More than 30 years ago, a group of executives and businessmen from Cebu City decided to get together for a friendly game of basketball. They met again. And again. Every Sunday. They agreed to invite more friends. The group’s numbers grew. They decided to invite teams from out of town to play them in friendly [...]

[Read more →]

These two photos are the running track of our beloved Cebu City Sports Center. Built in 1994, that’s 13 years of sun and rain and heat and storms. The life span of the track oval? Not more than 10 years, says the center’s manager, Ricky Ballesteros. Before injuries befall our runners, joggers and walkers, we [...]

[Read more →]

IN FOOTBALL, one of the year’s major events happened last Saturday and Sunday. The Mizuno Cup gathers children as young as five years old, teenagers, college co-eds, varsity stars, and dads aged 40 years old and older. I dropped by the games last Saturday night and took a few photos…

[Read more →]

Fr. Ton-Ton Zamora (2nd from right) with Mrs. Ma. Corazon Medalla (left), Badette Andres and this writer In tennis, when you say you “love” someone, that means you hate that person. It means you beat him with a score of 8-0. For in this game, “love” means zero. Take the case of Fr. Antonio “Ton-Ton” [...]

[Read more →]

Manny and Gerry… that’s Jingo Quijano and me at the back Last Monday (August 20), two world boxing champions sat beside each other. Manny Pacquiao and Gerry Penalosa. The venue was at the Cebu City Marriot Hotel and the press were invited to listen to the thoughts of these two RP heroes. One just arrived [...]

[Read more →]

INTRAMS. Don’t you love the sound of that word? Intramurals. Sportsfest. One full week of no Math, books, lectures, Science, blackboards. One full week of cheering, eating junk food, running, wearing sleeveless shirts. I love Intrams. To me, it’s the best week of the entire school year. Two days ago, I visited the sprawling and [...]

[Read more →]

This is not about sports. It’s about a gadget so revolutionary that it’s captivated Americans and geeks the world over. It’s a music player. A device that connects to the WWW. A phone. It can retrieve your e-mail, play “Bourne Ultimatum,” run YouTube videos, take 2-megapixel pictures, and zoom in on Fuente Osmena using Google [...]

[Read more →]

At exactly 6 this Sunday morning, Dr. Potenciano Larrazabal Jr. fired the starting gun to commence the annual Cebu Doctors’ University Run. There were three categories: 3K, 6K and 13K. There were thousands of Cebu Doc students, MEPZ runners, and ordinary folks like myself who joined. My good friend from the Rotary Club of Cebu [...]

[Read more →]

  Michael Domingo (center) with Mayor Jonas Cortes (right) and City Administrator Briccio Boholst They call him ALA. Pronounced just like the God of our Muslim friends, he’s the Lord of Cebu Boxing. He hails from Iloilo, studied in La Salle Bacolod, built his business empire in Cebu, transformed it into a Philippine conglomerate and, [...]

[Read more →]

Did you know that the “World Cup,” the trophy that the Philippines won against Mexico when we beat them 5-1 last Sunday, is all-gold and littered with diamonds? And, that it’s worth P23 million? I held it for a few seconds while Dong Secuya took some photos and… it’s heavy! It should be, if it’s [...]

[Read more →]

AJ Banal Last night, a Wednesday evening, I was at the Marriot Hotel from 9:30 until 12 midnight. The ballroom was jampacked. Cameras clicked. Eyes enlarged at the sight of the men seated on the Presidential Table. Their names? Boom-Boom. AJ. Michael Domingo. Z. You know them. Watched them last Sunday. They arrived just yesterday [...]

[Read more →]

One punch. All it took was one punch. For Gerry Penalosa, he played defense on the first round, blocked with his two red gloves on the second, jabbed in the third, then, all the way until the seventh, he stood relaxed. Maybe too relaxed. He was losing. Sev Sarmenta and Dyan Castillejo saw it, you [...]

[Read more →]

He’s 35 years old. His last world title was back in ’07… not 2007, but 1997. But he’s back on top. Watch this unbelievable seventh round by the pride of the Philippines…

[Read more →]

As painful as it is to watch this, here’s the YouTube video clip…

[Read more →]

It’s true that Team Philippines won 5-1 against the Mexican contingent. It’s true that we’re bringing home the World Cup. But here’s the sad truth: In the biggest fight of his career, in the biggest fight of the night… Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista was pummeled to the floor. What a shocker! Didn’t you feel sad? I [...]

[Read more →]

I live in Talamban. Veco says that we’ll experience power interruption starting 10 last night until 9 this morning. I hope they turn on the switch at 9 or earlier today. I don’t want to miss the World Cup. Who wants to? Nobody. I know that this morning, traffic will halt. Streets will stand deserted. [...]

[Read more →]

One of my favorite RP websites is www.philboxing.com. If you follow the sport of Z and Boom-Boom and AJ, check it out. It’s also one of the most popular of all RP sites. Remember Manny Pacquiao’s last fight? The site registered over 20,000 hits. Wow. And best of all, it’s operated by two of the [...]

[Read more →]

Tomorrow, a Sunday, August 12, 2007, Jacob Lagman (the country’s No.1 tennis player in the Boys 12-and-under category) will fly to Seoul, South Korea. He’ll join two major events spanning two weeks. His father, mentor and coach… Jess Lagman… will travel with him. Here’s an article I wrote for Sun.Star Cebu in March 4 of [...]

[Read more →]

This Sunday, August 12, 2007, the father-and-son tandem of Jess and Jacob Lagman will fly to Seoul, Korea. Not to vacation. No, it’s the middle of school for the 12-year-old Jacob (above photo, at the center). They’ll be out for two weeks to join two major tennis events in the South Korean capital. Jacob, the [...]

[Read more →]

Among all the athletes in Cebu, one of those I admire the most is Noy Jopson. He’s a multi-awarded athlete at a multi-discipline sport—swimming, biking, running—called triathlon. Noy is a record-holder at triathlon. And not just the ordinary race—but the full Ironman. He’s joined that, completed the race in 13-plus hours, and won a handful. [...]

[Read more →]