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chat_bubble Jomo Announces Plans for 2018 In Interview with Jim Gray
After receiving his 2018 Admirals Player Contract on August 31st, Jomo FINALLY breaks his silence and announces his plans for the 2018 season during an exclusive interview with famed sportscaster, Jim Gray.Here is the transcript of the interview:
 | Thank you very much. Everybody is on pins and needles across the country, particularly those teams who are in the running for Jomo Hanley. Are you ready to go Jomo? Where is the powder? |
 | Left it at home. |
| What's new? What's been going on with you this summer? |
| Man, I just won a championship with the Admirals, it was awesome! And now this whole free agent experience, it’s crazy. |
| What have you thought about this process? |
| This process has been everything I've thought and more. And that's what I did a few years ago; I put myself in a position to have this process where I can hear teams' pitches and figure out what was the best possible chance for me to ultimately win and to ultimately be happy. |
| You weren't able to be recruited because you went straight to SloPitch from high school. Have you enjoyed this recruiting process now? |
| I have enjoyed it. And I want to thank all the teams that I had an opportunity to sit down with and hear what they had to say. And my team, they hear what we had to say also. It's been an unbelievable experience, a real humbling experience to be even to be in this position. |
| What did you expect? Because we've seen the Admirals web site. We've seen teams allocate bigger beer budgets. We've seen the photoshop art on the Admirals web site. Former President Obama, for crying out loud, seven times has commented that he'd like to move to Canada just to watch you play. What did you expect from this process? |
| Well, certain things like that is one thing you can't control. But I expected to be able to go through this process and be able to sit down with my team and sit across from other teams and hear how they feel with me being a part of their team, could help them win and could ultimately help others win. And the process was everything I expected and more. And like I said before, I just thank all those teams that have come to Bowmanville to have those interviews and have that process. It was everything that I've ever expected and more. |
| How many people know your decision right now? |
| Not many. It's a very, very small number. And I probably could count them on my fingers. |
| One hand or two hands? |
| Let's say one. |
| When did you decide? |
| I think I decided this morning. I mean, I decided this morning I went day to day. I wake up one morning, it's this team. I wake up another morning, it's this team. And it's a process that I felt it was I may feel like this is the best opportunity for me or not the best opportunity for me. But this morning I woke up, had a great conversation with my mom. Once I had that conversation with her, I think I was set. |
| So the last time you changed your mind was yesterday? |
| The last time I changed my mind was probably in my dreams. And when I woke up this morning I knew it was the right decision. |
| So does the team that you're going to, that you'll announce in a few minutes, do they know your decision? |
| I mentioned it in the parking lot while we were drinking together, not sure they were paying attention. |
| They weren’t paying attention? |
| Yeah, maybe they consumed too much beer? |
| So the other teams, on pins and needles, they don't know; they'll be listening to this? |
| Right. |
| Who in this process, Jomo, have you taken advice from and who has had the biggest influence? |
| I've taken a lot of advice from my friends and family. My masseuse, she has been great. A lot of people that I look towards in a time of need or for advice, and ultimately, they looked at me and said you ultimately have to live with your decision that you're going to make, and you have to do what's best for you, for your family and for you to ultimately be happy. |
| What was the major factor, the major reason in your decision? |
| I think the major factor and the major reason in my decision was the best opportunity for me to win and to win now and to win into the future also. And winning is a huge thing for me. Jim, you know ever since I was a in high school, we always talked, that was the number one thing for me: Help my teammates get better and just wanting to win. And I've done some great things in my years, and I want to continue to do that. |
| How deep of an evaluation do you have to do to go through that to figure out tomorrow, next year and beyond, that equation, that winning? |
| One thing that you can't control is you never know. You never know. You want to put yourself in the position where you feel that it's the best opportunity. But saying I can win a championship next year or saying I can win it a year after, those are things that you don't know until you go out there and actually play the game. But you have to put yourself in the right position to be able to compete and also accomplish the goals that you set out for. |
| Do you have any doubts about your decision? |
| No. I don't have any doubts at all. |
| Would you like to sleep on it a little longer, or are you ready to make this decision? |
| I've slept enough. Or the lack of sleep. |
| Are you still a nail biter? |
| I have a little bit. Not of late. |
| You've had everybody else biting their nails. So I guess it's time for them to stop chewing. The answer to the question everybody wants to know: Jomo, what's your decision? |
| In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to the South Bowmanville Fields and rejoin the Newcastle Admirals. |
| The Newcastle Admirals? That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning? |
| That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning. |
| Why? |
| Like I said before, I feel like it's going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years, and not only just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win championships. And I feel like I can compete down there. |
| Was it always in your plan to go and play with Dunner, Antonio, Poutine, DC & Graham? |
