desperately seeking school spirit

as a blogger, impressions flood my senses like a fireworks explosion in the midnight sky.  as a sportscaster wannabe, i need to focus on the facts of the moment:  who’s making the winning shot? who made that dunk shot late in the third?  what prompted the foul that sent the star player off the floor?  there’s more.  from the perspective of a tennis-football-F1 nut, my vocabulary has to expand exponentially in the shortest time possible to include phrases like “at the top of the key,” “in the paint,” and “triple”.  i only know the shaded lane or the penalty area, so the paint and the top of the key, although familiar, are not yet part of my natural sports breath.  i must learn to breathe those words pronto, as in due yesterday!  and sure, i can say “trey” but after trying hard to think of synonyms for a three-point shot, the last one i remembered was “triple”. oh well, like i said, i need to learn the jargon fast lest i be buried not only by the flurry of events but by the competition. 

but as a blogger i am most serene and secure. 

during the final four games of the philippine collegiate championships last saturday at the arena in san juan, i was busy scribbling down notes in my english teacher steno notebook.  i could not filter out the screaming fans, the tribal drum beats of the opposing teams’ cheering squads, and the constant hum and murmur of a restless crowd living and dying as each second brought the game towards the inevitable conclusion. 

i watched the letran and san beda cheerleaders strut their stuff on the floor, yelling themselves hoarse, sweating as they jumped and danced and pumped their fists in the air before their appreciatively screaming schoolmates.  and i thought, “where the hell is the blue babble?  this is the heart of collegiate spirit — at these inter-league games!”  i was atenista but deeply ashamed to proclaim it, in spite of the fact that we had just pipped the letran knights in the first game. 

i felt more in union with the fans of letran in the first game and i willed on the knights to win the game, to show my alma mater that they were just one complacent bunch, and i wanted to see the more spirited team make it to the championships where they belonged.  the “best of the best” league was made for the schools with not only the most skilled players on the floor but also in the stands, on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse, hearts racing madly.

nakakahiya kayo, ateneo, kayo lang ang walang cheering squad man lang sa stands.  yuck talaga.  diyahe!

mabuti pa ang letran, san beda, and even those “nincompoops” from taft.  don ko lang masasabing lamang na lamang ang la salle sa atin, sa kanilang school spirit.  panalo talaga sila!

and siyempre, pag cover ko ng games sa araneta bukas, expect the self-important atenistas to flood the coliseum.  casual fans will be vying for seats alongside the true fans of the other schools.  the shuffling alumni who look like they haven’t exercised in a decade will take the prominent seats, swing their fists, maybe even sing a song or two or yell a cheer when the mood strikes, but all i can tell you atenistas are, “fakes!  where were you when your team really needed you?  where were you when baclao, not fully fit, struggled to keep his team ahead of the letran knights who came within a hair of kicking our boys out of the PCC in shame!”

sheesh.  expect the cheesy blue shirts over paunches and flabby braceleted arms to strut their stuff around the big dome.  ma-traffic sa cubao bukas because all the silly SUVs will be clogging the lanes alongside the jeepneys and LRT 2 trains that will ferry the real fans into araneta.  god save me from seeing them at all.

i will be cheering for the letran knights in the first game.  as for the second…  hindi ko talaga alam!  sabi ko nga kay rico maierhofer when he left the arena last saturday, of course after complimenting him for being one of the most complete players i watched that day (along with jv casio, tecson, buenafe and daa), “good luck!  may the better team win!”  hindi ko inamin na atenista ako, at hindi ako proud sa fact na yon.  kasi whichever team shows more heart, grit, passion, and the will to win will win my loyalty.

that’s how i am as a sports fan, be it tennis, football, formula one and now, well, college hoops as well.

for news reports on the exciting games last saturday, you can read what i wrote for inboundpass.com at these links (shout out to chris soler for his awesome editing!  he made me look sooo good!):

