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)

After winning their first two assignments this season against the NU Bulldogs and the UE Red Warriors, the Growling Tigers found themselves with a three-game losing skid bowing down to Adamson, Ateneo and FEU. They bounced back though at the expense of the Fighting Maroons, but wasn't quite enough for a back to back win as they lost to the Archers in the closing day of the first round of eliminations.

Nothing to be ashamed of though. The Tigers have been fighting tough as they still got a chance at a final four spot. Inconsistency's still there sometimes, and they have to work on that or else they might find themselves struggling once again. We don't want a repeat of last year's fate for sure. They shouldn't have the so-called endgame meltdowns anymore as it may cost them the entire game, even if they've been playing very well for the first three quarters.

Last year UST was a very offensive team. This year though, they're starting to play more on the defensive side, and it has worked. Though I think when they played defense, their offense kind of dropped. They still won games though, but it might be a problem especially with a squad like Adamson who just keep on shooting three's at anytime of the day. So they have to work on those shots. The Tigers have also been dubbed as one of the very physical teams now in the UAAP with their style. I believe they wanted to do this since although they have Abdul on the inside, they still lack height, so it's the only way they could at least stop their bigger opponents.

Kevin Ferrer is suddenly on a slump. I haven't seen or heard much from him, so I hope he gets his act together and he becomes the threat that he should be once again. Karim Abdul has been improving every game which is really a good sign for the Tigers. Jeric Teng and Jeric Fortuna has been doing great spearheading the team, while Camus, Afuang and the rest are steadily getting there. Though they've still got errors in their plays, and their second stringers still need to step it up, I think once UST gets their games going, then we really do have a chance at that final four spot.

Let's get 'em wins! Laban lang ng laban, go Tigers! :)

Now that the first round of eliminations is over, I'd like to share a few thoughts about the different teams and how they fared during the first round. We've seen upsets, huge wins and heartbreakers, but the real battle begins as the second round of action starts this Saturday.

First up, here's the team standings after the first round of eliminations:

Ateneo  7-0
AdU          5-2
FEU          4-3
DLSU  4-3
UST          3-4
NU          2-5
UP          2-5
UE          1-6

Sunday was a very basketball-filled day. And the games were pretty interesting, and intense. There was the UAAP games between UST and UP, and then FEU and Ateneo. Then there was game 1 of the PBA Finals. And there was also the game between Smart Gilas and Iran for the Jones Cup.

I only had the UAAP on my list originally, but once I got home, the basketball-watching just continued. Hangover I guess? Not that I'm complaining din naman. :)

So talking about the UST-UP game, I am so happy that UST won that game. I was nervous at how the game will turn out since UP just came from a huge win against FEU, while UST on the other hand was on a three game losing skid. Momentum could be with UP, but I know UST's just roaring to win again and they have to, so I was expecting that they're going all out. First few minutes was still close; Jeric Teng was piling up points for UST, while UP just had no answer. At the end of the first quarter, Jeric Teng sprained his ankle, sidelining him for the rest of the game. (They said it's just a minor injury so he'll be able to play on Thursday.) But that didn't even bother the Tigers as they continued what Teng had started, spearheaded by the captain Jeric Fortuna, as UP's shooting woes continued.

First week of August has flown by really fast! Don't you think? And I know it's about time I update my blog!

Though this is a bit late, it's worthy of a blog post, really. This doesn't happen very often and I'm very happy that it did!

Last July 30, I had a long date with Mom. Actually this has been going on for a while now, spontaneous mall visits, movies, and food trips of course. Wala, nahihilig lang gumala. It won't be complete without the food trip. =))

Our agenda for July 30 was go to Mercato to support Joyce, my college friend who is currently studying at CCA (Center for Culinary Arts), and to watch the UST-FEU game. Yes, I got my Mom, finally, to watch a UAAP game with me. =)) Our next project is the Shakey's V-League.

I've always followed the UAAP ever since I was in high school. And yes, I won't deny the fact that I've had a number of crushes over the past years that I've been hooked to this league. I was always used to the fact that these players are older than me. But things have changed, and I almost always forget that I am now older than some, or probably most of these players as the seasons pass. I find some of them very admirable, not just based on their looks but also because of their basketball skills. =)) So, allow me to share with you my own version of the Top 10 UAAP crushes/cuties of Season 74.

UAAP has finally started! We've seen all the teams play their first games, and today we're even going to witness the Ateneo-Lasalle match at 3 p.m. But before that, here's what I think of all the other teams so far.

I am no basketball or sports expert but I just want to give my own general opinion regarding the different teams. =D (So please wag niyo po akong awayin. Haha!)

The UAAP Season 74 officially opened last Saturday, July 9, at the Marikina Sports Complex. Making things different this year, the host school Ateneo decided to put up an Olympic-inspired opening for the UAAP, thus, the change of venue. Also, there were no basketball games for the opening day, unlike the usual opening days in the previous seasons.

Personally, I think the opening ceremonies was indeed interesting, and a good idea, but it was somewhat poorly executed. I believe Ateneo could have done more, and it would've probably been much better if the rain had stopped. But then again, rain or shine they had to do it. It was still successful despite the rain. All out. All heart.



UST had the largest number of athletes present with 627, followed by Ateneo with 600 I believe. There was a lot of performers from Ateneo of course, Spongecola was also there, the parade of athletes with the color coded umbrellas, and then Olsen Racela was the final torch bearer. I liked the idea of the passing of the torch to different schools, I just wondered if the UST athletes really did run from UST to UP. Hahaha. I didn't catch it but they said there was a fireworks display at the end which was kind of useless since it was too early for that. It wasn't dark enough yet. Oh well, maybe there was another one after the free concert.

I still think it would have been better if the opening ceremonies was still at Araneta. But that's over now, once again the UAAP season is on.

P.S.
Bakit feeling ko parang super Ateneo-ish ng UAAP season 74. Just saying. =))

Although the logo is cool.

Just because I’ve missed writing about basketball. And I've been reading all these news about it.

I could actually write about the on-going PBA Philippine Cup but I don’t follow it as faithfully as the UAAP to give justice to whatever it is that I might write; so I’m sticking with college basketball.

2011 has opened up to some surprising news about college basketball. A lot of decisions are awaited and are being made, which makes spectators (including me of course!) more excited for the next UAAP basketball season even if the current UAAP season is not yet done. Since there are only more or less three months before high school seniors receive their diplomas, college basketball fans are looking forward to hearing where a number of high school standouts, be it in the UAAP or NCAA, are headed.

My blog was actually featured on Yahoo! College hoops! Yes, this actual blog! Don’t want to believe me? Click here then!

I’m just very happy that they took time to recognize my support for the UST Growling Tigers and my blog. Though still, my dreams, hopes of a lot of comments in my posts still weren’t achieved, at least my blog got some exposure. As well as the author, haha! My friends were very happy for me, as much as I was very surprised when I saw the article. Yahoo! College Hoops for the win!

It was indeed an intense UAAP weekend once again. Who would’ve thought that at the end, the name of the game for the recently concluded first round of the UAAP Men’s Basketball would be comebacks? We’ve seen teams register a huge lead against their opponents, just to lose it in the final canto. We’ve seen teams struggling with their game, and yet they are still able to pull away with a win. Such unpredictability in the UAAP right now, no one knows who will win or what will happen next. You just have to wait and see for yourself during game days.