This weekend (Feb. 15 to 17), a big event will kick-off at the Mandaue Reclamation area: the annual Horse Show and Competition now officially named “The Governor’s Cup 2008.” If you want to see cowboys or want your 12-year-old to ride on a pony, visit this weekend. To my brother-in-law Jake Mendez, the president of the organizing group (CEOBSA), good luck. And, doesn’t Governor Gwen look pretty and perfect in cowboy attire?
John, Leszl and Mendel
At 11 a.m. yesterday in my office, I met two athletes. Skinny and long-legged, they can sprint after a cheetah. Ask them to visit the Cebu City Sports Center and they’ll zoom round and round, circling the track oval with nary a sweat, not losing breath.
ML is Mendel Lopez. Only 23, Mendel has amassed a pile of trophies, medals, citations and, yes, worn-out running shoes that will tower taller than the Ayala Center Christmas tree of last December.
“I won gold in the 1500 meters yesterday,” he told me a day after dominating the regional PRISAA. “Same with the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays. We won gold.”
Gold, you see, is Mendel’s favorite color. And rarely has he joined an event in Cebu and not—at the end of the finish line—hung a round metal around his neck that’s not shining gold.
NO, it wasn’t embarrassing. And the matches, especially the first two days and the doubles last Saturday, were close. We just couldn’t pull through. I spoke last night to Randy Villanueva, one of the officials from the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) who helped our Davis Cup team, and he said the matches could have gone either way. But the fact is, the final score in the Davis Cup tennis tie between the Philippines and Japan is 5-0. The winners: Japan. Here’s a story from the Phil. Daily Inquirer… The below photos are courtesy of my good friend Dan Mastous, who flew in from Boston the day before and made it in time to watch all three days. Thanks, Dan!
Another highly-successful event organized by Dr. Peter Mancao, one of the most prominent running doctor/enthusiasts in Cebu. Here are the details on yesterday’s “2nd Run For Your Heart” event written for The Freeman by Caecent Noot-Magsumbol.
AT THE STARTING LINE: Doctor’s Division champion Dr. Yong Larrazabal (center) with (wearing purple) Milet Chiongbian, who placed second in the Women’s Executive division
Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama (center) leading the charge with (to his right) Councilor Edgar Labella and (left most) Bernard Lanutan
From left: top runners Christy Sevilleno and Leszl Gitaruelas sharing a laugh with Robert Salahug, Dr. Peter Mancao and John Pages
At six in the morning today (Sunday), over 600 runners ran starting from the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital along Osmena Boulevard. A few hundred did the 3-K, a few hundred more the 6-K, and a few more, the 10-K. It was another highly-successful event organized by Dr. Peter Mancao, his team of physicians, and the Cebu Road Runners Club (CRRC). The event: RUN FOR YOUR HEART. Truly, our hearts were given a run!
Right after, I had breakfast with another group of runners, the Cebu Executive Runners Club, with the bowls of pasta courtesy of Dr. Vic Verallo…
Ten years ago last December 27, Jasmin and I exchanged vows at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral then boarded a flight 48 hours after to stay for five nights in this city labeled as one of Asia’s most enthralling.
In Hong Kong, we rode a mini-train to the top of Victoria Peak. We dined on Peking Duck, strolled along Nathan Road, boarded the Star Ferry and, by nightfall, sat mesmerized at the display of lights across the harbor. We squeezed inside the MRT, disembarked in the shopping district of Mongkok and stood dazed at the dizzying walking pace of our Chinese neighbors. We took a train to watch horse-racing at the far-flung Sha Tin Race Track and even entered the Hong Kong Convention Center and nearly saw, in person, Jackie Chan!
DR. PETER MANCAO lives by the age-old saying: “Practice What You Preach.” One of Cebu’s top cardiovascular surgeons, Dr. Mancao knows that to keep one’s heart vigorous and pulsating, one has to run, jump, stretch, lift, smash, kick and sweat. In one word: Exercise.
And so Dr. Mancao is one who not only exercises—I’m sure you’ve read that he finished the New York City Marathon last November—but he also helps other people turn into vibrant and energized individuals. How?
(Eric Gay/AP)
You know why I love sports so much? Five words: YOU NEVER KNOW THE ENDING. You don’t. You never do. A $220 million blockbuster movie will telegraph it’s ending midway through the story while a New York Times bestselling novel will snake you through turns and twists and reveal, two-thirds through the 347-pager, that last-page twist.
But sports? Nah. YOU…. NEVER…. KNOW.
Take yesterday’s Super Bowl XLII. The New England Patriots owned the NFL. In fact, wasn’t the league supposed to be renamed the “N.E.L.,” as in the New England League? You see, the Pats are Tiger Woods-like; in the past six years, they’ve snatched three Super Bowls. They owned Randy Moss, the game’s best wide receiver who scored a season touchdown reception record (23) this ‘007. They called Bill Belichick as head coach.
Tom Brady. His other name is Matt Damon. They’re twins. They look alike. The only difference is, even if Matt Damon is well-built and can jump from 22-foot-tall buildings like what we saw in “The Bourne Ultimatum,” he’s unlike Tom Brady who towers at 6-foot-4, has graced the covers of GQ Magazine 235,280 times, has a child with actress Bridget Moynahan (from “I, Robot”) and whose current girlfriend is, according to the Guinness Records, the “world’s richest supermodel,” Gisele Bundchen.
And Matt, sorry—you’re not the most famous American in the world today. Tom Brady is! I’m serious. Tom is no Cruise or Hanks and he’s not on CNN running for President like Barack Obama, but later today—Sunday in the U.S.—all eyes will be transfixed on one man: Mr. Brady.
