Ateneo vs. La Salle
At 4 p.m. today, make sure you’re watching TV or are live streaming the ABS-CBN Sports website. It’s a must that you sit down, relax, and prepare for a pulsating Game 3 between Ateneo and La Salle.
No rivalry rivals the one between Blue vs. Green. It’s Katipunan vs. Taft; a flying eagle attempting to evade the arrow’s sting; it’s two of the most prestigious educational institutions, one founded in 1859 and the other, in 1911.
I used to be green. My favorite color used to be green. Studying in the green campus in the City of Smiles for eight years starting in Grade 1, I wore white and green and dribbled to help win the city championships for La Salle. But since my daughter Jana studied in Quezon City and not Manila, the green color turned darker and transformed into blue.
The UAAP could not have scripted a better finale with tonight’s ending. It was one-all in both the regular season and the Finals and all the nation’s sports eyes will witness today’s Game 5.
Watching Game 2, I thought the Blue Eagles, having erected a 21-point lead, would romp to a sweeping triumph. But that alley-oop inbounds pass to a slam-dunking Ben Mbala was the anger-release that fueled the comeback. Since that season-defining slam, La Salle rode on the momentum wave while Ateneo crumbled, missing shots they landed earlier; Team Blue started to get rattled and confused by the onslaught. In sports (as in life), it’s all about momentum. And when that pendulum and momentum swung, it swung full-tilt and Ateneo couldn’t stop it.
Today, the momentum is with La Salle. They escaped that improbable Houdini-like scenario and their confidence is sky-high. It’s like Ateneo in the finals Game 1. Remember them escaping that semifinals duel with FEU? The heroics of Isaac Go, him sinking that three-pointer, allowed them to win.
Don’t you just love sports? Movies are exciting. Jose Mari Chan is funny and Jokoy is funnier. They’re entertainment. But nothing pumps the adrenaline more than basketball, football or volleyball. LAGUDA. I’d like to share a Facebook post by my Bacolod neighbor (and the former president of La Salle), Bro. Ricky Laguda: “I just can’t resist to write this because of the animosity between two good schools that I am proud of. I understand that some are done in jest and the spirit of sportsmanship but we know very well it can go sideways. I am fortunate to have studied both in La Salle and Ateneo. Both have instilled in me good values and Catholic education. I sometimes wonder what differentiates between the two but more often than not I find myself saying… both are cut from the same cloth. I have seen countless Lasallians and Ateneans whose whole way of living radiates more charity than selfishness, more joy than bitterness, more peace than factionalism, more respect than negative judgment, more empathy than anger, and more willingness to let go of one’s ego than to give in to the sway of one’s natural emotions. I know that’s what makes a Lasallian and an Atenean… they are not perfect, but they strive to be better (remember the Lasallian prayer of ‘I will continue…’ and the Jesuit Magis); they know their colors, yet they are also color blind.”