Bleacher Talk

BEST Center Cebu Semifinals Results (SBP Division) All USC in Milo BEST SBP Finals It will be an all USC affair for the championship of the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) SBP division of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments 2009. Defending champions USC North exerted is mastery over Sacred Heart School-Jesuit through a 61-49 victory, while sister school USC South overcame a tough end-game rally to thwart Don Bosco, 52-44. As expected, USC North, which is seeking a second straight championship, started out hot, controlling the first quarter, 28-18 behind the hot hands of Shann Tan. The Eagles came back in the second period to cut the lead down to 29-22, but USC North’s third quarter crew featuring Clint Suelto and Arnie Padilla padded the lead to 43-34 at the end of three periods. SHSJ launched another spirited rally in the fourth quarter with Popoy Navarro scoring six straight points to cut down the lead down to six at 51-45, three minutes left in the game. But then

Bleacher Talk Sept. 27, 2009 Basketball 24-8 Cebu Basketball is busy 24/8; sorry it’s not 24/7. Let me explain. In the next few days, we’re going to be bombarded with crunchtime news updates as Cebu’s school-based basketball leagues shift into high gear. It’s playoffs time in Cebu’s leading collegiate league CESAFI for its collegiate and high school divisions. This weekend also marks the start of the cross-over semifinals of the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) and Passerelle divisions of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments. Although the ordinary fan may see both leagues as totally distinct from one another (and they are), we’d rather see it from a total and bigger picture perspective as a single and cohesive program that works well for Cebu Basketball. A look at the teams in playoffs of both leagues will give us a better picture at what I mean. UC, UV, USJR and USC are the seeded teams in the quarterfinals of CESAFI’s collegiate division. They’ll face the lower seeded team

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 18-21 Games UC, SHSJ in Passerelle Semis The Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of Cebu (UC) formalized their entry to the semifinals of the Passerelle division of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments with convincing wins over the weekend. SHSJ defeated USC North-B, 61-39, to sweep Group A with a 5-0 record. UC scored two straight wins to jump to 4-1 and assure itself of the #2 seeding in Group B. The Baby Webmasters defeated SHSJ-B, 72-40, and SCSIT, 93-32, to recover from its upset loss to USC South. USC South assured itself of at least a tie for the top two spots in Group B after crushing SCSIT, 92-62 to finish the elimination round tied with UC at 4-1. The fourth team in the Passerelle semifinals will be determined when USC North (3-1) plays Don Bosco (1-3) in their last game. A win by USC North will make it the #1 seed in Group B in a triple tie for first to third places among UC North, UC and USC South. USC North has the hig

Bleacher Talk Sept. 20, 2009 2nd Trim Check For us fans of Pinoy Boxing, developments over the past month surely brought smiles to our faces. We watched Donnie Nietes defend his WBO world minimumweight championship in Mexico, beating Manuel Vargas by split decision. Before this, “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona pulled a pleasant surprise when he won the WBO super flyweight championship from Jose “Carita” Lopez in Canada. Brian Viloria returned to his hometown of Hawaii to defend his IBF world flyweight championship, defeating Jesus Iribe by unanimous decision. The other good news were AJ Banal winning in in Hawaii and Z Gorres winning in the undercard of the Nietes-Vargas event in Mexico. And the best news out of Pinoy Boxing is that Manny Pacquiao has arrived from the U.S. and is due to start training for his November 14 fight with Miguel Cotto. He heads north to Baguio tomorrow to formally kick off his training. But not all was good news. Rodel Mayol lost in his fourth attempt to win a wor

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 11-13 Weekend Games Milo BEST Semis Cast Shapes Up The semifinals cast of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Basketball Tournaments has cleared up with traditional age-group powers University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus, Sacred Heart School Jesuit and Don Bosco once again making its presence felt. In the SBP division, defending champion USC North scored a sweep of its Group with a 66-12 win over SHSJ-B to take the top seed of Group A. Don Bosco then followed this with a 59-15 win over USC South-B to also sweep SBP’s Group B. SHSJ defeated USC North-B, 57-16 to take second place in Group B. USC North will face SHSJ in the cross-over semifinals while Don Bosco will play the winner of the virtual knock-out game between Cebu Eastern College (CEC) and USC South. The Passerelle division was rocked by upsets over the weekend that made the race for the semis slots interesting. USC South leaned on Jose Pestano’s two free throws to record a 68-66 shocker over

