My life in cycling and basketball

By Jesus A. Garcia

DURING the last three weeks, my attention was focused on basketball and cycling events.

As the race director of the cycling races conducted in the province over the last three Sundays, it had been my responsibility to make the road battles as successful as I possibly could. Had the events had turned into a flop, I would have been the principal person to be blamed. It is about command-responsibility, ‘ika nga.

I was deeply involved, too, in basketball being the sports consultant of the University of Pangasinan (UPang) whose high school and college players recently saw action in some big tournaments in the province and recently, in Cebu.

Happily, the UPang college quintet bagged two first runner-up plums, one each in Urdaneta City and Lingayen. Those events were won by the boys of well-known coach Jack Vidal of the University of Luzon (UL) representing St. Lucy’s Cataract Eye Care Center.

The UPang high school and the UL college quintets are now in Cebu City participating in the 62nd National Students Basketball Championships from February 25 to March 1.

According to Robert Amado, Jr. and Jay Ronquillo, coaches of the two UPang squads, their two teams were able to enter the semis with an identical card of three wins and a single loss. They both lost their opening matches but fortunately won three stints successively to grab a slot in the semis. UPang faces Benedictine Abbey International School and UL clashes with Southwestern University of Cebu in a knockout game today. Whoever wins enter the finals.

Hopefully these two delegations, representing our province and the champions of Region 1, will enter the finals slated tomorrow.

This is also one of the big reasons why I was not able to follow the developments at the Ilocos Region Athletic Association (IRAA) meet that capital town Lingayen hosted.

In fact, I was supposed to join our delegation to Cebu but had to decline because of bigger commitments in the province. Foremost is the bikefest that will be held today in my town Mangaldan and the Goodwill Games slated in the afternoon of March 3 at Macario Ydia Development Center. The games will feature the senior teams from Baguio City called Cordillera Career Dev’t Colleges against UPang, and Think God from La Union versus the Mangaldan Selection in the main event.

Dubbed for the last fifteen years as the “Werweran ed Mangaldan,” this annual bike tilt is considered as the oldest and one of the most prestigious one-day road races in the country that is being participated by superstars in Philippine cycling. I have been asked again by the host, the sports-minded Mayor Herminio Romero, to be the race director.

Though I know that this will again be another taxing job for me, I’m lucky to have friends like Councilor Alberto Fabia, Johnny Valencia, Vice Mayor Pedro Surdilla, Jr., Mangaldan chief of police Supt. Llyod Milan, Pete de Vera, Jr. and last but not the least, my relative, the hizzoner Romero, who are always there to give me a helping hands for the success of the affair.

See you in Mangaldan.

(Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
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