I know it’s been several days since the 2008 Australian Open concluded but when I saw these pictures, they’re too good not to share… (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

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Yesterday (Jan. 29), the group of men and women whose stories you read about in the newspaper Sports Section met to deliberate on the winners for the upcoming SAC-SMC All-Cebu Sports Awards, an annual gathering where top athletes, coaches, individuals and teams are honored. I don’t have the final listing yet of awardees and will [...]

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With Freddie Roach One of the top boxing scribes in the country is also one of the top lawyers in this city. I’m referring to my “neighbor” in Sun.Star Cebu, the man I sit beside often when we watch local boxing fights, and the writer who just “cornered” Z Gorres and penned an excellent interview/article [...]

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Last Sunday morning at the Casino Español de Cebu, I chanced upon meeting Michael Aldeguer. I’ve known Michael since high school—we played basketball against each other; he donned the Sacred Heart uniform while I wore the CIS jersey—and, when we talk of sports and boxing and the NBA, he’s one of the most impassioned and [...]

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It doesn’t matter if you’ve never swung a Wilson tennis racquet before, I hope you saw the Men’s Final of the Australian Open last Sunday night. The first set? It was all a tussle and grapple of physical will. Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga, all of 6-foot-2 and built and looking like Muhammad Ali, sparred against the 6-foot-1 [...]

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1. I like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. When he meets Novak Djokovic at 4 p.m. (RP time) later for the final, I’ll cheer for him. I hope he wins. And if he plays like he did against Rafael Nadal, he’ll win. But will the enormity of a Grand Slam final rattle his brain? And unnerve him? I [...]

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GRAEME MACKINNON sent me this comment two days after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga demolished Rafael Nadal and a day after Novak Djokovic did the same to Roger Federer. His commentary below couldn’t have been more correct. (Keep in mind that the reason why Graeme is an excellent writer is because, lest you forget, he was a writer… [...]

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Yesterday, my mobile phone beeped at 1:10 p.m. It was my dad, Bunny, with this text message: “John… your favorite was clobbered by Hantuchova in the 1st set, 6-0… Also, she got broken in the 1st game of the 2nd set… Hope she recovers but it’s a big mismatch thus far…” The big tennis fan [...]

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If you turned on your cable TV set and watched Star Sports from 5 to 7 p.m. last night, you’d be in disbelief, puzzled, scratching your head. Rafael Nadal? The world no.2? The man who hasn’t lost a set at the Oz Open? He’s being clobbered in straight sets by an unknown, unseeded, unheard-of Jo-Wilfried [...]

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Among all the women on earth who grip tennis rackets, swing at yellow balls, glide across the rectangle court, serve, volley, smash lobs, and sprint for drop shots, three ladies I find most attractive….. First, and no need to introduce her, is Ms. MS. You know who she is. She stands 6-foot-2, hails from Russia [...]

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Daniela Hantuchova

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NO need to tell you if she won or lost… this photo (by Julian Abram Wainwright/EPA) says it all

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  How do you convince 1,000 people to converge at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to join a running event? You ask Meyrick and Perl Jacalan to promote the event. The owners of one of Cebu’s top advertising agencies—ASAP (Advertising Services and Promotions)—this couple helped organize last weekend’s highly-successful Mizuno-Shell Sinulog Half-Marathon. Energetic, young and [...]

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At 5 a.m. last Saturday (Jan. 19), one prominent doctor wearing shorts and running shoes was clicking his camera to take photos. Enjoy these excellent pre-race pictures taken by one of the prime-movers of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC), Dr. Vic Verallo… 10 minutes and counting…. at the Asiatown I.T. Park starting/finishing line Vice-Mayor [...]

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One of the people I admire the most in sports is Graeme Mackinnon. For many years, Graeme lived in this Queen City of the South and built Cebu football to what it is today… one of this land’s most popular sports. Now back in his native Australia, Graeme has been following, of course, the Australian [...]

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Allow me to brag for today and announce that, just now, I’ve joined the Top 10 runners with the most mileage among the Nike Plus users. This goes for the whole Philippines. In my 30 to 39 age-group bracket, I’m No.3 (below). Since I started uploading my runs last August 12, 2007 (or roughly five [...]

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I can’t play the drums. Piano? Ha-ha. Back in high school, my mom enrolled me at Reyco, the famous music school near Junquera, and I lasted exactly TWO sessions. The guitar? Can I strum the guitar? Oh my. The only strumming I know is singing the “Killing Me Softly” song… strumming my pain with his [...]

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