Episode 2: with Damafe from Chesspower
Fires burn under hades fury, the heat burning as it consumes the world. Moisture collects in the air, and falls on the flames, the steam filling the air, enveloping all with a sauna’s fury. Hallucinating, I stumble in the white-grey mist, watching the flecks of red anger of hellish beasts spitting fire on those who cross their path, and I can only hope for a safe sanctuary. Out of the gloom appears a building. On entry, I see lots of cameras, people sitting in rows like a horde of crash test dummies in the direction of a pair of chairs and reporter’s desk, and a woman marching with purpose towards me.
“Chesspower, Chesspower, Chesspower,” she insists as she pulls me to one of the chairs. What is a chesspower, is it some strange form of pretend martial art? I ask myself as a man starts counting down. And was I to be flung into the crash test dummies?
“Welcome to the second edition of the Late Late Show,” the woman starts speaking to a camera & audience at the same time. “Tonight’s guest leads a team who’s been best of Spain twice, and has led the Spanish national team to two international championships. So put your hands together for the manager of Chesspower, Damafe.”
As the crash test audience applauds, Damafe enters, waving the hand not carrying a briefcase to the crowd before sitting. The woman glares at me as if to say “ask him something”.
Q: “I assume you’re Spanish?”
A:
“Yes, I live in Spain and was born in Santiago de Compostela.”Q: “I understand you’re a long-time manager in CFF”
A:
“Uf... i started in season 3, or 4 of CFF1, i don't remember the year... maybe 2005? I was playing online and another manager told me to try CFF. I don't remember the name of that game 
“Q: “Your team has steadily progressed to being a feature in Division 1. What do you see as your future there, and what future plans do you have for your team?”
A:
“After reaching 6th place in season 5, I only want to stay in first division and win the Spanish maillot. Next season will be tough. My plan is to train a new generation, maybe hillers, or climbers, but this time i want to have the best one 
”“Yes, the time trialists coming up will unseat a lot of older cyclists, so why not.”
“Now it’s time for... Until the producer says ‘STOP’. In this segment, we ask normal to weird questions, until our producer says the magic word ‘STOP”. You ready? First question.”
Q: “If you could be any type of cyclist in CFF3, what type of cyclist would you choose, and why
A:
“A pure climber, to play in races like Sestriere 92' or Bola del Mundo. Hard races, were you can lose in every section.”Q: “Do you watch real life cycling? If so, do you have any favourite teams/cyclists? Or any you don't like?”
A:
“I watch few races, but i don’t have favourite team... maybe cyclists, like Valverde 
I don’t like teams like Sky, controlling all the tours...Q: “Do you believe cycling should have a salary cap for teams?
A:
“I think teams must have freedom, I don’t like "market regulations". Sponsors pay a lot of money to ensure their objectives. If their objectives are more difficult, they need to have better cyclists, so they need to pay more salary. Other sponsors have easier objectives, and they can have cheaper cyclists.Q: “So tell us about any sports or exercise you do?”
A:
“I play chess 
. I like to walk and ride my bicycle (only in summer), but now I am injured... so... only chess for me 
“Good thing your team name’s Chesspower....., yes I know lame joke. Moving on.”
Q: “Tell me one thing about your home country that most people outside it probably don't know?”
A:
“This is not a Paella:”Pausing, Damafe opens up a briefcase, and takes out a small poster to show the camera.
As he does this, a number of tourist pamphlets fall out of the briefcase. I’m about to put them back into the briefcase when I read the titles.
“All verses of the Star Spangled Banner”
“Topless horseback riding with Putin & other ways to be accepted by the locals”
“Latvian Cooking: It’s not only jellied meat”
“Getting to work in Colombia, one mountain at a time”
“Dining in Estonia: Meat, meat, kali, meat, beer, and blood sausages”
And I realise that these aren’t tourist brochures, and are in fact brochures for those looking to resettle in one of these countries. So I hold the brochures up, silently seeking an answer.
A:
“You know I said I was training a new generation, well I will relocate the team to somewhere colder. Estonia or Russia are the most likely, or Colombia, but have not discounted Latvia or America yet.”“Haven’t made a final decision? Well I’d suggest Tasmania, but it's only cold by Australian standards. You make sure you let us know where your team's going to be based before you move.”
A:
“Sure”Q: “Next question. How do you believe our current civilisation's existence will end?”
A:
“According to Asimov, It will end when humanity goes to colonize other planets, and on each planet there will be a different civilization over the years due to the distances that will be between planets. On some planets they will live in steel caves, in others they will have sex once in years and just for have kids, only for survival of the species.”Q:”What magical ability would you most like to have?”
A:
“Knowledge. Be able to know what I want whenever I want. Because knowledge is power: Sir Francis Bacon.”Q: “Would you rather meet an alien species, or communicate with animals?”
A:
“Alien species (if they exist 
). We can learn a lot of other species (technologies, languages, ¿music?...), as Europeans and Asians did centuries ago.”“Stop.”
“Right, I see our producer is holding a picture of people doing a dance, The Macarena, and in red lipstick she’s writing...., “NO..., WAY.” I believe she’s putting her foot down, no letting aliens know that we’ve had bad dancing-singing pandemics, and maybe the aliens won’t eliminate us. So that’s our show for tonight.”
Maybe the interview happened, maybe the 40c fiery sauna boiled my brain, but regardless, stay tuned for next time.
Viewer Question: Would you rather risk death by meeting an alien, or communicate with animals? And why?Probable Death by Alien:
Damafe, Vos, SjizAnimals Always Begging for Food:
