Blue or Green?

CEBU - Tomorrow’s Game Two between Ateneo and La Salle promises to be better than last Sunday’s game. With it’s third straight loss to its archrival this season, the UAAP men’s defending champion Green Archers will do whatever they can to get back at the Blue Eagles. And to do that, they should go rough and tough on Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Nonoy Baclao. I say rough and tough, not dirty and nasty.

This historic rivalry reminds me of the bitter feud between Crispa and Toyota during the early years of the PBA. Literally and figuratively, when these two teams collide, the filled-to-capacity Araneta Coliseum is half-Crispa, half-Toyota. Remember Jaworski-Arnaiz-Fernandez versus Guidaben-Co-Cezar? Likewise, the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry is distinguished by the sea of blue on the other side and the wide expanse of green on the other.

Ateneo and La Salle were originally part of the NCAA. They joined the UAAP in the 70’s and this is the fourth time in UAAP history that green and blue figured in the finals. Ateneo has a 2-1 edge over La Salle, winning the crown in 1988 and 2002. La Salle made it in 2001. As far as titles are concerned, La Salle had five over the last decade and Coach Franz Pumaren owns all of them. Coach Norman Black still has to win one since he took over in 2005.

As far as coaches of both teams are concerned, they practically knew each other. Black and Pumaren were teammates and later coaches on the San Miguel franchise in the PBA. But I guess Black did one over Pumaren last Sunday. If you guys have noticed, the Blue Eagles came out of the dugouts last Sunday wearing black shirts with the number 24 printed on it. This is in obvious referrence to their coach who wore the number during his sucessfull PBA playing career.

Again, tickets for tomorrow’s game have been sold out and scalpers have been murderous in their ways. P350 tickets are being sold on eBay for an atrocious P25,000. Stiff ticket prices not withstanding, both teams have celebrity fans and the Ateneo crowd will be led by Senators Dick Gordon, Mar Roxas and Jinggoy Estrada and patron Manny Pangilinan. Likewise, La Salle has Senator Kiko Pangilinan and Cayetano, not to mention the actors and entertainers and big time industry players identified with the schools.

JV Casio and Rico Maierhofer must get plenty of support from the other Archers, mainly PJ Barua, James Mangahas and Bader Malabes, and as defending champions, the other guys will have to step up. Of course, Ateneo would like to erase the stigma of that 2006 Finals showdown with Sto. Tomas where they won the first game, lost the second game and the sudden death in overtime.

As if in irony, La Salle remembers their 1999 finals also with UST where they lost the first game but recovered and won the next two. That was the second season of their four-straight championship run from 1998 to 2001.

To win this series, it takes two games. The Archers would not let Rabeh get rabid again and should somehow find ways to de-claw Baclao. Those vicious blocks on Maierhofer were monstrous. Ateneo or La Salle? I’ll go for Blue. Sorry Boss Nimrod and the rest of the Archer nation. (THE FREEMAN)

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