The University of the Visayas is the Michael Phelps of the CESAFI collegiate basketball league. Since the Cebu School Athletic Foundation, Inc. started a dozen years ago, they have won not thrice or five or seven times but 9 of the last 11 years. UV stood for the University of Victory. Not anymore. Not the past two years. Not two nights ago.
“We were overconfident and complacent,” said UV team manager Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas, the grandson of Rep. Eddie Gullas. It’s good to hear honest and brutally-frank words from no less than the school owner. Samsam added: “We beat them twice in the eliminations and the semis as well and went undefeated until game 1.”
Compyansa? “Maybe the boys thought it would be easy,” said Samsam. “Hopefully that first game was a wake up call for my players. I hope they will step up for game 2.”
UV forgot that the Southwestern University (SWU) were the runners-up last season. UV also forgot that, last year, it was the venom unleashed by the Cobras that defeated them in the semifinals.
Last year, despite losing the first two games of the CESAFI final to UC, the Aznar-owned team won the next two. I watched Game 5 last year. SWU was minutes away from winning the CESAFI title until a 6-foot-10 giant named Junmar Fajardo and his Webmasters pulled the ball away and held it for good. UC won, 3-2.
“All I want for our bigs to do is to neutralize their bigs,” said Samsam, ahead of Game 2. “I believe the key for us to win is our guard play. If Abad, Mercader and Calo can step up their games for the rest of the series, we will come out victorious.”
UV has to win today’s 5:30 P.M. game at the Cebu Coliseum. If not, SWU will have three chances out of three to win the trophy.
As I’ve said last year, kudos to Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba, the head coach, who took over the SWU team only last season. Thus far, they were the 2011 runners-up and, just two games to go, a possible 2012 champion.
INTERNET. I could not find the time to be at the Cebu Coliseum last Tuesday for Game 1. But I watched the game. Live. How was that possible?
SunStar Sports. If you log-in the website, http://specials.sunstar.com.ph/sports/, you’ll be able to watch – in real-time — the game. For free. When I started watching two nights ago, it was the end of the 3rd quarter. SWU led UV 55-50. At that time, there were 50 current users and a total of 124 views.
You will see the SunStar logo at the upper-left and a USTREAM logo on the right. At the lower-right portion of the website, real-time comments are published for all to see and be updated. This is awesome. A UV or SWU follower can be anywhere around the world and watch the game “live.”
SINGAPORE F1. I have two corrections to make. In my last column, I wrote about the Grand Prix night race. Some thought I was in Singapore. Sorry but I watched the race like many of you did… fronting a TV.
One mistake: I mentioned that the Pit Stop, where the cars zoom in and out in as fast as 3.1 seconds, is where they change tires and refuel. It turns out that starting 2010, refueling is not part of the routine. Thanks to Ivi Sumergido and Kerrwin Sanchez for pointing this out.
CCC LADIES. Congratulations to the Cebu Country Club ladies team for winning the Founders Division title in the Sept. 18 to 21 event in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo called the PAL Ladies Interclub.
Hannah Wong, a perennial CCC champion, sent these details: “Our team won Champion in the Founders Division by 30 points despite being just 3 up going to the 3rd day over Alabang. Our leading scorer, Lois Kaye “LK” Go, also won1st runner-up in Flight A and she also won the “Highest Point Scored Award.”
The CCC team: Lalay Lava – Captain; Mercy Bejar; Ryoko Nagai (mother of Gen); Hannah Jayne Wong -ex-jungolfer; Stephanie Marie Abigail “Abby” Olea – ex-jungolfer; Alyeska Yunam -jungolfer; Lois Kaye “LK” Go – jungolfer; Junia Louise Gabasa -jungolfer. Scores are available at palladiesinterclub.com.
