INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--Can it be done?

This was the question I hurled at a colleague who had tipped me off about a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would be served on the cycling group headed by Ta-gaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino long before the news broke out in the papers.

As you probably know, there are two national cycling groups in existence. One is led by Tolentino, the other by bu-sinessman/sportsman Mikee Romero.

I was not asking if a TRO could be served to prohibit Tolentino?s group from forming a cycling team that will represent the Philippines in the Laos Southeast Asian Games this December.

What I was asking my colleague is, could the proposal of PSC chair Harry Angping be done? Angping was mulling the possibility of forming a national team with athletes culled from the warring groups.

Angping expressed this thought following an invitation to a meeting he had sent out to athletes from cycling and billiards, another sport with two factions?one headed by Putch Puyat, the other by Yen Makabenta.

Angping said he was meeting with the athletes ?to get a feel of the situation.?

* * *

My fellow veteran scribe was quick to reply.

?Likely to explode!? he texted initially.

?But who knows, maybe with the right coach, it is possible to blend athletes from both camps,? he texted again after a few minutes of deliberation.

The scribe I had tagged ?The Inquisitor? is most concerned about the time frame though.

?We have less than 60 days to prepare for the SEA Games,? he said. ?If they choose a tough guy to coach cycling, I believe he can still form a competitive team by blending athletes from two groups.?

The question is, will the leaders of both camps agree?

My colleague said the leaders have lit the fuse of discord that is bound to blow up in the SEA Games.

* * *

?Another colleague, more veteran than the Inquisitor, flew in from Cebu yesterday with a big smile plastered on his face.

?Boom Boom has silenced his critics!? he announced as he alighted from the aircraft that flew him from Cebu to Manila Saturday afternoon.

Boom Boom Bautista wrested the WBC International super featherweight crown from Marangin Marbun of Indonesia at the Waterfront Hotel Friday night.

?I?m glad that Boom Boom has been vindicated. His detractors have been calling him all sorts of names since he lost to Mexican Heriberto Ruiz almost a year ago,? the scribe related.

?They say he?s Bum-Bum and not Boom Boom, they say he fights with no heart.?

?Interestingly, his injured left hand is now deadlier than his right.?

* * *

The scribe related that Boom Boom had fought his last bout with Ruiz with a severely injured left wrist.

?It would hurt agonizingly everytime he used it,? the scribe related.

Boom Boom?s physician said his wrist would require surgery if he wanted to get rid of the pain.

The boxer underwent surgery, his doctors found a bone rotting inside his wrist. This was what was causing so much pain.

According to my colleague, Boom Boom?s left hand, now more dominant than the right, has ceased to give him problems.

Boom Boom was one of three Filipino boxers who were honored about four years ago for a triple victory in Las Vegas.

The other two were Brian Viloria and Manny Pacquiao.

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Rizal Memorial habitués have been talking about a lovesick lass from the stable of Go Teng Kok.

They say she has been depressed since the contract of a foreign coach was cut short by an NSA official.

?The NSA was only avoiding a possible scandal. The coach, you see, was accompanied by his wife here in the Philippines,? disclosed a RMSC source.

From what I know, the wife of the coach is also involved in a sport and was training athletes before the husband was sacked.