Fair Play: Jacob Lagman and Efren Reyes
IN just one night, I saw a legend and a legend to be. One is barely in his teens but has the maturity level of an adult, while the other is a kid forever trapped in a 50-year-old body.
Both are also very humble.
Last Wednesday, I met Jacob Lagman in person, and caught Efren “Bata” Reyes on Profiles on ABS-CBN.
One evokes images of what it would be like to read about his campaign in the future, while the other rekindled memories of what it was like to be a fan of the greatest ever pool player.
Jacob, the youngest child of Juliet and Jess, is fresh from a three-month training spell in Barcelona, Spain.
Aside from meeting Rafael Nadal, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Mikhail “Beat yourself with a racquet” Youzhny, Guillermo Canas and a slew of other tennis pros, he trained with Spain’s Davis Cup winning coach, Emilio Sanchez-Vicario.
And if that doesn’t make the tennis fan in you drool, I know the following fact will make the guy below green with envy: Lagman was in Barcelona the night the Catalans defeated Manchester United for the Uefa Champions League in Rome.
Oh how Barcelona must have partied the night away.
Some guys are just born lucky.
But, make no mistake, though. Jacob may have his family to thank for some of his blessings but it’s his blood, sweat and tears that got him where he is today.
When I first met Jacob, he lost in the elementary tennis finals in the Palarong Pambansa to a foe who either looked mature for his age, or was really 16.
Now, he lost quite a lot of weight, is a few shades darker and based on the evaluation of the Academy’s coach, he’s got a bright future ahead.
Aside from complementing his techniques and mental stability, Albert Carbonell wrote in his evaluation, “His respectful attitude during all these time(s), makes it really easy for the coaches to do a good job, we hope he keeps on with that attitude.”
Jacob plans to return to Spain next year and to start touring the ITF events and I wish him the best of luck.
ALWAYS THE KID. When I got home that night, I caught a show about Reyes’s on TV. I saw a TV adaptation of Reyes’s life on ABS-CBN so I wasn’t expecting much from the show.
But I’m glad I watched it because I learned a few things from Reyes.
He’s a kid at heart who’s always after the family’s welfare.
After he was conned by a Pinoy in his first trip in the US, he returned and started winning a lot of money.
According to his brother, minus the amount spent for beer, cigarettes and other pool essentials, the rest went straight to their parents.
When he won the World Pool Association title in 1999—an event that spurred the growth of pool in the country—he couldn’t help but cry when he was greeted by a mob when got off the plane.
He was still sobbing during a live interview and said he wasn’t used to interviews and that he didn’t know what to say.
When he was chosen as one of the 60 heroes for Time Asia, he asked, “Why me?”
A clip showed Reyes with the other heroes and he looked as comfortable as a kid forced to attend an uncle’s retirement party.
And in his acceptance speech, in Tagalog, he said the same thing. He hasn’t done anything to change Asia, he just played pool, so why was he included? (His manager said a senior editor of Times explained Reyes was a unanimous choice among their junior editors).
A translated version of the speech was supposed to be read by Reyes’s manager, but before he got to the stage, a senior editor of Time told him:
“Please, let me have the honor of reading his speech.”
Both are also very humble.
Last Wednesday, I met Jacob Lagman in person, and caught Efren “Bata” Reyes on Profiles on ABS-CBN.
One evokes images of what it would be like to read about his campaign in the future, while the other rekindled memories of what it was like to be a fan of the greatest ever pool player.
Jacob, the youngest child of Juliet and Jess, is fresh from a three-month training spell in Barcelona, Spain.
Aside from meeting Rafael Nadal, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Mikhail “Beat yourself with a racquet” Youzhny, Guillermo Canas and a slew of other tennis pros, he trained with Spain’s Davis Cup winning coach, Emilio Sanchez-Vicario.
And if that doesn’t make the tennis fan in you drool, I know the following fact will make the guy below green with envy: Lagman was in Barcelona the night the Catalans defeated Manchester United for the Uefa Champions League in Rome.
Oh how Barcelona must have partied the night away.
Some guys are just born lucky.
But, make no mistake, though. Jacob may have his family to thank for some of his blessings but it’s his blood, sweat and tears that got him where he is today.
When I first met Jacob, he lost in the elementary tennis finals in the Palarong Pambansa to a foe who either looked mature for his age, or was really 16.
Now, he lost quite a lot of weight, is a few shades darker and based on the evaluation of the Academy’s coach, he’s got a bright future ahead.
Aside from complementing his techniques and mental stability, Albert Carbonell wrote in his evaluation, “His respectful attitude during all these time(s), makes it really easy for the coaches to do a good job, we hope he keeps on with that attitude.”
Jacob plans to return to Spain next year and to start touring the ITF events and I wish him the best of luck.
ALWAYS THE KID. When I got home that night, I caught a show about Reyes’s on TV. I saw a TV adaptation of Reyes’s life on ABS-CBN so I wasn’t expecting much from the show.
But I’m glad I watched it because I learned a few things from Reyes.
He’s a kid at heart who’s always after the family’s welfare.
After he was conned by a Pinoy in his first trip in the US, he returned and started winning a lot of money.
According to his brother, minus the amount spent for beer, cigarettes and other pool essentials, the rest went straight to their parents.
When he won the World Pool Association title in 1999—an event that spurred the growth of pool in the country—he couldn’t help but cry when he was greeted by a mob when got off the plane.
He was still sobbing during a live interview and said he wasn’t used to interviews and that he didn’t know what to say.
When he was chosen as one of the 60 heroes for Time Asia, he asked, “Why me?”
A clip showed Reyes with the other heroes and he looked as comfortable as a kid forced to attend an uncle’s retirement party.
And in his acceptance speech, in Tagalog, he said the same thing. He hasn’t done anything to change Asia, he just played pool, so why was he included? (His manager said a senior editor of Times explained Reyes was a unanimous choice among their junior editors).
A translated version of the speech was supposed to be read by Reyes’s manager, but before he got to the stage, a senior editor of Time told him:
“Please, let me have the honor of reading his speech.”
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