Bleacher Talk

SBP: No Games? Ok lang! When you have a full calendar of activities all laid out and ready for implementation, it makes things easier in terms of planning, managing and eventually running these events. Right? Wrong! The calendar may be ready for implementation but if it didn’t foresee the arrival of COVD 19, it’s totally useless. This is the scenario that the sports world found itself in this year. How ironic it has been indeed for what should’ve been a “perfect vision” year 2020. This was exactly the dilemma that hit the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and all other national sports federations that already had 2020 locked and loaded, only to find out that around 90% of its activities would have to be either cancelled or postponed. And like all organizations, they asked themselves, “What do we do?” With everyone pivoting and finding other platforms for its activities, the SBP paused, scanned the scene, re-grouped and navigated through the pandemic. When it was clear that no real ba

Holy OLY! Have you met OLY or an OLY? Or OLYs? “What is OLY,” you ask. According to Wikipedia, “OLY (Olympian) are post-nominal letters granted by the World Olympians Association (WOA) to athletes who have participated in the Olympic Games. The World Olympians Association’s initiative allows Olympians to use the OLY lettering on any official documentation after their name much like when one gets a degree. The initiative is open to all athletes who have competed at the games and who uphold the values and practices of the Olympic Charter and the World Olympians Association Code of Conduct.” This bleacher bum has been following the Olympics ever since my father told us that it was THE competition of all competitions. I looked up the history books and even memorized the cities that hosted every edition in the 20 th century. If the Olympics were the peak of all competitions, then it was only logical that it gathered the best athletes of the planet. Getting the chance to meet them will al

ALA Boxing. Where do we start? And why did it all have to end? Philippine sports, most specially in Cebu, is mourning the death of loved one, with many having a hard time accepting it and moving on. After all, how is that possible with a phenomenon like ALA Boxing? It’s like having a well-conditioned athlete at his prime succumbing to COVID 19. Yet ironically, COVID 19 did knock ALA out. COVID has been one serial dude, hasn’t he?   As a boxing fan, I followed ALA boxing since the start of their professional boxing promotions in 1989. Yes, I’ve been around and age is catching up on us, but I’m not afraid to declare that I was there when it all started. Brix Flores, Gerry Peñalosa, Edito Villamor, Andy Tabanas, Ramy Dumpa, Noel Tuñacao and a few others were the big names then. They were followed by Jun Gorres, Joma Gamboa, and Edmund Villamor. The Golden Boys Malcolm Tuñacao, Rev Santillan and Randy Suico, though not officially ALA Boys, took their turn to shine before the new genera

  Bubble Boxing   With the NBA playoffs kicking off this week and the bubble basketball gimmick going well so far, can the bubble set-up click here in the Philippines? The first event that will go for it is the Chooks to Go Pilipinas 3X3 league, but I’d like to get closer to home and dare say that Cebu is a candidate to stage a bubble-type event too, but not in basketball. Boxing is it.   Let’s take a look at both and see how these can work. The Chooks to Go Pilipinas 3X3’s games will be played at the world-class Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna around September or October. All the players and officials of each team, along with league officials and the TV production crew will stay at the Inspire compound that includes a hotel. This has 32 dorm-type, 20 hotel-type and four executive rooms; a total of 56 rooms with 176 beds. But before they move in to the complex, testing will be conducted to ensure that everyone is safe. Once everyone is in the “bubble,” they won’t be allowed t

Milo Pivots One of the most common terms you’ll hear these days is the word “pivot.” No, we’re not referring the pivot foot that moves for a travelling call. Neither are we asking a big man to plant his pivot foot for a nice drop step or fade-away move against a defender. Pivoting is what everyone is doing now in this pandemic to survive, stay afloat, and stay relevant. Times have been tough but if you pivot the right away like a good low-post player does, you’ll be fine. In the world of sports, we’ve written about certain pivoting done by coaches who are now into online selling of essentials and food products, things totally not related to sports. Without their regular jobs, they had to go into selling to make up for the lost income from sports. Sports teams or clubs have shifted online for practice sessions because they can’t conduct actual field practices like they used to at a gym or field. Zoom, Google meet and messenger rooms are their new practice gyms or field. A popular face i

Manila Moves And they’re off! Cebuano basketball players are going to the UAAP and NCAA. In order of when the news broke out, LA Casinillo, Gab Cometa, Soysoy Escobido, Nichole Cabañero, Jancork Cabahug and Nathan Montecillo are headed to the big city for the rest of their basketball stints as student-athletes. Casinillo, Escobido and Cabañero are travelling with five other players from Iloilo to play for the UST Juniors team, a.k.a. “Bisdak All Stars.” Cometa will soon be a Red Lion while Cabahug is joining the UP Fighting Maroons. Montecillo us joining the UPIS Juniors squad. That’s six and counting.     Now many are asking. Is this good or bad news? Why did they all make the move to Manila? Why not stay behind? Let’s take a look at the different reactions, factors and thoughts about these movements, shall we?     Sports critics and fans have come out all over social media to criticize the CESAFI for cancelling the coming season and paving the way for this “exodus” of players to Mani

