Outside The Boxscore features basketball Q and A's with people outside of the hoops industry.
Hailing from Bishop Falls, Newfoundland, comes Paul Brothers, who was recently named the winner of Drafted: the search for Canada's next sportscaster. Paul was selected as the overall winner amongst thousands of contestants across Canada and won a one-year contract as a sports braodcaster with The Score. Paul had the opportunity to interview Kardinal Offishall and Toronto FC's Carl Robinson during the process and we got to ask Paul about his recent win, his thoughts on the Toronto Raptors and the hardest NBA name he has had to pronounce._____________________________
Hip Hoop Junkies: First of all, congratulations on being the winner of Drafted, describe your journey in the Drafted process.
Paul Brothers: Thanks Romy, I appreciate it. My journey in the Drafted process was a great one. It was all based on faith and patience for me. I had faith in myself and my ability from the start, and I had the patience to wait it out over the long haul until my name was called in the finale. My motto in life is "A little bit of go for it with a healthy dose of whatever" and so I went for it and it paid off.
HHJ: What was your biggest challenge along the way?
PB: I would say my biggest challenge along the way came outside the contest itself. It's been a tough year for my family. My dad has been battling cancer for about a year or so now and for any hiphoopjunkies.com fan whose been touched by the terrible disease, you know how tough it is. Hence the tears during the finale. But I'm happy to say today he got a good report so we'll take that and run with it. He's the reason I love sports. As for inside the challenge, keeping my focus after almost getting punched in the face by MMA fighter Bas Rutten was tough.
HHJ: One of the toughest tasks has to be keeping your sports knowledge up to date across all sports, how do you do it?
PB: Sports is just a normal part of my everyday life. I wake up and read the paper in the morning, read blogs during the day, and watch games during the night. Not to mention the constant watching of highlights on The Score. I have this thing as well where I can't get to sleep without the TV or radio on. So needless to say, I listen to Score highlights over and over to get to bed or sports talk radio usually does the trick as well. It's not like I try to keep up on it all, I just do it.
HHJ: Now onto some hoops questions; so...we're a hoops blog that focuses on the Toronto Raptors and the Canadian flavour of the NBA, what are some of your likes/dislikes with this season's Toronto Raptors?
PB: The main storyline to the raps this season is inconsistency. They have to be able to put together a full game of high calibur play to beat some of the class teams in the East. Seems to me like they fall apart against the big guns down the stretch. It's a good sign that they've started to play somewhat better on the defensive side of the ball. Being ranked 29th in the league in team D is still embarrassing. On the positive side, Bosh and Bargnani are hauling in some pretty good vote numbers on the all-star ballots.
HHJ: Past or present, who is your favourite Canadian NBA player of all-time?
PB: It has to be Steve Nash. The guy is amazing, especially with the season he's putting together so far. Another fav Canadian player of mine is Newfoundlander Karl English. Karl plays for Canada's National team at last check and was so close to making it to the NBA. He went undrafted a few years back and I think may have played a couple exhibition games with the Pacers before being cut. Needless to say, watching him start for Hawaii during March Madness was amazing!
HHJ: In your experience so far, what has been the hardest NBA player name to pronounce?
PB: I really practiced saying Rodrigue Beaubois before the Live Challenge last week. I actually wrote ROD-RE-GAY BO-BWA above his name on the script so I wouldn't muff it. hahah. Dallas Mavericks by the way.
HHJ: You're from Bishop Falls, Newfoundland, what has the response been like back home?
PB: The response from back home has been overwhelming. Newfoundlanders take great pride in seeing one of their own "make it" so to speak. Although I keep trying to tell everyone it's not about me, it's about sports. I'm just a dude who has a knack for being comfortable on TV talking about my passion, sports.
HHJ: Let's hear your best Newfie joke.
PB: A Newfie saw a sign at a restaurant.
It read.... Happy Hour Special:
Lobster Tail & Beer.
"Lard Tunderin Jaises!" he says to himself, "Me three favourite things!"
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A huge thanks goes out to Paul Brothers, you can check out his Drafted journey on the Drafted.ca website.
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