1. If you add up all his recent earnings so far, plus put into the equation what he will earn in the next two years or so, Manny Pacquiao is well on his way to becoming “the only billionaire Filipino athlete in history,” as pointed out by renowned boxing writer Salven Lagumbay. 2. Manny’s first [...]

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I will never forget the month of September last year. Three times, together with my fellow mediamen, we wore blue-and-yellow jerseys to play basketball against a dozen players called “Team Pacquiao.” Against the boxing world champion himself—Pacman—we dribbled and scored baskets twice at the City Sports Club and once at the Cebu Coliseum. On one [...]

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It is otherwise named, “The International Magazine of Events.” Founded in 1923, each week Time magazine publishes stories ranging from the Iraq War to Barack Obama to the annual “Person of the Year.” This week, with it’s June 20 to July 7 issue, sports fans are lucky. “Games People Play” is the cover title with [...]

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He has traveled to Athens and Shanghai and Las Vegas and Paris and Bangkok and Sydney, but one of the cities that one of Cebu’s top doctors reminisces the most is Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Ronald Eullaran, one of the top—if not the leading—rheumatologist in Cebu, recalls his visit: “I was in Boston from Nov. 6 [...]

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Three nights ago at the Madrid room of the Casino Español, the group of men and women whose stories and scores and scoops you read about each day at these back pages met. Sun.Star Cebu, The Freeman, Cebu Daily News, Sun.Star Superbalita, Banat—each of the five Cebu dailies was represented. The group? The Sportswriters Association [...]

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Kobe Bryant fans, sorry, it’s not him. With how KB24 has performed thus far—and how his team’s going to lose the NBA Finals this Wednesday morning—he’s far from being compared to MJ23. There’s only one man who can be likened to the greatest-ever athlete who stepped foot on earth. He’s of the same color, slightly [...]

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With chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in the background, Kobe Bean Bryant finally lived up to his top billing as Hollywood’s No. 1 superstar. With 6:55 left in Game 3 and his Los Angeles Lakers trailing the Boston Celtics, 66-68, he stood at the top of the 3-point rainbow, hesitated for a split second, eyed the [...]

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Only five men in the history of tennis have won all four Grand Slam singles titles: Andre Agassi, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Fred Perry. Sad to say, the initials “RF” won’t be scribbled alongside that list. At least, not yet. Because the way Rafael Nadal embarrassed him at the French Open final, [...]

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November of last year, a group of Cebuanos flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to watch Rafael Nadal against Richard Gasquet in an exhibition match (and, two days later, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras). Here are some photos… Dr. Ronnie Medalle poses with the giant Rafa

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Among the many stories written about the recent French Open, here are my favorite… John Wertheim’s “Fifty thoughts from the French Open, where Nadal rules again” Bonnie Ford’s “Nadal’s fire and emotion propel him to fourth French Open title” Greg Garber’s “Nadal amplifies his clay-court prowess at French Open”

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(This photo and all the photos below from www.rolandgarros.com) Nick Torres, one of Cebu’s top Class-A netters before he shifted to golf, said it best: “I would love to see RF finally win but I’m afraid it’s never gonna happen as long as Rafa is around… eventually, RF’s self-belief will go away as the balls [...]

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Yayoy Alcoseba with Freddie Roach At 1 p.m. yesterday, with the sound of rubber shoes squeaking against the parquet floor and the noise of shouts echoing and basketballs bouncing in the background, I spoke to a man as legendary to Cebu basketball as Phil Jackson is to the NBA. He has won more titles in [...]

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As much as I, together with millions of other unofficial members of the Roger Federer Fans Club — including the two most passionate in Cebu: Sun.Star’s Executive Editor, Michelle So, and this paper’s celebrated Lifestyle columnist, Chinggay Utzurrum — want RF to win the 2008 French Open, there is one monarch who lords over Paris. [...]

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(FILE/Branimir Kvartuc/AP) Since the NBA was founded in June 6, 1946, the two have met 10 times in the NBA Finals. For the first eight encounters—would you believe—the Celtics prevailed against the Lakers. In 1959, when the teams first met and the Lakers were then called the “Minneapolis Lakers,” the Celtics clobbered their nemesis, 4-0. [...]

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