Yayoy is Raul Alscoseba, the Sto. Niño toting coach of the Cebu Niños and the guy in charge of boxing at the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC).

Atan is Jonathan Guardo, the former chairman of the CCSC who founded his own sports group, GCSOC, the Greater Cebu Sports Organizing Committee—or is it the
Guardo for Congressman for South Cebu?

Guardo, who is no longer on Mayor Tomas Osmena’s Friendster list, started the exchange.

The running man who is running for congressman said last week that Alcoseba and the CCSC can’t distinguish an original idea even if it dances naked in front of them.

They’re parroting him, Guardo claims. Him and his sports programs. Guardo’s parrot accusations, curiously, also parrot the criticisms that the City Council supposedly just parrots the mayor and has no mind of its own. (Whew! I don’t want to grow feathers and talks like that are for the Opinion pages.)

Guardo said he started a boxing program, so the City started its own.

Guardo also sent a team to the Arafura Games. The CCSC did, too.

Not so fast, Yayoy said. The CCSC is no copycat.

Boxing programs are not like food outlets, Yayoy shot back.

They’re not limited to whoever owns the franchise. Helping out a sport, he said, shouldn’t be the exclusive domain of one individual.

The election is still months away. And the elections, as always, bring out the best sportsman in a politico, and this early, we already have a “winner.”

It’s not Yayoy, it’s not Atan. It’s the boxing program. With two sports patrons fighting over it—at least, it’s not over a corpse— things can only look good for Cebu boxing.

Man, I can’t wait for the two to fight over a football program.

GOOD NEWS. Speaking of football, call center employees from various companies are teaming up to put up a tournament for BPO workers.

Under the present set-up, BPO workers, who don’t have as much support and practice as the mainstream clubs, get mangled when they meet these clubs in Open tournaments.

By holding a tournament of their own, they get to face people who share their same passion, work, lifestyle and most importantly, sleeping cycle, on a relatively even field.

According to Tanya Chica, the teams who have signed up are Convergys, Wipro, Teletech, Aegis, Sykes, Lexmark, ePerformax, Accenture.

It’s good that these weekend warriors are helping each other out by holding their own tournament.

Now this tournament, like the boxing program, is something that should be supported, and not because the participants are of voting age. (Hmmm, did a bulb just light up somewhere?)

What the call center folks are doing is what is happening in running. People who got into the sport don’t rely on their NSA—or the local counterpart—and decide to hold running events on their own.

Some failed, some have succeeded. But by holding these events, running has flourished and will culminate in the Cebu Marathon next year.

I hope the football tournament for call center employees kicks off. And I hope it succeeds.

And, since this column, after all, is called Fair Play, I’ll offer my little help to get it running.

While everyone thinks that everything that can be done to promote a card—staged press con brawls to short reality TVish shows—has been done, dela Hoya, the owner of Golden Boy Promotions, has discovered a novelty.

He’s keeping the weight secret.

As of the latest news, Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Miguel Cotto is stalled in this one. But it is no secret. Pacquiao wants it at 143, while Cotto wants it at 145. Along the way the two will meet somewhere on a catch weight.

In their last fights, some 15 pounds separated welterweight king Floyd Mayweather Jr. and lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez.

The two are meeting again.

At what weight, dela Hoya isn’t telling.
Why? Your guess, is as good as mine.

But according to the Associated Press, “Mayweather, Marquez and their promoters curiously won’t reveal the exact weight limit for the fight, saying only it’s a welterweight bout—which could mean anything from 141 pounds to the 147-pound class limit. Dela Hoya claimed the mystery is designed to get people to watch the weigh-in on Sept. 18.”

I think this is the first time that stuff like this has been kept a secret.

Weigh-ins are not very interesting events, and that’s why news agencies only offer perfunctory coverage during these events.

They only get a few paragraphs more if a fighter fails to make the weight.

Somehow, dela Hoya is hoping to change all that.

And Mayweather, Marquez and their promoters need all the interest they can drum up for their fight—which Top Rank said was postponed because nobody was interested to buy the tickets—because also on the same day, boxing’s biggest rival, UFC, will be staging an event.

