March 2015 – Page 2 – Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Balamban and Naga

I met Mayor Val Chiong last Wednesday in Naga City. Wearing shorts and wielding a tennis racket, he played doubles. A Class-A tennister who often represented Cebu in the PAL Interclub, Mayor Val plays nightly on the clay courts that he built. When I watched, he and his partner led 7-5 before the opponents won the next game to inch closer to a tiebreak. That’s when Val, armed with a topspin forehand, steady volleys and a forceful smash, attacked the next relentlessly to win the final point. Game, set, match, 8-6.

Naga City is active. In tennis, they’ve produced two national-caliber junior stars in Anday Alferez and Shyne Villareal. Of their two public courts, one was occupied by the adults while the other was reserved for young girls and boys.

Volleyball? A rectangle court sits across. Dozens of spikers and setters volleyed the ball back and forth. Badminton was played nearby, inside four indoor courts. Our most popular game, basketball, stood meters away. An oval, previously a cemented road that was closed to vehicular traffic so joggers can use it, circled this complex beside the boulevard. If I heard it right from the parents of Anday Alferez (Andoy and Nova), a swimming pool might be constructed in the newly-reclaimed land near the boulevard.

Here’s more: lights are for free until 10 p.m. Play all you want, dribble all that you can bounce, lob that shuttlecock, slice that backhand — you pay zero to exercise in Naga City.

“We’ll build a roof to cover the tennis courts,” said Mayor Val when we spoke, him all-sweating and all-smiling after his win. “It will not be as enclosed as Alta Vista but will be open so wind and air will come in.”

A lifelong tennis player, never mind if he had surgery a couple of years back and if his knees are wrapped with injury-preventive bands, Val has brought the game of “commercial” tennis to his city. Since Baseline has closed, the hordes of players there have traveled south to play in Naga. I saw several who came from Mandaue.

If the city is led by an active sportsman, the citizenry will follow the leader.

BALAMBAN. My daughter Jana and I traversed the Transcentral Highway to cross to the Western side of Cebu to watch the CVIRAA.

The “CV” stands for Central Visayas and an estimated 9,000 athletes and coaches from all over Region 7 were in the municipality that’s nicknamed “The Shipbuilding Capital of the Phils.” The regional meet is the final qualifying tournament where the winners will go on to the national event called the Palarong Pambansa (slated this May in Tagum City).

Last Saturday, Jana and I first visited the tennis venue, housed within the property of the Provincial Hospital, to watch the high school girls and boys. (Anday, whom I mentioned above, went on to win the gold in doubles with Beverly Enriquez.)

In the afternoon, we parked inside the church and visited numerous sites. First, we witnessed gymnastics. A line of judges sat on stage to score the girls who, one by one, would perform with a rubberized ball. Daniela de la Pisa, the Palaro’s multi-gold medalist, was there. As expected, she won gold. We also got to meet her mom and coach, Darlene.

Next, we walked towards the Experanza S. Binghay Memorial Sports Complex where the football games were played. A track oval encircled the complex. Though not rubberized in surface (it was anapog), the measurements were standard-size. When we watched, the 4 x 100 meter relay squads were getting ready.

Behind the grandstand was a covered court that housed the Futsal games. Futsal is indoor football played on a basketball court. The shoes don’t have spike soles. We watched the semifinal game between the Cebu City Ninos (represented mostly by players from STC) against Negros Oriental. Futsal is often more exciting than the 11-aside regular game on grass. Coached by my UP Cebu classmate Tirso Rio, himself a football star during our college days, the Cebu City girls would go on to win the gold.

For hosting the CVIRAA, kudos to Mayor Ace Binghay.

Good to go

Seven days ago, I narrated how my dad Bunny wanted to fly to Nevada to watch Manny vs. Money. As he inquired about the ticket prices, he was shocked: one cushioned seat inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena would cost him P230,000. In dollars, that’s 5K.

No way, my dad said. A boxing fan for life who adored Sugar Ray Leonard’s speed and who’d troop inside the Waterfront Hotel ballroom for most ALA Promotions encounters, my dad wanted to be a witness to the modern-day version of “Thrilla in Manila.” Then, Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in what was billed as one of the greatest clashes of all time.

Thrilla in Manila was contested in 1975. Forty years later, it’s another thriller in Vegas. (A bit of side trivia: The country’s first major commercial mall was named after the bout’s winner; that’s the “Ali Mall” beside the Araneta Coliseum, where the event was fought.)

Back to my dad, here’s some reminiscing: We traveled together to watch Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios last Nov. 2013. Prior to that fight, Pacquiao lost to Juan Manuel Marquez in a sleep-inducing knockout that floored the 100 million Filipinos watching on TV.

In Macau two years ago, my dad and I watched the bout 11 rows away. We stayed at The Venetian Macao and it was his first time to watch our Pambansang Kamao. The trip was memorable not only because of the Unanimous Decision victory by MP, him clobbering an overmatched (and soon we’d find out, drug-induced) Rios, it was meaningful because of the myriad of people that my dad met. He chatted with Genaro Rodriguez, the fight’s referee; he spent two hours seated beside commentator “Colonel” (Bob Sheridan), listening to his tales of announcing over 10,000 fights, from Mike Tyson to George Foreman to Roberto Duran.

That was 2013. How about May 2, 2015? Would you believe, my dad’s going to the fight for free!

Here’s the story: One of his closest friends, Augustus “Gus” Ouano, bought two tickets immediately after the fight was announced last week. Ticket prices: $5,000 apiece.

Dr. Ouano, who owns a PhD in polymer science and who worked in IBM for four decades in an illustrious career as scientist and inventor (plus author of the book, “Motivation and Opportunity: An Immigrant’s Quest for Knowledge from Mindanao to the Leading Edge of Science and Technology”), is not a boxing fan. He did not purchase the tickets for himself. He bought one ticket for his nephew, Engr. Fortunato “Jun” Sanchez, Jr., one of the top officials of the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board (MCDCB), and allocated the other ticket to Jun’s brother, Jay.

Jun and Jay Sanchez were ready to pay for the tickets. But, because of some matters that would not allow him to travel during that time, Jay opted not to make the trip.

Back in Las Vegas where he resides, Dr. Gus Ouano reflected on the two ticket purchases that he made.

He made a decision and said: I’ll give — not sell — these tickets to two of my closest friends, Jun and Bunny. It would also be an opportunity for them to discuss Cebu-related matters (water supply and infrastructure) in Las Vegas.

When my dad received the message from Gus informing him of the astonishing gift, my dad said no. He couldn’t possibly accept the expensive offering.

But Gus reminded my dad of an act that he did a long time ago, back in 2008. Then, my dad received a business class ticket to the U.S. from PAL. He doesn’t remember the details (it may have been a prize he won) but he decided not to use the ticket. He decided to give — not sell — it to Dr. Ouano. Plus, Gus reminded him, it was years ago when my dad brought along his good friend to watch a Pacquiao fight at the Casino Español. Not a boxing aficionado, Gus was thrilled to see Manny win from the ballroom’s large screen.

And so now, this. The Gift. The Blessing. Manuel (my dad’s first name) watching Emmanuel in May against Mayweather. I can’t be more excited for a good man: my dad.

As the saying goes: The good that you do will always come back to you.