Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

TW1

Late yesterday, I ran with Frederic Chiongbian, one of my best friends in marathon-running. As we spiraled around the Cebu Country Club golf course for 10.5 kms., our talk, naturally, centered on golf and a certain Mr. Woods.

I knew Tiger won the Buick Open but did not know an astounding fact until Frederic mentioned it: On Day One, Tiger scored 71 and placed 75th. With a poor Day Two showing, he’d be booted out of the tournament—just like the British Open. But, no, Tiger shot a 9-under 63 and, by day’s end, ranked fifth—a whopping jump of 70 places. Astonishing.

“Have other players missed a cut only to win in their next appearance? Absolutely,” wrote ESPN’s Jason Sobel in “Tiger’s good is better than anyone else’s” two days ago. “It never works in the way it did for Woods, though. His worst golf—during the second round at Turnberry, Tiger played a six-hole stretch in 7-over-par for the first time in his career—left him a single shot shy of making the cut. His best golf—Woods was 7-under-par through seven holes in that opening stretch during Round 2 of the Buick—is purely mercurial. And his average golf—he made 15 pars in the final round and birdied only one non-par-5—is enough to ensure a Sunday coronation.”

He’s back on track!

Can you believe Schumi is back? Retired since 2006, later this month he’ll be in Valencia, Spain to drive a familiar color: Red. The winner of seven F1 titles, Michael Shumacher, replaces the recuperating Felipe Massa.

”Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has long been closed for me, it is also true that for team loyalty reasons I cannot ignore that unfortunate situation,” said Schumacher. ”But as the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge.”

I’ll make a testimonial: While I followed F1 when the German drove for Ferrari, after he retired, I braked. And stopped. Same scenario for me with Michael Jordan. Same when Lance Armstrong left.

Now, I’m back. The same, I bet, is true for millions on non-fanatics worldwide: Schumi’s return will reenergize the controversy-laden F1.

Hong Kong is a metropolis with a kick

HONG KONG—Scanning the sports sections of the two leading English newspapers here, South China Morning Post and China Daily, as I did the past week, one will find that Hong Kong’s five most popular sports are: Number one, soccer. No. 2: the sport with 11 players per team on-field. Three, the game whose favorite Sun.Star columnists are Mike Limpag and Noel Villaflor. Four: it’s an activity played on a rectangular-shaped grass field with goalies on each wing. Fifth, it’s also called… surprise… football!

Yes. In this Chinese self-governing territory that is one of the richest locations on earth (HK’s GDP- per capita of $43,800 is the world’s 14th highest while our beloved country, at $3,300, languishes at No. 162), I ask: what is the one game that is followed the most—well, excluding the “gambling sport” of horse-racing? Kicking. Yup, the sport of the feet.

Blue vs. Green

Chris Aldeguer comments on Lance vs. AC

Chris Aldeguer

The 96th Tour de France has ended—but the word war just started. No sooner had Alberto Contador arrived in Spain when he unleashed a torrent of insults, saying, “My relationship with Armstrong is nil… I’ve never had a great admiration for him and I never will!”

Ouch. That’s distasteful. And, to a seven-time TDF winner, upsetting and embarrassing. But never one to surrender a fight, Lance responded: “Hey pistolero, there is no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ What did I say in March? Lots to learn. Restated.”

In Hong Kong, it’s my favorite spot

HONG KONG—The one place I visit the most here is not Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui or the Harbour City-Ocean Centre mall or Victoria Peak up the mountains. It’s not a ride aboard the iconic Star Ferry or a stroll along Granville Road. It’s not even inside shops like H & M or Esprit or Uniqlo or Giordano. The one site I frequent almost daily?

Victoria Park. I love Victoria Park! Almost each early morning here, I jog about half a kilometer from my hotel in Wan Chai and visit the ground that’s filled with hundreds of Hong Kongers.

Covering an area of 19 hectares, Victoria Park is the largest park in the Hong Kong Island. It’s situated in Causeway Bay and has been a Hong Kong fixture—though not as centrally-located as its New York City counterpart, the Central Park—for a long time. Built in honor or Queen Victoria, it’s been opened, 24 hours daily, to the Hong Kong public for the past 52 years.

The Science of Sport

There’s a new website I just stumbled upon a few days ago. Called “The Science of Sport,” it analyzes, in full detail, the accomplishments of some of the world’s top athletes. In the case of the past two weeks, it’s the Tour de France riders… in particular, Alberto Contador. Visit the site here. Also, read this fabulous piece (and watch his interview), “A new Lance shows old determination,” by Bonnie D. Ford.

Alberto Contador is the new Lance Armstrong

The Tour de France is our planet’s most punishing and excruciating sporting event. It spans 23 days—that’s 21 marathons of pedaling and only two days of rest in-between—covering a total distance of 3,445 kms. From the start in Monaco, it traverses through seven mountain stages, six countries that include Spain, Andorra, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland and (of course!) France, and will finish today, the 26th of July, along the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

I’ve been to the Champs-Elysees. The year was 2001 when my wife Jasmin’s father, Jack Villarosa Mendez, brought our whole family on a European sojourn. That Parisian street, one of the world’s most prominent, I recall as a beauty. And, today, as the 170 or so cyclists joining the TDF will pass through that sight, one man will find the Champs-Elysees with the utmost beauty: Alberto Contador.

A Shangri-La for the sun, swim and sports

If you type the word “shangri-la” in the online thesaurus, plenty of words appear. There’s “bliss,” “heaven” and “promised land.” There’s “seventh heaven,” “garden” and “paradise.”

Having recently stayed for two nights at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, I’d conclude that, yes, those words are accurate. For here we have, in our very own Cebu, one of the most coveted resorts in the entire Philippines and around Asia.

Jasmin, Jana and myself—our family of three Js—booked a Friday noon to Sunday afternoon stay a month ago. School had not started yet and, what perfect way for a getaway. Plus, our top resort had a fantastic promotion: Book for two nights and, as reward, they’ll give the third night… for free.

There’s more. A free P1,000 voucher that’s consumable in any of their several restaurants—Tides, Acqua, Buko Bar & Grill, Cowrie Cove, and Tea of Spring. And here are two more that my 10-year-old daughter, Jana Marie, enjoyed the most: a 15-minute ride on their jet-ski (free!) and a two-hour access to a children’s paradise of stairs and slides called Adventure Zone. Daily buffet breakfast for two (plus two children) at either Tides or Acqua are all included in the package. (For those still interested, this “Local Residents Package,” which started in June 1, lasts until August 31, 2009.)

Tom Watson and Lance Armstrong

Thomas Sturges Watson is a winner of eight Major championships in golf. Lance Edward Armstrong has won the Tour de France a record seven times. Mr. Watson and Mr. Armstrong, in the vast universe called Sports, are two of the most venerated and hallowed names. Together, they are also two of the oldest competitors in their fields of golf and cycling.

Tom Watson, barely a month shy of his 60th birthday, was one of the golfing greats in the 1970s and 1980s. Lance Armstrong, born on September 18, 1971—which makes him 38 years old in six weeks’ time—dominated cycling from 1999 to 2005.