| Well, I mean, I'm looking forward to it. To say it was always in my plans, I can't say it was always in my plans because I never thought it was possible. But the things that the Admirals franchise have done to be able to ensure cold beer was available post-game and to be able to put themselves in a position next summer to have all of us, it was hard to turn down. Those are some great players, some of the greatest players we have in this game today. And, you know, you add me, we're going to be a really good team. |
| The Admirals team members will share now the spotlight and the limelight. And in many ways you're rejoining Dunner’s team. He’s the coach and originator of the team. He's won a championship (finally…). How do you think you'll be able to fit in and possibly not be the headliner all the time? |
| For me it's not about sharing. You know, it's about everybody having their own spotlight and then just doing what's best for the team. You know, at this point Dunner, he's the unselfish guy here. To be able to have Graham and then Antonio, to welcome us to his team, it's not about an individual here. Because if that was the case, Dunner wouldn't have asked us to rejoin him, or we wouldn't have asked him if it was okay to come down there. It's not about individuals. It's about a team, and that's what this game is about. |
| How do you explain this to the people in Whitby? |
| I mean, it's heartfelt for me. You know, it's hard to explain, but at the same time my heart, in the three or four years I gave to that franchise, to that city, it was everything. I mean, those 2+ fans that came out every night we played, and they seen me grow from an 41 year old kid to a 44 year old man. And I never wanted to leave Whitby. And my heart will always be around that area, so I’ll just continue to play in the WMSPL as well. |
| What was the major reason for leaving the A’s? |
| I told you, I’m not leaving the A’s, weren’t you listening? |
| What do you think will be the fans' reaction back there, and will you still live in Bowmanville? |
| You seen very fixated on this, I’m not leaving or moving anywhere. |
| Dunner is the coach. Antonio, Graham said he will be the coach. Have you been told he will be your coach, or has Poutine, in your meetings, indicated he might move to the bench? |
| No. Dunner will be the coach. No one trusts Poutine, I think he’s drunk most of the time anyway. I respect Coach Dunn and everything he's going to do to try to put us in the right position to win it all. |
| Ever want to go through this again? |
| This is tough. This is very tough, because you feel like you've let a lot of people down. You've raised a lot of people's expectations also. But it was a tough decision, because I know how loyal I am. And one thing my mother told me when I was going through this process and what ultimately helped me make my decision is you have to do what's best for you and what's going to make you happy at the end of the day, because no one can live with the consequences or anything that comes with your decision besides you. And once I heard that from my mother, the person that I always look to for guidance, it was easy. |
| You told me she had a major influence when you called her this morning. You didn't believe the reaction she had would be the one that you got. Could you share with us what she said to you this morning? |
| Absolutely. Like I said, when I called my mother I thought I would hear a different reaction. When she heard, her reaction was it was a great move, because she felt it was going to ultimately make me happy. It wasn't about being in Miami. It wasn't about playing alongside with the guys, who she believes are great ball players, because she loves the game. But she felt it was going to make me happy. When I heard that from my mother, it was like the relief that I was looking for throughout this whole process. |
With Jomo having officially accepted his 2018 Admirals Player Contract, that now leaves the following outstanding contract offers to be officially accepted or declined (officially, like, in writing yo):
Dave Carter, who is currently having his offer reviewed by his agent & lawyers.
Tim Gibson, who has verbally expressed his desire to come back, but is currently reviewing his 2018 commitments.
Dean Kirkey, whom the team suspects is having his offer reviewed by his doctors, seeing they have heard nothing but crickets from the Kirkey camp regarding his contract offer.
Mike Labrecque, who is currently having his offer reviewed by his agent & lawyers and appears to be using it as leverage with his WMSPL team for a more lucrative offer there.
Doug Short, who appears to be dodging Dunner's texts re: any 2018 Admirals Player Contract talks. :)
Duran Spray, who looks to be holding out after lobbying for a signing bonus for his heroics in the clinching A Division Championship game. :)
Dave Carter, who is currently having his offer reviewed by his agent & lawyers.
Tim Gibson, who has verbally expressed his desire to come back, but is currently reviewing his 2018 commitments.
Dean Kirkey, whom the team suspects is having his offer reviewed by his doctors, seeing they have heard nothing but crickets from the Kirkey camp regarding his contract offer.
Mike Labrecque, who is currently having his offer reviewed by his agent & lawyers and appears to be using it as leverage with his WMSPL team for a more lucrative offer there.
Doug Short, who appears to be dodging Dunner's texts re: any 2018 Admirals Player Contract talks. :)
Duran Spray, who looks to be holding out after lobbying for a signing bonus for his heroics in the clinching A Division Championship game. :)
Tags: jomo, 2018 player contract, jim gray, interview transcript
Posted on: Tuesday September 12th, 2017 at 1:41PM
Posted on: Tuesday September 12th, 2017 at 1:41PM
Comment #1
Congrats Jomo. You are a great guy and you definitely deserve to be happy. Very happy that you involved your mom in the process. She is such a great woman, always grounded but tells it like it is. All the best.
Posted on: Tuesday September 12th, 2017 at 6:35PM
Posted by: Marty Robertson
Posted by: Marty Robertson
Comment #2
Well done Jomo. By the way, is your mom available
Posted on: Tuesday September 12th, 2017 at 6:57PM
Posted by: Poutine
Posted by: Poutine