think rainbows

It's that time of the year once again! The 75th season of the UAAP is set to start this Saturday, July 14, at its new home at the Mall of Asia Arena. As this year's hosts, NU is expected to give an awesome show during the opening rites. Together with the other 7 participating schools, Adamson, Ateneo, De La Salle, FEU, UE, UP and UST, every UAAP fan, myself included, is excited once again to see what unfolds in the UAAP this year.

It's not just the new season of the UAAP we're all excited for, but also the new venue that the UAAP will be in. The newly-built world class MOA Arena which is just like other NBA arenas in the US is ready for the UAAP wars. Most of the basketball games, and most probably the cheerdance competition will be held here, giving UAAP fans some fresh experience, and giving the athletes some inspiration to do even better as well. Of course, the host school is expected to go all out and perform well, but given the intense amount of competition over the years in the UAAP, expect the other participating schools to go all out as well.

As early as today, tickets are almost sold out in all sections. According to the SM Tickets website, the only available section is the General Admission area. Luckily I was able to secure lower box tickets for the opening on Saturday, so to every UAAP fan out there, see ya! :)

P.S. Other UAAP-related posts after this! :) (mostly UST-related probably =P)

This has been big news in the collegiate basketball world for the past couple of days since it's one of the most anticipated ever since the where-will-Kiefer Ravena-go drama. It's the other JT, Jeron Teng.

Jeric Teng, Jeron's older brother, as we all know is part of the UST Growling Tigers. He's been playing for Coach Pido for three years now, and ever since Jeron entered his senior year, speculations of where he's going to in the UAAP has been circulating. It has been said of course that he would follow his brother's footsteps to Espana, but the possibility of going to other UAAP schools wasn't out of the question. With the talent that Jeron has, it wasn't surprising that even Ateneo and Lasalle are interested in him.

Jeron once scored 104 points during a game in the Tiong Lian league. (Check my post about it here.) His stats are something that you'd really want to see in your team. So when the announcement of where he was headed for college was made, everyone was all eyes and all ears. The choice: DLSU.

I first found out about it thru Jeric Teng's twitter account. Jeric tweeted: it would be weird but a challenge playing against @jeronteng next season of UAAP. :) have to work hard this offseason! 
Right then and there I knew that Jeron was going to some other UAAP school. I quickly checked Jeron's formspring and twitter accounts to see where he was headed. Indeed, it was DLSU. Jeric even tweeted about it again: @jeronteng will play for DLSU.


Jeron has been telling people up until last week that nothing was sure yet, and that they were just talking to different schools which includes Ateneo, NU and DLSU. There was no UST mentioned, so I'm not sure if UST did it on purpose that they did not recruit Jeron Teng, or there was just a better offer from the green and white. It was even mentioned at one point that the school was not talking to him. Of course I'm thinking, WHY???

Well, wherever Jeron's headed to, good luck to him. He'll also be a good addition to the Green Archers. Personally, I really wanted him to join his kuya since it would also be a big help for the team. But it would be interesting indeed to see him play against Jeric too. One thing's for sure, the upcoming seasons of the UAAP basketball are becoming more exciting, and pretty much, we'll be hearing more "Teng" during basketball games.

P.S.
I'm loyal. Go Jeric! :)

As much as i don't want a sweep as well for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, I think the step ladder format would be more beneficial for UST. But, it'll also depend on how they would play against the Adamson Falcons and the FEU Tamaraws on Sept. 3 and Sept. 8 respectively.

If Ateneo sweeps the elimination round, no.3 and no.4 will battle it out for the right to face the no.2 team, and then the winner will eventually face the Blue Eagles in the finals. Another incentive for sweeping the elims is Ateneo will have a 1-0 advantage against their opponents, and will have to win only two more games for them to clinch the championship. Their opponents on the other hand will need to win three games so snatch away the victory. It's like the championship series will be a best of 5 instead of a best of three finals.

If ever UST lands on the fourth spot and FEU is third, I think they can manage a win here, seeing as how the Tigers were able to keep up with FEU in their first round meeting. Second round still needs to be seen, but I still believe that they can do it and finally get away with a win. Even if they lose to Adamson, at least, the Tigers could secure a third place finish, waaaaaay better than last year's 7th.

Currently the Tigers are at the fourth spot with a 5-5 record after beating DLSU yesterday, 60-52. Thanks to Jeric Teng's booming triples and to Jeric Fortuna's mad daze for a layup, DLSU never got the chance to take away the lead from the Tigers. UST's next opponents are the UE Red Warriors. This should not be taken lightly as the Red Warriors were also able to defeat DLSU, and UE had a pretty good game against Ateneo yesterday as well. During UE and UST's first round meeting, the Tigers even registered a 20-point lead only to be blown away in the fourth quarter. So the Tigers better be wary and keep their focus as the Red Warriors are also deadly. Go Tigers! GO USTe!!!

It will be a tough road ahead, but if the 2006 Growling Tigers were able to do it, why not the 2011 Growling Tigers? =P

So what if they're not championship caliber? If they don't have championship experience? The fact that they're aiming and has a chance for the final four right now is already something. They can do this. We'll NEVER GIVE UP. All out. All heart. Go Fight UST! :)


P.S.
All these banners for the Jerics make me want to create my own too. Wala pa lang ako maisip, gusto ko unique. =)) Other than that, I am so happy for the Tigers right now. Tuloy tuloy naaaaaa! :)