- December 20th, 2004:

Club Sagesse manager and member of the board of trustees Joseph Adelmassih was the guest of Elie Nassar in the daily sports section of the 5:15pm news bulletin on the "Voice of Lebanon" (Voix du Liban-VDL) radio. Throughout a long and detailed interview, Abdelmassih covered the club's activities in basketball and football, the hard preparation of the basketball team in such a short period of time, facing the external attempts and foul plays aiming to tear down their efforts and sabotage the building process. The expected event of the 29th was also covered as well as internal details about management, fans base and the Club's new administration policy.

Q: Many believed that Sagesse Club has become history with the defection of his former sponsor and leader, while it seems on the contrary that with a new board of trustees, a new management and sponsor, the Club is heading to one of his most exciting seasons. Where do you see the Club today?

A: Yes that's true, many people were betting on this. But day after day, the fans, the supporters and the faithful Sagesse members are proving them wrong: basketball is still here and strong and heading for the better. Hopefully we will fulfill all our dreams and goals with president Chalhoub and Sagesse Club.

Q: Thence the question: Henri Chalhoub, who is well known for his love for sports, arrived at a very critical moment while the Club was undergoing a big crisis. He is facing a big challenge in both basketball and football. How big is his dream and where is he willing to go?

A: The proof of his love to sports is shown by his deeds: he never missed a football game since he was appointed head of the board of trustees, and he is supporting the team with whatever possible means he got. But there are issues that are sealed for this season, and we already started working on next year's team. 

Q: This brings the issue of the fans who were divided in the past years between basketball and football, and now we see them all behind the club teams whether in the basketball trainings or in the football games, and in growing numbers, despite the sad fact that the team is losing. You are promising a great team for next season, but what are the odds for the actual team to fight his way through the 1st division?

A: Now there is Sagesse Club, one club with one management and one supporters and fans committee, inside which there are 2 activities for the time being. Yes we are promising the best for next year, because now all we can do is boost the morale and provide incentive for the team. A French football expert is on his way next week to assess the team, make a report and try to get the best out of the actual manpower. Our goal is to stay in the higher standings spot in order to flee the relegation red zone, and here we are counting on our players to give the best football they can possibly deliver.

Q: A beautiful yet contradictory thing is happening when the team is losing games and yet the crowd is here, cheering and supporting, along with the ever-present administration in spite of all the problems and losses on the court. How can you explain such a reaction while in similar scenarios, the fan base tend to miss the games when its team is losing?

A: I used to say this long ago and I still do: Sagesse supporters, fans and followers are the best in Lebanon. They stick to their team for better and worse, they are faithful even through hard times. Such a fan base is very hard to find in most of the clubs. Yesterday we were playing against the leader of the league, and yet our fans outnumbered theirs and kept on cheering till the end in spite of the heavy loss. That is the ultimate proof to how much they love their team and the football or basketball game. They are undoubtedly the 6th and 12th player for both teams.
I cannot talk enough about the importance we give to the fans, how much we need their feedback and care for them enjoying the games, their teams and their performances. In the end, we are playing sports and it is all about the fans being happy, everybody having fun and spending good time, even when professionalism is here.

Q: Hats off then to Sagesse fan base who proved its loyalty to the Club through the hard times. Back to the internal affairs, you are part of Henri Chalhoub's team, working hand in hand with the club's administration to achieve important and ambitious goals for both football and basketball. Again, what is Chalhoub's dream, when people before him already dreamed of and achieved Asian and Arabian conquest?

A: He has very ambitious dreams that none of us even think of! And he has the means to achieve them, not only financially, because he has the vision, the enthusiasm and the determination needed. I really cannot define his dreams but I know that they are very wide and ambitious, you must ask him personally about it. 

Q: Should we expect European participations? He lately said that he foresees his team playing in Europe, and hosting Turkish and Greek teams?

A: I think he has wider dreams than this. This will happen in the near future, we will participate in Turkish and European tournaments. Our president has many ramifications, offices and connections internationally that allow him to stage such activities and achieve the interaction between Lebanese and European teams.

Q: Let's shift to managerial issues: you forfeited your candidature to the Basketball Federation elections, leaving the Club without a representative inside the Federation. It also seemed as if the alliance between you, Sporting and Michel Tannous of Blue Stars who was elected president of the Federation was broken?

