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UGH! I
hate to think of it. The UAAP’s basketball season is
winding down. In about a week, it will be all over. And
Season 70 will be just a lovely, noisy, crazy, hazy
memory in our collective brains.
But not
till after this year’s one-for-the-books finals erupts
today between UE and De La Salle. Such an interesting
path the road to this finals has been. So many twists
and turns. So much lip-curling trivia. So much irony.
And magic!
I won’t
go into a discussion of the growing myth of the Pumaren
Brothers—or should I say, the Pumaren Clan?—in
basketball. That their father Pilo—the UE Chieftain of
yore—had sired not two, but three of the finest coaches
of the land. And that two of them now face each
other—ala Family Feud—in the biggest collegiate center
stage of all: The UAAP. Well, you could probably call it
a family business.
I’d
rather we concentrate on the sidelights—the little
noticed things, the nuances, so to speak, that—like a
dash of pepper here or a sprinkle of nutmeg there—add
extra flavor and taste to the gumbo.
For
instance, Red and Green. The battle between UE and La
Salle probably won’t be as bitterly fought as The Blue
vs. The Green. But here we have a true match,
color-wise. Red and Green are the classic complementary
colors in the spectrum—right smack across each other in
the color wheel. What an interesting sight UE, La Salle
and their gazillion supporters would make inside the
Araneta Coliseum. Don’t you think it would be
appropriate to play some Christmas carols during the
Best of Three?
There’s
this other trivia, too, that’s worthy of Guinness.
Pumaren vs. Pumaren is the first time ever in the
history of the UAAP that two brothers from opposing
camps would be facing each other to contest the same
UAAP basketball title. Strange thing is that both Franz
and Dindo were former La Sallians. And stranger still
that Dindo—who is now coaching UE—was the only Pumaren
son who did not study in UE. His two kuyas, Derick and
Franz, did.
The soup
gets thicker.) Who do you think is going to make it?
Dindo says elder bro has the edge because of
championship experience. In contrast, he said, he and
his Warriors have never been in the finals before. The
last time UE was champ was in 1985. And Dindo was
probably still wearing shorts then. But UE surely has
had lots of Final-Four excursions in the recent years
(10 total from 1994—when the Final Four was
instituted—to the present). In fact, Dindo brought the
Warriors there on his very first year of coaching in the
UAAP!
On the
other hand, there’s that awesome 14-0 sweep of the
Warriors in Season 70 where they shellacked the Green
Archers not once but twice. That, according to older
brother Franz, is proof of the strength of his younger
brother’s army. So what is the deciding factor here:
Awesome strength or wisdom and experience?
Consider: La Salle has had nine finals appearances since
it joined the UAAP in 1988. Within the same period, UE
has stepped up to the base only once. This is actually
it’s first trip here since 1985. So who do you think has
the edge: The Battle-Scarred Galactica (La Salle) or The
New Kids On The Championship Block (University of the
East)? Let’s just watch, okay?
Here are
other interesting facts that are interesting to ponder.
Ateneo is turning out to be the Heartbreak Kid of the
League. For one, it has become the best exponent of
irony in Season 70. And it has broken many an Ateneo
Blue Eagle-lovin’ heart. Weren’t you there when the
Eagles gave the Archers their comeuppance twice in the
regular season? It really looked like Ateneo had La
Salle’s number this year. But then La Salle got back at
Ateneo in a game where the winner would get a
twice-to-beat advantage to seal the second finals seat.
Oooh, that was irony, primera clase.
But the
Eagles got another chance to get even with their arch
rivals when they beat La Salle just by the skin of their
teeth in their first game for the second finals
slot—their fourth meeting this season. Oooh! You could
just hear the flapping of Eagle wings around you.
But then
again, came that O. Henry clincher in Game Two. La Salle
emerged poised and victorious as the worthy challenger
to UE in Season 70—leaving Ateneo out of the party yet
another time.
Just for
the record, after Ateneo ruled the UAAP as champs in
Season 65 (2002), it has played bridesmaid just too
often. From 2003 to 2006 it’s been No. 2 all the way,
with the 2006 season being one of its most heart
breaking. Seeded No. 1 for all of Season 69, it was
waylaid by low-ranking, but simply amazing UST in that
year’s finals. And that was one Greek tragedy truly
worthy of Aeschylus.
Anyway…
whatever the odds that befell both Ateneo and La Salle
this season, both schools have a lot to be thankful for.
Ateneo has Eric Salamat and La Salle has TY Tang. That’s
what the Studio 23 sports commentators said. |
