Fair Play: Of Nutcrackers, Sona and Cebu football

HE swimming world is in an up roar because of the body suits.

Body suits—or should I say, nutcrackers—are so tight that if an ordinary Juan wears it, he’d probably doubt if he’d ever sire a child.


They are also so darn expensive—it’s worth about a month’s wages—and so tough to put on that according to a BBC report, elite swimmers need 18 minutes just to put it
on, plus the help of another person to zip the back.

BBC didn’t say if you need two more people to take it off—two to hold your arms while the third guy peels it off.

If you happen to catch a few swimming contests on TV, you’d catch guys in these suits. Guys who have ripped muscles wearing suits that further pack these muscles in.

So why would guys risk infertility for a suit?

Because it’s the great leap forward—or it used to be until Fina finally said “finito!” and banned them.

Because of the suit, 108 world records fell last year alone.

The suit repels water, makes a swimmer more buoyant and because it packs your muscles tighter, makes them function better.

As expected, the companies who designed the suits aren’t happy. But Fina said the move is all about making swimming all about the swimmers.

LAPU-LAPU’S SONA. In my years of covering sports, I’ve always been wary of people who can’t tell the difference between a press con and a meeting and of organizers who promise too much.

Experience tells me, they are bound to fall flat on their faces.

I thought I’ve heard them all, but organizers of the Great Lapu-Lapu Run managed to surprise me—no, not for the press con that wasn’t one—but for their promises.

They promised too much, it seemed I was reading a report on the Sona. And like that speech, you wonder, after the event, if you’ve been had.

The organizers said they wanted to hold a bigger run next year but I hope that instead of going bigger, they’d go smaller. That way, they could focus their limited resources on a shorter route and deliver on their promise.

Before going for that Giant Leap, Lapu-Lapu should master the baby steps, first. Before assuring runners that pot holes would be covered, they’d best assure them that they’d be safe from crazy drivers—or goats even.

It’s easier to dodge a pothole, not that lunatic tricycle driver.

Giving the fun runners some TLC would also do wonders. Without them, they’d be lucky to get 500 entries. So telling a runner—as what I got from a blog of a

broadcaster/journalist—who asked if there was a certificate for them, “Wala day kay lingaw-lingaw ra man nang 3K di man na serious,” isn’t how you entice the runners to join your event.

You don’t entice someone used to eating ice cream with a piece of shit, do you?

CFA AFFAIRS. Cebu football is in a curious state. Just two years after the present board got elected, people are calling for a snap elections, disgruntled as they are with the present setup.

Last week, two CFA board members resigned.

BOD members quitting their post isn’t new. The previous admin also lost some of its BOD.

So what makes the latest resignations unique? The call for snap elections.

There is supposed to be a congress of local football stakeholders next month and I hope that can address the latest twist to hit the FA.

Cebu football is such a small community but it is obvious it is one very fractured group and the officers have alienated itself from some members.

Whether it’s the majority or a vocal minority, we will know in the days to come.

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