1. ateneo blue eagles squeaks past the knights
2. la salle sets up a rematch with the blue eagles with a come from behind victory over the san beda red lions

i-rate niyo na rin ha, hehehe…  comment na rin para medyo ma-balanse yung medyo jologs wars na di maiwasan don.  let’s build traffic muli! 

friends, totoo na ito!  sana tuloy-tuloy na! 

ateneo and la salle?

am i dreaming?  am i going to be writing about these two universities making it to the semifinals of the philippine collegiate championships?  that the two games will take place barely 4 days away is surreal to me at this point.

but it’s happening, and soon.  as with so many other things i’ve been doing in the past month, i will have to hit the hardwood running…  and fast!  i should tell chris that i can actually cover the championship because december 8 is a friggin’ mama mary national holiday!

there goes my trip to divisoria!

while i was away…

… fernando alonso won his first grand prix of 2008.  the singapore night race took place at the same time i was enjoying a despedida (farewell party) bash in brussels.

…  rafael nadal led his national side to semifinal victory against the USA.  the whole weekend this took place i was in prague, visiting an old classmate from my MaNaMa days.

… my ateneo blue eagles and eaglets took the UAAP champions titles in men’s basketball.  fly high, blue eagle the king!  i also missed the bonfire held on the muddy bellarmine field — it was the day we landed in manila and frankly, the body was awfully tired though the mind was moderately interested.

… realised that this will be my last month of blogging.  svelte sport is going off the air by the end of this month.  unless something comes up, of course.

lewser getting ballsy

it’s been a struggle to like the hamster on a personal level; he’s not unlike roger federer for me.  you can see the obvious talent, the silky execution, the suave air in the press conferences but none of these do anything.  i’m not excited, nor titillated, nor compelled to scream for him.  lewis hamilton may be one of the brightest young stars in british sports (alongside andy murray and theo walcott, who give the brits something over which to feel proud).in the wake of his “no balls” statement about kimi raikkonen’s driving at the controversial chicane at spa-francorchamps last weekend that saw the stewards demoting hamilton to third place with a 25-second penalty after podium awarding ceremonies had taken place, i’m back in the same place i was last year, exactly at this time of the season, too.  nothing, nothing would thrill me more than to see the lew-ser NOT win the driver’s championship for the second year in a row.   

sebastian vettel of toro rossi holds up a triumphant finger after securing pole position at the italian grand prix qualifying session earlier in monza 

and as if the rain gods had heard me and most of the folks in this F1 forum, hamilton struggled to qualify and ended up a dismal 15th in Q2, just one place behind world champion kimi in 14th, the man hamilton had bragged had no balls as he.  robert kubica of bmw was eased out by massa to 11th, the brazilian struggling to hold onto his P10. in Q3, sebastian vettel of toro rossi buoyed team spirits by taking pole position for the first time this season, teammate sebastien bourdais following with an impressive P4.  massa was able to clinch P6, pushing fernando alonso down two places to P8.  other impressive showings in the wet conditions were mark webber of red bull, heikki kovalainen of mclaren, nick heidfeld of bmw, nico rosberg of williams, and jarno trulli of toyota.  i’m looking forward to an exciting monza race tomorrow at 14.00. rain is in the forecast so anything can happen.  as for lewster, good on ya for stinking up the joint in Q2!  that should teach you to bite your foot real hard whenever you feel the urge to proclaim yourself the best driver on the grid.  ahhh, the vicissitudes of life. 

*photo courtesy of itv-f1.com

ladies and gentlemen, the winners of the USO

multiple slam winners did it again over this hurricaned weekend.  congratulations to serena williams (now with 9 titles) and roger federer (with 13)!

roger and serena at the player’s party before the start of the USO two weekends ago

ladies and gents, the winners of the USO

multiple slam winners serena williams (with 9) and roger federer (with 13).

roger and serena at the player’s party before the start of the USO two weekends ago

congratulations, roger and serena!

if not nole, not rafa either

nole bows out to roger in their four-set semi-final clash yesterday afternoon in new york 

and the muzzah is in his first grand slam final!  i am soooo happy for andy murray.  which is surprising considering he just kicked my beloved rafael nadal out of the USO in an exciting four-set match that spanned two days and a lot of rain.i caught myself crying when nole beat roddick, and then again last night when he lost to roger federer, and then again when i woke up this morning.  but the brave-hearted scotsman with the wild hair rescued my USO for me.

