MAROONS SET THE STANDARD UAAP Season 71 Opening was a success!

Last Saturday, performers from the University of the Philippines set the standard of creativity, originality, and uniqueness in UAAP performances. The program started with a traditional drinking of native wine to foster friendship and unity among the participating schools; the ceremonial drinking was led by Dr. Emerlinda Roman, president of the University of the Philippines. Dancers from the UP Filipiniana, UP Dancesport, UP Jazz Ensemble, UP Dance Company, and UP Pep Squad performed dances after the drinking that showcased fluidity and finesse in movements. The Bahay-Kubo formation with two children playing hide-and-seek was the crowd favorite among the floor works presented. Of course, the crowd was mesmerized by the death-defying stunts by the best pep squad in the Philippines, the UP Pep Squad. The patintero-inspired dance by the UP Dancesport earned a lot of praises from the expectators as well. The very concept/theme of the dances and song numbers performed was different from the old ones used at the UAAP; it was a combination of traditional and contemporary Filipinos, emphasizing the value of leadership through sports. Despite the opportunity to make the presentation 100% UPcentric, the host school still did a considerably fair exposure of all the 8 participating universities. It was also remarkable that UP presented diwatas to represent the core value of each university and the trait of the UAAP icon used by each institution. Overall Championship would be highly-coveted again this season as all participating athletes train hard to earn the gold. UP placed third last season, but this year, the countrys premier university is striving to finally bring back the crown to its rightful owner. Good Luck to all UAAP schools, and may the value of leadership through sports be instilled in everyones heart. MAROONS CAGED THE BULLDOGS It was a tough first round for the UP Fighting Maroons, the NU Bulldogs was able to create a 10-point lead against the season 71 host school. The UP crowd started to become gloomy because of the depressing score, but everything changed when the 2nd quarter began. Mike Gamboa and Martin Reyes started throwing 2 and 3 points basket, which awakened the entire UP team and the crowd. The Maroons caught up with the Bulldogs and eventually led the game at the end of the quarter. Cheers from the crowd enabled the Maroons to sustain their energy and their lead over the bulldogs. The cheers were overwhelming as DLSU and ADMU spectators joined the UPans in shouting for victory. The UP team was able to keep their lead until the game ended with the score of 84-72, in favor of the Maroons. The first victory of UP was ecstatic. UP did not win a single game last year, yet the players continued their rigid training in order to achieve victory at the universitys centennial year. Im always proud of the UP Maroons, win or lose! Im always proud to be UP ISKO! EAGLES SOARED HIGH OVER THE ARCHERS The highly-anticipated game of every UAAP season came too early this year, but it did not stop the blue and green fanatics to watch the match of a classic rivalry. The Ateneo-La Salle Game yesterday proved that no UAAP rivalry [as of the moment] could surpass the one between Blue and Green. About 21, 000 spectators filled the Araneta Coliseum. Each section was filled with a huge crowd and no seat was vacated. The aggressive cheerers did not hesitate to yell at the top

of their voices to show school spirit and which school was better. Every ball thrown, passed, and dunked by the ballers made the crowd excited and overjoyed. DLSU Green Archers conquered the first round that made the Ateneo crowd a bit quiet for some time. When the second quarter started, Chris Tiu began shooting from the 2 and 3 point areas, which enabled the ADMU Blue Eagles to make the scores closer. 3rd quarter favored the Blue Eagles as the scores reached a deadlock and eventually resulted to a lead by the players from Katipunan. The game heated much more when the 4th quarter began. ADMU and DLSU reached another deadlock, 56-56. Players from both schools gave their 100% to win the 1st round of the UAAPs best rivalry match. Ateneo de Manila was successful at the end of the game with a 7973 score. Ateneo was able to soar high over its arch rival! THE LESSONS I LEARNED Crap, if I will buy a ticket for Ateneo-La Salle game even on the first day of selling, I must arrive 5 AM at Araneta. When I bought my ticket last July 31, I arrived 7 AM and the line had already exceeded the Farmers Market. I missed a class because I was not able to leave the coliseum before 10 AM. Crap! Anyway, its worth it, UP won! Never seat on the Archers side if you are an Eagles fan, because you will not enjoy! I sat on the green side because that was UPs side during the first game. I was not able to shout Go Ateneo because it would be a sign of disrespect to DLSU. Anyway, I was able to cheer for UP, so I still felt contented after the games. UP is stronger now. Watch out! We might be able to beat DLSU for the UAAP Basketball crown this year! UP Pep Squad has a big chance of retaining its Cheerdance Championship this year and many years afterhehehe! My sister is definitely the best companion during a UAAP game. 100% Ethnocentric! Ill bring my little brother Dante (Bembem) on the next game so that hell meet Irish and Karyn again. He likes both of them! Playboy! Patricia Anne Roque deserves to be the courtside rep than I. At first I got mad when I was informed that she was chosen over me, but yesterdays game made me realize that Patricia Anne was a big fan of UP Basketball more than I. Her live reporting was distracted by a shot from a Maroon player. Hehehe Go Pat! I love UP no matter what! Unibersidad ng Pilipinas!