Isports ATBP.

Living and working here in Canada, particularly in the city of Saskatoon in the province of Saskatchewan, I can’t help but compare how local officials run the government here to the Philippines. I know that Canada is a first-world country and it is like comparing apples to dalanghitas (citrus oranges) but hear me out before calling my head to be chopped off. The first thing I noticed is how the taxes that you are paying are spent wisely where even a foreign worker like me can enjoy its benefits. I’m still using an open work permit here, still a foreign worker, while we’re waiting for our papers for permanent residency status. However, being a foreign worker did not prevent me from receiving benefits that were also available to legal residents and Canadian citizens like free healthcare and employee insurance. After all, when I started working here, local and federal government taxes were deducted from my salary. I have a health card under the universal health-care system administer...

Filipino triathlete Joe Miller used to hear stories from fellow pro Ben Allen of Australia and two others on how beautiful and challenging the XTERRA Saipan Championship course was. On Saturday, the first-year pro and former two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion will finally try his luck in conquering the first stop of the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Off-Road Triathlon series. “A lot of the pros that I used to compete with like Ben, Jacqui Slack, and Daz Parker used to tell me stories about XTERRA Saipan. How beautiful and challenging the course is, and that I should try competing in it,” said the Zamboanga City native. “I trained for 13 weeks for XTERRA Saipan and I’m targeting a third or fourth-place finish. I really wanted to see the result of my training that’s why I’m pushing myself hard. I wasn’t satisfied with my performance in XTERRA Philippines and I’m craving more. I want to challenge myself,” Miller said. XTERRA Saipan starts wit...

Saipan, CNMI—UAAP basketball games were never aired live here in the Western Pacific. Not even the best-of-three finals. Though, TFC put out an advisory that the FEU-NU title showdown will be simultaneously aired to all of its subscribers. It turns out the CNMI was not part of the area where the games will be shown live. So I have to use my imagination following the do-or-die match on Twitter. Thank you internet and social media. It was one helluva season for NU. Looking back, the odds were stacked against the Bulldogs. They were always fighting for survival: * Playoff for the No. 4 spot with UE where they defeated the Red Warriors, 51-49. * Faced top seed Ateneo in the semifinals and overhauled the Blue Eagles' twice-to-beat advantage, 78-74 and 65-63. * Forced a winner-take-all match  after scoring a 62-47 win over FEU in Game 2. The Tamaraws took the opener, 75-70. * Ended six decades of futility, frustration, and anguish following a 75-59 victory in the dec...

alaboxing.com Donnie Nietes is confident that this time he will knock out Mexican Moises Fuentes when he makes his fourth title defense of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light flyweight crown on May 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. This will also be a rematch of their March 2, 2013 12-round bout at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino in Cebu City that ended in a majority draw after two of the three judges—Adalaide Byrd and Pat Russell—saw the fight tied at 114 while Danrex Tapdasan scored it in favor of Nietes, 115-113. The 31-year-old slugger from Murcia, Negros Occidental (32-1-4, with 18 knockouts) said that he has been looking forward to this fight where he hopes to silence the Mexico City-born Fuentes (19-1-1, with 10 knockouts) in front of his countrymen. Nietes said that his almost four-month-long training camp, including two months in the United States, will finally pay off. “Malaki ang tiwala ko sa sarili na mapapatumba ko na siya [Fuentes...

Filipino bet Sofia Isabel Guidote and Aneeta Lingam of Malaysia know they have much to learn before achieving their dreams of competing at a higher level in figure skating after competing in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Development Trophy (WDT) 2014 last week in Mandaluyong City. Both young skaters also attended the five-day training camp that was held before the one-day tournament, which was conducted by international coach Shanetta Folle of Austria, who previously coached Japan’s Mao Asada to a silver medal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. “It was fun and I met new friends. I saw that I can work harder and learned that I have more aspects to improve so that I can become better in my sport,” said Guidote, who was thankful for Folle's tips. Guidote and Elia Mariel Mendoza gave the Philippines silver (Basic Novice A girls’ free skate program) and bronze (Basic Novice B Girls) medals in the country’s final hosting of the World Development Trophy. T...