“What is a press box? According to Wikipedia, “the press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event…”
“It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box. In general, newspaper writers sit in this box and write about the on-field event as it unfolds.”
“Television and radio announcers broadcast from the press box as well.”
Wikipedia further explains,” the press box is considered to be a working area, and writers, broadcasters, and other visitors to press boxes are constantly reminded of this fact at sporting events.”
“ Cheering is strictly forbidden in press boxes, and anyone violating rules against showing favoritism for either team is subject to ejection from the press box by security personnel.”
“ The rule against cheering is generally enforced only in the writers’ area of the press box, as broadcasters are often employed by one of the teams involved.”
The following is the timeline of my experiences:
July 9, 2012, Monday
WHEN I was first given a tour of the SM Mall of Asia Arena after the 75th UAAP season press conference, the first thing I asked the lady usher who gave me and a group of sportswriters a tour of the upper floors was,”do you have a working area? She said yes, and with a male usher, they showed us the meet and greet room, which now serves a working area.
Then I ask her, is there a place where we can watch the games? “Yes. There is,” was the glad answer. Then they showed us the upper floors which hold the viewing rooms which are leased to companies who wanna bring their employees to watch events. I was so happy to see the two BDO rooms, because I feel I could bring my wife, who is an officer of a branch, to watch the game from there during one of my coverages.
Next question, do you have a press box? The lady usher asked me to explain, and I told her that these are seats reserved for media during gametime. She said no, and that they are not responsible for such set up. The male usher also explained to us that we will have tickets to enter and we can just go anywhere to watch the games. He said this when we were already outside of the Arena, and getting ready to leave.
All throughout, I kept saying to myself quietly,”uh-oh.” And then I went on my way to the Rizal Memlorial Sports Complex to write my story for the day, and take care of other business.
July 22, Sunday
At halftime of the first game of the UAAP men’s basketball game between La Salle and FEU, Olmin asks me to join him as we go inside to watch the games.
We went on our merry way to courtside. I make my way to the empty seats at the VIP section, and watch the Tamaraws play close contest with the Green Archers. Then I realize before the third quarter was over that something was amiss.
As the third quarter went, Olmin was being challenged by the event security man, who was ordering him not to proceed to the VIP section. He quietly moved over the baseline seats, and sat next to Jas, Reuben, TJ, Jerome, Jonas and Joel, all members of the UAAP press corps. For a few minutes, they were taking notes, and so was I. But, I felt a tingle inside that something was again amiss.
One by one, a male usher (in glasses, I think), was asking them to leave their seats. As the fourth quarter came, I saw some of my colleagues move to other seats at ringside.
By the time, the fourth quarter started, I retreated to an area near the ABS-CBN TV panel and just continued doing my running score. And then, I realized I was all alone.
No one else was doing a running score with me.
When the game was over, I learned of what happened. The ushers have driven out all the scribes covering the games from their seats.
This is something that shocks me to this day. Seeing such an incident like this unfold…
The next game was the Ateneo-NU showdown. After I wrote my story, and the rest also did, nobody returned to courtside to look for seats where they can take notes and watch the games from up close.
Only interviews at the press room were enough after the second game. There was no need as the boss asked me to pay him a visit…
But,memories of these event linger on…
Pektus Corner 