Cebu Football

(Here's a draft of my Fair Play column. Will have to chop this off as I exceeded character limit.) CONSIDERING our history, only a misinformed fool would think the Philippines can win a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games men’s football event. That's why the decision of the Philippine Olympic Committee not to send the U23 Azkals to the Southeast Asian Games is one that is illogical.   Consider the logic of the POC.  The Philippe team doesn’t deserve to go because the team only had one friendly, and it lost to Singapore in Singapore, 1-0.  

(This is my column for the Sept. 28 edition of Sun.Star Cebu ) THE Philippines just got one of its biggest breaks when the Asian Football Confederation agreed to move the Challenge Cup in Maldives from early March 2014 to late May. I don’t know how the Philippine Football Federation did it but the change in schedule not only gives us an extra two months to prepare, it also means that our best players who are plying their trade in Europe will be available for the Challenge Cup.

(This is column appears in the Sept. 26 edition of Sun.Star Cebu ) IN what could be the first case of its kind, the Far Eastern University football coach refused to release his players for the national U16 team for the AFC U16 qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, reducing the 22-man team to what the PFF euphemistically calls the fighting 19. Some quickly say it’s another case of club vs. country conflict but I think not.

(This column appears in the Sept 21. issue of Sun.Star Cebu ) SCOTT Aying of the University of San Carlos and Mikee Bartolome of the University of the Philippines got favorable court rulings in their battle against the residency rule against Cesafi and the UAAP. But that’s not the end of their woes.

(This Fair Play appears in the Sept. 19 issue of Sun.Star Cebu ) THAT’S the favorite phrase of my college buddies whenever we had an occassion to celebrate. That’s also something that aptly describes the Davis Cup tie between New Zealand and the Philippines over the weekend at Plantation Bay. Due to a series of not-so-unlikely incidents, Marian C. Baring’s coverage of the event ended at 2 a.m. For sure, there are sports coverages that last up to midnight, or even later, but those were events that are support to finish late, like boxing. Not Davis Cup.

I CAUGHT the Cesafi match between the University of San Carlos and the University of San Jose-Recoletos and I have to say, I think the defending champions have the upperhand this season. The match ended in a scoreless draw and that means going into Sunday’s matches USC , last year’s runner-up, still leads the standings with 10 points on three wins and a draw. USJ-R, the defending champion, is second with eight on two wins and two draws and if they keep the top two spots, the two teams will meet anew in the finals.

(This column appears in the Sept. 14 issue of Sun.Star Cebu ) IT'S still the first round of elimination, but just as I expected, it looks like it’s going to be a USC vs. USJ-R battle for the Cesafi college football title. USC, which won its last title on penalties against USPF in 2011, is ahead of the standings with 3 wins, its latest, against USPF.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu on Sept. 11) WHEN the page admin posted a photo of the starting lineup of the Philippines U19 team in the fan page someone commented that the guy wearing the No. 8 jersey looked foreign. And who’s the No. 8 of the national U19? Val Calvo, who learned his football under the vaunted Don Bosco system.

(This is my column for the Sept. 9 edition of Sun.Star Cebu ) SAVE for 2005, when we hosted the Southeast Asian Games, we've always sent a lean and (relatively) mean delegation to the biennial meet and we are going to do so again this year. This year's Team Philippines is 162-strong as of now, and could balloon to 248 if those who are still battling for spots in the delegation make it.

(This column appears in the Sept. 7 issue of Sun.Star Cebu ) THE University of Cebu, twice a champion of the Cesafi basketball tournament, sits at next to last with a 1-6 record, and, barring a miracle against the University of San Carlos late last night, could see its season end in the quarterfinal round. What ails UC?

(This column appears in the Sept. 5 issue of Sun.Star Cebu) A FEW days ago, I wrote about how one athlete in the UAAP has filed for a TRO against  the league and her former school, UST, so she could compete in the swimming event and not be subjected to the idiotic two-year residency rule for freshmen of the Manila league. The court granted her request, giving her a TRO good for 20 days, and allowing her to compete this year as a freshman.

(This column appears on the Sept 2. edition of Sun.Star Cebu ) I’M not a fan of folks going to court to settle a dispute in sports but this time, I make an exception. I laud the move of Vic Bartolome, who sued the UAAP and UST on behalf of his daughter Anna Dominique, a swimmer. If you think the Cesafi two-year residency rule boggles the mind, the UAAP’s version is even more idiotic.