Puso

I always feel funny whenever Ateneo beats UST, but yesterday's victory was even more bittersweet for me as I watched Pido Jarencio break down after the game. My favorite UAAP coach cried unabashedly and would later apologize to the UST community for letting them down. Sports writer Rick Olivares writes in his blog Bleachers' Brew: "Kasalanan ko," [Jarencio] bemoaned. ""Ako nagturo sa mga bata nung sistema. Malungkot ako kasi na-disappoint yung Thomasian community. Pero proud ako sa mga bata ko."" The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports Pido as saying, "Masakit (It hurts). Lahat ng nangyari kasalanan ko, hindi kasalanan ng mga bata (It's all my fault, it's not the boys' fault). I wasn't able to prepare my players to be tough. I wasn't able to prepare them in the final stretch." The Philippine Star quotes him: "It's embarrassing to the Thomasian community, to our supporters, the management, the clergy and the alumni. I don't even know if I'd be back to coach next year."

Joe Lipa isn't fit to lick this man's shoes.

I sincerely hope UST, whose supporters obviously all adore Pido, retains him as their head coach. The man has done great things for the team and for the school, and while he takes full responsibility for losing the knockout match against Ateneo, he deserves more credit than blame for getting UST as far as they got this season. The raw emotion he displayed yesterday was a clear manifestation of how much passion he had poured into coaching the Tigers. Last night, Uncle Timmy Chong, my dad's good friend and UST team manager, forwarded to Pa a text message from Pido personally apologizing for the loss. Uncle Timmy then texted, "'Yan ang coach na may puso." Amen.

Don't go, Pido. UST and the UAAP won't be the same without you.