Lonely fan

Event: Manny Pacquiao-Jorge SOlis bout
Venue: SM City Cebu Cinema 2
Verdict: boring (excpet for round 6)

There's something about sports that possesses people. Manny Pacquiao's bout with Jorge Solis turned a 1,000-seater cinema eerily silent, ignite it like a bomb. Sports halt traffic, stalls time, unites nations. This one was no exception.

I was alone (as usual) as I took my P500 ticket to watch the fight live at SM City Cebu Cinema 2. Z-15 is my seat number. Yes, it was way up there near the rafters. I chose the spot, to have a vantage view of everybody, to be on top of things. As I tread my way up, I noticed some vacant seats around.

It was nice to see the esnemble: an old couple already in their golden years, young people dating, a father and his two kids, young and old, men and women.

There are spoilers of course -- women who could have been cajoeld by use of force to watch a man's first wife (sports) were busier with their pop corns than the fight. They stand up and grind all the knees in the row for their soda or the restroom just as when fighters slug it out in the last 20 seconds of round 12.

A foreigenr several seats down me was almost jumping out if his seats everytime Manny was in the attack. Punching, weaving, shouting at Manny to press on as if he could hear him. Nobody laughed, everybody were in their own world -- grinding their teeth on every punch, grinning at every hit.

The first few rounds, the cinema was silent as Manny tried to get inside the 27-inch reach of his opponent. When the PInoy landed his first powerful punch in the round 5, the cinema erupted. The fight was on. Two round later, a bloody Manny pushed on. He was afraid his wounds would break bigger, Gotta end the fight fast. Knockout just two minutes into the round.

I spent P500 for three hours to watch a sports event. I was silent the entire time and there was no beer. Hardly worth it. But the fight was great. Manny was too good. If he only he could stay in the ring.

The announcer announces Manny as the victor. He calls him "congressional aspirant Manny Pacman Pacquiao." Everybody in the cinema laughs, then file out. Some good things just never last.