Ateneo’s UAAP season is over, they are out of the Final Four.  It’s the end of the streaks and –peats.  But for me, it’s more than just the end of the so-called dynasty.  It’s also the end of a special time in my life that I shared with my dad.

Growing up in a sports-loving family, I would always be aware of what was happening in the sports world but my life life didn’t revolve around game schedules.

I had no choice but to watch the PBA games on TV because dad was watching them.  My sister and I were cheering for the LA Dodgers in the 1981 World Series against the Yankees, just to annoy our older brother.  (And because I found Bob Welch, a pitcher for the Dodgers cute) I followed the career of Bjorn Borg, mostly because I thought he was very gwapo.  And when I moved to the US, I started following the Oakland A’s because Bob Welch was now playing with them.  I lived in SF during the Steve Young-Jerry Rice 49ers era.  And watched a few Giants games at Candlestick Park.  But even then, you wouldn’t really see me buying team shirts, or knowing players or team stats or planning my life around the games.

When I was a high school senior in Assumption, my sister, who was already a junior in Ateneo, brought me to my first UAAP game.  They were playing against NU, who were the league cellar dwellers at that time.  Not a very exciting game, but it didn’t matter.  I was hooked.   Back then the games weren’t the sell-outs that they are now.  The only people watching were the team’s families, girlfriends and friends.  I would watch the weekend games with my sister.  And even went to an Ateneo La-Salle game in Rizal Memorial Coliseum in full hair and make-up because it was the day of my high school yearbook pictorial.  I knew the players’ names and would even save newspaper clippings in my planner.

When I started college in Ateneo, I got into the games even more because I got to know the members of the team.   There was just something different and more personal when you’re cheering for your friends and classmates. And, because my sister was one of the team managers (which in those days meant water girl and, in her case, also meant tutor for the players) for a few months, I would even watch their practices.   Unfortunately, I moved to the US in 1987 and didn’t get to see them win their back-to-back ’87-’88 championships.

When I moved back to Manila in 1995, I had stopped following the team.  In fact, I had pretty much stopped following any sports team.   Until the day my dad called and offered me an extra ticket to an Ateneo basketball game.  That was in 2001.  The rest is history.  Since then I have become an Ateneo basketball addict.  I plan my weekends around game schedules.  The finals are usually played around my birthday so I choose to work on my actual birthday so I can take the day off come game day.  I always say that the best part of my retirement from my full-time job was that I could watch all the weekday games.  I had a pile of blue t-shirts in my closet that I could wear to the games (am not a white t-shirt girl) And I would be late for parties (and once even to my friend’s wedding) if the game goes into overtime.

Because I started watching basketball, I also started paying attention to other sports as well.  My brother, during one of my long vacations in SF, brainwashed me into becoming a SF Giants fan.  (In fact, my siblings are gathering here in NY this weekend to watch the Giants-Yankees game).  My sister is now trying to convince me to love football as much as she does (I am still a work in progress). I am always happy when Rafael Nadal wins a championship.  I’ve watched a few live NBA games.  And, prior to this trip, the last plays I watched in New York were Lombardi (about legendary football coach Vince Lombardi) and Magic/Bird (which told the story of the friendship and rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird)

This recent love affair with Ateneo basketball started as an opportunity to spend more quality time with my dad.  There was a lot about the game I didn’t really understand but I didn’t care.  Those game days were special family time that were, for us at least, sacred.  Dad started buying season tickets.  We came up with our own personal superstitions.  We’d go to mass at the Gesu after winning or losing championships.  We’d even brave the muddy fields to attend the bonfires.  I would wear a shirt until the team lost and then would find a new shirt.  I tried to change the styling up a bit for every game hoping people wouldn’t notice.  I even started subscribing to tfc.tv so I could watch the games when I was out of the country.  I bought a DVD recorder so I could record the games and watch them again once I got home (I usually close my eyes during very tense moments so I missed a lot of the live action). For my friends, the funniest part of this Ateneo basketball addiction is that I actually only went to Ateneo for a year before I moved to the US to finish college.

But more than just watching basketball, it was the knowledge that, despite our busy schedules, for the few months of UAAP season, I knew that we would have a standing date with dad.

He passed away the day before the Fil-Oil Ateneo-La Salle game, which Ateneo won by the way.  We were supposed to watch that game together.   It would have been the first Ateneo game I would watch after the many trips I had taken since the middle of Season 75.   He had already purchased our tickets for Season 76 and we were looking forward to seeing what the new coach and the team would do this season.

The elimination of Ateneo from this season’s final four is the end of an era for the team.  It is the end of the five and 14 streak.  For me, it is the end of years of those game dates with my dad.  No more texts to ask if I was watching or if we could ride to the game together.  No more teasing me that I am “bad luck” when the team loses and I’m there.  It is the end of a special time in my life that I would always treasure because I shared them with my dad.

This has been a year filled with challenges for the team and controversies for the league.  I can just imagine what my dad must be thinking.  And I can only guess what he would say.  This next season will start a new beginning for the team, and for us.  And though watching UAAP will never be the same again without him, his love for sports will always be a gift that he gave to us.

Thanks dad.  One big fight…

That’s all for now…bow.