Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk Feb. 26, 2007 Moment of Truth Kudos, questions, doubts, expected results and surprises. This was the over-all mix of "reactions" when the "Moment of Truth" finally ended close to midnighton Saturday.Before anything else, KUDOS! I take my hat off and take a deep and reverent bow for what I thought was the country's best planned, organized and executed boxing event in the history of the sport. It was so perfect that I couldn't notice anything that went wrong. From the pre-event activities to the press conferences, media tie-up, accommodations for the visitors to the actual event, everything was so smooth. With Sammy Gello-ani running the show (and the support of the guy they call ALA), ABS-CBN coming in as a media partner, the city government doing its share, Golden Boy coming in from the outside (to Cebu, not Manila), the tremendous support of the Cebuanos and the boxers giving us top-level performance, everything was just perfect.The event deli...

Bleacher Talk Feb 18, 2007 World Class Moment of Truth Cebu has always been proud of being world-class. Our economy and over-all business environment is said to be one of the best in the country. Our export and tourism industry have placed Cebu on the world map. And our service industry has stood out above the rest. World class! But are these all that we have? There’s so much more to make Cebu world-class and the sports industry is no exception. Sports also plays a major role in helping build Cebu’s image, and this department still has a lot of room for improvement. While we have proven to have produced world-class athletes, the jury is still out on our capability of hosting world events on a regular basis. We’ve hosted many international events in the past such as a some events of the last Southeast Asian Games, a world championship in practical shooting, an international marathon, an arnis tournament, an international dancesport competition and a few basketball tournaments laced with...

Bleacher Talk February 11, 2007 Is it Unity at last! or Unity at Last? This is a tough question to answer as both statements with an exclamation and question mark were my first reactions at the Unity Congress held at the Dusit Hotel last Monday. While everything from an observer’s view looked good and politically correct, the skeptic in me couldn’t help but ask if all this was for real. Will the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Samahang Basetkbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) finally settle down as BAP-SBP and stay this way forever? Was Go Teng Kok really shaking hands with Manny Pangilinan (MVP)? Was that Graham Lim quietly seated at the back of the ballroom almost going unnoticed? Wasn’t that an odd collection of officials at the presidential table with MVP and Go flanked by lawyer Boni Alentajan and Bernie Atienza to the left, and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Junjun Capistrano and Marivic Añonuevo to the right? Was FIBA Sec-Gen Patrick Baumann’s visit worth it? While the Cong...

As a "frustrated" photographer, I attempt to take picutres of my favorite subject (sports). Here are some from the RIFA Cup. At left: Kiko Villamor of the SHSJ Boys 97 team works betwen two Southridge defenders in the championship game. Right: JM Acebedo-Kwan, the little "big guy" with the biggest heart is a year younger than his SHSJ Boys 97 teammates, but proves that he can play with the big boys. Right: I'm obviously a fan of my son Popoy who plays for the Ateneo Boys 97 team (obvious ba?). Here he is eluding a Southridge defender. He'll be re-joining his former teammates at SHSJ next schoolyear (06-07).