Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Peter Mancao: The Heart Surgeon With A Heart

One act of kindness that I will never forget happened last February 17. Together with 13 others from Cebu, I joined the Hong Kong Marathon. After the starting gun fired at 6:45 in the morning, off we jogged, traversing the asphalted roads, climbing bridges, crawling under the tunnels when, suddenly at Km. 28, both my legs cramped and, worse, I had intolerable pain at the sides of my knees. I winced in distress, walked crippled, felt like my knees had been hammered by a baseball bat.

Dr. Peter Mancao passed-by. While I asked that he proceed, he stopped, asked for liniment, rubbed it on my knees, asked for cold sponges and smothered those on my injured legs. For the next several kilometers—like a good doctor would accompany an ailing patient—Dr. Mancao did the same. And, it wasn’t until the 35th km. while under the Western Harbour Tunnel when I sat tortured by the knee pain, that I forced him to run. Reluctantly, he did.

I didn’t finish the Hong Kong Marathon—but that act of kindness I will forever remember: For here was one of Cebu’s top heart surgeons (and the man who organizes the Run For Your Heart races) who runs with a kind heart.

As Greg slaughters, UV marches to No.8 this ‘08

He is the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Empire State Building. He’s Taipei 101. He’s the Marco Polo Hotel of Cebu basketball who is statuesque and overlooking while the rest of the buildings sit below his monstrous shadow.

Last Thursday night at the Cebu Coliseum and together with 10,000 standing-room-only fans, I watched Game 1 of the UV vs. USJ-R Cesafi finals.

One behemoth dominated. No, sorry, he didn’t dominate—he lorded. On this game where you shoot at the 10-foot-tall ring, his nearly 7-foot-tall frame—plus those outstretched hands that would dwarf Michael Phelps’—he reigned supreme. He lorded tall in the forest like a towering giraffe looking down at the jaguars. And, by jaguars, yes, I mean the USJ-R Jaguars.

Trying to be No.1 at Tri, that’s Noy Jopson

I’ve dribbled a basketball, putted on a golf course, swam 25-meter laps, flicked my wrist in badminton, ran 10-Ks along Osmeña Blvd., swung volleys in tennis and mountain-biked to Tops, but the one sport that I have yet to try is…. Tri.

Yes, tri. As in, three. Triathlon is it’s full name and, if one speaks of one of the most backbreaking of endeavors—think of the Ironman and it’s 3.8-km. swim, 180-K bike, and 42-km. run—then you’ve got to try… Tri.

Here in Cebu, when “triathlon” is muttered, one name above all enters my mind: Noy Jopson.

Paco Photos

As Singapore races, Paco Rodriguez eyes Japan

Formula One racing fans will savor an Asian dinner feast tonight when, at 8 p.m., the first-ever F1 night race blasts off: the Singapore Grand Prix.

Here in Cebu, one young man, only 14, will keenly watch the turns, twists and traction. A big fan of Ferrari and Felipe Massa, he’ll cheer at home together with dad, Paul; mom, Cyndy; and brother, Paolo. But while he’s watching, his mind will linger at the thought of a nearby city: Suzuka, Japan.

Paco Catane Rodriguez, one of go-kart racing’s most celebrated stars in Cebu—and, yes, in the entire country—will leave on Tuesday for the World Karting Finals in the world’s second largest economy.

Happy Birthday, Graeme!

Today, September 28, is a special day for our friend in Australia, Graeme Mackinnon. He’s celebrating his xxth birthday and his 20th wedding anniversary! Here are a few photos of the football star…

It’s 1963 and Graeme’s working out at the gym with his dad

Graeme Mackinnon: Paralympians are heroes

Graeme (top) in the 1965 Grand Final of APIA vs. St. George

He is Australian and Cebuano. While he grew up ‘Down Under,’ he resided in Cebu for 14 years. From 1986 until 1990, then again from 1994 to 2003, Graeme Mackinnon was the dynamo of one sport in Cebu: football.

He helped form, among many, the Balls Disco Under-18 squad, the Springale program (with Mario Ceniza) and the M. Lhuillier Sports Development Foundation (MLSDF) teams from Carmen, Danao, Naga, Barili, Talamban and Toledo.

In Big Mac Land, Mac-Mac Tabotabo stands Big

Thanks to Jay Montecillo, who’s based in Modesto, California, I got to speak to one of the most promising young athletes in Cebu. His sport is the game of Roger Federer and, at only a dozen years old, he’s won dozens of local, national and, yes, US-based tournaments.

Vince Marc Tabotabo. You’ve read his name on these back pages before. Nicknamed “Mac-Mac,” he’s been in America for the past two months.

“Kumusta?” I asked when we spoke last week.

“OK ra,” the shy 12-year-old tennis phenom hushed.

Together with his father/coach Titus Tabotabo, Mac-Mac has got Californians interested. For here’s a small youngster with the complexion unlike most of his white, towering tall junior American players. Here’s an example: Just last Sept. 7 in Auburn, California, Mac-Mac not only won the Boys 12-and-under singles title, but, just as well, the Doubles crown. In the quarterfinals, he beat Bobby Fretz, 6-3, 6-0; in the semis, the third-seeded Tabotabo faced the No.1 seed, Jacob Zetlin. The top-seed won the first set (6-3) before the Tuburan, Cebu native avenged to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2. In the finals, it was a breeze: a 6-1, 6-4 win over Scott Putty. Not contented, he teamed up with Fil-Am Winston Limhengco to win the finals, 8-2.

Mac-Mac Tabotabo Photos

Mac-Mac Tabotabo with that perfect form

Fred Uytengsu lectures on the Olympics

(This photo and the ones below from www.dailytriathlon.com)

He is the CEO of Alaska Milk Corporation, one of the nation’s largest food conglomerates. Yet, for all the business hours and mental strain that he pours into his work, the one passion that is forever etched in Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, Jr.’s DNA is this: Sports.

He swam. “As a young boy,” he said, “I recall watching Mark Spitz win his seven gold medals in Munich which became a defining moment for me to focus on competitive swimming.”

His goal? The Olympics. “Spitz’s feat motivated me to train for the next 12 years (4 hours a day, 6 days a week and 50 weeks a year),” he added. And though Fred did not join the Olympics, he was a member of the RP national team (’78 to ’83) and competed in the SEA Games.

Next, he moved to triathlon, helping form the first RP triathlon club (POLO Tri-Team). His motto, based on what I gathered from a triathlon website, is a fabulous line we can all learn from: “Why (do I do it)? Because we may be measured by what we accomplish, but we are defined by what we attempt.”