The Eagles Fall

It has been five long years since I last shouted myself hoarse to support my beloved alma mater and though the experience was less than satisfying in the end (what with the huge win of the Green Archers over my dear Blue Eagles), I found the day to be quite flavorful.

Comedy of Errors
Carol, managing editor of Men's Health, former basketball teammate and all-around friend, managed to score some Upper Box A tickets. If you are an ordinary student from Ateneo, you would know that good tickets to an Ateneo-La Salle game are hard to come by. So, Carol and I with my good friend Sorsi planned to attend the game full-force. Plan was for Carol and Sorsi to meet at Araneta at noon to be able to get good seats. I was coming from Sta. Rosa so I assured them I would leave my house after lunch and would be at Araneta before game time. I had a splendid weekend and was quite excited to cheer for my favorite UAAP team and just be there where the action is. After lunch, I went to my room to find 2 missed calls from Sorsi and a message saying "ano ba... naiinis na ako." Apparently, she had been at the office since 12 noon and was trying to call Carol to ask where exactly they would be meeting. I called Carol myself but she wasn't answering. I figured it could be one of two things: Carol might have gotten into some kind of accident or she left her phone somewhere. Sorsi was worried, too, until I got a message from Carol's friend Irene saying that Carol was in Starbucks waiting for us. I called Sorsi and told her to go ahead to Starbucks and I would text her when I got to Araneta.

I was on my way back to Manila when I got several calls from Sorsi. I was ignoring her calls because I was in a van full of sleeping people. I got this message: "ano ba... nabibwisit na ako..." She still couldn't find Carol. Another message came in: "nandito ako sa starbucks. puro la sallista dito... i'm wearing blue pigtails pa naman..." When I got there, a full hour after Sorsi got to Starbucks, she was in a foul mood. I finally got a hold of Carol and there she was behind the divider that separated the Araneta patrons buying coffee from the ordinary Starbucks customers with a semi-scowl on her face saying "konti na lang talaga... naiinis na ako..." Buti na lang I was in a better mood and I managed a smile and an explanation.

So here I was, tired from the long trip and petrified that my two friends would not talk to each other the whole time. What a way to start the game... I was seated between Carol and Sorsi and Carol, in a much better mood, said "Natuloy ba si Sorsi sa Neil Gaiman?" Me: "Natuloy ka daw ba sa Neil Gaiman?" Sorsi: "Oo, natuloy ako sa Neil Gaiman." Me: "Natuloy daw siya sa Neil Gaiman." Was I going to be a messenger the whole night?

Finally, Sorsi looked at the players on the court all clad in different shades of blue and she realized it was still Adamson and NU playing. "Hindi pa pala Ateneo - La Salle 'to eh...," she half-shouted. That got us all laughing and ended the bitter atmosphere.

Atenista ba 'tong mga 'to?
Before the game began, there was an elaborate AVP about how Ateneo and La Salle were different yet the same (ano daw??!) because Ateneo and La Salle are excellent because they both have FOCUS. Yun pala advertisement lang ng Ford Focus. Talk about commercialized...

The whole stadium started chanting "Basketball! Basketball!" but were silenced by the appearance of a flying Ford Focus. In fairness, nakakaaliw siya. But I was still eager for the game to begin...

Finally, out came the Ateneo Blue Eagles (na ang kilala ko na lang si LA Tenorio, Magnum Membrere, Badjie del Rosario, and the cute but useless Doug Kramer) and a sea of blue stood up to start cheering. If you're a die-hard UAAP fan, you would know that a UAAP game is better watched standing up. Midway into the 1st quarter, the 40-ish lady seated behind Carol tapped her shoulder and said in a trying-to-be-nice-but-still-condescending tone "I'd like to watch the game, too, if you don't mind..." Bad trip, hindi siguro Atenista yon, nakapag-asawa lang ng Atenista... I appreciate the presence of the alumni, lalo na yung mga die-hard. Pero pag-KJ, hello, manood ka na lang ng TV, diba?? There are so many students who would kill for those seats and yet ang mga nakakakuha mga taong wala man lang kagana-ganang mag-cheer. Halfway into the third quarter, I heard some of the older guys say "pare, umuwi na tayo... talo na..." Sorsi promptly screamed "walang uuwi! di ba win or lose, it's the school we choose?!!" Nakakainis lang kasi yun nga, yung students na gustong pumunta, hindi makapunta because these people na Ateneo lang pag panalo ang team, mas may connections.

All Heart
Final score was 78 La Salle - 60 Ateneo. But that was not what was disappointing for me. I have to give it to La Salle because it looked that they really wanted to win the game. They challenged every shot, they shot like this was the last game they were ever going to play. Kahit na mayabang yung ibang players, they had reason to be smug. Ateneo played like it was a practice game. The only players who looked like they had some fire left in them were Magnum Membrere and Japeth Aguilar and sige na nga, LA Tenorio. They fought even when it looked like they were going to lose. I don't mind losing because hey, it happens... But if you give up even before the final buzzer, there must be something wrong with your attitude. In fairness to them, the team is made up of fairly young players, so maybe the NR Coach Norman Black can still inject some fire into his players. I sure hope he does...