U.P. Maroons bleed Ateneo dry, 68-58

U.P. Maroons bleed Ateneo dry, 68-58

(this post, 30-day high! and early)

as i always say: everyone has a potential conflict of interest when it comes to reporting, because we all have friends, families, relatives, schools, religions, organizations, affiliation, beliefs, etc. etc.. Like schools. And so, an ordinary sportswriter could write the head of this story as: “U.P. beats Ateneo”,

(Photo by http://www.upd.edu.ph/~updinfo/whatsup/index)

gmanews.tv headlined it as follows:

“UAAP shocker: U.P. gives mighty Ateneo the blues”, like it was a horror movie (shocker) and emphasizing how strong Ateneo was.

abs-cbnnew.com headlined it as follows:

“Sunday shocker: Maroons upset Eagles”, like it was a slasher movie, stressing, too, how highly unlikely the win was.

inquirer.net takes the cake. It wrote this up as follows:

“Lowly Maroons topple Eagles”.

Now, i don’t know if it’s just me; but the official name of the basketball team is “U.P. Fighting Maroons” (just like the other team is called Blue Eagles). Now, why would the Inquirer editor call it “Lowly Maroons”? (Hey, John. i know you studied in Ateneo but…. you’re also teaching in U.P.; “Lowly Maroons”? that hurts…like a stab wound in the heart…i’m writhing in pain.). inquirer.net went on to lead with the following paragraph: “It took a winless team to figure out how to topple the defending champion.” (winless. Inapi. That hurts. like a knife! ) Look at the stats of the game, the Fighting Maroons shot 89%; that’s 9 out of 10; a record; lowly?

And so, here is my head, it is the best headline in the world for this story:

“U.P. Maroons bleed Ateneo dry, 68-58”

Okay, i would settle for “U.P. beats Ateneo”.

From abs-cbnnews.com, which had the more “blow-by-blow account”: (Like, get this paragraph: “Amidst the dizzying assault by the smaller Fighting Maroons, the bigger Blue Eagles played like a maddened giant that lost control of their senses. xxx “UP went on to lead as many as 11, 65-54, in the closing minutes of the contest. xxx “The Fighting Maroons shot a record 89% in the payoff period. The Blue Eagles, in contrast, missed 10 of their 15 attempts.”)

“Sunday shocker: Maroons upset Eagles

“abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/26/2009 8:03 PM

“MANILA — The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons found no better time to wield the upset axe.

“In what was dubbed as a David-Goliath match up, the Fighting Maroons revisited one of the greatest Biblical victories in a 68-58 demolition of the erstwhile unbeaten Ateneo Blue Eagles in Sunday’s 72nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball at the Philsports Arena.

“ “Before the game, (our rookie-pastor) Moriah (Gingerich) gave us a neat lesson in Bible history with the David and Goliath story. We played like David in this game,” UP coach Aboy Castro said. “We also dedicate this to (President) Cory Aquino, who also like David, turned her back on being just a plain housewife when the call to serve the country came.”

“UP fought a Goliath in the defending champion Ateneo, trailing by as many as eight points early in the contest.

“It took a 14-0 tear at the onset of the third period for the Fighting Maroons to set the stage for their most celebrated victory not only in the season, but arguably in this decade.

“Rookies Carlo Gomez and Mark Juruena teamed up with veterans Arvin Braganza and Mark Lopez to turn a 29-35 deficit into a 43-35 lead halfway through the third quarter.

“The Blue Eagles, who breezed past through strong contenders heading into this match, did not know what hit them.

“Ateneo’s scoreless spell was broken by a Nico Salva basket in the 6-minute mark of the third period. However, the momentum clearly swung in the Fighting Maroons’ favor.

“Amidst the dizzying assault by the smaller Fighting Maroons, the bigger Blue Eagles played like a maddened giant that lost control of their senses.

“UP went on to lead as many as 11, 65-54, in the closing minutes of the contest.

“The Fighting Maroons shot a record 89% in the payoff period. The Blue Eagles, in contrast, missed 10 of their 15 attempts.

“The UP crowd celebrated their first win over Katipunan neighbor Ateneo since a 74-69 win in Sept. 2, 2004 in frenzy only seen during championship victories.

“ “Para kaming nanalo ng championship. I hope this is the start of a turnaround for us,” said Castro describing the feeling of the biggest win of his collegiate coaching career.

“Woody Co and Lopez each had 15 points to lead the breakthrough wins of the Maroons.

“The Scores:

“UP 68 – Co 15, Lope 15, Gomez 9, Padilla 8, Sison 7, Braganza 7, De Asis 3, Maniego 2, Juruena 2, Miguel Reyes 0, Martin Reyes 0, Gingerich 0, Gamboa 0.

“ADMU 58 – Al-Hussaini 17, Salva 11, Salamat 9, Reyes 8, Long 5, Monfort 3, Chua 2, Baclao 2, Gonzaga 1, Tiongson 0, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0, De Chavez 0, Buenafe 0, Austria 0.

“Quarters: 18-22, 29-35, 46-41, 68-58. Alder T. Amo

“For more UAAP stories, visit http://www.uaapsports.com

as of 07/26/2009 8:12 PM”