By NIMROD NL QUIÑONES
We can talk sports and many times he makes me feel like I need to read more to cope with his knowledge of football and even basketball and baseball teams.
We share a passion for football and at times would kick the ball around if not join other enthusiasts from our town.
We used to watch Formula-1 racing every Sunday until the time when my work required me to be at the office on Sundays.
He used to hang around with me when I covered sporting events and among our favorite shops at the malls are the sports stores.
We sometimes don’t root for the same teams, which result to some teasing, but we back the same teams in the NBA and Major League Baseball.
Don’t ask us about Pacquio fights as we often skip the live coverage on TV, but you can ask us about the San Antonio Spurs, New York Yankees, and Ferrari.
He used to be unimpressed of the Philippine Azkals, but you can see us enjoy watching their games on TV and we do root for them every time.
We used to play golf together. We still bike together when we have time.
We can discuss math problems and many times, he can do better than me. He uses the Kumon method while I use the time-tested techniques.
We discuss fashion, but only up to the point of if one looks good using a certain combination of shirts and shorts (yes, shorts most of the time).
We even talk of relationships.
You can see us at the coffee shop but both of us might be busy tinkering with our phones.
He can also write, but I guess he needs to be more confident doing it and I hope to someday see him write more about stuff that he likes.
I trust my buddy so much that one time I gave him the space for my column when I was still with The Freeman and he filled it up with his sporting thoughts. Then, he was still in grade school.
My buddy and I started our sports bonding after I would get home from work back in the 1990s.
We’d sit down on the living room to watch sports on TV.
Now, we still would spend time to watch sporting events and even wake each other up at dawn if we need to catch a game that is aired that early.
We both love shoes and we often spend time going through the shoe displays at the malls.
I used to carry my buddy to put him to sleep, but now, I knock on the door of his room to wake him up.
My buddy is no other than my son, Nico Anton. He has been named Nico from a character of Steven Seagal in one of his movies and Anton from the name of legendary judoka Anton Geesink.
Oftentimes we don’t agree. Many times I have to stretch my patience and he probably does the same.
It must be because we share not only the same birthday – September 21, but also the years that we were born also have the same numbers 1969 and 1996.
Happy birthday son! Thank you for being my buddy for the past 17 years and I wish both of us more years to share our passion for sports with each other.
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MILESTONES: My son and I share the same birthday with several people. Happy birthday greetings to two people who are also very close to Nico and I — Glen Ramos, who was Nico’s first football coach at Fugsports and my former teammate, and Vicente ‘Nonoy’ Fernandez III, who was Nico’s big brother at Fugsports and in judo and also my godson.
The same goes to Gelia Caingcoy-Salili, Jaq Siwala, Cerwin Eviota, Feliz Candia, and Grace Abellana.
More power to all of you!
