isa paaaaaaa!!!

paos na paos ako ah.

kalahati ng mga employees ng unilever at PNG, nasa araneta kanina. paralyzed na naman ang business sector. hehe.

another heart-stopping, gut-wrenching, throat-scratching game between ateneo and la-salle. while the greens executed a well-played game during most of 40 minutes, it all boiled down to luck and courage.

sabi nga ng coke commercial na binago ng aking officemate, "la-la-la... give a little love and it all comes back to TIU!"

he is the hermione of basketball. his lethal combination of courage (griffyndor) and wit (ravenclaw) makes him arguably the most crucial player of the blue eagles.

though of course, i have a strong affinity for rookie my boy nonoy who i fell in love at first sight. nonoy, another important player, shows that his presence of the court often tips the scale to our side.

pero pesteng mga ref... laging pinagti-tripan. hmph. sila ang nakakaasar ngayon, di ang la salle.

good job team. and to you too, casio and tang.

kitakits sa Sunday.

ONE BIG FIGHT!!!

another lease on life

i came into the game (as a spectator, of course) thinking... que cera cera. what will be will be. if it was time to go home, then we die fighting. i wasn't as tense as i was the past games and just enjoyed watching a fight for school pride. there were even stray cheers and good jobs for UST from me... and then i'd remember we were supposed to beat them.

the blue eagles just won't give up (thank God!). after disappointing back to back losses for a sure shot at second place... we claw our way to keep the third. you could say it was vindication against UST for taking the crown last year. but i personally don't feel that way because they deserved that crown as much as we did.

both schools fought with pride, with heart and with skill. we were lucky that severus mirza had an off night. and my boy nonoy was in his element. arao and tiu were agressive with their shots. salamat and yuri did a great job as well.

while i rejoiced for the win, it broke my heart a little to see pido hunched up with the loss. with his players and assistant coaches trying to appease him. COACH PIDO... please know that i respect you and your team. you are a worthy opponent. see you next year!

SO OFF TO ANOTHER FIGHT WITH THE GREEN ARCHERS. mehn... this season's games with them are worth two! we have to play the game that we had today so we can have another one. ;p

i wonder what UE is thinking from the sidelines. hehe!

ONE BIG FIGHT!!!

clean and clear

we beat them twice, they beat us once and they get the twice-to-beat advantage. sigh. but as i was telling jan, i do not feel as seething as i was the past two games la salle.

there was not much incident this time. there was that malabes-tiu almost scuffle but thankfully it was stopped in its tracks. i therefore conclude it's ilad that gets my goat. rico maierhoffer also toned down his jubilations this time. they should all learn from ty and jvee who work quietly but stealthily.

so it was a game that was played skill-against-skill, luck-against-luck. with an arao off-night and a fiery casio and tang... it was a pretty rough ride. it was disappointing of course. definitely. ika nga ni eric, second na naging bato pa. but it wasn't as disappointing as the NU loss. the team played with heart, they did the best they could, they were pretty steady most of the game.

dlsu got this fair and square. now, we face off with the tigers for gasp!... a twice-to-win fight against the greens to meet the gasp! red warriors.

whatever the results of the coming games will be, i will say this... i love my team. i love the rookies. i love coach norman black. whether we finish fourth or we take the (suntok sa buwan) championship... MASARAP MAGING ATENISTA. the UAAP basketball men's seniors is just one facet of what Ateneo is. and if it is that exciting... imagine all the fun we had/have in school!

WIN OR LOSE, IT'S THE SCHOOL WE CHOOSE! OBF! (and with rookies like my boy nonoy and kirk long... we have a lot to hope for. considering it's just arao who is graduating this year (i think). and who would've thunk arao graduating would be a loss to the eagles? maybe there is hope for rabeh al-hussaini!)

gutted by the bulldogs

argh.

it was a disappointing loss to the NU bulldogs. they just played better and harder than we did, despite the fact that we needed the win more than they did. kudos to the dogs, especially to fernandez who just kept raining threes. they played like they wanted to win. the eagles didn't play with as much heart as they did in the previous games as they appeared to have taken NU for granted. which was what really made it disappointing.

sigh. the worse thing about is it means we have to have another face-off with la salle. which means i have to cut down on my meat intake because it will be another heart attack game. not only will it be a close-match, it will be a physical one. and all for a mad dash for second place. nge.

and you can't expect anything less from the fierce archers who will see this opening for second place a perfect opportunity to nock more of their arrows at us. the rivalry is exciting, true... but i hate the feeling i get everytime i get pissed at their players because i dislike their arrogance and their unsportsmanlike methods to make a win. i hate that feeling. i wish i can respect their team like i do others... but i just can't. they haven't really done anything to deserve it.

and the possibility of meeting them for three times makes me exhausted already. fahk. i have exams this month you know. how can i study this way? darnit.

anyway... congratulations NU. congratulations asoro. in a way, i was glad for you. you leave the league with a high note. i'm just sad it was at our expense.

my beloved team... let this fire your desire! we need all the passion and the smarts we can get. good luck! win or lose, it's the school we choose.

at ika nga sa plug ng studio 23... dinidibdib ang bawat laro. charing!

attacks from behind

dlsu assistant coach salgado to arwind santos (thanks to paralusi of gameface.ph for this link) and yesterday ilad to UE's fampulme (still can't find it in youtube yet).

update: video of the scuffle finally out.
and as far as i know, in the ethical code of fist fights, hitting an unsuspecting victim from the back is cowardice. moreso, when you run away after hitting. casio allegedly scolded ilad. good jv. bad ilad. you just wasted tang and casio's good game.

