Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Celebrate unity in sports By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
LIKE Edsa, sports, also has a unifying factor.”
For Fr. Vic Uy, the executive director of the Philippine Sports Commission, both the Edsa 1 revolution and any sporting event share the same message of unity.
Yesterday, the PSC successfully staged another Edsa 1 commemoration at the University of San Carlos gym and at four other cities in the country—Baguio, Manila, Davao and Bacolod.
PSC’s involvement with the commemorative anniversary of the Edsa 1 revolution started in 2006 after the Philippines won the overall title of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.
“We have seen how that event united the country and as a follow through, the celebration of unity was continued on to the 2006 Edsa commemoration, which continues today,” Uy said yesterday.
It has been through sports that the scandal ridden country has taken respite from political turmoil, as shown during the 2005 Seag and during fights involving boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao.
Yesterday was made more memorable after two impressive finishes from two basketball teams.
The University of San Carlos women’s basketball team survived a last-minute assault from University of Cebu to run away with a 78-75 win.
USC was leading by 20 points when UC initiated a fiery comeback. UC almost stole the lead in the final 20 seconds when Cherrie Manaoag got hold of a loose ball, streaked to the opposite end for a layup before losing the control of the ball, foiling her attempt.
Jessamine delos Reyes and Jovi Andaya scored 15 points each for USC.
Later, the Southwestern University Cobras finally avenged their previous losses to University of San Jose Recoletos with a lopsided 74-52 win.
Memorable
What made the win more memorable was it ended USJ-R’s 17-game winning streak.
In their previous outings, SWU always whittled when overcome by pressure during crunch time. This time, however, a different SWU came out to play.
SWU was so passionate about the revenge that it shot off to an early 28-6 lead in the first period, which they kept all throughout.
USJ-R never saw it coming and was as stunned as a “deer staring on a headlights” and the team froze and never recovered.
Leading the charge for SWU was Eric Zanoria, Clifford Maguate and Alfred Belande, who were the top offensive players in the troop. The lanky Maguate even earned the respect of PSC commissioner Ambrosio de Luna, who praised the SWU stalwart.
