Fair Play: USC football--From champs to chumps
THE CEC Dragons needed less than a year to become the champions from the whipping boys.
That’s remarkable.
What’s remarkable too, are the USC Golden booters, who took the other way around in even shorter time.
They needed less than a month to go from serious championship contenders to a serious mess.
Sadly, that’s remarkable, too.
I’d say if the Golden booters were wearing Blue, they’d be just a mutiny away from Les Bleus, but minus, of course, the media glare and the inquiry.
USC figured in two of the most lopsided games in Cesafi football—at both ends of the spectrum—showing how far a fall the once favorite team has taken.
They started so well with a 3-0 win over eventual No. 1 USPF, but lost their semifinal match, 5-0, to USJ-R, the favorite in tomorrow’s finals.
Five, zero. Cinco, itlog.
When I got the results from Jonathan Maximo, I thought it was a joke. I even asked him if USC had 11 men and a coach on the field in that game.
Of course, that’s not to belittle USJ-R’s win. I knew, despite rooting for USC to win the title this year, it will have a hard time if it’s USJ-R it will be up against.
But I didn’t expect, too, for USJ-R, a team USC played to a scoreless draw in Week 4, to win by five goals.
It’s like the Golden booters have lost the will to fight. It’s like when they put on their new uniforms, they’ve forgotten to play as team.
USC, which played with old uniforms in their first game, was a well-oiled machine last Sept. 5. On Oct. 3, the Golden booters were on a ship bound for nowhere, or to be more apt, shipwrecked on an isolated island with no one willing to scream for help.
USC’s turnaround is remarkable and I can only wonder why.
Though USC still has a game to play, the battle for third tomorrow, I hope the team, if ever it wants to be a title-contender next season, will learn the lessons of this year’s debacle.
I don’t know what happened to USC, but, I’m sure the coaches and players know the reason.
You don’t go from champs to chumps in a month without knowing why. You don’t go from a spirited team to a listless one without knowing why.
UC GOT IT RIGHT. Lest you think everything about Cesafi football, for me, is bad. It isn’t.
I’m also happy that UC made it to the finals.
If I was a betting man, I would have bet a congressman’s salary for USPF in their semis match against UC.
A few weeks before the Cesafi season started, I got a chance encounter with coach Glenn Ramos, thanks to a red light.
The coach said he wasn’t too hopeful for his campaign since most of his players were new, just kids from the province just a year or two out of high school.
But what do you know.
The last-ranked team beat the no. 1 team in the semis.
If a team is not that talented, a good coach can do wonders. UC is the proof.
And it was a coaching move that got UC the winning goal. A key substitution, late in the match, resulted to Christian Vasquez, the super sub, scoring 15 minutes into extra time.
Tomorrow, Coach Glenn will be facing Coach Joselito Bono, perhaps the most underappreciated coach in Cebu football.
Curiously enough, both are involved with Don Bosco—Coach Glenn handles the high school team and Coach Bono has led the elementary team to numerous Palaro titles.
This Sunday, (and I know Coach Bono wouldn’t mind) I’m rooting for UC, I’ve always done that in Cesafi football. Once my team, USC, fails to make the finals, I always go for the underdog.
And after UC won its first basketball title, wouldn’t it be nice if its underdog team win its first football crown?
That’s remarkable.
What’s remarkable too, are the USC Golden booters, who took the other way around in even shorter time.
They needed less than a month to go from serious championship contenders to a serious mess.
Sadly, that’s remarkable, too.
I’d say if the Golden booters were wearing Blue, they’d be just a mutiny away from Les Bleus, but minus, of course, the media glare and the inquiry.
USC figured in two of the most lopsided games in Cesafi football—at both ends of the spectrum—showing how far a fall the once favorite team has taken.
They started so well with a 3-0 win over eventual No. 1 USPF, but lost their semifinal match, 5-0, to USJ-R, the favorite in tomorrow’s finals.
Five, zero. Cinco, itlog.
When I got the results from Jonathan Maximo, I thought it was a joke. I even asked him if USC had 11 men and a coach on the field in that game.
Of course, that’s not to belittle USJ-R’s win. I knew, despite rooting for USC to win the title this year, it will have a hard time if it’s USJ-R it will be up against.
But I didn’t expect, too, for USJ-R, a team USC played to a scoreless draw in Week 4, to win by five goals.
It’s like the Golden booters have lost the will to fight. It’s like when they put on their new uniforms, they’ve forgotten to play as team.
USC, which played with old uniforms in their first game, was a well-oiled machine last Sept. 5. On Oct. 3, the Golden booters were on a ship bound for nowhere, or to be more apt, shipwrecked on an isolated island with no one willing to scream for help.
USC’s turnaround is remarkable and I can only wonder why.
Though USC still has a game to play, the battle for third tomorrow, I hope the team, if ever it wants to be a title-contender next season, will learn the lessons of this year’s debacle.
I don’t know what happened to USC, but, I’m sure the coaches and players know the reason.
You don’t go from champs to chumps in a month without knowing why. You don’t go from a spirited team to a listless one without knowing why.
UC GOT IT RIGHT. Lest you think everything about Cesafi football, for me, is bad. It isn’t.
I’m also happy that UC made it to the finals.
If I was a betting man, I would have bet a congressman’s salary for USPF in their semis match against UC.
A few weeks before the Cesafi season started, I got a chance encounter with coach Glenn Ramos, thanks to a red light.
The coach said he wasn’t too hopeful for his campaign since most of his players were new, just kids from the province just a year or two out of high school.
But what do you know.
The last-ranked team beat the no. 1 team in the semis.
If a team is not that talented, a good coach can do wonders. UC is the proof.
And it was a coaching move that got UC the winning goal. A key substitution, late in the match, resulted to Christian Vasquez, the super sub, scoring 15 minutes into extra time.
Tomorrow, Coach Glenn will be facing Coach Joselito Bono, perhaps the most underappreciated coach in Cebu football.
Curiously enough, both are involved with Don Bosco—Coach Glenn handles the high school team and Coach Bono has led the elementary team to numerous Palaro titles.
This Sunday, (and I know Coach Bono wouldn’t mind) I’m rooting for UC, I’ve always done that in Cesafi football. Once my team, USC, fails to make the finals, I always go for the underdog.
And after UC won its first basketball title, wouldn’t it be nice if its underdog team win its first football crown?
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