Monday, September 10, 2007
Sayson: The Mailman and my Cherry amor
By Homer Sayson
Second Overtime
CHICAGO—Cherry Ann Cueva, one of the most loyal among this column’s trifling flock of followers, shot me an e-mail the other day. Ten lines and four paragraphs that made my weekend.
It’s been a while since this lovely Mandaue rose wrote, and so I clung to every one of the precious 148 words she sent, inhaling them like precious oxygen.
“How time flies,” she began. “ It’s September, and soon Christmas. But whatever the season, always remember that I’m just here, around the corner and never missing your columns. I wrote to keep in touch.”
Cherry Ann’s kind, loving words gave me one of those OMG moments.
Oh, my God. If only she and I weren’t both taken…
Cherry Ann is a dictator, I must confess. Some five years ago, without the benefit of a fair election, she installed herself as the president of the so-called “Homer Sayson Fan Club.”
But if such fan club ever comes to life, I would be willing and happy to appoint her to carry the torch. Keep the flame burning with her loyalty.
Anyway, Cherry Ann also wrote to ask about one of her favorite NBA players: Karl Malone. “How is he? Did he fulfill his dream of becoming a full-pledged farmer?”
He is well, and he isn’t farming full-time, either.
After leaving the NBA in 2004, The Mailman returned home to Ruston, Louisiana, where his four youngest children are currently enrolled at the prestigious Cedar Creek School.
Malone is still married to Kaye Kinset, a former Miss Idaho who has Filipino roots. Malone also has a daughter from a previous relationship, Cheryl Ford. And just like dad, Cheryl is huge, 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds, and she is currently a star forward of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA.
After 19 years in the NBA, where he collected two MVP awards and established himself as one of the greatest power forwards of all time, Malone couldn’t stay away from basketball.
Last May 30 this year, the 6-foot-9, 256-pound Malone was named director of basketball promotion and assistant strength and conditioning coach in his alma mater, the Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.
At 44, Malone is still tough like a John Deere tractor. He continues to lift weights religiously, and he still runs in the mountains like an eager beaver. He does a lot of hunting and fishing and he maintains a plethora of businesses in Utah, Los Angeles and Louisiana.
There’s your Karl Malone update, Cherry Ann.
SWEET JUSTINE. When God created the backhand stroke in tennis, He probably had Justine Henin in mind. Because divine is the only word that could best describe the world No.1’s backhand.
Henin, 25, claimed her second US Open title and seventh Grand Slam overall yesterday. She swept through Svetlana Kuznetsova like a tornado, devastating the Russian in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.
Henin, a mere 5-foot-6 and 126 pounds, decimated the field. She didn’t just beat the Williams sisters in this year’s Open, she turned both Venus and Serena into a heap of excuses and alibis.
After dispatching the Williamses with astounding ease in the quarters and semis, facing Kuznetsova in the final was like a picnic in the meadow for Justine. She broke her foe’s serve four times, swung 25 winners, and it was all over in 82 minutes.
RAY AND DAISY. Greetings to some of this corner’s loyalists—Ray Bercede and his beautiful bride Daisy.
Ray regularly follows both this column and my radio segment at dyAB. Ditto with Daisy, who works at the COA alongside my dear pal, Eva Cabrera. Like Eva, Daisy also had a previous stint as UN auditor.
Ray’s brother is Glenn Bercede, a former Mandaue City councilor who now works as sports consultant for Mayor Jonas Cortes.
Finally, greetings to boxing fanatic Leo Gallofin and congrats to Joe Soberano and Cebu Landmaster-Mandaue for bagging the Fortuna Cup in the MVBA.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 10, 2007 issue)
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