Fair Play: Will Cebu pass Nov. 16 test?

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu for Saturday, Aug. 25)
NOW that the Nov. 16 friendly between the Philippines and Singapore is final, the two most pressing  questions for fans are these--how much will the tickets cost and where can I buy one?

As early as a month ago, when this story broke, some fans were already asking, "where can we get tickets?" while saying, I hope it won't be that expensive.



I'm sure this will be one of the things the Cebu Football Association is considering and I am pretty confident that  their concern will be filling the stands, rather than raking in the sales. For an event of this magnitude, I don't think you recoup your investment through ticket sales, but through the stories of the fans and players who will travel all the way to Cebu and tell all their fans and friends how much they enjoyed it.

So how much should the tickets be?  P1,000, P500, or P300?  I don't know, really, but what I hope the organizers would do is offer the more expensive tickets first, at least a month before the event.  That way, folks who are not from Cebu--and, judging from experience, fans who travel are always the first to buy them--can secure the their tickets before booking their flights and hotels.

The sales of the expensive tickets, too, could be a gauge for the organizers to whether offer the rest of the seats at a cheaper rate or at the cheap rate they intended it to be.

For a couple of years now, fans have been hoping for an Azkals game here, "Sus kung sa Cebu pa ni giduwa," and now that we have our chance. let's not miss this for the world.

Remember the two "ifs" that Dan Palami said the other month.

If the hosting is a success and if the Azkals make the Suzuki Cup semifinals this December, we could host it. Besides, has work on the Rizal Memorial Stadium started?

By the way, it's great to see the change of attitude the Cebu City Sports Center management has when it comes to the football field.  I remember in 2000, while doing a story on how poorly-maintained and dangerous to players it was, I and a photographer, did a walkthrough at high noon. We wanted to know how much crap we could gather in one walkthrough and there were plenty—pieces of glass, nails, barbecue stick, sharp rocks and metals and what-have-you.

Now, CCSC manager Ricky Ballesteros announced a couple of weeks ago that he wants the use of the field, regulated. And that should be the case because we don't want to become the city-without-a-pitch, again.

The Nov. 16 game will be Cebu’s test--not just the CFA’s or Cebu City’s—and I hope everybody will pitch in to make sure Cebu passes the test.

I RAN MY PART. If you still haven’t signed up, today’s your last chance to do so for the 8 p.m. Run for the Flood Victims at the Cebu Doctors’ University. 

This fund-raising effort is organized by Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III and will cost you P300—just a couple of expensive coffees or a set of your favorite beer?

By the way, Bobby Lozada, the guy who had an unhappy experience in the other day, sent me an e-mail, hoping to put a closure in his experience.

Bobby wrote, “Seriously? A three-hour, 30-minute cutoff for the 7th University 25K run? Is a 3H cutoff for a 21k half marathon being eyed? I leave that to the Cebuano runners to decide. However, let me put a closure to this episode. I will donate P10,000.00 to the Run For Flood Victims and run the 8th University Run, if it will be announced that it will still have the same 3:30 cutoff and that it will be strictly imposed.”

I hope only for one thing—that Bobby and technical director Joel Baring get to meet today to iron out whatever differences they’ve had over last Sunday’s race and for Bobby to hand in his P10,000 “registration fee” and enjoy tonight’s run.