Ateneo Blue Eagles on Lifestyle Asia's November Cover

I've been trying to conceal my excitement for weeks now and finally it's November! This is the first time that the entire team is placed on a cover spread of a magazine, but not just wearing ordinary basketball jerseys, this time in fine, black suits! How often do you see that?! I myself haven't seen most of my teammates wearing suits. In fact, for some, it was their first time to wear one. You'd be surprised that many of the members don't own a blazer, a pair of slacks or even a pair of black leather shoes! That's why the Lifestyle Asia staff was desperately looking for sponsors who can provide size 13 to 15 leather shoes, as well as extra extra large suits! That was only the first part.

The shooting day... We did the shoot at Fort Santiago in Intramuros. Why Intramuros? Well, you'll have to purchase the magazine to know why. It has something to do with Jose Rizal, our National hero who happens to be an Atenean as well. Anyway, we arrived in several batches after lunch time. We did our make up and hair in a closed air conditioned tent about 16 sq meters big, then we had to resort to creative ways of changing into our suits in the public park. Luckily it was not very sunny when we started but it was extremely humid. After a few hours, without any warning, the rain just poured and we all had to squeeze in that little tent together with all the staff, equipment and clothes. The rain was so strong that it was already flooding inside and the leaking through the edges. Some players, together with the photographers, were stranded between the large arcs of the Fort Santiago Gate. After about an hour, the rain finally stopped but there was not enough sunlight to finish the shoot. Some guys had to come back the following day to finish the shoot, it was really troublesome especially since it was exam week and we just won the championship, thus, a series of invitations. But I have to give due credit to the guys who did it again without complaining, Yuri, Bacon, Eric, Nico, Mike and Oping (I hope i didn't miss anyone). Overall, it was fun! The guys look great in suits, at least a fresh new look for a change!

Thanks to the Lifestyle Asia group, of course my dearest sister and her team who worked so hard to make this happen!

This is a bit out of place, but I'd like to share a link that I find very inspiring. Makes me proud to be his co-host! One of the greatest athletes in the world :) http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?categoryId=2491554&brand=null&videoId=3669223&n8pe6c=2

Oh, and keep posted for an entry about our recent Boracay trip!

Chris