Blue and Green title game again

The Cebu leg of the Sea Oil-sponsored National Basketball Training Center will culminate late this afternoon with two of Cebu’s dominating high school squads – the Magis Eagles of Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu battling the Baby Lancers of the University of the Visayas.  Their battle has become Cebu’s mini version of Manila’s classic blue versus green, Ateneo versus La Salle cage wars.

Sixteen high school teams will go at each other for the NBTC National Finals scheduled sometime in March.  12 teams from the provinces and 4 from the National Capital Region (NCR) will vie for the title.

The winner of today’s game earns the right to represent Cebu for the NBTC Finals.  This could also be the last that we will be seeing the stars of both high schools play locally as they had been heavily scouted and recruited by Manila-based colleges and universities.  And expect more scouts and coaches from the big city present for this game.

No matter who wins, they will be representing Cebu to the National Finals and will be showing to the whole nation the kind and brand of basketball we Cebuanos practice and preach.  Of course, anyone who had been following me weekly on this space already knows my color preference.

A close friend’s son is the heart and soul of the Colon-based squad but with 20 years combined spent by my two children’s elementary and high school days at the now Canduman-based school, logic dictates that I go with them or risk their ridicule.

Be it green or blue, UV or Ateneo, it is for Cebu’s glory.  Tip off this afternoon is scheduled at 5.  From what I gathered, admission is free.  Go Blue!  Go Green!   Naunsa ba, asa ba ta ani ron?

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Thanks to an over-zealous power company lineman that accidentally disconnected our cable TV service, I missed the Azkal game the other night.  Good thing they won over Myanmar.  A bigger battle will be in for our national football team as we host Group E (Turkmenistan, Cambodia, Brunei, Philippines) in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers come March 21 to 26.

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Remember Chona Mae?  Last Tuesday, February 5, was her first anniversary.  Hello?  To freshen some memories, a guy yelled her name at 11:45am last year and resulted in a tidal wave of humanity that flooded the streets of Cebu City seeking higher ground for fear of yes, Chona Mae.  As in tsunami.

It would be nice to commemorate this folly of gullibility and ignorance with a massed-start run beginning from the area where it all started and end somewhere in Busay, requiring all runners to shout that lady’s name every 100 meters.  The winner will get a life vest and rubber boat.

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