uaap

sabado sa cubao
it was my first live UAAP game in two years. (and my first live game with jan, too!)

UAAP was one of those things that can make me miss manila. you get to see more things happening on tv, definitely. but nothing beats the pulse of energy that beats hard and strong inside the araneta and similar venues as thousands of loyal fans cheer their alma mater's basketball teams. there are never old people in UAAP games, just youthful vigor capsulated in various stages of experience.

and with having ateneo for an alma mater, anything goes in a UAAP game.

like last saturday. it was a boring way to start the season with a UE vs. AdU and an ADMU vs. NU games. UE and ADMU were top seeds while AdU and NU have been struggling to place for the last few years. so there wasn't much excitement. especially with the DLSU suspension. (though much deserved, it's a great loss to such an exercise of sportsmanship. a challenge is always welcome). boring, boring, boring start.

but i'd take anything. so i bit the ADMU-NU fight. we came in with sonny (an officemate) during the UE game. though i tried to stay interested, i wasn't well acquainted with the players yet, so i couldn't focus on the game. ending up snoozing during the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. yes, amidst the rampaging adamson fans, i slept deeply. but woke up in time for the last two minutes. which was kinda useless for the AdU team as they were down by 14 points. it would take a miracle to outrun that, but stranger things have happened. not that day though.

when both teams have ended their school songs, the bass drums of the ADMU side started booming loudly and the babble cheerleaders started leading the crowd into a slight frenzy. ONE BIG FIGHT! i couldn't cheer as much as i wanted to as my companions, jan and sonny, were just sitting in their seats as if in a movie. ho-hum. thank God erik finally arrived.

i wouldn't get into details anymore. but man, if NU can give us a hard time like that, i fret the day we face UE and UP. but a win is a win. i'll take it in any form. i would just like to sai that jai reyes is TO JAI FOR!!! JAInamyte ka talaga!

the littlest of the blue eagle bunch was doing everything from shooting to passing to rebounds! that wasn't his job. hello, ford arao! hello, al-hussaini! utilize the height. stop running around like a cut-off lizard's tail.

eagles relatively new that i'm waiting to shine: salamat the rookie, zion laterre and yuri escueta.
eagles i'm hoping would start getting their act together because they have the talent and the fan base but are on a rough start: macky escalona, jc intal and chris tiu (who thankfully beefed up. could it be the french bread?)
eagles i don't care much for: doug kramer (gwapo ka, pero di ko talaga feel mukha mo! parang nakakalalaki ka), ford arao
eagles that could possibly just be there for pure fan base hatak: ken baracasso, johann uichico and martin quimson (di naman siya bano pero mas guwapo siya kesa magaling).

so while i wait for harry potter 5 the movie... HP7 the book... spiderman 3... a winning lotto ticket... a surge of inspiration... UAAP will be taking most of my saturdays till october. yey.