Bleacher Talk

SHSJ Wins RIFA Cup Winning the RIFA Cup of the Rizal Football Association is getting to be a habit for the Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) boys 97 football team. The SHSJ 12-Under football team won its fourth RIFA Cup championship in five years over the weekend, defeating Del Monte of Bukidnon, 1-0 in the finals of the boys born 1997 age group at the Ateneo de Manila High School football field. SHSJ kicked off its elimination round on a high note with a 1-0 win over defending champion and 2009 tormentor Southridge. This set the tone for the rest of the games in the elimination round where they went undefeated. The scores of their other games were 4-1 over Ateneo de Davao, 1-0 over Colegio de San Agustin, 8-0 over Binan-Laguna, and a draw with HEDCEN. Topping the group, they defeated Ateneo de Manila in the semifinals, 3-1. Del Monte topped Xavier in the other semifinal match, paving the way for the championship game between the out-of-towners. This is the fourth RIFA Cup championshi

Bleacher Talk January 24, 2010 Cebu Basketball 2010 Cebu Basketball in 2010? Anything new? Any breakthroughs or extraordinary thing happening? These are the questions that I always ask myself each time I try to look forward to another year of basketball. Unfortunately for this year, I don’t see any of these happening. For starters, it sure looks like another dominating year for the M. Lhuillier ballclub. Representing ML Kwarta Padala/Cebu in the Liga Pilipinas, another championship is almost a guaranty even before the season kicks off. There is simply is no match for Jewelers/Niños out there. That’s how strong they are, and stronger they’ll get as this early, they continue to strengthen their team with more reinforcements. The big question now is if any other team out there can come close to overcoming the Niños. The only real opponent of the team will actually be themselves, especially if complacency sets in. I’m sure Coach Yayoy A

Bleacher Talk January 17, 2010 Running Success!!! The gauge of a great movie is how much talk it generates after people have seen it. To this day, movie fans still talk about the “Star Wars” series and other blockbuster movies. The same can be said about big sports events. People will always be in awe when talking about Manny Pacquiao’s last fights against Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya. While we may not be able to generate events that will match the post-event talk levels of “Star Wars” or a Paquiao fight, Cebu can stand proud and brag about big sports events that we host with great success. We’ve had success at hosting world championship fights in boxing, thanks to ALA Promotions. We’ve also had successful runs of hosting dancesport competitions, practical shooting and a few events of the Southeast Asian Games a few years back. For the record, we can now proudly add another event to this list: the Cebu City Marath

Bleacher Talk January 10, 2010 Running in 2010 Running is going to be THE “in” thing in 2010. And with May fast approaching, we’re going to be bombarded with news about all those who are running this year. But don’t get confused. For the record, there are two types of 2010 runners. We have the runners who’ll be doing it for the noble purpose: for their health, and getting in shape. We also have another set of runners who say they’re doing it for “noble” reasons. Wow. Just imagine if all of them and their noble goals would actually be achieved, we’d be better off as a country! So as we start the year, we’d like to pose this interesting question, “Which type or group of ‘runners’ is going to achieve its respective goals, and make a difference for themselves or for the country this year?” Cebu’s running scene blasted off at 4am today at the Cebu City Marathon (CCM), a footrace that features a 42K, 21K and 5K run which have drawn over 3

Bleacher Talk January 3, 2010 Cebu Boxing Wishes for 2010 So what’s in store for Cebu Boxing in 2010? For starters, Cebu’s current crop of world champions will hold on to their belts. Donnie Nietes starts the year off on January 23 when he defends his WBO minimumweight championship for the fourth time. Nietes is the most underrated champion among the country’s world champions and doesn’t even get half of the attention of what the likes of Brian Viloria and Nonito Donaire are receiving. For 2010, my wish for Nietes is that he gets more recognition and respect from sports fans and the media. WBC light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol will also hold off a Mexican challenger (possible Omar Niño) in his first title defense. My 2010 wish for Mayol is that he takes on an even more focused and determined mindset towards boxing, and not give in to complacency. If he puts his heart into it, he’ll be good enough to last as champ for at least two years. Interim WBO light flyweight champion Johnriel

Bleacher Talk December 27, 2009 Biggest Wins, Events of 2009 It’s time to recall the biggest achievements and events of 2009. These are not in any specific order but they surely made their impact in local sports. Cebu Boxing was the biggest newsmaker for the local sports family in 2009 for giving the country three world champions. Donnie Nietes (WBO minimumweight champion), Rodel Mayol (WBC light flyweight champion) and brand new interim WBO light flyweight champion Johnriel Casimero stand out for dominating and proving that Cebu can win at the world level. Casimero was the latest addition to the list after stunning former world champion Cesar Canchila via an 11th round TKO in Nicaragua last Sunday. Mayol and Casimero are new additions to the list of world champs for winning their titles this year while Nietes has been a world champ since 2007. The rest of Cebu boxing will surely count on the achievements of the three world champs as we have more potential world champs just biding thei

Bleacher Talk December 20, 2009 Boxing Year-ender 2009 Cebu boxing will best be remembered for a mix of ups and downs First, the good news. Of the country’s five current world champions, two are products of Cebu boxing. Donnie Nietes is the WBO minimumweight world champion while Rodel Mayol recently won the WBC light flyweight championship. We already know that Manny Pacquiao is the country’s top gun, with Fil-Am Brian Viloria (IBF light flyweight) and Nonito Donaire (WBA Interim superflyweight) as the country’s other world champions. Two out of five isn’t bad at all. No other place can claim such as record. For the third year in a row, Nietes started and will end the year as a world champion. He is one of the most underrated Pinoy world champions who doesn’t get the same attention as the other world champs. But after going through what he had to this year, maybe sports fans will finally recognize him. He had to the tough task of defending his title not once, but twice on hostile terri