Around 730pm Thursday night, I was waking around the Cubao area looking for stopwatches to buy (I needed them for my event on Saturday). As I passed Taco Bell, I spied Vince Burke and we chatted for a bit. Then Mr. Jeff Long, Kirk's dad saw me, and he invited me to join their family dinner. Thanks, sir! I very much appreciated it and I had fun sitting and talking with everyone else.
"So how long does it take to get an Ateneo loss out of your system," asked Mr. Long. About eight pairs of eyes trained themselves on me.
Honestly, I've learned to take them better. "Oh, about two decades," I quipped and people laughed. "Of course that's not true, but I certainly remember the games where we got eliminated."
I think of the time when UST with Pido Jarencio eliminated Ateneo. What -- he torched us for 35 points in that game along with Bennett Palad in 1985.
I think of my batch's back-to-back titles, I also remember falling to FEU in 1989 that derailed any three-peat bid. In reality, the crown was lost even before the UAAP season began when a heart ailment ended Danny Francisco's career. Alex Araneta didn't enroll in enough subjects to play. Jay Gayoso came back a little late. Jet Nieto decided not to play in his final year coz he went to med school. Then FEU's Dodong Postanes and Andy De Guzman killed Ateneo in that game at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. It was only in the final three minutes that Sep Canlas found his shooting touch (he drained trey after trey to pull Ateneo close but the rally was a minute too late). A cheer went as some La Sallians in the stands unfurled a sign that said there will be a new UAAP champion that year.
I remember Olsen Racela's final game in a Blue Eagle uniform as Adamson -- with Marlou Aquino, EJ Fiehl, and Kenneth Duremdes -- eliminating them with style (a slam dunk). I'm not sure now, but I think Chot Reyes pulled out Olsen with a minute or two left so that the Ateneo crowd could give him a send off. How many Ateneans were there at Loyola Center? A hundred and fifty? Home court na nga walang nanood. I guess everyone new it then that our time then was done.
I remember Richie Ticzon missing two free throws with almost no time left that allowed UE to escape and advance in Eric Reyes' final playing year. Hey, Sison! Remember the scuffle we had with UE students at the Araneta Coliseum? Hahaha.
I remember 2006 & 2007. So the loss to FEU I took well. "That's nothing. It should makes us hungrier and we know we have our work cut out for us."
Kirk was pensive. He's been very tentative of late and people have been waiting for him to explode. "Sophomore jinx," smiled Jeff. The father and son are close and they talked about practices and school work. "I'm not sure I'm going to play baseball this year," said Kirk to me. "We'll see if how we do in basketball and of course in my school work. My teammates and I in the baseball team have to work on our defense a lot because that's what also killed us last year."
"But I'm sorry about the loss. But we'll get them next time."
You have to like his humbleness. He knows he hasn't been contributing like last year. Vince himself has been soaking it all in. "It's a more competitive atmosphere," he adds. "But we'll be fine."
The dinner ended on an upbeat note. No time to sulk. It's back to business.
"So how long does it take to get an Ateneo loss out of your system," asked Mr. Long. About eight pairs of eyes trained themselves on me.
Honestly, I've learned to take them better. "Oh, about two decades," I quipped and people laughed. "Of course that's not true, but I certainly remember the games where we got eliminated."
I think of the time when UST with Pido Jarencio eliminated Ateneo. What -- he torched us for 35 points in that game along with Bennett Palad in 1985.
I think of my batch's back-to-back titles, I also remember falling to FEU in 1989 that derailed any three-peat bid. In reality, the crown was lost even before the UAAP season began when a heart ailment ended Danny Francisco's career. Alex Araneta didn't enroll in enough subjects to play. Jay Gayoso came back a little late. Jet Nieto decided not to play in his final year coz he went to med school. Then FEU's Dodong Postanes and Andy De Guzman killed Ateneo in that game at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. It was only in the final three minutes that Sep Canlas found his shooting touch (he drained trey after trey to pull Ateneo close but the rally was a minute too late). A cheer went as some La Sallians in the stands unfurled a sign that said there will be a new UAAP champion that year.
I remember Olsen Racela's final game in a Blue Eagle uniform as Adamson -- with Marlou Aquino, EJ Fiehl, and Kenneth Duremdes -- eliminating them with style (a slam dunk). I'm not sure now, but I think Chot Reyes pulled out Olsen with a minute or two left so that the Ateneo crowd could give him a send off. How many Ateneans were there at Loyola Center? A hundred and fifty? Home court na nga walang nanood. I guess everyone new it then that our time then was done.
I remember Richie Ticzon missing two free throws with almost no time left that allowed UE to escape and advance in Eric Reyes' final playing year. Hey, Sison! Remember the scuffle we had with UE students at the Araneta Coliseum? Hahaha.
I remember 2006 & 2007. So the loss to FEU I took well. "That's nothing. It should makes us hungrier and we know we have our work cut out for us."
Kirk was pensive. He's been very tentative of late and people have been waiting for him to explode. "Sophomore jinx," smiled Jeff. The father and son are close and they talked about practices and school work. "I'm not sure I'm going to play baseball this year," said Kirk to me. "We'll see if how we do in basketball and of course in my school work. My teammates and I in the baseball team have to work on our defense a lot because that's what also killed us last year."
"But I'm sorry about the loss. But we'll get them next time."
You have to like his humbleness. He knows he hasn't been contributing like last year. Vince himself has been soaking it all in. "It's a more competitive atmosphere," he adds. "But we'll be fine."
The dinner ended on an upbeat note. No time to sulk. It's back to business.
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