Alive and kicking

Our football team’s sensational win in Hanoi where it blanked the defending champion Vietnam , 2-0, goes to show that football here is still alive and kicking.

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I think football fans here who are not satisfied with the government’s support for the sport have reason to kick.

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In our country football is not a noun but a verb. Example: “Undesirable employees are footballed.”

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Football is a sport engaged in by some bosses who are dissatisfied with the performance of their subordinates.

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Did you know that the Philippines is the only country in the Asean region where four-footers play basketball instead of football where they ought to belong?

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Here’s something I have observed that you, too, must have also observed: The first word spoken by most people interviewed on TV is: “Actually.” Yes, including celebrities.

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The only celebrity I know who does not start his statement with “actually” is Manny Pacquiao. He often starts answering a question with “You know.”

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E-mail from Gerardo Pilario, a Cebuano engineer in Detroit : “I read your paper online (www.philstar.com) everyday and you keep me abreast of happenings back home. But sad to say that the happenings never changed for the better. It’s always crime here, there, and everywhere. Anything new? Like more food production, lesser disease, etc.”

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“Please comment,” he said. No comment except this: The closeup picture of the Cebu you left behind is much better. If you got the time, come home and see.

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Another e-mail, from Leonie SP Sanchez of Austin, Texas : “I was home last month and what I saw in actuality and on the newspaper ads staggered my imagination. Those multi-storied hotels and condos in Mactan and on the Cebu mainland are something I never dreamed of seeing when I left home 25 years ago. Not any single person but the entire Cebuano community should be credited for this.”

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Overheard in posh resto uptown: “Looks like Congresswoman Cutie del Mar of the North District is doing much better than Congressman Tom Osmeña of the South in the Lower House. No one said “Yes.” But there were thumbs up in the air. (From reader Jess Falconeri).

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