 

andy murray in his first grand slam final 

in tomorrow’s final, men who have not won a slam title in 2008.  andy sailed into his first grand slam semifinal with an emotional win over fellow junior, the tall argentine juan martin del potro and finally notched his first victory over rafa, making their head-to-head 1-5, murray-rafa.in the ladies’ final which is scheduled to start in 2 1/2 hours, first time slam finalist jelena jankovic of serbia takes on 8-time grand slam winner and 2-time USO champion serena williams of the united states.  jelena’s slam count? zero.  

 

signature rafa celebration — although it may just be my imagination but is the boy fatigued? time to go home to mallorca now, my sweet. what a great year you’ve had so far! 

roger’s slam count? 12.  andy’s? zero.i’m rooting for the players who have never won a slam tomorrow!  they may fail at the last hurdle but they must be hungry, really really hungry.

 

jelena jankovic in her first grand slam final after she defeated elena dementieva 6-4 6-4 in friday’s semi-final 

ajde jelena!  go andy! 

(all photos courtesy of the los angeles times)

damned if i do, damned if i don’t

there he was, being interviewed on court by barcan.  and then suddenly the crowd started booing.  what had novak djokovic said in a post-match interview on centre court at flushing meadows?  he had just beaten american andy roddick in four sets.  there was a very cold handshake at the net and then a lot of fiery, intense heart jabbing and head thrown back with matching yell to the night sky.

roddick had said in an interview two days before that he thought nole had 16 injuries or so.  as a fan of nole, i found this remark funny but i also knew that it could spur nole into an abyss of anger and resentment.

when nole came on court tonight, his eyes were dark, shooting daggers across the net.  he calmly and coldly flattened roddick in the first two sets before the american found his bearings and managed to steal the third set.  when nole grabbed the match by the throat in a tense fourth set tiebreak, little did anyone expect the dark, bitter molasses of his heart to spill out.

it doesn’t matter whether this crowd loves me or not, nole told the blubbering announcer darkly, they always think i’m faking it anyway.

barcan sputtered, wait, this crowd didn’t say this, only andy did and it was a joke.

nole would have none of it.  it’s not a nice thing to say, nevertheless, he shot back.  and i am absolutely thrilled to have beaten the homeboy in his home tournament and oh, his favourite too, right?

i will admit that i did not see it myself but read about it through impassioned roger fans for the most part.  but when i read a transcription of what happened, my maverick balls just kicked in (after i dried the tears that had washed off my moisturiser).

you go, nole.  you must be sick and tired of pleasing a crowd that is only critical of everything you do.  the public is fickle but the people who matter aren’t.  so know who they are.  as for your parents, man, i wish you could get away from them for a while!  but they’re the ones who love you unquestioningly.  so it’s hard. who am i to judge?

just know i’m firmly in your camp, nole.  firmly there.

ok, after seeing the youtube clip of the post-match interview, i’m grinning broadly and just LOVING nole.  ajde!!! enjoy it with me.  go, johnny mac!  woohoooo!

*photo credit: corned beef hash

the english tyrants are out to stifle golf

why don’t you just say it outright, lorena?  your LPGA tour prioritises business and snagging (and snogging) sponsors over the quality of the game.  how else can you explain their shitty rule to impose an english speaking requirement on its players beginning in 2009?  what does the LPGA CEO say?  so that the players can coordinate better with their sponsors.

or maybe this is a way to slowly ease out the largest group of winningest players from korea who speak mostly through interpreters.  this is a dangerous precedent and smacks of outright arrogance and discrimination.  i hate it when money talk overpowers sport talk.

one big BOO to the LPGA.

things that make you go hmmm

 

on the beijing olympics:  critics who slam the summer games for china’s abuse of human rights, refusal to free tibet, having a pretty girl lip-sync a pretty voice, possibly having an underaged gymnast, the horrid smog of beijing, the authoritarian no-fun-games.  let’s take each point mentioned above and slam it to the ground once and for all.

