Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Heroes of the 30th PAL Intersports

When Cebu hosted the 30th PAL Intersports last month, we achieved the status of organizing not only the biggest-ever PAL Intersports in history (with over 800 participants) but also the best-organized event since these annual games were held decades back.

Credit goes to Mai-Mai Dasmarinas (top photo, left; with K), the energetic head of the Secretariat, and her group of young men and women who labored night and day to make the 30th PAL Intersports another success for our city named Ceboom! Check out more photos here…

Prayers by many helped lift Manny

Didn’t your hands feel clammy? Didn’t your heart pump thrice as fast? Didn’t your legs shake and feet stomp the floor and fist clench your knuckles?

I did. You did. My father-in-law Jack Mendez did. So did my companions that morning, Dr. Ronnie Medalle and my Sun.Star sports editor Mike Limpag. Every single Filipino who sat to watch from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. two days ago prayed for Manny Pacquaio. My mother-in-law Malu Mendez, too nervous to sit, instead prepared kinilaw at the kitchen and did what she does best when in times of need: pray.

She prayed for Manny. Many prayed for Manny.

Manny prayed for Manny. With a rosary hung around his neck, he made the sign-of-the-cross each time the bell sounded to start the round. Do you recall him, midway through, looking up to the ceiling? He wasn’t staring at the scoreboard—this wasn’t the NBA—but looked up… to pray.

The day before the fight, when we watched the news that Manny was four lbs. overweight when he awoke that morning and had to run on a treadmill and squeeze out the extra poundage just to make weight—didn’t we all pray? Didn’t we all uplift Manny’s ordeal? For him to have strength 30 hours later to last the full 12 rounds?

Manny also heard mass at his Mandalay Bay suite—as he always does—and invited all to attend. Plus, didn’t Manny kneel down after the fight? To thank God? He did. He always does.

Pacquiao vs Barrera: Round 11

2-0 is better than 14-0

(Photo courtesy of the top UAAP and NCAA site, www.inboundpass.com)

A few hours after Manny’s victory, the headline read: “2-0 is better than 14-0.”

How is that possible? It’s not. But it did happen. At the UAAP championships held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the winner wasn’t the team that won 14-0—it was the one who scored 2-0.

De La Salle University (DLSU), which struggled past Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) last week before entering the finals against the University of the East (UE), was the underdog against the only team that scored a 14-0 regular season record. But last Sunday—as the Cebuanos watched at Hola España—La Salle beat UE, 73-64.

Cebu lucky to be a part of Pacman

When he climbs the ring at past 11 a.m. (RP time) today, this we are proud to declare: Manny Pacquiao trained in Cebu City.

He jogged on the steep hills of Alta Vista. Sprinted near call centers named People Support and eTelecare along the I.T. Park. He setup camp at a Labangon hideaway called the Rex “Wakee” Salud (RWS) Gym. Inside that blue-and-white building, Manny skipped rope, attacked the double-end bag, and logged 112 sparring rounds. At the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, he slept in a suite room and feasted on Cafe Uno’s breakfast and dinner buffets.

Basketball? Sure. As part of his Sunday morning routine, Manny dribbled together with Team Pacquiao—his loyal gang of trainers and rah-rah boys—against us, the Cebuano sportswriters. Twice, we traded jump-shots at the City Sports Club; once, we collided and tumbled on the parquet floor of the Cebu Coliseum.

Why Cebu?

Good question. From August 14 until September 21—that’s 39 days—why did the King of Boxing train in the Queen City of the South? Wasn’t he supposed to be at the Wild Card Gym? In Los Angeles? As devised by Freddie Roach?

Yes, yes, yes—but here’s another Yes: Cebu is perfect for Pacman.

More Pacman photos from Cebu

After Manny’s final basketball game… with my brother Charlie

Atty. Jingo Quijano (left) with Dong Secuya at the RWS Gym

2007 World Heart Day Run

Last Sunday, September 30, I joined the 2007 World Heart Day Run at the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital along Osmena Boulevard. There were two categories, the 5-K and the 10-K. I joined the 10-K and clocked a personal best time of 52:39. Dr. Yong Larrazabal was there. Raymund Silot, one of the pillars of the Cebu Road Runners Club, helped organize the run that attracted over a hundred participants. We all enjoyed the run and it was a success! Enjoy these photos sent by Raymund…

Isn’t she pretty?

Guess who…

Ateneo and La Salle: No rivalry comes close

(All photos courtesy of top UAAP site www.inboundpass.com)

You know what the best thing is about sports? You never know the ending.

Isn’t that true? Unlike movies where, midway through the drama, you have a hunch of how it will end—in sports, you never, never know. Sure, there are exceptions like two Nike endorsers named Federer and Woods, and a southpaw named MP who’ll feast on a Mexican dish this Sunday—but for the rest of the sports world, it’s the same ending: You never know.

Consider Ateneo vs. La Salle. Twice in the regular season, the Blue Eagles beat the Green Archers. That soared the spirits of the Eagles, blunted the arrows of the Archers.

Then the playoffs arrived. La Salle sharpened its blades, looked to the heavens and unleashed razor-sharp bullets. The eagle swerved, dove, flapped it’s mighty wings, evaded shots that riddled the air—until it succumbed to an arrow-pierce on the chest. La Salle won Game 3, 80-79. The green army stood up. They sang. Rejoiced. Smiled at the defeat of their most-loved enemy.

Federer vs. Sampras: What a dream match

“How can a dream come true if you don’t dream?”

Among all the sayings and mottos that I know, that’s one of my favorites. Isn’t it true? If you want something so bad, if you long to achieve that seemingly-impossible feat—how can you reach it if, to start with, you don’t dream?

Dreams are essential. Without dreams, Neil Armstrong wouldn’t have stepped on the moon. Lea Salonga would not be singing in Broadway. Bill Gates would be a bespectacled professor instead of the world’s only $59 billion man. And Martin Luther King, Jr. wouldn’t have ignited such passion among Americans and delivered one of history’s all-time great speeches, “I Have A Dream.”

My dreams? Plenty. Add a brother or sister to my eight-year-old daughter Jana. Build our business. Run the 42-km. marathon. Watch the Beijing Olympics. Build a 12-court Cebu Tennis Center.

These dreams—though I’m confident all will be realized—take time. Months. Maybe years. But there’s one dream that’s happening soon. To be exact, November 22, 2007.

Pete Sampras vs. Roger Federer.