In the works?

My feet dragged me to the CCSC oval Wednesday morning. I came in a little late, about 7:45 am. By this time, the oval was almost empty and except for some PE classes, runners were already cooling down.

I started to run and completed my usual 5K run. While doing my laps, I noticed that the grass is greener than usual, at least the patch nearer the edge of the oval. The rain, the past week, has done a miraculous job in bringing life to that part of the oval.

With greener grass, I thought this could be a sign that a new oval is in the works. Last Thursday, Filinvest was to pay P338M to the city government as down payment for a joint venture to develop 50.6 hectares of prime commercial property at SRP. City councilors, and there are 16 of them, will be receiving P10M each in pork barrel aside from P3M they were earmarked to receive. If you add all the money, including the P250M surplus, then the city has close to P800M in its coffers!

Latest estimates I’ve gathered put the cost of repairing the oval at around P25M. If that’s the case then its only 0.03% of what the city has! In fairness to the city government, they have always said that money isn’t the problem when it comes to repairing the oval. What they are floating around – in every gathering that I’ve attended where the repair of the oval has been the subject – is priority.

I can’t seem to understand, however, why a bunch of good, wise and intelligent officials can’t seem to make the repair of the oval their highest priority. With the signature campaign that started some two weeks ago, I can’t believe priority is still the issue here. The constituents have spoken. The writing on the wall is clear. It’s time to make it happen!

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Boston, Cleveland, San Antonio, Phoenix, four teams that will figure in the NBA playoffs added big men to prepare for battles ahead. Boston plucked Mikki Moore for rebounding. Cleveland is welcoming back veteran Joe Smith. The Spurs, on the other hand, are keen to sign Drew Gooden, formerly the sidekick of LeBron at Cleveland. Phoenix is eyeing Stromile Swift as replacement for Amare Stoudemire.

LA, currently the hottest team in the NBA, is doing great despite the absence of Andrew Bynum. Reports have it that his recovery is on schedule and will be suiting up for the Lakers in the post season.

Aside from Moore, the defending champion Celtics has also added Stephon Marbury to its line-up, primarily as reliever to PG Rajon Rondo. There’s no question about Starbury’s talent. What irks most Celtics fans is that Starbury is trouble wherever he goes.

With only two games to his credit, it’s too early to say if Starbury could contribute. I don’t think Doc Rivers would say yes to the deal if the Big Three didn’t approve of it. Therefore, it’s really up to Starbury to play second fiddle to Rondo and shut his mouth in the Celtics locker room.

If the Starbury deal works then Danny Ainge should get another Executive of the Year award. He picked a rotten apple and rotten apples are supposedly no longer safe to eat.

Belated birthday greetings to SAC sweet shooting forward Jonas Panerio. For comments, please write [email protected]. -  THE FREEMAN