Peerless
His love for the game - and the craft - brings Francis Ochoa a cut above the rest
By Mychael Thompson Miravite, The Playbook
B R I E F B I O
Francis T.J. Ochoa
Assistant sports editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer
College: University of Santo Tomas
Website: http://theboyfromsmallville.wordpress.com
Francis Ochoa to Philippine sports writing is what Shakespeare is to literature. There is a number of ways to prove this but the best approach will be a tour of his normal routine.
Ochoa, once a News and Features editor for University of Sto. Tomas’ The Varsitarian before occupying the sports editor’s desk at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, has been a firm believer of sports. He believes that sports is not meant just to fill the back pages of the newspaper but also has every right to shoot for space in the front page.
And he said with the way In The Huddle was organized, he’d be able to spread that message to our aspiring sports scribes.
As a writer, getting to know things about sports heroes that you’d never known before has always been the thing thrilling him the most.
“The times I enjoy the most are those times when I interviewed athletes and they reveal a little of themselves that don’t show up in their public personas. It’s a thrill to know they’re really just like me and you except that they were blessed with this incredible gift to perform beyond the bounds of normalcy. So beyond the buzzer-beating shots, the incredible victories and the sensational knockouts, it’s talking to the athletes after the game that I enjoy the most.”
When asked what’s the best thing about sports writing, the all-around guy from Cagayan de Oro City shot back: “You get to keep that child-like sense of awe and wonderment in life. There’s nothing routine about sports writing. Every day, something happens that floors you. Even in things that are expected, victories that are virtually preordained, there are things that still surprise you and make your jaw drop.”
"And then there’s the front-row passes to the most natural high that no drug can ever give you. Every day you run into people who are having the time of their lives—champions, record-breakers or even students who’ve just earned their athletic scholarships—and it lifts you up. And there’s no balancing factor.”
Sports has really molded him into someone most of us would look up to. He has been one of the most popular sports writers of today. He writes not just about the action of the sport, but also about the life in it.
His chosen field has already taken him to different places where, according to him, he learned different cultures and different ways people look at sports. But as a die-hard fan of the game, the best place he had ever been, he said, was right there in the moment—in the moment of someone’s greatest performance, most painful defeat, proudest accomplishment.
As a tip to our aspiring writers, Ochoa has just a few but meaningful words for them: “It is our job to go out and look for that story and serve as a platform for them to be heard or read about. Just soak everything up. The ITH experience will really benefit and enrich you, especially if you’re seriously considering a career in sports writing one of these days. Ask the questions that matter to you. Don’t worry if you feel the question might sound stupid. Just ask. A lot of my lecture modules have been modified throughout the years based on the questions of seminar participants. So by asking questions, you not only help yourselves but help lecturers get better too.” ###
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