Ateneo vs NU (Round 2)

We had to wait one year. Now, we have finally redeemed ourselves from that shocking upset that NU gave us last season which caused us to lose the twice to beat advantage and the season as well! Finally I can stop hearing all those comments like... ' it's all because of that NU game' , 'you guys should have defeated NU', 'bakit kayo natalo sa NU?', 'di kayo pwede matalo sa NU, ah!' I can also get rid of flashbacks from that game last year where we were all very tense and pressured while the NU players were smiling and knocking down 3s one after the other.

After yesterday's practice, the captains huddled the players in the center of the court before we parted ways. A random quote just popped out of my mind while i was thinking of something to say to the guys. I told them 'Ok lang magkamali. Ang hindi okay ay magkamali at hindi matuto sa mali natin.' (It's okay to make a mistake, but what is not okay is to make a mistake and not learn from it.) Of course i had to repeat it in English for the benefit of our two American poster boys who still cannot fully understand Tagalog. Obviously, what i was referring to was our defeat against NU last year. Unfortunately, we had to learn it the difficult and painful way but at least we were able to learn from that experience and see to it that we clinch the #1 spot this year with the twice to beat advantage in the Final 4. I credit Coach Norman and the rest of the coaching staff for the great game plan! And of course the boys for executing the game plan, playing defense and keeping composure despite the roughness of the opposing team.

Now, we have achieved half of our goal, which is to end the elimination round in the top 2 position. We still play La Salle next Saturday and we have the chance to put them to a possible 3rd place by beating them (depending if FEU sweeps its remaining games). But more than that, it's a DLSU-ADMU game! Whether or not we're vying for anything, it's about pride! So don't expect us to take it easy on them. At least for now, we can sit back and watch UST, UE, FEU and DLSU battle it out for the remaining 3 slots.

I'd also like to apologize for not being able to entertain all the fans a while ago who waited after the game because I had to leave immediately. Nevertheless, I appreciate your support and i'd like to invite you all to go to the Adidas Shop in Trinoma tomorrow at 3pm for the Ateneo Team visit. We will all be there to take pictures and sign autographs if you wish! See you there!

Thank you Sir Aly Yap, Tito Philip Sison and the rest of the Ateneo Sports Shooters for these photos! And thank you also to the Blue Babble for always cheering your hearts out in every game, win or lose! It would also be great if we can support our Blue Babble team this Sunday (Sept. 7) for the UAAP cheerleading competition!

Chris