Monday, October 08, 2007 Villalva: Is late better than never? By Henry C. Villalva Offside
There is a feeling among the city's sports circles that the people supposed to be in charge of matters pertaining to sports have a penchant for acting or deciding late. Or maybe the question to be asked is do these people really take time to decide about sports at all, or does sports really matter to them?
Consider this: Donnie Nietes, the newly-crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) mini-flyweight champion, is from Barangay Granada, Bacolod City. He is a true-blooded Bacolodnon after he transferred from Murcia, Negros Occidental when he was second year high school.
He came home last week a day after he defeated his Thai opponent in Cebu to pocket his world boxing title, albeit the first legitimate Bacolodnon to win a professional world boxing crown.
Nietes was welcomed at the Bacolod airport by people from Murcia town and was presented to local media by Bacolod Rep. Monico O. Puentevella. He later paid a courtesy call on Gov. Joseph Marañon accompanied by officials of the Negros Amateur Boxing Association (NABA) led by former Bacolod councilor Juan Ramon 'Monju' Guanzon, Vic Tan, Dodong Bascon, Toto Regalado and company. Then he was given a rousing welcome by the people of Murcia led by Mayor Sonny Coscolluela and the entire Municipal Council.
Question: where were the people from City Hall? Ah, we later got word that City Hall has decided to honor Nietes during the October 19 Charter Day program. Better late than never?
We also got word that City Hall has decided to organize its own local sports associations to be accredited with the Bacolod City Sports Council. What does this imply? That the existing LSAs bearing the name "Negros" the likes of NBA, NSA, NABA, NOVA, NOFA, and NOTAFA don't qualify for accreditation with the council since these LSAs don't carry the name Bacolod? Ah, but this may be necessary so that a genuine city sports program can be crafted by these Bacolod LSAs. Better late than never?
And yes. We heard City Hall is planning to "implement" its own boxing and basketball program as obviously an indirect admission that these had been sadly lacking all along even as some hate to admit it. Better late than never?
So no one can claim anymore that the city's sports program is limited to hoisting boxing belts? That someone else has the monopoly of sports programs in this "City of Smiles"? Better late than never, indeed? Just asking!
