That HAIL MARY Shot!!!

I missed the GAME of the YEAR yesterday.

Ironically,
I was not able to watch because I was hosting
a wedding reception in Intramuros,

where the mother of the groom,
as well as many of the guests,
were all career LA SALLE teachers.

I even had a reunion with one of my Grade 4 teachers,
Mr. Mauro Lamigo,
a man I hadn't seen in over a quarter of a century.


How did I find out about all the La Salle connections?
Mr. Lamigo approached me after one of my spiels and said:
"YOU SPEAK LIKE A LA SALLITE!!!"

(Alright, despite my Blue Blood,
I have to admit I was flattered.)

(Take note, current DLSU students,
the original De La Salle Taft & Greenhills teachers
still refer to the alumni as "La Sallites",
NOT "La Sallians"!)


Well,
to make a long story short,
or better yet,
to make a Green story Blue,

I ended up punctuating the reception ceremonies
with the latest score updates,
thanks to the text messages from my "men on the ball",
cabalen Peejay & cousin Tet-Tet.

Ultimately,
I had to break the sorry news
to the predominantly DLSU wedding guests,

that unfortunately,
the Blue Eagles had won the game.

I tried to look as sad as possible....







Mary for you!
For your white and blue!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!




Eagles soar mightily over Green Archers

By Abac Cordero
Monday, September 10, 2007

It was an arrow right through the heart of the Green Archers.

“Probably at this point it’s the biggest shot of my career,”
said Chris Tiu, who hit an open triple with 17.8 seconds left
last night to give Ateneo a heart-pounding 89-87 win over La Salle.

The Green Archers had a golden chance to send the game into OT
but game officials,
after a couple of super-slo-mo replays,
nullified a short stab by Rico Maierhofer at the buzzer.

The beautiful crowd estimated at close to 20,000
held their breath as they awaited the final decision.
And when it came, a thunderous,
deafening roar from the Ateneo fans followed.

It was clear that Maierhofer still had the ball
in his hands when the red light went on and the buzzer sounded.
There was no sign of protest from the Green Archers.

After the game,
in the true spirit of sportsmanship,
players from both sides shook hands
in full view of the jampacked crowd.

“It was one hell of a fight
but we were able to pull it through,”
added the 22-year-old Tiu,
a campus idol who’s so used to hitting big shots
and similar game-winners for Ateneo.

Heroes came in abundance for Ateneo.

Aside from Tiu,
there were Ford Arao,
who was steady inside the paint;
Yuri Escueta and Erik Salamat,
who hit targets from near and far,
and Jobe Nkemakolam.

With the victory,
Ateneo got a clear shot at the No. 2 spot,
only needing to win its final game
against lowly National University on Saturday.

The Green Archers,
on the other hand, fell into a must-win situation
against the unbeaten UE Warriors on Thursday
to force a playoff with the Blue Eagles for the second spot.

If the Warriors prevail,
they take the first finals slot with a sweep of the elims.
This leads La Salle into a knockout game
with either UST or FEU for the right to face
the twice-to-beat Ateneo.

“Coming into the game I felt that we could beat them again.
A lot of people thought we might get blown out in this game.
My players showed a lot of character,”
said Ateneo’s Norman Black.

“All the credit goes to the players,”
he added as he looked forward to a couple more games
with La Salle in the 70th UAAP season.