Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Art Macapagal

Two days ago, fighting for the presidency of the Philippine Olympic Committee, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco bested his rival, Art Macapagal. What a thriller of a contest!

At first, the four initial ballots cast went for Cojuangco. Next, Macapagal, the half-brother of President GMA, snatched 11 of the next 15 votes to lead, 11-8. But after that, Cojuangco won 12 of the next 17 votes to virtually clinch it at 20-16. But, four more ballots were left unopened. The first vote went to Macapagal. Same with the second. And the third. All of a sudden, the score stood at 20-19 with one vote remaining. At this point, Cojuangco said, “I have to admit that my heart beat a little bit faster than normal.” Finally, when the last vote was said, it read: “Cojuangco.”

Boxing? A sport? No, it’s entertainment

Antonio Lopez Aldeguer, quoted by Quinito Henson in yesterday’s issue of The Philippine Star, summed it up best: “Boom Boom was in top shape. I don’t know what to say. We did our best to prepare him for this fight. Our critics exaggerate our losses and forget our wins. This hurt us. We can’t seem to win the big ones. We wanted a tough opponent for Boom Boom to test him. We got what we asked for. We did everything possible for Boom Boom. I just don’t know where to go from here.”

The one trait I admire most about ALA—apart from being Cebu’s undisputed Sportsman—is his candor and straight talk.

You saw it, I saw it and Mr. Aldeguer, without mincing words, saw it—that, against a hard-bitten, rigid and durable opponent, our own Rey Bautista was tyrannized.

Sure, Heriberto Ruiz’s head collided with Boom-Boom’s to unleash a torrid of red lava that flowed non-stop, but even before that head-butt and, worse, after that, B-B-B was outclassed and outperformed.

28 Cebuanos to run the Singapore Marathon

Fourteen days from today, on the same Sunday morning when Manny Pacquiao steps on the square ring to battle Oscar de la Hoya in the biggest sporting event ever by a Filipino, 28 Cebuanos will step on the asphalted roads of The Lion City to fight another battle: the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

How far is a marathon? Is it 10,000 meters? 20,000? 30,000? No, it’s 42,195 meters. Doesn’t that sound crazy? Foolish? And ludicrous, to run that far? As my brother Randy, the only musician in our family, would often ask, Why?

Photos

Photos courtesy of Frederic Chiongbian and Meyrick Jacalan

Meyrick Jacalan

At the Casino Español de Cebu after a 24-K run

What Will Matter

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Lm_U9yEP0[/youtube]

Jesse Bernad builds his Field of Dreams

When I studied college at U.P. Cebu, the one week that I looked forward to each year more than any other was Intramurals. The sport that got my palms sweaty and my heart racing 178 beats per minute?

Softball. But while I enjoyed gripping that aluminum bat, inserting that leather glove on my left hand and catching and throwing balls and stealing bases, the one player I detested facing was the pitcher of the Seniors team: Jesse Bernad.

In an article I wrote on this space last year, here’s how I described Jesse: “If you saw Troy, he’s Achilles. Our Michael Phelps of the Athens Games. Everybody sweated facing Hulk. As softball pitcher, he threw underhand fastballs that screamed at you like a bullet ambulance. How do I know? I stood meters from him as batter and almost fell off my backside at the zooming softball’s pace. As basketball center, Jessed pulled down rebounds like he were picking mansanitas, deflected shots like one would mosquitoes, and “owned” the low post like a Tim Duncan.”

Basketball helped No. 44 score a slam dunk

When Barack Obama was interviewed by Sports Illustrated with the question, “President Nixon had a bowling lane at the White House. President Eisenhower had a putting green and President Bush has a Tee-Ball game on the South Lawn. What sporting traditions are you looking forward to bringing to the White House?” he replied:

“Sports have always been a central part of my life. Growing up, I learned about competition and teamwork on the basketball court, and these days I try to get in a pickup game whenever I can. If I’m fortunate enough to move into the White House, I’d consider putting in a basketball court.”

Basketball Barack

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87k1j4CpOw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mimaNFEbg6U[/youtube]

Tennis Shorts: Game’s Funniest One-Liners

Raffy Uytiepo—my fellow columnist, fellow Ilonggo, fellow runner and, yes, fellow injured man (we both own knee injuries)—gifted me with a book last week that, after reading it’s hysterical and brilliant quotations—got me snorting and laughing. Ironically, the 246-page book’s title, “Tennis Shorts,” was my original by-line when my first-ever column appeared (for The Freeman) back in Sept. 21, 1994.

Compiled by Glenn Liebman and fully-titled, “Tennis Shorts: 1,001 of the Game’s Funniest One-Liners,” it was copyrighted in 1997—which explains the absence of Rafa and Roger. Enjoy these tennis shorts…

“Got to let one rest and be fertilized while I’m using the other.” – Bill Cosby, on why he has two grass courts at his house

“Grass is for cows.” – Jan Kodes, on his disdain for grass

NBA on TV

Who says the NBA isn’t shown on cable TV? Early this year, when SkyCable pulled the plug on Solar Sports and, with it, Basketball TV, Cebuanos growled and protested. For how can, to us, the world’s most popular league—whose games we’ve watched since the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird era—be stripped away?