cup and sixth again in the 2005 Fiesta Conference.

This season, the Purefoods squad is no longer known as the Tender Juicy Hot Dogs. The team is now the Chunkee Giants, echoing the "integral brand character of Purefoods Chunkee Corned Beef–its chunkiness."

Here’s an explanation from Purefoods on why it’s now called the Chunkee Giants:

"Better understood in Filipino local culture as ‘buo ang laman at buo ang sarap’, Purefoods Chunkee Giants champions the team’s ‘buo ang loob’ spirit. The Purefoods Chunkee Giants spirit honors our heritage and celebrates our future. It projects the fresh energy that’s bursting from within us. It signifies to competition and more importantly to the fans, our renewed sense of passion for the game and for giving it our all. It captures every giant’s deep-seated yearning to be champions.

"With our name, we shall be synonymous with leadership. It projects who we are and who we want to be. Never before has it been so important to realize our dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem. Never before have we posed such a tremendous challenge to ourselves. A single-minded vision that is not just about winning but delivering spirited play that’s nothing less than 100 percent."

A Giant who’s slowly coming of age is rookie Jondan Salvador who’ll be in the "mock" press conference this morning.

No doubt, the students would like to find out how Salvador is coping with his baptism of fire. The 6-2 1/4 forward from St. Benilde turned 25 last Wednesday and was Purefoods’ first round pick, fourth overall (after Anthony Washington, Alex Cabagnot and Denok Miranda) in this year’s draft. Salvador was chosen ahead of blue-chippers like Mark Cardona, Nino Canaleta and Leo Najorda.

Salvador starts for Purefoods and is often matched up against the opposing import. He’s not afraid to bang bodies and he’s not intimidated by bigger players.

Yee, 28, is a UST product and has played his entire seven-year PBA career with Purefoods. His father Jess Migalbin was a PBA player for nine seasons from 1978 to 1985. Like Salvador, he’s a rugged banger who backs down from no one. It’ll be a homecoming for Yee at UST today.

The "Inkblots" participants are expected to probe deeply into the minds of Gregorio, Salvador and Yee.