Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk September 23, 2007 CESAFI in High Gear Fasten your seat belts and hold on tight. The CESAFI has shifted to high gear and there’s no slowing down. With the elimination round over, the dust has settled with four teams stepping up to the plate to find out who’s who in local college ball. And the big question remains, can anyone stop UV? CESAFI’s version of the Final Four features the top-ranked UV Lancers going up against #4 USJR. The other half of the draw has the #2 USC Warriors facing #3 SWU Cobras. The semis start on Wednesday with the UV-USJR series kicking things off. The semifinal format is a best-of-three series with the winners facing off in a best-of-five finals. The interesting thing about the semis is that UV is facing the only team to which it lost in the elimination round. Believe it or not, the mighty Lancers aren’t invinci...

Bleacher Talk September 16, 2007 National College Basketball Tournament As the various collegiate basketball leagues approach their respective playoff games every year, I always bring up the issue of the need for a genuine and united nationwide tournament that will bring the best of all leagues together for an ultimate showdown of the best of the best. There’s nothing like seeing the champions of the UAAP and NCAA fending off the challenge of all the other leagues in the country whose main goal is to topple the “college powers.” Although the UAAP and NCAA championship is viewed to be more important to college teams, I’d like to believe that with the right mix of negotiating and careful review, a national tournament similar to that of the NCAA in the United Sates is feasible and can grow to be the ultimate tournament for which college teams will program their seasons. For now, it looks like the Champions’ League of Rey Gamboa and Joe Lipa seems to have the edge over the other so-called ...

Bleacher Talk September 9, 2007 Sports in School 3 Yes, there’s a “3” in the headline as recent turn of events have made the topic deserve a third piece dating back to the first one that I did in July. In sum, I had stressed that the best avenue for genuine grassroots sports development will be the country’s youth in schools. I pointed out that we can easily find in schools the structure, the target kids and the mix of academics and sports that perfectly blend together to make a sports program work. And as if scripted, five major stories or events came out in the local media about youth-based sports programs. Three of these already exist, while the other two are all talk so far. We’ll have to play a waiting game to see if these ever become reality. Last weekend saw the launch of the annual Milo BEST SBP and Pasarelle basketball tournament. The nationwide tournament features the top schools in the Under 14 (Pasarelle) and Under 12 (SBP) age groups. Nic Jorge’s brainchild is the most pop...

Bleacher Talk September 2, 2007 CESAFI Sights The NBA once ran a TV commercial (which still airs once in awhile) that listed the reasons why to love the NBA. An “endorser” started off his statement with “I love the NBA because…..” and then stated the reason why he or she loved the NBA. After admittedly being away from the CESAFI for awhile, I’ve learned to appreciate the league more than ever and what it has to offer as Cebu’s top basketball league and entertainment venue for sports. I guess this temporary “distance” away from the league has given me a fresh breath from which I can follow the league anew. And yes, it may be due to my current involvement with the league. And so let’s take a look at some sights of the CESAFI and see why it continues to be the country’s top collegiate league outside Manila. For starters, where else can you see a high school division that is no longer afraid of the so-called basketball powers? Gone are the days when the University of the Visayas (UV) was i...