DG Sports Special: Keeping the ball rolling for 22 illustrious years

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

22 years of responsible journalism isn’t a joke.

Imagine two decades of trying to unravel the truth for the public to know despite the heavy challenges and threats to the profession.

Seeking the best stories possible for our dear Ilonggos every day, the Daily Guardian embraced every grind, and is committed to this unsung public service.

We are celebrating our 22nd anniversary in a few days and after two hours of sipping my coffee while setting up my sports page content on a sunny Wednesday morning, something began to hit me, and I don’t know why.

The line “why are we doing this” seemed plain and simple to answer, but that question lingered and kicked off the entire thought process.

Well, matched with the caffeine magic of course.

So why are we, why am I, doing this?

Why do I have to drain all my vocabulary and present you repetitive sports lingos six times a week both on the print and online platforms of DG?

Why stress myself out calling all these people in the circle of sports to provide the latest news in the metro and the whole country?

Do I really need to be passionate enough well in fact all the readers will never see how hard I work to put up these stories that are being uploaded every day?

WHY?

Well, I also don’t know.

But as the minutes ticked in my wall clock and my caffeine fix already finished after 19 gulps, all suddenly made sense after a couple of my homies messaged me, asking for my analysis after Golden State lost to Sacramento for the second-straight time.

One dude also slid into my DMs, asking when will be the fight between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Ryan Garcia.

Oh.

So I slowly understood.

My work partly built my identity to the public.

It’s like, a niche will not be a niche without the key, the missing link, or the beneficial factor to function.

I realized that they built their trust in me. They need me for verification, and they need my approval for something to be valid.

I don’t know if it’s flattering, creepy, or nonsense, but I think the main fuel that drives us to operate to perfection in this field is the thousands of people waiting for my insight every day.

As cheesy as it seems, I feel like I’m a part of their puzzle.

And yes, this is the essence of sports journalism and my commitment to the Daily Guardian. This is why I have to keep pushing every day and provide the best stories to the world. This is not to just tell something to the public, but this is something that you have to make them feel, while narrating.

To quote my article during the pandemic: “Personally, the nature of my profession is not only to write but also to hear, to see, to feel, and to get in touch with the atmosphere.”

Covering all the biggest local and national sports topics has been a roller coaster ride for me, the sports guy, but it made me better, it made me adept at anything that I can do.

I’m thankful to the Daily Guardian for allowing me to provide a platform where I can share my expertise in the field.

Despite long drives and long distance trips for sporting events, I never felt a single time where I said “kakapoy na, gusto ko na magpuli.”

No, it never crossed my mind. It was euphoria for me. It is what I wanted because I am committed to my work, which also turned out to be my passion since grade school.

Year 22! Not yet over.

Let’s keep the ball rolling until year 100.

Happy Anniversary, Daily Guardian!