Now Showing: Milo O, CESAFI, San Roque & more

It’s a second straight long weekend for all and we all know what that means. More days for sports action. While the wealthier families of society spend long weekends like these at beach resorts or even make a quick trip out of the country, the sports world will be filled with just that: more sports.

This weekend is no exception with the holding of the 17th Milo Little Olympics Finals. It’s easily Cebu’s biggest annual multi-sport event that brings together Cebu’s top athletes and those from other Visayas cities and towns. Since the sports world is fresh from watching the London Olympics, this year’s Milo Little “O” is expected to draw more attention and appreciation from the sports fan. The Little O itself is a scaled-down version of the real Olympics. There may be fewer events than the real thing, but it isn’t lacking in action and draws similar lines with the London Olympics. It’s spiked with victories, fellowship and an over-all celebration of sports as teams gather to compete against each other. Center of the action is the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) which boasts of a brand new track oval and a new pitch of grass on its football field. As always, Athletics (or track and field) is the center piece event being on the main stage of the venue. Swimming, another multiple medal sport, will also draw attention and a following. Like the real Olympics, the more popular events take a back seat to other events. There is no basketball here as it’s handled by a different event that’s also sponsored by Milo. Football is the most popular team sport of the Milo Little O with games also being played at the heart of the venue: the football pitch within the oval. The other events to be held at the CCSC are badminton and scrabble. Chess will be played at the USC South campus. Gymnastics is at the Mabolo Elementary School. Lawn tennis is at Baseline and Alta Vista Golf and Country Club. Sepak Takraw and Sipa are at the Labangon Elementary School. Table Tennis is at UC while taekwondo is at the Mabolo Elementary School. Volleyball has four venues: Bo. Luz Elementary School, Zapatera Elementary School and Lahug Elementary School. (Note that these are the venues listed in the initial letter sent out before the final meetings were held; some may have changed.) From the big picture, it looks like Cebu will be abuzz with all these events taking place this weekend. You’ll hear a lot of cheering and yelling. You’ll also see a nice mix of colors of uniforms displayed across all venues. You’ll see all sorts of sports fans: parents, barkadas, relatives, boyfriends, girlfriends and everything else in between. Another interesting facet about the games is that it becomes a big family affair. Many families will “camp out” at the bleachers of the sports complex for practically a whole day as they wait for their brother/sister/son/daughter play. There will be food, drinks, cameras, video cams and sleeping mats, too. I just wish the sports center can assign more personnel to maintain the cleanliness of the complex. It can get ugly as the day goes by. When the dust clears, the event’s top athletes will don their medals and then form the nucleus of Team Visayas that will see action at the national edition Milo Little Olympics in October. There, they’ll face the teams from Metro Manila, Luzon and Mindanao. The Visayas is the three-time defending over-all champion.

But that’s not the only sports activity taking place this weekend. The CESAFI basketball tournament goes back to back with games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Cebu Coliseum. The most intriguing match-up is the UV-SWU collegiate game today. It’s the most anticipated game of the entire season and could serve as a preview of the CESAFI finals. Games of the Milo-sponsored BEST Center SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament resume tomorrow at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Mango Avenue Campus Gym with six games on the sked. These include games in the CYBL D-League.

Football also has the San Roque Football Festival being played this weekend at the San Roque Parish grounds in Mandaue. This is also an annual tradition that is held around fiesta time every August. San Roque used to be known as the source of Cebu’s top players but has somehow faded away in the past decade. But it’s making a big comeback and is now making a lot of noise in the football scene. We also had the Y101 Armscor run this morning and the Night Race for Flood Victims last night at the Cebu Doctors’ University. And before I forget, games of the NBAC also resume today at the Barangay Apas Gym. The featured match (from a biased viewpoint)? Who else but FREEMAN/Bombo Radyo vs. ABS-CBN! Worth watching? Don’t bother. 

 >>> Time-out: Happy birthday to Marc Amante. For comments and questions, you can reach me at [email protected]. - THE FREEMAN