IF only because they advanced via a similar route, both University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Far Eastern University (FEU) deserved to be in the best-of-three Finals for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball crown.
I’m sure the sweetness of finishing off their semifinal foes in one game still clings to their lips, an affirmation of their 1-2 standing that gifted them with a twice-to-beat bonus after the grueling 14-game, two-round eliminations.
For both finalists, it really can’t get any sweeter than this.
First, FEU knocked Ateneo out with the cruelest of hits against the Eagles: an improbable, crowded putback by Tamaraw Mac Belo as time was expiring.
A day later, UST made sure its No. 1 position was no fluke. It battered defending champion National University virtually from beginning to end for a relatively easy passage to the Finals.
And, as UST and FEU start today their three-game playoffs, all statistics recorded previously by both protagonists—like in all previous championship wars, whether UAAP or NCAA, whether PBA or NBA—take the back seat.
It is all brand-new.
All marbles even.
Everything’s from scratch all over again.
No pundit worth his salt will say one team is ahead of the other.
Only fools will dare tread the beaten path: In title playoffs, to play safe by siding with the favorite team on paper is as risky as scaling Mount Everest wearing walking shoes.
In short, it is not safe to say, not right to say, FEU has the edge because its coach, Nash Racela, knows what championship playoffs are because he was last year’s FEU coach. Even Nash himself will admit he faces a tough challenger in UST Coach Bong de la Cruz—even as de la Cruz is literally a greenhorn in titular showdowns.
If one will say de la Cruz was just lucky to have brought the Growling Tigers this far, even de la Cruz himself will immediately admit it and say: “Yes, I was just lucky.”
But knowing de la Cruz, he might also add: “But I believe the luck was a product of our hard preparation and patient defense.”
And de la Cruz got this boost from Kenneth M. Causon, one of UST’s chief supporters this year who cried unabashedly after UST’s pulsating win over NU on Sunday: “Work hard and for sure, success will be there waiting for you.”
My take is the championship door will be absolutely ajar to today’s Game One winner. The loser will next face a challenge as tough and as stiff as a Mount Everest climb. Even with spiked mountain boots to boot.
THAT’S IT. I cannot totally agree with the unanimous-decision result scored by Canelo Alvarez over Miguel Cotto on Sunday. What’s worse was the three scorecards showed very lopsided scores in favor of Alvarez. Only in Las Vegas, indeed, where horribly bizarre judging can happen…Again, the 66th Fil-Am Golf Invitational in Baguio City’s Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club (BCC) is chiefly backed by San Miguel Corp. through its President and CEO Ramon S. Ang. Toyota Motor Philippines is staking a Wigo as a hole-in-one prize. Officials, headed by BCC President Rico Agcaoili and BCC General Manager Anthony de Leon are profuse in gratitude to all the sponsors of this annual event that has gone to the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest amateur golf tournament in the world, participants-wise (more than 1,200 every year). Cheers!