BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Of tickets and allocations

You have to wonder why the UAAP format doesn't go back to the old one where it's the Juniors-Seniors games of the teams. That way for example, on September 6, it's an all Ateneo-La Salle affair. That will partially solve the demands for the tickets. But no. No. No. No.

Schools like UST (yes they shot down this proposal from DLSU and ADMU) frown upon the continued fixation of the media, the general public, and advertisers with the two schools. Thus they have frowned upon any suggestions for such. In case you noticed, whenever the two schools play, UST is as much as possible on the twinbill. Nakikisawsaw sa ratings and sa gate receipts. Sa inyo na nga General Championship pati rito nandyan pa kayo.

It's sad when you think that students from UP who want to watch their team's final game this season not have enough because a lot are being allocated to Ateneo and La Salle. And if you passed by Blue Eagle Gym, you would have seen some of those scalpers in line. Ang daming nakapila na hindi naman mukang alumni. It's not that they aren't entitled to watch but they should buy that at Araneta. What is sold at the schools should be made exclusive to the students and alumni. Meron pa nga raw nagbebenta ng space niya sa pila for Php 500 smackers! Talk about opportunists.

Memo to other schools: Walang hakot sa crowd ng Ateneo and La Salle. Hindi nga requirement for PE students to attend. Unlike in the NCAA where they even have to bus their students.

Then there are those alumni na nakaupo sa baba na walang ginawa kung di mag-criticize. Eh tangina... wag na lang kayo manood. It's a different time, mga pare. You compare cheering now with your time? I double dare you... read those old issues of the Guidon where even back then, the cheering was an issue. And the school was a smaller place. Eh ilan ba yung number ng students back then? Konti lang and of course they would all cheer. Nandoon yung mga moderators nila. And walang ginawa kung hindi upakan si Norman Black at yung mga player. Then pag nanalo akala mo sila naka shoot ng game winner. I'm not saying blindly support and not criticize. That's fine. Just put it in the proper venue and not during games when you yell at the players and the staff during timeouts. Whew!

Then there's Araneta Coliseum na ubod na swapang sa media allocations. If they can even sell seats on the court they will. Wala naman ganyanan.

Memo to Ateneo: It's about time to renovate Blue Eagle Gym into that state of the art arena that was proposed during Fr. Tito's time. Make it happen.

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