vid c/o kai, an article and some photos of the admu-dlsu game

which is actually an almost five minute video from the last 30 seconds of the game with yuri drawing the defense to him leaving tiu wide open for the three to the botched casio shot to the rico's last ball to the review of the maierhoffer shot and his rejoicing to black's show of emotion after the declaration of victory... and the blue side cheering like we won the championship (it is almost as good!).

right now, that the thrill has died down a little... i could imagine how bloody the overtime could have been. i just thank God we wasted enough time to leave la salle with an alanganin possession and that casio (sorry, dear) was not in his element yesterday...

clearly everyone from both sides played hard and played heart... including the 15,000 sixth men all over araneta.

i give ourselves until this evening to rejoice. then we put back this win and relish it some other time... look forward and face NU who will definitely not give us a win on a silver platter.

by the way... TO THE ADAMSON FALCONS... hangkyut niyo! i love your pep squad cheering the final four cheers. gulat to the max ako when i suddenly heard them on TV shouting... go ateneo. "Go ateneo?" I had to text somebody in araneta to ask if i heard right. Apparently they did the final four contenders cheers. that's a good sport for you. kyuuut.

* * * * *
and an article from the ateneo website. of course, bleeding blue pride ito. but i just love jobe's hirit to la salle. read, read!

* * * * *
this photo and this photo... hubaran ba players namin, ilad?

more exciting photos at fabilioh.com!

what a delicious bitchslapping of them greens!

what a sweet sweet victory over la salle!

winning such a wonderfully played game between the blues and greens makes me tingly all over.

great game talaga by both teams. steals and blocks and three points and even the scuffles. sipa, siko, arm locks, sugod... buti na lang mabilis ang mga referees at napaghihiwalay ang dalawa. kungdi baka basagan na naman ng windshield sa labas mala 70's.

pero mehn, aatakehin na puso ko sa kulo ng dugo sa madami sa kanila. i'm sorry pero ang angas talaga ni rico meierhoffer. in fairness, maganda laro niya pero di pa rin kasiya-siya na nakikita ang pagmumukha niya.

pero bwahahahaha! ang saya na pagkatapos niyang mag-rejoice-rejoice sa pagshoot ng bola at mag-feeling-feeling star player... walking with a swagger thinking that he just earned la salle an overtime...NOT COUNTED! bwahahaha! nasa kamay mo pa yung bola nung nag 0.00, dude. sensya na laaaaaanng! sana makatulog ka pa rin.

franz... sige, protesta uli.

naiyak si jai. jai love you pa rin. he didn't play as well as he did with the first.

it was actually yuri's turn to shine. finally! i have been waiting for a breakout from this boy. nuong rooking pa lang siya, tuwang-tuwa na ako sa kanyang persistence. and finally, finally, finally he does it! at the right time pa... la salle ang kalaban. oraaaayyyt! sabayan pa ng sipag ni salamat. good job, guys!

naiyak din si ty tang at super crestfallen si casio. gusto ko sila i-hug. they are the only two players i like and respect sa la salle. so heartbreaking pa din to see ty cry.

malaki ang posibilidad na kikita na naman ang UAAP dahil sa isa pang pagtatagpo ng ateneo-dlsu. pero as of now... nanamnamin ko muna ang larong ito.

SA-RAAAAAAAPPPPP!

admu vs. ust

i hate ust. know why?

because all their players look so nice and friendly and are really good at basketball. there is jervy cruz and dylan ababou who flash those winsome smiles that just makes one all motherly and think... "oooooh! oversized grade two children... how cute." or that japs cuan looks so much like barkada trip's bok. or that mirza, the rookie, looks so much like a young severus snape (and i like snape). or that allera is just so my type.

i hate ust because there isn't anyone to dislike in the team. there isn't anyone to throw vile cuss words at. they ARE good. but they are nice. it's no fun making fun at them because it simply feels evil. the only thing i can think off is calling them the UST jebras because their uniform uses black stripes on white which is no way a tiger, but a zebra or a jebra if you are from bohol which i'm not but it sounds funny so there.

last thursday was already nerve-wracking for me, with a paper due the next day. but instead of starting on it, of course, i had to watch the ateneo-ust game. wearing my nice and soft ANG SARAP MAGING ATENISTA shirt (c/o tat and nin). of course.

and so quarter after quarter, i saw my team pummeled by the jebras... i ached seeing them fumble with the ball... i hated seeing shots miss the ring while the yellows just stabbed us with threes and twos... and i resented the fact that i could not dislike jervy cruz... and more irked that i wanedt to pinch dylan's cheeks...

and then the fourth quarter came... i think it was my jai-namite who started pumping life back into the team. of course, everybody else did a great job especially chris tiu who has been using his smarts the entire game. i was getting that wonderful feeling of "kaya to!"

and even during the last minute when ust got their lead back at 69-70... with less than 12 seconds to go, i think... "kaya to!" my heart was beating fast, my hands linked with jan's, like the rest of the team on the bench... the UST was defending real hard... from jai to ford who was double teamed... to kirk long who looked unsteady but still had to take that last shot... as he was about to release the ball... i thought to myself, "there will be a miracle! i know it!" and there it was... what seemed like an awkward shot went in! clean and clear!

we won the damn game! almost killed me getting there... but we did it!

i know, i know... it's a regular game. but hey... for most ateneans, every uaap basketball game is a championship game. we aren't called ateneo's 6th men for nothing.

i think i can conjure an patronus charm easily thinking of that last second...

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.