End of the Road

September 30, 2007

Finally, the season of the BLUE EAGLES ended with 65-60 loss to La Salle. It was my first Ateneo-La Salle loss this year since I didn't get to watch the other losing game live. It was a good game though even if Ateneo did not play as well as I expected them to. It was a Do-Or-Die game, players should give everything they have. All in. Unfortunately, La Salle was thge hungrier team. Congratulations.
Two points:
1.) Ateneo didn't seem to be in tip-top shape yesterday especially in the thrid quarter when they let the lead balloon to as much as 9 points. In a game of this magnitude, it should have been played literally like there's no tomorrow. We had a fighting chance, but were we really fighting? What's done is done, so better luck next year. Chris Tiu, Yuri Escueta, Eric Salamat, Nonoy Baclao and Jai Reyes will again lead the charge with the young cast of tallent which will include rising highschool star Ryan Buenafe. (I sure hope he's as good as the hype he's making) Like in what I mentioned in my last entry, Ateneo has a bright future ahead. Hopefully though they start recruiting more from the Juniors team or at least breed them to be as mentally tough as players from San Beda, San Sebastian or even Xavier. More athleticism would be great, especially with Zion Laterre moving out, and King Eagle Arao also graduating. For Ateneo's supporting cast, work -extra hard, please. For Ateneo's supporters keep believing, don't be like those people ("True-Blues" pa man din, tsktsk) behind us yesterday who left as soon as La Salle started to humm in the dying minutes (I am ashamed to even call you my batchmates. Seriously.)
2.) La Salle had a great game. As usual, the big-time players came through. Cholo Villanueva in particular did most of the damage. (But i still don't like him a bit. He's so arrogant. Kept on trash talking and taunting.) Ty Tang was his usual self, he ran the team like a real veteran court-general. (Unfortunately, i was disgusted at how he acted just as the game ended. My respect for him went down a notch or TEN! Lame really.) The banner La Salle brought out which showed the University standing was really interesting. Kudos for those who thOught of it. I do not know the basis of the rankings though, I sure hope they did, 'cause it would be such a drag if they just used it without even understanding the process. Typical....nevermind. Maybe it should serve as a wake-up call for Ateneo, to perform better. It's what we do right? MAGIS. And besides, who are we pleasing anyway? AMDG..It's all for Him. We don't need to look at rankings and statistics to know what we are capable of. We just do what we do best. All in all, La Salle simply had our number. They won the important games. And for that alone, congrats to them. We will see you next year.
Ateneo is proud of their Student-Athletes. No other school can honestly say that they excel in both academics and sports. For most basketball players, basketball is life. But for the student-athletes of team Ateneo, there is life before, during, after and even without basketball. Beat that!
So, to all Ateneans, here and abroad, stand proud, shout loud, and continue to Fight for the BLUE and WHITE.
GO ATENEO!!!