uaap game 3 in the boondocks

i really wanted to watch game 3. desperate enough that i left 9 hours earlier than what i originally planned. just to make sure i get there at least an hour before the game, plus that would allow me to have a pit stop of four hours in cdo.

up to the point of getting to the area hours early worked. i got to midsalip at 12 noon. which leaves me three hours to get ready for the game. after i ate my lunch, i was delivered the bad news. the lady selling the load for the cable just gave birth so we couldn't have access to channel 23. but they will still try to look for another house with cable. by 2pm, i overheard some neigbor saying to wing (our partner), "... wa gyud makuhag signal kay bagyo." (we couldn't get any signal because of the storm).

i reported my situation to my friends who were in araneta or watching on tv and elicited promises of updates. during the 45 minutes of basketball battle, my message counter reached almost 150 sent SMS.

while between texts from the people, i kept myself occupied by writing in my journal about the UAAP. and by the start of the second half, i was willing to accept whatever the result of the game.

some bits of my 'reflection':
"i was a student during the time when we were doing just a little better than adamson and NU. it was a time when beating la salle at least once in the season was already worth cheering about. and still my friends and i would troop to Cuneta Astrodome or Araneta or the Blue Eagle gym (yey!) to cheer our boys on even with barely a hope of victory. so if we won, great. i'd be very, very happy. but if we lost, many Ateneans and I will still be proud of our boys who studied hard and played harder."

"i like what UAAP does for a school. it brings people back to their nests, unites them once more towards a common desire. to take pride in where they were formed, where they grew up, where they discovered the complexities of life."

"WIN OR LOSE, IT'S THE SCHOOL WE CHOOSE. I, along with many other ateneans, have seen our team to have been the worst and to have been the best. we love ateneo and we love our players beyond championships. i know i do."

i was already done writing when i found out the game went into overtime. my heart was racing without even seeing anything happen. how i wished i could witness what was going on, but despite the many hills between araneta and i, i felt one with the team. and then the dreaded text: talo.

texts were coming in. jai crying on gec chia's shoulder. jc crying so hard and could barely stand up. while receiving those texts, i was trying hard not to cry. silly of me if i did, when all i was looking at was the phone. then a call from..., she was crying. i could barely speak because i'd cry too.

and those were not tears of pain from losing the championship. i think many of the tears that flowed in araneta were for our boys who valiantly fought for us. same as tatit , i wanted the championship more for them than ateneo itself.

discussions all around have shown that the season 69 players were the ones we were most endeared too. of course the 2002 champions were our heroes as well. but this batch of boys, there were not one superstar in the team. it was really a TEAM. not one person can take credit for winning a game. everyone did what they could for the team, for the school. we could see how they loved each other, we could see how they loved the ateneo community. and we could not help but love them back.

i felt sad for macky and jc and doug. they badly wanted it for us, the same way we badly wanted it for them. when pia recounted how jc broke down after the game and during the mass... it hurt. it was like having your brother not win that quiz bee contest he has been preparing for days.

there is no sour graping. UST was a worthy opponent, pido a charismatic coach. and with one of the sports column in today's inquirer about john lee apil, the UST player who lost his life saving two children, might have had a hand in their win, i couldn't help but feel that the championship was really for them. there is no use fighting the supernatural, you know. God is cheering for both sides, so we can't say he was on theirs.

gusto ko lang ulit ulitin... mahal ko kayo ateneo blue eagles. salamat sa pakikipaglaban ng may puso. at salamat na mahal niyo din kami. because of you guys, you have helped form and reform kinships in the community. you are the pride and joy of the ateneo. :)

salamat, salamat, salamat. mahal ko kayo.

do read pia's own story of her game 3 experience.