Fair Play: Atan and Tom's pissing contest
MAYOR Tomas Osmena and Jonathan Guardo are again engaged in a pissing contest, this time about their sports.
After Guardo’s group promised to set aside P5 million for their boxing program, the City also announced a P5-million volleyball and basketball tournament for registered voters—the Cebu City MY CiTy Games.
I guess you can take it as a positive development that the MY CiTy Games isn’t pretending to be a development program and it is what it is—a tournament to woo voters.
It shows that when it suits the politicians, they can readily release funds for sports events. When it doesn’t, you can wait forever.
Back in 2008, Team Cebu City softball was the defending champion in the national open, but red tape meant they left for the tournament with only their personal funds.
The team failed to join the opening parade because it didn’t have a complete uniform.
For their daily sustenance, they also had to settle for noodles and eggs donated by Cebuano players who played for Marikina.
Cebu City’s best lived like paupers.
As expected, Team Cebu City didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defending their title, which is sad considering Cebu is a hotbed of the sport and most members of the national team are Cebuanos.
I guess the next time Team Cebu City softball asks for funds from the Cebu City Sports Commission, the members can specify that they are also registered voters and residents of Cebu City.
Or, they could ask Guardo for funds and after the businessman gives his, maybe Cebu City will up the ante and double the amount.
FOOTBALL COVERAGE. I heard that the Cebu Football Association was told to approach me to help improve media coverage of their sport.
I’m flattered but that isn’t necessary.
They only have to make sure that they can be contacted and that they have what reporters need when they have tournaments—details.
When the new board took over, it was a bitch to contact them. When we finally got hold of one member, he or she wasn’t willing to talk. In the end, we just stopped trying to contact them. What for?
When reporters covered their events, it was a waste of time. Their “lineups” had no names, their match reports had no details. Heck, if you ask the referee who scored, he’d say, “Ambot kinsa to.”
To get all the details, you have to be in the venue the whole day, which is impossible because reporters have other responsibilities.
That is why I wrote a few issues ago that the present board had a thing or two to learn from the previous president. Because Jonathan Maximo perfected this, which is why all the events he handled got ample coverage.
It’s like the football event in the Milo Little Olympics. Their match reports only carry the score and back in 2004, I complained to the tournament manager to force his refs to include the other details. It never happened.
The Milo football event competes for space with the other events, where reporters get more details, and thus gets buried all the time.
So for this year’s Milo Little Olympics, expect football to be buried again. Unless of course, it’s the finals and it gets a paragraph or two.
As to the CFA, I heard they are slowly “bridging” the connections, but I hope they solve the problems of their inexistent match reports.
(mikelimpag@gmail.com, football.cebunetwork.com)
After Guardo’s group promised to set aside P5 million for their boxing program, the City also announced a P5-million volleyball and basketball tournament for registered voters—the Cebu City MY CiTy Games.
I guess you can take it as a positive development that the MY CiTy Games isn’t pretending to be a development program and it is what it is—a tournament to woo voters.
It shows that when it suits the politicians, they can readily release funds for sports events. When it doesn’t, you can wait forever.
Back in 2008, Team Cebu City softball was the defending champion in the national open, but red tape meant they left for the tournament with only their personal funds.
The team failed to join the opening parade because it didn’t have a complete uniform.
For their daily sustenance, they also had to settle for noodles and eggs donated by Cebuano players who played for Marikina.
Cebu City’s best lived like paupers.
As expected, Team Cebu City didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defending their title, which is sad considering Cebu is a hotbed of the sport and most members of the national team are Cebuanos.
I guess the next time Team Cebu City softball asks for funds from the Cebu City Sports Commission, the members can specify that they are also registered voters and residents of Cebu City.
Or, they could ask Guardo for funds and after the businessman gives his, maybe Cebu City will up the ante and double the amount.
FOOTBALL COVERAGE. I heard that the Cebu Football Association was told to approach me to help improve media coverage of their sport.
I’m flattered but that isn’t necessary.
They only have to make sure that they can be contacted and that they have what reporters need when they have tournaments—details.
When the new board took over, it was a bitch to contact them. When we finally got hold of one member, he or she wasn’t willing to talk. In the end, we just stopped trying to contact them. What for?
When reporters covered their events, it was a waste of time. Their “lineups” had no names, their match reports had no details. Heck, if you ask the referee who scored, he’d say, “Ambot kinsa to.”
To get all the details, you have to be in the venue the whole day, which is impossible because reporters have other responsibilities.
That is why I wrote a few issues ago that the present board had a thing or two to learn from the previous president. Because Jonathan Maximo perfected this, which is why all the events he handled got ample coverage.
It’s like the football event in the Milo Little Olympics. Their match reports only carry the score and back in 2004, I complained to the tournament manager to force his refs to include the other details. It never happened.
The Milo football event competes for space with the other events, where reporters get more details, and thus gets buried all the time.
So for this year’s Milo Little Olympics, expect football to be buried again. Unless of course, it’s the finals and it gets a paragraph or two.
As to the CFA, I heard they are slowly “bridging” the connections, but I hope they solve the problems of their inexistent match reports.
(mikelimpag@gmail.com, football.cebunetwork.com)
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