ESPN announced that UFC 103 will be staged on the same night in Dallas, going head to head with a major boxing card, for the first time.

A couple of years ago, Mayweather once said of UFC “It ain’t but a fad,” and of UFC stars. “Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight…These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing. So they do (MMA).”

I guess, UFC remembered what Pretty Boy Floyd, who goes by the name Money, t said and are not putting their money on Money.

OUT-DATED UPDATES. It’s a good thing that this early, Balls TV, Philippine TV’s official broadcaster for the 2010 World Cup, is starting to promote the event.

Just recently, they also started a few “getting to know football” snippets. Offering a few infomercials of the game.

However, whoever is in charge of these infomercials didn’t do his or her research well.

A few days back, I saw Balls TV feature “the golden goal” rule.

Well, Fifa dropped this rule a few years back and this wasn’t even used during the 2006 World Cup.

Solar played spoilsport during the last World Cup by offering it on pay per view. I hope Balls TV, who brags about “having it,” won’t do the same.

The ECCP festival this weekend at CIS and the USP cup on June 20 and 21.

Have fun!

Now, I’ve heard from the grapevine, one paper will boycott the Aboitiz Cup, as for us?….

Here’s an article from Sun.Star Cebu last Monday. http://sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/09/08/sports/stc.girls.football.team.makes.finals.in.first.try.html

FOR a school that teaches girls to be feminine and conservative, it was a pleasant surprise to see a bunch of high school girls from St. Theresa�s College play rough and tough in the football field at the Cebu City Sports Center in the 13th Milo Little Olympics.�

This may be the first time in Milo Little Olympics history that STC allowed its students to take part, but the team sent a clear message that nobody can push them around because they sure can push back.�

Aleli Mejias, the star striker for STC, is probably the breakout star at the football field having scored seven goals, putting her in the running for the Most Outstanding Athlete award, on the first day.�

She also scored one yesterday as they bashed defending champions Sacred Heart Hijas de Jesus, 3-0, to take the team to the final round next week.�

The team will face the equally-talented Cebu International School, one of the pioneers in girls football in Cebu, in the finals next week. CIS earlier drubbed Bright Academy, 8-0.�

For Mejias, and the rest of her STC teammates, this is a reason for celebration.�

�Maka-medal na gyud ta,� one of the players said after their match.�

However, there is more to winning a gold medal in this endeavor.�

�We want to show everyone that football is not just a boys� sport. Girls can do it as well,� Mejias said.�

She picks, fakes, defends, strikes and has moves that will put boys to shame.�

�I�m really a striker. And I�ve been kicking a ball since I was in the elementary,� Mejias said.�

Mejias started out playing soccer-baseball�a spinoff of football and baseball, before the entire team was discovered and trained in football.�

They have been playing and training outside school since then, competing under the name Melborne United FC.�

�We have won several titles already but this is the first time that we represented STC. And we can�t wait to give the school a medal. It pushes us to try hard,� Mejias said.�

Mejias also hopes that their efforts might be seen as something that will lead the school to support athletes.�

�Although they allowed us, I know they were very hesitant. I know that they are scared for our well-being and safety. But they do not need to worry because being in a sport is really a good thing for us. In a way even, we are empowered as girls,� Mejias said.�

�It (being in sports) gives us a chance to push ourselves to excel,� Mejias added.�

The team�s mentor, teacher Ella Averila, said that the school is slowly opening up about allowing their girls to get into sports.�

�There are already plans to put up a varsity. Especially after the girls� several achievements. Hopefully it will materialize,� said Averila, who was instrumental for the team to be allowed to compete in Milo after she assured school officials that she will watch over the team.�

However, if the school�s plan push through, the trailblazers at STC may no longer get a chance to enjoy it since all but three members of the team will be graduating this March.�

�It is ok. At least we will be leaving a legacy for those younger than us. We are already happy if we became the example by which younger kids follow for them to get into sports and for the school to start supporting them,� Mejias added.�

For first-timers, they made a huge impression as they made it to the final round, which they did in another impressive fashion as they clobbered the defending champions.�

