Cebu Football

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 28 edition) ONE of the culture shocks I experienced when I first covered the sports scene in Cebu was the conduct of coaches toward their wards. Having grown up in a sports environment down in Mindanao, where the coaches were your friends, teachers or an older neighborhood kid, insults were rarely heard on the field. What were prevalent were taunts kids threw against other kids. But when I got here, it seemed, insults were the norm and if you’re not used to it you’d be surprised, or shocked, by some of the words used in age group sports.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 26 edition) I MISSED the first few days of the PAL Interclub coverage due to the Thirsty Cup and other responsibilities, but I made sure to attend the awarding ceremony of the media tournament last Tuesday night at Lantaw SRP. This particular media awarding was unique as it’s the first time that the Manila writers, who usually dominate the tournament, are not in the top three. Nimrod Quiñones won the event, and a cool round trip business class ticket to the US (for the May 2 fight?), while Rey Fortaleza of Canada and Imee Garcia of Sun.Star Davao got the second and third places, respectively.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb 25 edition) NOPE, this is not a political piece, this is, after all the sports section. But somebody forgot to tell that to Peping Cojuangco, one of the most hated sports figures in sports recently. After all, he's the Philippine Olympic Committee chairman whose standard of sending sure medalists to international competitions has seen the Philippines to a new low finish. And what has our dear ol' president been up to lately? Well, he's busy dabbling in his real expertise, pulling strings to get rid of his nephew in Malacañang.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 23 edition) THOUGH organizers this year have limited the number of entries, the 12th edition of the Thirsty Cup is still Cebu’s biggest football festival, attracting close to 200 teams. This year’s tournament also attracted a strong contingent of teams outside Cebu, and it’s great that new players come in and test the local opposition, to see how we fare against them. So far, we are doing well and Ray Calo of Don Bosco proudly told me that two Don Bosco teams defeated Loyola Meralco Sparks in two age group finals.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 21 edition) THERE’s a running joke in Philippine basketball, and no one--at least in his inner circle--it seems has the courage to call a spade a spade. Sounds familiar? If not, go ask your kid. Remember the story of how the emperor’s new clothes turned out to be literally nothing? And no one was brave enough to say it for fear of losing their jobs? Well, that could be the case here. And no one in the PBA--publicly at least--is willing to say that Manny Pacquiao’s new basketball clothes are merely figments of the wearer’s imagination and his level of skill depends on who is asked.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 19 edition) A FEW weeks ago, Engr. Nilo Ferraren asked me if there was any news of the coming Cebu Football Association elections. I had none so I told the engineer a regular patron of football tournaments up north, that. He was disappointed, and he pointed out that the planned general assembly to be called last year was postponed. I asked CFA gen-sec designate Atty. Julius Caesare Entise of some updates and he said, the general assembly will come first before the elections as there are some changes in the statutes.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 16 issue) I HOPE someone from other sports will take a good look at the taekwondo program of Cebu and copy all the good things that they are doing. Why? Take a look at what’s been happening. After producing world champions in the past few years, Cebu City’s taekwondo team have sent eight Cebuanos to the national team after the latest national championships.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 14 issue) WHEN they launched this year’s venue for the Palarong Pambansa, organizers had to quickly assure that safety of the participants, something that wasn’t done in previous meets. Why? Because this year’s host of the Palarong Pambansa–the Philippines’ biggest gathering of student athletes–is Tagum, Davao del Norte. And let’s face the truth. In the minds of many, especially those who haven’t been to Mindanao, there’s only one image of Mindanao, especially in these trying times.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 12 edition) I THOUGHT that after the new group--Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas (LVP)--got the blessing from the international body, the squabbling in the sport would end and the new national sport association could begin to get to work. Well. I was wrong. A brief background. The squabbling Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) officials were yanked off when the new Philippine Olympic Committee-endorsed group, LVP, got the blessing of the international body. Now, POC president Peping Cojuangco, shedding all pretenses of neutrality in this squabble, asked his old political buddy Victorico Chavez to come in as president of the LVP.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 11 edition) MANNY Pacquiao the boxer is a great guy. Everyone knows that. Humble and aggressive, always smiling but fierce, and of course, he never plays dirty and readily accepts defeat, even one that stings. Manny Pacquiao the preacher, is a great guy, too. The documentary "Manny" showed that, a perfect example of how one guy can completely turn his life around by completely immersing himself with religion. As to Manny Pacquiao the politician. Now that one's a head-scratcher. Already the top absentee in congress as a professional boxer-slash-politician, Pacquiao added "professional-coach-and-part-time point-guard" to his resume, making one wonder if he knows what he is doing.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 9 edition) SAVE for some who worship at the altar of political correctness, I think the latest project of the Cebu City Sports Commission is another brilliant move. Something that makes you ask, why did anyone not think of this before? Because of Team Cebu City has problems in getting top swimmers for its squad--perhaps because of the rivalry of swim clubs again?--CCSC decided to look long term and mold its own swimmers. And they recruited the Badjao children for their training pool.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 7 edition) CEBU Province, under Gov. Gwen Garcia, had the one of the best sports programs in the Unity Cup, thanks to the collaboration between the Cebu Volleyball Association, a private group, and the Capitol. Cebu Province, under Gov. Hilario Davide III, has nothing yet. But perhaps the creation of the Cebu Province Sports Commission will change that. Conceptualized by former Cebu City councilor and now board member Yayoy Alcoseba in 2013, the commission was finally formed just this year, with the oathtaking of its members last week. It’s led by chairman Michel Lhuillier, with Yayoy as assistant and I hope its first project won’t take as long as its formation.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 5 edition) OF the 19th previous editions of the Milo Little Olympics Visayas eliminations, only two Cebu schools managed to dominate the race for the overall title, the University of Cebu in the early editions and the University of San Carlos. Ironically, the Cebu schools’ regular participation in the meet, which started as an all Cebu schools multi-event meet, made it grow and its growth has spelled the doom for the Cebuanos’ dominance. Consider this, had the Cebu schools skipped Milo in favor of traditional meets like the Cebu City Olympics, the Milo Olympics wouldn’t have grown into what it is now, a four-leg regional elimination culminating in a National Finals.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 4 edition) IN THE murky world that is professional boxing, that truth sometimes depends on who's saying it and who's writing it. And the players, just like in politics, sometimes change tune midway that you'd left asking, "wait what?" Take a look at what's happening in the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiap fight (or non-fight). It was a done deal just a week ago, an insider was quoted in several reports that he overheard Manny and Floyd fine-tune the details of the deal during a one-hour meeting at Manny's hotel.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 2 edition) LAST week’s opening ceremony for the 17th Aboitiz Cup offered something unique and had me rekindling a dream I’ve long had for Cebu football. Last week’s opening ceremony had a lighting of the urn--a borrowed concept from the Milo Little Olympics national finals--and a fireworks display that had one board member automatically calculate the expenses per pop, but that wasn’t what made it special. During the rites, the Cebu Football Association recognized Cebu’s Best, and handed out shirts to the special players who have made a name in the sport nationally and internationally.

Group A W D L Points Goals For Goals against SRFC 1 - - 3 3 1 Bright - 1 - 1 2 2 USC - 1 1 1 3 5 DBC A Group B W D L Points Goals For Goals against DBC B DBC F