1. government politics (human rights, tibet):  sure, these are pressing problems that must be addressed AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME & VENUE.  i’ve always maintained understanding that protesters and advocates for these issues would use the olympics as a means to air their grievances, but i draw the line when it comes to using the government’s policies on these issues as the measuring stick to gauge the success (or lack thereof) of the summer games.  
2. of young girls:  whether lip syncing or underaged gymnasts, the games have been slammed by the self-righteous (read:  western interests, particularly the media and a certain martha karolyi, coach of the US gymnastics team who, not strangely enough, got the silver in the team competition — someone remove the stench of sour grapes from the room, please!).  it is rather odd finding out that the pretty, vacuous-smiling girl in the red dress who was obviously singing to a recording was not the actual singer but it really doesn’t bother me.  should it?  as a performer myself, i can see why the beijing officials ordered this to happen.  whatever their reasons, i really can understand the motivations behind them and i’m not one to condemn them for wanting to put a pretty face before a worldwide audience of 4 billion.  you think any of the 2.7 billion non-chinese viewers will remember the not-so-cute genuine singer had she been allowed to be on stage?  i really don’t think so.  it’s an issue that has been blown all out of proportion.  strange, sure, but deserving of contempt?  not.  as for the underaged gymnasts, until the proof has seen the light of day, i’m giving the diminutive, young-faced acrobatic wonders of the unparallel bars the benefit of the doubt (and gold) and hold my peace.  so let the burden of proof begin, western media.  let the mad sleuthing commence!  and may it never end to give the endlessly wagging tongues something to write about when no other american gymnasts apart from shawn johnson and anastasia lukin bear uncle sam’s glorious stripes.
3. smog shmog:  where?  first world spoiled brats moan and wail about the harsh side effects of horrible smog for world-class athletes except for the athletes themselves.  ethopian legend haile gebrselassie pulled out of the premier marathon event citing smog as the reason only to find that the event was held on a smogless rainy day.  i can only commend the medallists from kenya, morocco, and ethiopia for running for glory in a sport that started the olympics in ancient greece millenia ago.  retired justine henin said in her pre-retirement days that she was considering not going to the olympics for the same reason.  did anyone miss her?  i doubt anyone, least of all the enthusiastic crowds, cared that the belgian prima donna was not there.  i didn’t!  the russians were more than enough to excite fans of the women’s tour.  davai!
4. no-fun-games in the socialist country:  the problem i have with critics is that they think that democratic nations are the only ones who know how to put on a good show.  i’ve read more than enough canadian columnists and listened to enough bitter british commentators whine and complain about the chinese communists, daring to claim that the 2010 vancouver winter olympics and the 2012 london summer games can be even better on ethical and moral grounds than the extravaganza the chinese put up in 2008.  enough!  the chinese put on a spectacular show that no stupid red bus morphing into an even more stupid hedge with a bunch of ragtag jazz dancers can outstage or even dream of topping.  can western performers summon the discipline to make 2008 drummers perform in flawless sync?  or dance in breathless formations?  no.  do these western societies even stand a squeak of a chance competing against china’s 5,000-year old history?  oh please.  and then they will take it against the beijing games by writing silly nonsense such as “it was a yawner getting a crash course on china’s 5000-yr history”… to such comments i say, then stop watching and try to do something meaningful instead of showing the world your obvious ignorance and contempt for anything better than anything you or your culture can ever do.  why not try to learn from the masters, instead, and perhaps put on a special show not bent on unflattering moral/ethical comparisons?  

smiling ethiopian long-distance running legend haile gebrsellasie (photo credit: reuters)