Bleacher Talk Sept. 13, 2009 Pacman Drama Drama ra na uy! Drama or real? If you’re a Pacman fan, I’m sure you’re concerned. When will Manny Pacquiao start training for his fight against Cotto on November 14? Where will he train? Baguio, Mexico, Bahamas or Cebu? How much does he weigh these days? Is he taking care of his body with all his current obligations in showbiz and Saranggani that have seen him take on an incredible schedule of activities? Will eight weeks of training be enough to make Pacquiao ready for Cotto? Isn’t it funny how Pacquiao’s “off-season” is now being dodged by more questions than answers? The tough part is that all these lead to insinuations that Pacquiao may not be doing the right thing with a big fight coming up soon. He’s busy shooting a film and laying the groundwork for his second attempt to make it to Congress, and not doing anything related to his upcoming fight. One of the most disturbing news about all this drama is how Freddie Roach is upset over the fa

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 9 Games UC, SHSJ Take Solo Leadership It was a day of proving who’s who, going double overtime, recording an upset and the usual convincing wins at the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) Mango Campus Gym Wednesday. The University of Cebu (UC) passed its first litmus test as pre-tournament favorites by eking out a 57-54 win over University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus in the Passerelle division. Meanwhile, defending Passerelle division champions SHSJ scored a routine 74-29 win over Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT). In the first game of the season that went into overtime, Salazar College of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) outlasted Don Bosco-A 70-63 in double overtime. The upset of the day was scored by USC North-B when it beat USJR, 66-62. In other Passerelle matches, Don Bosco-B defeated USPF, 50-40, while USC South won over SHSJ-B, 81-45. UC’s John Aranas looks for room for a lay

BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament - Cebu Results of Sep. 5-6 Games SHSJ, USC North Lead the Way Defending champion Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of San Carlos North Campus (USC-NC) scored their second straight victories to lead the title favorites’ charge in the Passerelle division of the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments over the weekend. SHSJ scored a routine 72-31 win over University of Southern Philippines (USPF) while USC North overcame a tough USC South squad, 54-46. Pre-tourney favorite University of Cebu (UC) also made its presence felt as it debuted with a 68-26 win over Don Bosco. In other Passerelle games, Don Bosco-B defeated USC North-B, 59-54. University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) bounced back from its opening day loss to SHSJ-A and defeated Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT), 57-42, as SHSJ-B nipped SCSIT, 69-68. SHSJ now leads the Passerelle division’s Group A with a 2-0 slate while USC North also carries the same record in Group

Bleacher Talk Sept. 6, 2009 Brand Building & Sports Marketing If we were to make a layman’s definition of the term “sports marketing,” I’d simply say that sports marketing is the use of sports to help build the image or personality of a brand. Make sense? Yes, sports can be used as a tool to help build or promote the image of products that we (as consumers) buy from the shelves of supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores or at sari-sari stores. But why all the “sudden” talk about sports marketing? For the past two weeks or so, Milo has very much been in the news with its sports activities here in Cebu. The Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle basketball tournament kicked off last week, while the Milo Little Olympics started last Friday and will run for two straight weekends. If you visited the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday or today, you’ll see a wave of Milo green splashed across the entire sports complex. But that’s not just it. The Cebu leg of the Milo Marathon was also held

SHJS, USC Teams Win in Cebu Milo BEST Opener Defending champions Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus opened their respective title-retention campaigns with convincing wins on opening day of the Milo-backed BEST Center SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments at the USC North Gym Monday. Reigning Visayas and Cebu Passerelle division champion SHSJ started the day by beating rookie team University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR), 74-47, while 2008 Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) champion USC North defeated USC South, 54-46. It was also a big day for opening ceremony host USC North as all three of its teams which saw action scored big wins on their homecourt. USC North-A won over SHSJ-B while USC North-B beat University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) in Passerelle matches. SHSJ-A’s SBP team made it a double for the Eagles with a win over USC South. The opening ceremonies, which was held in partnership with USC North principal Carmelita Datan,