Sports in Christmas

This time of the year is easily one of the most laid back for many. Schools have already called a ceasefire to classes and will be sending its students off to take a Christmas break. The past two weekends and practically this past week was all about Christmas parties and family get togethers/reunions. Some have already taken time off from work to take a vacation with their families. Over-all, it seems like there’s no more time for work with more attention given to the Christmas activities. Right? Well yes, but also no in the world of sports where it seems to be business as usual.

Last night, the Eagle Run was held in the Cebu Doctors’ University area. Football games were still the norm for yesterday at the Aboitiz Football Cup. More importantly, the Philippine football team is playing again tonight in Game 2 of the AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals against Indonesia. If they win the semifinal tie, they move on to the finals that will be played on December 26 and 29. Definitely no breaks there, are there? Just recently, Nonito Donaire had said that he would stay in the country for only a week and head back into training right after Christmas to prepare for his Feb. 19 date with Fernando Montiel. That’s exactly two months from today.

Which leads me to the question, “Are athletes ‘less sporty’ every Christmas?” In general, it would seem that sports, like others, also takes a back seat to all the merry-making for Christmas. To a certain respect, this is true and normal. But to the disciplined and diehard athletes, it’s something that goes with the flow. With all the fun also comes the “must have” of a sporty Christmas.

I wonder how many joined last night’s Eagle Run. This run usually generates an attendance between at least 1,000 to 2,000 runners. Any number below this would reflect that the regular runners did take a break for Christmas. I’m pretty sure no race organizer set next Sunday (Dec. 26) as a race date, or is there a run next week? At yesterday’s football games at the Aboitiz Football Cup, we noticed that some teams showed up with only 11 players and no substitutes. We can already guess that the missing athletes were already out on their breaks. Moreover, the play on the field wasn’t that pretty. A parent commented that this had to be due to the parties of the previous evening that their players may have attended or the lack of practice due to the vacation mentality that Christmas brings with it. In another game, an entire team didn’t show up for their scheduled game. I guess this was their way of saying Merry Christmas to the eventual winner (by default).

Talk about discipline. Yesterday and today would be a good gauge to check out the sporty pulse. It’s the last weekend before Christmas and I’m sure just about every office, school or club had its Christmas party either last Friday, last night or today. As an athlete, one would love to say “no” to all these, but even athletes also have their own parties and celebrations to attend. To check on their “sporty” levels, did they go on their regular morning run (or jog) the day after the party? I bumped into a part-time badminton trainer at a supermarket and he said that the badminton courts have been relatively quiet these days, with only the badminton purists playing on their regular playdates. The others? Self explanatory.

Another gauge is a look at those preparing for big events next month. We have the Cebu City Marathon (CCM) on January 9 and the big boxing card “Pinoy Pride 3” also next month. Boxing and running are two events where a break in training one month before the big day is a mortal sin. For those planning to run the full 42K marathon at the CCM, you already know that they’re dead set on finishing the entire route and this means sacrificing a lot this December. So whatever is listed in the training program for December won’t be compromised. Any leniency could lead to a “DNF” on their ledger. For the ALA boxers fighting in Pinoy Pride 3 like Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and Jason Pagara, it will be a Christmas of tough training under the watchful eyes of the ALA management. Boom Boom needs a more convincing win to erase the “controversial” tag to his win over tough foe Alejandro Barrera in their first fight. On the other hand, Pagara also needs a good win to send off a signal that he’s ready for the lights of Vegas. There’s also a Sinulog Cup football festival on January 8-9. Although not as big time as the CCM or Pinoy Pride 3, the amount of practice time for teams playing here will be rare and few this Christmas break, especially for the school-based teams. It will be cramming time for practice when the students go back to school on the week of January 3.

Christmas and sports do mix. But it takes a lot of sacrifice to maintain the focus needed to be sporty. But this is nothing new to athletes. Sacrifice is something they eat everyday.

And you. How has your sporty Christmas been?

***

Time-out: Fr. Lan Guiao SDB hit it right on the head when he said (on Facebook) that the malls encourage people to see Santa but somehow forget to have their customers look for Jesus this Christmas. And to the department store that has its sales crew greeting “Happy Holidays,” how about a more Christian greeting like “Merry Christmas!”

You can reach me at [email protected].