A: No, the alliance still stands for us. On the contrary, in my opinion, the presence of Michel Tannous at the helm of the Federation strengthen our alliance. In him, we have a person who thinks like us, share our views and visions about how to improve the Lebanese basketball. I hope he will be able to achieve all the dreams and goals we used to talk about together before his election as president of the Federation. We are ready for any help needed from our side to achieve the common projects.
Concerning my withdrawal from the election, in fact I had a different view about the way Tannous entered the Federation. We couldn't agree on a common procedure for the way in which I would access the federation, so I preferred to withdraw. I know about the problems and obstacles one faces once inside the federation. Thus in order to work and achieve one's objectives, one must be free handed. That was not the case, but I assure you that Michel is still a friend and an ally, and we support him.

Q: Can we consequently presume that in the person of Michel Tannous, you consider Sagesse Club represented in the Federation?

A: To a certain extent, yes.

Q: Sagesse fan base outgrew the national boundaries to an international scope, as we witness through the Club's website and forum where many messages arrive from abroad. This fan base is awaiting the D-day, the 29th of December when you will officially announce the basketball team in the presence of the football team. What can you tell us about this day?

A: It will happen at 7pm on the 29th, in Sagesse new home court, Michel Murr stadium in Dora, at Beirut north-entrance.

Q: (interrupting) In fact why did you change the home court, bringing it back to Beirut while it always stood somewhere between Ghazir and Jounieh?

A: As I said before, we insist upon the fan base importance and welfare, and we want to be situated where we would be able to reach the whole Lebanese public, not only our fans. The former home court was very far from Beirut and the parking issue was really hard. That's why Mchel Murr stadium was ideal: close to the fans, bigger parking and easy access being on the national highway. And the proof is the daily attendance of about 500 persons to the basketball training, something that forced coach Taylor to close the stadium doors in order for the team to concentrate on the training. We will open the stadium doors for the fans once a week.
Back to the 29th event, the idea above all is entertainment. Sports is about entertainment like we previously said, and we want people to be here, to be a big part of it. The team will be presented in the standard NBA American way. I don't want to talk much about the event, let's preserve the surprise effect. 
I ask all of Sagesse fan base and the wider public to attend the event and to meet the new players, hopefully they would be here. 

We have many contacts with players, especially after being sure that Roy, Fady and Brian won't be with us. We will have 4 NBA players coming, from whom we will choose 2 of course, and they will be among us on the 29th. I won't divulge names, because it happened that everytime a player is likely to negotiate with us, some interference occurs and the negotiations are cancelled. So let's say we will keep the names as a surprise!

We are preparing a big team really. Sometimes you feel our fans and other people are blaming us: why didn't you sign Khatib, or why didn't you keep Brian, or Roy, etc. We didn't drop them off, they dropped us off. We came and gave all the players the exact conditions they used to have last year. More than 75 percent of the players -among whom big names like Mechantaf, Bardawil, Khoury, etc.- pursued their contracts with us as is. Those 3 chose not to continue with us, although Fady and Brian were offered higher conditions. 

Q: Regarding Fady El Khatib, it was circulated that he contacted your administration, admitting his keenness to come back to Sagesse, but that a clause in his contract with his new club Al Wehda prevents him from doing so. How true is this?

A: Yes it's true, Fady has problems with his new club, but also with the amount of money he requires. We would love to have Fady with us, and I am sure that he loves to be back to Sagesse, but something is not working well every time we negotiate with him. I don't know why. There are some reasons we know but cannot unveil. I think everybody now knows why Roy and Brian didn't sign with us, and who is interfering and forbidding them to do so.

Q: How heavy is their absence's impact on the ambition of Henri Chalhoub and his expectation to be in the number 1 spot like he said in an interview published on the Club's website? Especially in the presence of strong teams like Sporting who is considered to be a unbeatable this season?

A: There is no unbeatable team. There are 40 minutes of play, and many ways to beat a team. There is something called chemistry that does wonders. Look at the USA dream team in the last Olympics, they failed ! In my opinion, chemistry is now the most important factor to win. This is what we are working on the most to achieve. And this is what prevented us from signing some players, because if they are coming with the attitude they show and their ways of behaving, they would have disrupted that chemistry and blown our system up. 
We are working on the total chemistry between the team itself, the coach, the staff and the administration. Once achieved, you can win. In basketball, you reach a level where individualities become less important than the chemistry of the whole. And that has been proven in the last Olympics.

I assure you that we are building a team to win the championship. Maybe it will be more difficult this season yes, because of the late preparation. We are preparing a new team in a couple of weeks with a new coach and imports that are not here yet! And this is the most difficult period of the year to bring USA imports: the holiday season. Imagine that the only way to bring them for trial is with their families, because they won't leave them on Christmas or New Year. Thus the 4 of our imports are coming to spend their trial period along with their families. So the team is not really preparing optimally, it's going to be difficult, but I am sure we will do it because we are very determined and strong willed, our Lebanese lineup is wonderful with Mechantaf at the helm, they are full of fighting spirit, love for their Club and thirst for victory.