Panalay Lockdown   Cebu – While most eyes look to the NBA and the PBA as the major sources of basketball entertainment, the VISMIN’s top roadshow has also been knocked down for the count. It’s the “panalay” world of basketball, the series of pocket tournaments that hop from one town to another in the various cities and towns in the Visayas and Mindanao. The panalay scene is a big hit among local fans as it features live basketball action, up close and personal and before full-house crowds, something that probinsyano fans don’t get much of. Tournaments are played almost every weekend for a series of weeks in different towns. These are considered the biggest and most attractive to local fans, private ballclubs and players due to its generous prizes and perks.   The biggest cash prizes can reach as much as P300,000 for the champion with P150,000 as the smallest. On top of the prizes, teams are also offered all-expense paid trips to these tournaments, with the local organizer shouldering t

CESAFI Holds Webinar Series   It looks like the CESAFI won’t be that quiet after all. The league, which cancelled its 20 th season, is holding a CESAFI Sports and Coaching Webinar Series for its coaches, sports administrators, PE teachers and sports enthusiasts.   This was bared jointly by CESAFI Commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy Jr. and Pio Solon, Athletic Director of Southwestern University-PHINMA. In a message to CESAFI schools, Tiukinhoy said the CESAFI Board of Trustees, which met at a recent board meeting, “approved the Commissioner’s proposal to conduct a series of weekly zoom webinars on sports development program for the CESAFI community.” This will kick off on Saturday, August 1 at 3PM.   “The CESAFI is partnering with the Dagohoy Academy, SWU-PHINMA, and Epic Performance and Fitness to conduct our first-ever CESAFI Sports and Coaching webinar series live,” Solon added. “Sports coaches and strength-and-conditioning coaches play a very important role in promoting sport participati

GoNegosyo Coaches One of the most important traits of a good leader is how one can adapt to any situation or scenario given to him or her. In sports, coaches have to deal with this all the time at practice, games and off the court with their teams. Their talent or skill to deal with such changes make them better coaches and leaders. And now that COVID 19 has thrown the most wicked curve ball that they’ve ever faced, they have had to make serious changes to the game plan of their lives. With sports taking a long time out, many coaches have been stranded and without jobs. No work means no pay. It’s as simple as that. But how have Cebu’s coaches adapted to the times? With Facebook as our field, we noticed that some coaches have now made the switch from coaching to becoming businessmen in the field of retailing, selling a variety of goods with the main goal of finding a substitute to the lost earnings from this long time out. Since making substitutions in games is a common thing for them,

Proj. KKKK: No Games, No Problem! There’s a program worth citing and it isn’t from the big city. It’s from Mindanao and now has a nationwide reach. It’s called Project KKKK, and this stands for Kalaro, Kaibigan, Kasama, Kakwentuhan. It’s a weekly online program held every Saturday at 3pm on the Facebook Page “Project KKKK.” This brings together student-athletes, regular students, coaches, and others for an hour or two of kwentuhan, sharing and fun. I’d rather not call it a webinar because it sounds too “formal” and straight. Let’s call it simply “kwentuhan.” Online, virtual and a whole lot of fun. Project KKKK is the initiative of the Mindanao Peace Games (MPG), through the three Jesuit schools in Mindanao: Ateneo de Davao (ADDU), Ateneo de Zamboanga (ADZU) and Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. MPG Convenor Noli Ayo of ADDU said that since the MPG will not take place this year, the core group of student-athletes thought of an activity that would maintain the bonds that were created

Bubble Basketball Anyone? With the NBA re-starting its season soon and the PBA teams resuming practice, the basketball world is getting excited for the return of hardcourt action. But what exactly will we all look out for? The games? The scores? Or the way they’ll deal with COVID 19? The COVID score? One thing sure is that this new normal for basketball is going to be a test case for the sport, with COVID still very much alive. With everyone’s safety and health as the top concern, NBA Restart 2019-2020 is taking place in a “bubble.” The bubble is the Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida, where all activities will be conducted. By all, that means ALL: practice, games, testing, sleeping, eating and resting. All team personnel, players and staff will be restricted to the venue and won’t be allowed to leave the bubble until the season ends or when one’s team is eliminated (I think), or if one has to leave for a very serious emergency. It’s

Basketball, Football Practice to Resume? Headlines can sometimes lead to more confusion than certainty. And the recent updates on sports activities in this pandemic was a classic example. Below are headlines of different online media outfits and you be the judge. “JUST IN: IATF allows conduct of practice sessions for basketball, football teams amid COVID-19 pandemic.” - GMA News Online “IATF Clears Basketball Football to Resume Training” – ABS-CBN Sports “Gov’t allows practices to resume for basketball, football amid community quarantine” – GMA News Online When Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Friday that the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) had allowed the professional leagues PBA and PFL to resume practice, social media was filled with these headlines, leading many to think that practice (in general) was already allowed. Diehard sports personalities, from organizers to fans and weekend warriors expressed their sighs of relief, joy and gratitude