However, making it this far is not as easy as it looks.�

�We had to practice in different venues because we do not have a field in school. But it is worth it,� Mejias added.�

�Kaning mga bataana, mag kawat-kawat ug practice dinhi sa field,� said CCSC manager Ricky Ballesteros, who was impressed with STC�s performance. �I hope they make it far. It will be good to see them in the nationals next year,� he added. (MCB)�

A HEFTY crowd of football players will congregate in the two-day football 3rd Mizuno Football Fiesta which will kickoff on Sept. 13 and 14 at the University of San Carlos-Technology Center football grounds.�

This year�s installment of the Mizuno football festival has attracted 209 teams from different clubs and schools in Cebu City and three from San Carlos City and a lady team from Bacolod.�

�This year�s tournament is much bigger than last year�s tournament. Last year�s participants were about 160 to 170 teams,� said Don Bosco United Football Club�s Jim Karl Akiatan, one of the organizers of the Mizuno tournament.�

This tournament will showcase 11 categories � Players 6, Players 8, Players 10, Boys 12, Girls 12, Boys 14, Girls 14, Boys 17, Girls 17, Ladies Open, Men�s Open and the 38 and above categories.�

The only thing missing in this year�s tournament is the 19-under division which was eliminated due to the scarcity of teams in that age bracket.�

On the first day, there will be a formal opening at 7 a.m. followed by the games of the Players 6 to 10, Boys and Girls 12, 14, and Girls 17 categories while the Ladies Open, 38 and above and the much awaited Men�s Open, in which 44 teams are competing against each other, will be on the following day.�

The champions of the contest will be receiving a trophy and individual medals while the 1st runner-ups will be given individual medals.�

This football festival is sponsored by Mizuno and organized by Akiatan and Dexter Arrojado of Queen City United. (EKA)�

ALAS sais na is one of the most unique phrases of encouragement or slogans in local sports and is a signature call of Francis Ramirez and the Abellana National School (ANS) boys.�

�It means to hustle,� Ramirez once explained to me while I was still handling the football beat.�

At the Cebu City Sports Center, ANS is only allowed to practice until 6 p.m., before the bulk of the joggers take to the oval for their nightly exercise ritual.�

A bunch of boys, football, and joggers don�t mix, hence the 6 p.m. limit.�

Alais sais na means to give everything before the final whistle.�

And ANS players, like most of the top teams in Cebu, do give their all in the crucial stretch.�

However, for the rest of the year, ANS will have no need to hustle anymore after the team, and their coach, was ordered suspended by Mayor Tomas Osme�a for not asking permission from the Department of Education when they joined the Philippine Olympic Festival and for representing Cebu Province.�

Ramirez and the ANS principal has since admitted their mistake, though I think the coach was quite creative in explaining the oversight�he couldn�t have known on the eve of the event that he was to represent Cebu Province when the team already had Ciudad de Cebu as its sponsor�he did right by asking that the kids be spared from the suspension.�

Kids shouldn�t suffer for other people�s mistakes.�

Players play where the coach tells them to play, even more footballers. With the lack of tournaments, the question footballers ask is �why are we not playing in this tournament?� and not �why are we playing?��

ANS will miss the Cebu City Olympics and with that, any dreams of Cebu�not just the city�winning the secondary title in the Palarong Pambansa is dented.�

Even if ANS won�t win the Cebu City OIympics title, some of the players are virtual shoo-ins as reinforcements for the champion.�

Unless a team is from Barotac, no reinforcement-free school has the chance to win the Palarong Pambansa title. But with ANS� suspension, the pool of players the Cebu City champion team gets to choose just got a little bit shallower.�

The bigwigs at DepEd Cebu City, instead of showing up only in the opening ceremonies of sporting events to give their speeches�which nobody really listens to save for reporters�should show up in championship matches to see first hand what drives athletes like ANS to go that extra mile after a simple phrase like, �Alas sais na!��

Ramirez�s suspension also puts the Cebu Football Association in an interesting position, not one any organization would envy.�

The suspension was only for DepEd-sanctioned meets, and since the Cebu City Olympics and the Milo Olympics, have never recognized its authority, CebuFA could not honor that suspension.�

