Hate to be negative, but this is just too much. JR Cawaling is still recuperating from stab wounds, Pipo Noundou is not a hundred percent, and Jens Knuttel is out for the season (which is little by little looking like only a game’s worth at this time). Huh? Wait. What is that? It isn’t JR Cawaling who got stabbed? Well, he might as well have been the way he’s been playing. And, oh, I almost forgot, Andy Barroca—the guy dubbed as the best amateur pointguard in the land—got cut from the team.

What a bummer.

So FEU did lose to UE by ten. That Paul Lee sure is one red hot chili pepper up our collective tush. While Elmer Espiritu didn’t do too much, he did have his regular two-handed alley hoop coming from a Paul Lee pass. Pari was a beast and Paul Lee was, like I said, one red hot chili pepper up our collective tush. Such a pain. And Val Acuna! Ugh! It’s just unfair. Ang daya nila, ginagalingan nila masyado!

As I have predicted (I know it is a bit of a fluke considering I did not take into account the possibility of Barroca not playing. I had no idea there was an issue at the time I was writing my last blog), UE won over FEU convincingly. But I loved the way the Tamaraws fought. We were in it up until that point when Paul Lee decided to end it.

Panalo si Manalo

I like this guy. Why hasn’t he been getting playing time? He may not have been exceptional last game, but he was ready to fight even though he’s been warming up the bench beside Caluag and Ecsimiano’s respective slightly less warm seats. But he was there, fighting. ‘Ika nga ng character ni Al Pacino sa Scent Of A Woman na si Col. Frank Slade: “When the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys hide.” Manalo ran with shit hitting him from all angles—the doubters, the pressures, and the long, vacant stares from shrinking teammates.

Hopefully, Andy’s lost is his gain.

Moving on

It’s difficult to “move on”, especially when the details of an issue surrounding or involving the team you’re rooting for are sketchy. I won’t presume to know what is happening or the facts of the case, but suffice it to say that maybe logic helps when discussing things. It’s out of the bag. It may not be said out loud during press conferences and official statements, but we know—sort of to a certain extent—that the Andy Tragedy has something to do with game fixing. Let’s talk about that for a sec.

It’s an acknowledged dark side of the sports trade. Even the career of the great Michael Jordan—whom I absolutely admire—is riddled with such allegations. They say that the murder of MJ’s dad and his subsequent first retirement had something to do with game fixing. Problem is in sports, you get too good, you get these shady characters talking to you, giving you offers. If you’re not open to their offer, well, it’s not like they’ll just go, “okay, I just thought you’d like that,” and turn away. These people have guns. Like Jerry Seinfeld said: “Guys with guns don’t understand—that’s why they have guns!”

So, to put it simply: your choices are to either take the offer or get your life threatened.

F is for fixing

God forbid FEU be known as the Fixing Eastern University. After the Baracael incident last year, then this? Man. This is bad. Really bad. UAAP should really flex its muscles and hold an investigation on this. It’s not healthy for the league and the industry. It’s toxic and it WILL dampen people’s interest. I sympathize with my friend Ian (Mr. Christian Evasco). You’ll see him in every FEU game—may it be women’s volleyball or men’s basketball (because, you know, he has a thing for girls who smell of musk and tall guys. KIDDING). No one’s done more than him in mounting support for the University and its teams. A following is so fragile. It’s like you’re mounting a house of cards and just when you’re about to look at it from afar to relish the moment, somebody cracks open a window to let winds come blowing down on your creation. Ian might not have stacked all those cards, but he sure has placed a lot of its foundation in the last decade (including putting up the very website you’re browsing right now).

No preds, just meds

No predictions today. I don’t want to ruin people’s already ruined day. Let’s just hope and, like Ian, pray for a win. I’m a little too discombobulated about this issue that I can’t even think up jokes to crack about ADMU’s thrashing of UST. Maybe if we get scheduled to play on Sunday. That’d make me happy.

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September 22nd, 2009 by A Les Lupisan A Les Lupisan is a creative writer + director. He is an alumnus of the Advocate + a graduate of AB Mass Communication, batch 2002. He is an artist, a musician, a writer, but aren't we all?