Continuation of Bilingual ESPN Anchor Alfredo Lomeli: Undocumented in America and Gaining Citizenship [Part I] [INTERVIEW]; Voy a triunfar el doble: ESPN Anchor Alfredo Lomeli Shares the Importance of Bilingualism Thoughts on Citizenship [Part II] [INTERVIEW]; New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and Bilingual ESPN Anchor Alfredo Lomeli Thoughts on Sports and Athleticism in the Lives of Children the Impending Playoffs [Part III] [INTERVIEW];Bilingual ESPN Anchor Alfredo Lomeli Shares Personal and Professional Inspiration Positivity [Part IV] [INTERVIEW]

There a great number of achievements that the incredibly capable Bilingual ESPN anchor Alfredo Lomeli wants for his future, and that includes staying in the sports industry, staying true to his passions, and being able to pay off his parent’s mortgage.

“There a number of great successes that I’d hope to achieve, and the main one would be to say, ‘Mom… dad relax… I’m going to pay off your mortgage… but, umm, keep working… but I got this,” Lomeli said with a chortle. “Also, to keep working in this industry… I love it. I love being a part of ESPN and being one of the few sports anchors that gets to work in both English and in Spanish. I host ESPN Deportes, a show called #Redes, but I also host NBA Tonight, which is on the English channel, on ESPN 2. And, if I can use both my English and my Spanish, that’s a dream for me. There aren’t many people who can dominate both languages well enough where producers will have enough faith in you to communicate in English and in Spanish; and it’s one of my greatest accomplishments, ever.”

Share This Story

“Life seems to go full circle. I started acting, and that led me into my music, and music got me doing independent films, which got back into TV. And, I once did a show called Tu Estilo San Antonio, it was a Univison show. And, during the four years I was there, the show won seven Lone Star Emmys, which was something that I never would have imagined. To this day, I still don’t believe it, because it was so surreal.”

Sports being one of the things that the anchor is passionate about, he spoke extensively on the subject. The diehard San Antonio Spurs fan talked about supporting the home team, and promised that his commitment to the team was not solely because they’re from his home team, but also because the Spurs are such an amazing example of what it means to work hard and to go back to the fundamentals.

Lomeli stated, there’s no shame in the team only being known for their talent, even if it makes them boring to the rest of the league. “They’re not the Lakers, they’re not the Heat… they’re just known for their game and that’s it. That’s something else that’s inspiring… to actually only make the news every time you’re doing something great, and not for controversy, that’s really good,” Lomeli expressed.

While basketball happens to be Lomeli’s favorite sport, he has a real love for soccer, which he happily shares.

“I love soccer… well, futbol… futbol is the proper way to say it,” Lomeli said with a laugh. “I love it so much; it’s such a fun sport. And, I love good soccer. Right now, the Champions League is going on, and you have the eight best clubs in Europe… really, the world, and they’re competing for the most coveted title in soccer for individual clubs, and that’s UEFA Champions. I’m a really, really big fan of Barcelona… a really big fan of Barcelona… but, that’s not to say that I don’t admire Real Madrid for their talent and their players.”

“That’s something that a lot my sports-nut friends hate about me. They’re like, ‘you can’t do that… you can’t like Barcelona and Real Madrid.’ And, even though I root for Barcelona… Cristiano Ronaldo is a beast, you know? You have to give him his props… you have to give credit where it’s due. But, a lot of sports fans are like, ‘No… it’s either Lionel Messi or Ronaldo… you can’t like both. It’s either… Miami Heat or the Lakers… it’s either the Knicks or whoever else.’ I just like good sports. I like football, but I’m not a Dallas fan… not a Texas fan, I like the San Francisco 49ers.”

Lomeli then shared that he really enjoys the art of sports; stating decisively, “because it is an art.” The hard work, the team effort, the will power, the inclination to resist selfishness, and to decision trust the person beside you are important behaviors that can create seamless grace and success, not only on the court or field, but in daily life. The time spent working with ESPN has solidified the importance of sports-related artfulness; and Latino culture first introduced him to those individual concepts… which collaboratively works to make you a “good person.”

Sports, athleticism and exercise as it relates to Latino youth are important in Lomeli’s eyes. He had a lot to say on not only that subject, but on race/class-wealth, access, and health.

“There are countless reasons I can think of [to participate in sports], particularly for your health, especially for Latinos. There’s a ridiculous amount of childhood diabetes and childhood obesity, and that comes from, statistically, Latinos in the States not having access to a lot of the same resources or financial income that Caucasian families do… and other ethnicities. Parents tends to buy the sugary drinks… they don’t buy the real orange juice. They buy the fake juice because it’s about a dollar cheaper; parents have to make do with what they can,” Lomeli said, potently acknowledging why a number of low-income families produce overweight children.

“But sports are a way to make sure that the next generation of kids are not going to suffer through diabetes by the time they’re ten or twelve,” said Lomeli, who was a very active child. “Not only that, but sports are just a really great way to develop your self-esteem. That said, they’re not for everybody… one of my biggest dreams in the world would be to be a professional track-runner. It was always like… one of the things that I wanted. I watch the Olympics; and I run track and field, but I’m like such a frustrated runner.” Lomeli paused to laugh. “I want that to be me, but I realize that I’m not good at it. But you know what? I love to do it; and I love working out, and I love playing basketball. And, I love playing soccer. And, when you do these things… it’s not just a great way to really get in shape, but to really build trust in other people. Because you have to learn that it’s a really great team building experience. No matter if you win or lose, you realize that you give it your all. It’s a very satisfying feeling, that’s what you learn from sports…when you’re young, you realize how much you like winning; and when you lose… it still a win-win situation, because when you lose, you realize that you don’t like losing. Then, you know that you have to fix something… then you learn how to lose. If you’re bad you get used to it… hopefully you don’t too get depressed; hopefully you realize that you need to work harder, or you need to take a different approach.”

“Sports are indispensable for youth,” remarked Lomeli. “Indispensible for this country… indispensible for any country. You have to really get your kids outside. Kids don’t really want to play outside anymore, and while the ‘Connect’ is cool, and it’s nice that it’s being used for physical activity, it’s important to teach kids to play outside. I grew up riding my bike outside with my friends, and falling, and playing basketball. And, it was a beautiful childhood. I couldn’t imagine being my age, and saying that I never rode a bike with my friends or went out… or tried skating… and fell on my ass. You learn; and sports are a great, great way to figure yourself out. How boring would it be if you couldn’t play?”

Tweets by @Alfredo_Lomeli

TagsESPN, anchor, alfredo lomeli, espn alfredo lomeli, Interview, Exclusive, Hannah Storm, Jay Crawford, Chris Berman, #Redes, ESPN Deportes, ESPN 2, Tu Estilo San Antonio