Or it could show leniency by allowing the players, but not the coach, to play in their tournaments.�

But that means going against Mayor Tomas Osme�a.�

And that isn�t something a group of private individuals can take lightly.�

***

In case you are wondering what I am doing in these pages, I regret to inform you, that, I�d be here regularly from now on. (Feel free to embellish�or enhance if you will�the picture, my preferred add-ons are a pirate�s eye patch and a curling pencil moustache.)�

Thanks to Atty. Pachico A. Seares, the Editor-in-Chief of the paper, for allowing me to join noted columnists John Z. Pages, (he digs Maria Sharapova too) Jingo Quijano (a lawyer with a great right hook, deadly combination), Karlon N. Rama, Edgar Chiongbian, Boy Pesta�o and Noel S. Villaflor (If he ever finds his way back to a PC and resume his column).�

(mikelimpag@gmail.com)�

We�ve all had our say, and sometimes, we took that just little bit of leeway to gain an inch, deny another motorist. Or sometimes, we cheered while the driver finally decided to beat the red light, or drive the opposite lane (I know I did).

We�ve had our say.

We�ve all been in this situation before. Once or twice a tournament, we curse the imbeciles of our FAs. They should do this, they should do that. Why are they doing that?

We�ve had our say.

Now is the time to �have our act.�

It�s called The Project.

Donate. Give. Act. Do.

Whatever you can.

It�s not simply about money. I don�t have any. You�ve got books, DVDs, used spikes, magazines�anything football.

If you don�t have any of these, don�t fret. If you’re good with computer skills, go check out all the Philippine football videos at youtube, edit it, put it in one DVD. Some kid in a barrio not far away will see that video and promise to himself, �Someday, I will be in that video.�

This is about DOING something.

If you don�t have such skills, fret no more, go tell your friends, spread the news.

Act. Do.

For when the time comes when you get asked what have you done for Philippine football, at least�saying you�ve answered all questions, posts in anything related to Philippine football in all the internet forums won�t be the first thing in your mind.

Good news is, the new board will retain the two divisions for the Men�s Open, while there will be new age groups for Girls Football.

Now the question is, with the recent reshuffling of the teams in the Men�s Open, how will they determine which one gets to play in which division?

Also, this year, the CebuFA will finally take on the registration of individuals for its database.

But this P100 per head is sure going to raise a lot of questions (at least I will).

I may be wrong but there could be at least, a thousand players (more if we consider all the individuals involved in football) in Cebu where does the money go?

As to these database. I�m not such a big fan with how the CebuFA handled the data in their first tournament (Yes the Inter Club was officially a Queen City-organized event, but it still WAS a CebuFA event), will this new database be anything different?

Will these be just scraps or pieces of papers, tucked in a folder and left to rot until the next registration phase? Or

will this be a real database, where anyone who wants to question that �data of a certain player or individual� can access?

We�ll see.

And finally. I asked Richard whether the CebuFA will ever consider putting up a website, they said yes. I hope that happens sooner rather than later.

Putting this database on the CebuFA website, which anyone can access, sounds like a swell idea don’t you think?

PFF president Mari Martinez has abandoned his plan to change the moniker Azkals, but upon reading the story of how the team got its name, he said, “That guy again!” when he got to the bottom part.

To quote Alain at pinoysoccer.com, “And from what I’ve heard, Martinez is still fuming about the April fools joke.”

Coach Norman won’t be back at the team, tired as he is with all the interference.� The PFF will finally put its own website, (I’m curious what news will be in that site.)� For a change, the Pinoys will travel to England to train with the Fil-Brits and as to the brouhaha about Phil Younghusband’s failed signing with the LA Galaxy, well with David Beckham getting the lion share of the payroll, someone else is bound to get the ant’s share–no, the parasite of the ant’s share–of the payroll. 287 dollars a week to play football?

And oh, the pinoysoccer.com community share the same idea with the PFF president with regards to a certain bald guy, at least, when no one else is listening.� The words used were, “He’s very difficult to deal with.”

Catch all the details at pinoysoccer.com.