Monday, October 06, 2008 Tiukinhoy: Dream clash between Cesafi and Manila teams, not likely
THOSE anticipating to take the heated rivalry of the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in Cebu and mix it with the intense action of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) are up for a disappointment.
This after Cesafi commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy talked to Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Norman Black Saturday at the Cebu Coliseum and found out that it is impossible to bring the two teams to Cebu as their schedules are swamped for the rest of the year.
“He said that it is not feasible because they already have a lot of events lined up until the end of the year,” Tiukinhoy said.
Tiukinhoy said that Cesafi schools, especially the University of the Visayas Green Lancers and the University of San Jose-Recoletos have always wanted to get a chance to test their mettle against UAAP’s best in their home turf in front of an impassioned home crowd.
That dream clash is also what Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama suggested to Sun.Star columnist John Pages after the first game of the Cesafi finals.
However, there will still be a possibility for them to clash as these four teams qualified to the Top 16 in the Champions League, which is slated in November.
Also, USJ-R might be pitted against either of the two teams as they are invited to take part in the University Games in Dumaguete City on Oct. 20.
The Unigames is an invitation only multi-event meet which is sanctioned by the Philippine Sports Commission as a tertiary multi-event competition. However, instead of UV, it was University of Cebu, who got invited to the weeklong meet.
Summer meeting
Tiukinhoy added that a possible meeting with the Cesafi top teams and the best of UAAP teams could possibly happen in the summer.
“This is the peak of the training of the players and they could spare some time to meet with our teams. That is if they are not playing in the PBL,” said Tiukinhoy.
Meanwhile, Tiukinhoy turned back on an earlier threat to ban any coaches trying to scout Cesafi players. Aside from Black, another famous face in the crowd yesterday was Hapee head coach Jun Noel.
“We have to make an exception because they were not looking to pull out our players. They told us beforehand of their intention, which was to observe the talents,” Tiukinhoy said.
Black scouted for graduating seniors from the high school division, while Noel was looking at graduating college players. (MCB)