Q: To be honest, basketball nowadays is about stars, names, like when you say Sporting now, you think Madison, Ahmad, Vogel, Rida, etc. The fans are eager to hear names within Sagesse, because the chemistry and the family-like cohesion is crucial especially in hard times, but the supporters are worried for the lack of big names. Can we calm them somehow, are there names of Lebanese foreign based players that are being contacted ?

A: We have names, we have Mechantaf, Bardawil, Khoury, Balaa, all of these guys! And yes, there are contacts with 6 Lebanese foreign-based players interested in playing with us. I think we will be able this year to bring one or two of them. But I promise you that next year we will have a great team, we already started preparing it, because that's how long it takes to build a team, 6 months ! For now we are trying to build a team that will fight for the title, with 2 NBA import players that are well known, that we used to hear about and watch 2 years ago on NBA-TV. Next year, the whole scenario will be different, a bigger team to preserve all the titles we'll get.

Q: Yes, there are titles to defend, Arab, Asian, national, while many are spreading rumours that you won't participate in any?

A: Of course we will, we'll attend them all.

Q: The 1st of these titles is Dubai tournament next month. How are you perceiving this issue: Is it a fight for the title or an opportunity to train and mould the team together?

A: Frankly, coach Taylor was reluctant to go to Dubai. We insisted that we want to use it as a training camp. Of course it is our aim to bring the title, but let's face it, our team did not play yet a single game together! So Dubai tournament which starts on the 3rd of January is the perfect training camp for us, for our team that is not ready yet. Thus we are lowering the pressure off our coach and players before the serious preparation to the Lebanese championship right after.

Q: Back to the event of the 29th. You said it is modeled on the NBA scheme. Does this mean tickets for entry, big screens outside for the people who won't be able to get in, getting to meet and talk with the players, etc.?

A: The event is an open invitation to all Sagesse fans, and others, and it is free of charge. And once the players are officially introduced and the opening ceremony over, people can chat with the players and get to know them. A screen will be set outside the stadium in case there are no more places inside. Enough talking about the event for now, let's leave it all to the D-day.

Q: What about the incentives for such an event ? Surely the real fans would be more than happy just to meet their players. But as an administration, there is much talk about surprises, what are you planning throughout the event?

A: One of the incentives will be a draw inside the court for on person of the attending public who will win a ticket to go with the team to Dubai and back.
There will be many others of course, along with musical performances, etc. The final plan for the event will be decided today, it will be a big one, to be recurring yearly.

Q: Sagesse Club used to have a strong media coverage and to be considered as the Federation favourite team. This is no longer the case. The public is worried about the attempts to make the new administration fail since they lost these 2 major factors of success. Could that happen?

A: There are of course big and serious attempts of such, we already talked about it before. We are being confronted daily with such attacks, sometimes surprised by them, but we are ready for it, we won't stop. We are here for sports, for basketball, coming to the bigger and richer Club with its history and heritage. Sagesse Club has become the property of the Lebanese people and its dreams, it is neither our property nor anyone else's. Thus I find it difficult for us to fail, we have no other way but win, along with the presence of a man like Henri Chalhoub, with his big ambitions and his love for challenge.
I think that the saboteurs have no more room to maneuver, they tried a lot and their margin is narrowing by the day. The road is almost totally open now, some obstacles that we are overcoming and we are hopeful for the future.

Q: When you 1st came to Sagesse as the administration of Henri Chalhoub, weren't you worried about the reaction towards you in comparison with the former administration and all it achieved? Were you afraid of the people reaction and ability to accept the idea of your presidency, or were you sure that they will care for their Club above all regardless of the persons?

A: Yes honestly, we were really apprehending this issue, how will the fans accept us? But I admit that it took us less time than what we had expected to set things straight and adapt with them. I think this is because our approach basically is to be and stay close to the base, interact with it and with the people at the helm of the club originally. And day by day, we realize that we are closer and closer to them and that they started to support us and encourage us in what we are doing. I give a big credit to Sagesse fan base and I say once again that they are the bigger and best fan base in Lebanon, and they must be given the credit they deserve because they love and support their Club without even thinking about anything in return, they simply act out of love and passion towards their Club. It is a really pure behaviour, and hopefully we will be able to realize their dreams and I think that together we will go very far.

