Sports Eye is undoubtedly the longest running sports column in Cebu. It has graced the sports page of the Freeman for 28 years and counting. I started writing feature stories in 1988 upon the invitation of the late Glenn Basubas, then sports editor of the paper. It was a monthly feature which tacked the NBA. Then Glenn asked me to write on a weekly basis and as the saying goes
“ The rest is history”. Two months ago I contemplated on ending my writing, that’s precisely the reason you haven’t seen my column. My friends and readers called and texted to know if I was still alive and running or if my fingers got chopped off by the Yakuza. During the two months that I stopped writing, I did some soul-searching and listened to Barbra Streisand’s “ Some Good Things Never Last”. But the clamor of my readers made me decide that i owe them one and besides I have a tradition to preserve being a relative of National Hero Graciano Lopez Jaena of Jaro, IloIlo City, who criticized the Spaniards in his La Solidaridad. So as Arnold Schwarzenegger, would say “I’m back” after saying earlier “Hasta la vista baby”. Actually it was not vacation all the time that I was away. I was in IloIlo City to sing at the wedding of my grand daughter Pat Pat Servando, sister of DeLa Salle student Gulio Ceasar who died in a hazing activity last year. Congressman Sherwin Gatchalian stood as one of the sponsors and said he has filed a bill adding more teeth to the anti-hazing law. After hearing Elvis performed, he invited me to do a concert in Boracay where they are opening a new hotel in December.
Spirit of wipro run
While I was on “exile”, I got a chance to concentrate on my comeback race directional job. You see, I’m semi-retired now after organizing and directing over 500 races ranging from the short distances to the marathon, ultramarathons, triathlons and track events. But how can you say no to friends like Jeff Orbita and Erica Roque of WIPRO Philippines, one of the biggest BPOs in Cebu. So last Sunday, over 3,000 runners coming from the company and guests, clogged the streets of the Cebu Business Park for the third edition of the Spirit of Wipro Run. According to Jibin Arjunan, Geo head of WIPRO, the run was held simultaneously with those all over the world. Manila also held its race last Sunday.
Fun runs
Fun runs continue to be held weekly although there’s a big drop in participants. Some runs have become just that, “fun”. But some people think these races are not funny. That night race at the SRP three weeks ago where they throw colored powder on the runners, caused a big stir. Motorists cursed the organizers for causing a monstrous traffic jams and for what? There’s another race coming up next week where runners get a comic book super-hero singlet. A 60 year-old runner said he might look comical wearing a kiddie shirt.
Did you know?
•World War II caused the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics, but a 39 year-old Dutch mother Fanny Blankers-Koen, returned in 1948 to become the first woman to claim 4 track and field gold medal.
•Czechoslovakian runner Emil Zatopek. In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, become the first (and only) runner to win the 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter and the marathon races in a single summer games.