The Ateneo post Laureen was expecting

When my student Laureen saw the title of my blog post "No Guts, No Glory", she thought it would be an Ateneo-La Salle entry, given that the UAAP season is about to kick off. I actually hadn't been planning on blogging about my beloved alma mater and our arch(er)rivals from Taft, but then I found out that the first ADMU-DLSU match of Season 71 is scheduled on July 6, the same day as my friend Mishy's wedding. Here I go again, with the confluence of events in my life. Naturally I'll be attending the wedding (as I texted Mishy, I love her more than I do Ateneo), but I still feel bummed that I'll be missing the game. I'm hoping I can manage to catch it on TV at least, in between the church ceremony and the reception. However, I'm the lone Atenean in our high school barkada, so watching together with them will mean I'll be on the receiving end of merciless heckling and dissing the entire afternoon and evening, especially if the Blue Eagles lose. Oh well, win or lose, it's the school I choose. :p

And I suppose missing one game is better than missing an entire season. The only time that happened was in 2002 when I was studying in Beijing, and to make things even more painful for me, it was the year Ateneo bagged the championship (leading all my friends to conclude that I'm the jinx, har har). I have yet to personally witness the Eagles claiming the UAAP crown, and I'm really hoping they manage to do it this year, what with a group of prized rookies (Buenafe, Salva, Chua and Burke), and this being Chris Tiu's last season to don the blue and white for our school. I also read in the papers today that Jobe Nkemakolam will be eligible to play (after being suspended from the team for academic reasons), so he'll be joining Chris, Angelo's boy Nonoy Baclao, Yang's darling Jai Reyes, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Eric Salamat, Kirk Long, Yuri Escueta and the rest of the Eagles in their bid for UAAP glory this season. I have high hopes for our boys. And even if they don't make it all the way, I want them to kick some Green Archer ass.

I feel sad for my cousin Jasper, who's leaving for Singapore this week to start a new job there. Ahia Jess is probably the only Atenean relative I have who is even more die-hard than I am (he even tried to push back the date of his departure so that he can make the game on July 6!), and I know how much it kills him that he'll be missing out on future games (unless he takes a budget flight home for every Ateneo-La Salle match... and I wouldn't be surprised if he does!). I guess I should be glad I'll just be missing one. At least I hope I miss just one.

Here's to Season 71, and here's wishing our boys in blue strength, endurance, courage, fortitude, confidence, composure, and above all, puso. We believe, baby. ONE BIG FIGHT!