Q: On the Forum and website of the Club -that we monitor since years- we notice many messages from Lebanese living abroad who are encouraging president Chalhoub and thanking him for saving the Club, especially when the club was doomed and seemingly pushed willingly to disintegrate and die with what it represents. What impact does this have on the board of trustees and president Chalhoub?

A: The president -like me- opens and reads the site and forum almost daily. The opinions and thoughts of our base is very important to us, we want and like to know about them. We were happily surprised by the time it took for us to be accepted, we were apprehending this and thought it would take longer than that. They did accept us fast because they saw that we are doing something good for their Club and right. So why stand in our way, of course they won't. And we really accept the constructive criticism, but surely not the destructive one, who are in fact a minority anyway: We saw and heard them yesterday in the football game, we read them sometimes in the Forum, but they really don't interest us. We only care about the existing fan base that criticizes positively to improve and build not destroy.

Q: You are coming from a former opponent administration, and facing the transitory actual Sagesse management board. How much do you feel there's a chemistry between the 2 boards, and do you see all the members of the board ready and willing to give you help and make it easy for you?

A: Every one of them has great love to their Club and carries a big history with it. Some have less time than others who have more time and are working. The coordination is total and complete on all levels and in all domains. The chemistry is gradually and steadily happening between all of us, there is no problems at all, on the contrary!

Q: On behalf of the fan base that loves its Club so much, a worrying question aroused when you first came: Would you do what your predecessors did, tearing the Club off its belonging to the archbishopry and school, change its fundamentals and principles? I admit this is a rather rude question, but it has been asked by many people.

A: When I met the committee of the fan base and the Website and Forum aficionados, I told them that we are bringing back Sagesse to Sagesse, with all respect to those who were in charge before us. Sagesse Club is now within Sagesse school premises, its headquarters are located in the building of the Sagesse Alumni. We seek and work for a strong interaction and liaison between the Club and the school. The school is the Club's reservoir from all possible angles and views. For the fans, the players, the staff, the morale where the school support is of great importance to the Club. You simply cannot separate the school form the Club. If you want to, you will have to change the name of the club, its location, its color, everything. But if you want to be in charge of Sagesse Club, you have to accept the whole part of it, the school and the strong bond between the two.
We strongly believe in this and are working accordingly, so no need for people to fear anything that will separate the Club from its source.

Q: About this reservoir you talked about, the school: There used to be age-category teams for youngsters. Are you willing to take care of them or is your sole interest in the senior team?

A: We care more about the age-category teams than the seniors, in the sense that we fully realize that it is from there that players will unfold. These teams didn't stop practicing, they will keep on and will be taken care of very seriously. Our home court is now available for them, and we will rent another mini-basket court for them to train. Everything will continue as it should.

Q: what about the women team?

A: There is no Sagesse team in the women's league, but a Sagesse Mar-Doumit team. We are studying the issue, because we definitely want a women team, if not this season surely the next one.

Q: In the new structure within the Club, you are the manager and there are many sections and committees working on the ground. How hard and fast are you requesting the work to be done?

A: Lots of work in very little time, to be done very fast. That's it, we are at a tight end, preparing a team in a record span of time. We are late on the schedule by the standards procedures, but we are doing a lot of work. The committees are overworking, the guys are spending late nights finishing things that has to be done. We are waiting for all of this to unfold later on.

Q: I will conclude this interview with the much expected event of the 29th. Will it get the coverage worth of Sagesse and of the fans expectations, especially since they are worried about losing the wide coverage they use to have in the former administration from both their sponsor then and the Federation?

A: We are open to all medias and all people, we don't have any problem with anybody whatsoever, whether it's radio, newspaper, TV or magazine. Every one of them is invited on December 29th to participate and cover the event. 
I do understand the base and its worries because they used to feel that Sagesse was the spoilt child of a favourite TV station, and now things have changed, we are also feeling it. But in the Federation on the contrary, Sagesse Club has its own dimension and value, and this cannot be stolen. It has been realised by the players efforts and hard work, and all that have been achieved in the past years. This cannot be taken away and will remain solid rock. Sagesse Club will always be the champion, will defend its title and will win more and realize more than what has been done before.

Q: Finally, in the recent past, many people used to promise that Sagesse will be institutionalized, and will no more be a one man show. Do you also commit to this or is it just paper words?

A: Not at all, there is an institution that is being built in the truest sense of the word. We've only been here for about a month, time must be given for such things to clarify and unfold. We will have later on another interview dedicated to the institution, its conception, progress, and unfolding.