BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

A chat with Kamae De Jesus


Rick: How did you get the courtside reporter position for Ateneo and why were there two of you?
Kamae: There were 24 who audtioned from Ateneo with three screenings. I host a lot of events and I knew I could do it. I just didn't know all that basketball stuff. I asked to be given another screening and I did my research and studied the team. So the next time around, I was more confident. Hahahaha. There were three screenings and when it was done there was Portia and me. Now we both hosted the Orsem and we were quite thankful that it had to be one or the other. With my full school load, I could only do the weekend games. So in the end it worked out for both of us.

Rick: So when did you become a fan of the Blue Eagles?
Kamae: I became a fan with the 2002 team. I was right across Ateneo -- I went to Miriam. Portia was a fan like forever. I'm a nerd. I spend more time studying and reading. Hahahaha. But I'm such a fan now. Hahahaha.

Rick: What was it like being on cam for the first time?
Kamae: That was the first game of the season -- Ateneo versus La Salle and there were some 23,000 people! I took Red Bull that made me all the more hyper. Sobrang hyper lalo na I could feel the intensity at the Araneta Coliseum. I was nervous but I told myself, "Girl, you can do this! You have hosting experience." But come second quarter, I was okay. It was an eye opener being inside the dugout. DLSU was leading at the half but you could see how calm everyone was. (Head coach) Norman Black was so cool. The pressure was on but he said so calmly that they could do this. You could see it in the players' eyes na, "We know we have it, but we're struggling now. But we're going to to this." That told me that this team was special.

Rick: Bet it was fun?
Kamae: Definitely. I hope I did my part in helping out by not just reporting on our team but by also repeatedly encouraging the boys. It was easy with my batchmates (Jai Reyes and Rabeh Al-Hussaini). I felt the younger ones would call me, "Ate."

Rick: Ate? Gosh if you're an "ate" then what am I?
Kamae: I know. (laughter) But it wasn't easy for those boys. In between classes and training, you could see how hard it is. And there were all these expectations. So I know they worked hard for it and they deserve it.

Rick: Then you got to host the bonfire...
Kamae: Yeah that was cool. I had class that day until 730p but my prof (Bobby Guevara) let me out early since my call time was 7pm. "It's not every year where we have a bonfire anyway," he said. The bonfire was real fun even if the Bell Field was all muddy. And I got to host with Bill Velasco and Grace Lee. That's three different generations of Ateneans. Whooo. Sarap maging Atenista!

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