Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk December 28, 2008 Have a Sporty Break & Learn So how has your Christmas break been so far? Let me guess. Food? Kaon? Hikay? Noche Buena? Christmas dinner or lunch? Parties galore? Reunions? All of the above? I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you answered it this way, while others will have a balance of food and other stuff like going out for shopping, sightseeing or suroy-suroy. That’s all good, expected and normal. Did anyone talk about sports? Play? Sweat it out? Work out? Run or jog? That’s even better! But how many are able to actually follow or implement a Christmas break filled with sports activities? Let’s be honest now. When was your last work out, game or walking/jogging activity before the break? And during the break? For those who are regular at this, I’m sure this hasn’t been much of a problem. But for those of us who somehow equate break with almost zero physical activity, I’m pretty sure many of the usual sports activities that we did during regular day

Bleacher Talk December 21, 2008 Cebu Basketball in 2008 As we look back at Cebu Basketball in 2008, we can say that we’re happy with what we saw. While there were some “expecteds,” there also was a pleasant surprise coming out of a sector that was relatively quiet, until now. As predicted by many, the CESAFI basketball tournament was the biggest show of local basketball, outshining all other local tournaments. M. Lhuillier’s jewels shone again, as they always do in the semipro circuit. But the biggest albeit not so loud surprise came from the youth sector. It was another banner year for the CESAFI where the UV Lancers won its eighth straight championship by defeating the USJR Jaguars, 4-1, in a championship series that broke all previous records in terms of attendance and following. The 2008 season broke 2007’s previous records with many elimination round and playoff games drawing sell-out crowds. Sophomore Greg Slaughter literally stood out above everyone else, bagging the MVP award,

Bleacher Talk December 14, 2008 All About Manny Everyone is still taking about it like a plague that has hit the entire sports world. And rightfully so, Manny Pacquiao deserves everything after dismantling Oscar de La Hoya last week. But amidst all the celebrations, praises and cheers, did you know that there is also a down side to Pacquiao’s winning? Along with all the hoopla will come a not so pleasant sight that is so typically Pinoy. For starters, all the politicians on Pacquiao’s side will claim to have had a hand in the Pacman’s victory and will do everything in their powers to ride on this Pacman fever. Isn’t it so typically Pinoy that our politicians will be the first to greet and congratulate Pacquiao and get media space just for doing so? This is where I feel that we in the media should ignore such type of grandstanding and publicity stunts. We’ve already heard about a resolution to praise Pacquiao to the high heavens. Nothing wrong here but why do I have the impression that

Bleacher Talk Nov 22, 2008 Need to Rough it Up After talking about how boxing is turning quiet with minimal activities toward the end of the year, the only thing left worth talking about is Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista’s fight against veteran Heriberto Ruiz today. We also have the sudden cancellation of Michael Domingo’s fight due to Hepa B and Sammy Gello-ani’s second run of “Daytime Boxing” next Sunday. But for now, Boom Boom is on the spot. So what’s up for Boom Boom? If you’ve been reading the boxing news of late, you can’t help but notice how Bautista is very slowly being re-packaged and re-developed in his second attempt back at the spotlight after a humiliating first round KO loss to Daniel Ponce de Leon for the WBO super bantamweight championship. The big question that everyone is asking is whether or not Boom Boom is still capable of winning a world championship. I’ll use the word “still” as many doubts have been thrown at Boom Boom’s chances of following Manny Pacquiao’s footstep

Bleacher Talk November 30, 2008 Learning from Manila The original headline for today’s column should’ve been “Losing to Manila,” but then this might be misleading and send a wrong signal to local sports fans especially those diehard followers of Cebu Basketball. The past week hasn’t been a kind one to Cebu Basketball as four school-based teams fell to Manila-based opponents in crucial games that would’ve taken us up a level in terms of basketball supremacy in the country. For starters, the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit bowed to La Salle Greenhills in the championship game of the Passerelle division in the national finals of the BEST Center SBP/Passerelle twin basketball tournament sponsored by Milo in Iloilo City. Next to follow were the top three teams of the CESAFI that lost to Manila teams one after another in the Philippine Collegiate Champions’ League (PCCL). The University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) fell to NCAA champions San Beda. The University of San Carlos (USC) bowed to 2007

Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and La Salle Greenhills (LSGH) proved that Manila is still the powerhouse of youth basketball after bagging the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) and Passerelle division championships, respectively, of the BEST Center SBP/Passerelle basketball tournament sponsored by Milo, at the University of San Agustin Gym in Iloilo City. ADMU leaned on an end-game rally to put Ateneo de Davao away, 52-45, and win its second straight national SBP championship. In the Passerelle division, LSGH trashed Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ), 105-72. The Davaeños had the upper hand through most of the nip and tuck game, enjoying as much as ten-point lead early in the match. ADMU slowly chipped away at the deficit, finally tying the game, then taking a 44-40 lead with 4:20 left. After an exchange of baskets saw ADMU on top 46-45 with 2:05 left, the NCR champions unleashed an 6-0 run to end the game. In Passerelle play, LSGH leaned on a 32-0 run bridging the second and thir

SHSJ Falls to La Salle Iloilo City – In a twist of de ja vu, the Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) Eagles bowed to a Manila team for the second straight year in the BEST Center SBP-Passerelle basketball tournament sponsored by Milo at the University of San Agustin Gym. SHSJ bowed to favorites La Sale Greenhills (LSGH), 72-105, in the Passerelle division championship game that illustrated the dominance of Manila over teams from the province. A 32-0 blast bridging the end of the second quarter and the start of the third was all that La Salle needed, breaking wide open a game that was nip and tuck until the end of the of the second quarter. SHSJ’s first unit gave the Eagles a 23-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and its second unit matched the Archers until the 1:40 mark of the second periodr. With La Salle up by two, 45-43, Alexander Torres led the Archers in a 10-2 run to end the period on top 55-45. Torres was unstoppable in the second period, drilling in 19 points. LSGH’s third

SHSJ Rallies to Beat Mindanao Champs Iloilo City – Lucky to be alive. This best describes the plight of the Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) Eagles after scoring a come-from-behind 62-61 win over Sacred Heart of Jesus Montessori (SHJM) of Cagayan de Oro to make it to the championship of the national finals of the SBP-Passerelle Twin Basketball tournament sponsored by Milo at the University of San Agustin Gym. Playing what could be described as an ugly win, the Eagles played one of their worst games so far in the tournament and still came out on top, thanks to a massive end-game rally that was capped by a lay-up by Daryl Nazareno with 13 seconds left in the game to score the win. The Mindanao champs jumped the gun on the Eagles, controlling all of the game but just couldn’t get the job done in the end. SHJM’s first unit surprised the SHSJ by taking the first period, 22-19. They padded the lead to nine, 39-28 at halftime and increased this to 52-41 after three quarters. The lead swelled

SHSJ Wins in BEST National Finals Iloilo City - The Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) Eagles defeated Don Bosco Pampanga, 69-57, to kick off its campaign in the Passerelle division of the national finals of the SBP-Passerelle Twin Basketball tournament sponsored by Milo at the University of San Agustin Gym. In a roller coaster ride of a game that had the Eagles played listlessly through much of the game, SHSJ blew hot and cold before finding their rhythm to finish off the Luzon leg champions. SHSJ’s first quarter unit built a 26-18 lead, but Don Bosco’s second quarter five came back to cut the lead down to 34-36. Don Bosco sustained their momentum to tie the game at 38-all early in the third quarter before SHSJ regained control of the game, taking the third period, 52-44. The Eagles then streaked to a 61-49 lead with 2:48 left in the game to gain some breathing room. True to its never-say-die spirit, the Bosconians staged yet another rally to cut the lead to 61-56 with 1:26 left, but t