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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Pages: Detroit or Cebu, this game is super
By John Pages
Matchpoint
As soon as I entered Badgers late yesterday morning, I knew I wasn’t in Cebu. I was in America. Hardly an empty seat stood. Giant TV screens hung from all five corners. Beer oozed. Shouts echoed. Many were white. Americans. I saw Josh and Jasmin Pritchard, Richard Sharpe, Kyle Thomas, Dennis Unchuan, and David de los Santos with his son Carlos who wore a blue jersey with “37,” “ALEXANDER” and
“Seahawks” on the back.
The atmosphere was super. It was the Super Bowl. How super is this bowl? It’s bigger than Tiger Woods and the Masters, Andre Agassi and the US Open, Alex Rodriguez and the World Series. That’s super.
It’s considered a de facto national holiday. It’s the single most watched TV show, where, on average, 90 million Americans are tuned in at any given moment and 140 million tune in to some part of the game. The TV commercials are priced, well — how shall I say this — very high. How high? Super. About $2.5 million for a 30-second spot! That’s super.
Back in 1967, when the two rival leagues, the National Football League and the American Football League, merged to create a contest to determine the “world champion of football,” it’s been a tradition for Americans to gather, pop open that Budweiser, and scream.
In Ford’s Field in Detroit, Stevie Wonder performed. Aretha Franklin performed. In the half time show, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones rocked and rolled for three songs, including “Satisfaction.”
Satisfaction?
How about Super Satisfaction?
SUPER MAN. Back in Badgers, I circled the bar and finally found Rayner Sangil. In case you didn’t know, American football is played right here in Cebu City. It’s called flag football. And Rayner is the man.
“I’ve been playing tackle football since grade school and was on my high school varsity team,” said Rayner, who lived in Canada for 18 years. “I played Wide Receiver, Safety, Punt and Kickoff Returner. I was not able to make it to the University level so I started playing flag football instead. After graduating from the University of Alberta, I moved back to the Philippines and I started playing touch football with a group of guys whom I met in Alabang Country Club.”
Two years ago here, together with Luigi Quisumbing and Brian Lim, Rayner started flag football.
FLAG FOOTBALL. It’s a version of American Football, played with the same rules and objectives but without the heavy tackling and expensive equipment (helmets, shoulder pads). Players wear flags strapped around their waists, which opponents rip off to signify tackles (hence the sport’s name). The game is fast, exciting, safe, and fun as it enhances vital sports skills like running, catching, teamwork and coordination. People can play flag football regardless of age, gender, agility and skill level.
Since Rayner helped organize the Cebu Flag Football League , there are now over 600 members. Amazing. Here’s a number even more amazing: 200 are women.
Last Saturday afternoon here at the SVD Center, I stood beside Mitzi Tan and witnessed our Super Bowl. Our top local team, the Globe White Castle Sharks, battled Manila’s top squad, the CB Richard Ellis Young Guns. On paper, though it wasn’t the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Houston Texans, the odds were against our CFFL champs. The visiting Philippine Flag Football League champs went 10-0 and blew away all competitors in Manila.
In the end, our Sharks led 19-14 with a minute left. Five-point lead. Sixty ticks to go. The drums roared. The Sharks high-fived. They leapt for joy, including my brother Charlie (who made a great early interception) and their head coach Harry Radaza. With seconds ticking, the Young Guns scored a fourth-down touchdown to win, 20-19.
It was improbable. It was heart-breaking. It was flag football.
Like the XL-size game in Detroit, it was super.
(john@brightacademy.edu.ph)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 7, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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