UAAP's reality show

It took a little prodding for Ateneo blueblood Robin Tong, whose two older brothers are Mechanical Engineering graduates from La Salle, to share his thoughts about the UAAP men’s basketball best-of-three finals starting today.

I asked Robin, a good friend, for his take just as I asked La Salle diehard Tony Atayde, La Salle “Animo” magazine editor Albert de los Santos and Ateneo graduate Mico Halili for theirs. The respondents’ random comments may be found in today’s STAR supplement on the finals.

But Robin had the most expansive response. He emailed a four-page letter, which was an excellent treatise. Some of his comments may be read in other finals articles in today’s issue.

Before I continue, I wish to thank UAAP statistician Rodolfo (Pong) Ducanes for the information he provided on the finals, Mita de la Rama for the bios of the Ateneo players and of course, Robin, Tony, Albert and Mico. Special thanks to Ateneo coach Norman Black for his analysis on the finals.

Anyway, Robin described the finals as the UAAP’s own version of a reality show. “The one who triumphs is the last man standing after all the rest have been voted off the island,” he said.

Robin said the La Salle-Ateneo rivalry isn’t just a phenomenon but also a mystique.

“Although this year marks only the fourth time the two schools are meeting in the UAAP finals (with Ateneo holding a 2-1 advantage), it is quite true that there is nothing like an Ateneo-La Salle encounter,” he said. “Both schools have taken turns winning games they had absolutely no business winning. And such games definitely have added to the mystique of an Ateneo-La Salle game.

“Whatever intensity was lost in the passage of time has more than been made up for by the hype that Studio 23 has so successfully generated and promoted. So much so that in 2002, politicians and presidentiables – some of whom never even attended either school – started watching the games live so they would come out on TV. This phenomenon has, in turn, exacerbated an already dire situation – the ticket supply.”

Robin said the real rivalry today is in maneuvering for access to tickets. “One major casualty are the people who should be the ones watching the games – the students,” he continued. “An Ateneo-La Salle matchup also means big bucks. The more creative establishments have even made them events and planned activities around them, treating the games with as much attention and promotions as, say, Valentine’s Day.”

Robin said an older Ateneo alumnus recently observed that in the past, there was a real rivalry between the schools when they had the same type of student-athletes and therefore, a level playing field. “But those days are long gone,” he went on. “Instead, there has emerged the pseudo student-athlete who sadly is in school to play basketball and nothing else.”

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Eagles coach Norman Black identified the key matchups in the finals – 5-11 Chris Tiu (13.6 points per game) versus 5-10 JV Casio (16.6), 6-5 Nonoy Baclao (7.3) versus 6-4 Rico Maierhofer (12.9), 6-6 Rabeh Al-Hussaini (17.5) versus 6-5 Ferdinand (1.5), 5-11 Eric Salamat (9.8) versus 6-1 Peejay Barua (9.7) and 6-2 Ryan Buenafe (7.5) versus 6-3 James Mangahas (10.7).

La Salle alumnus Tony Atayde sent in this item – “In the Senate, Ateneo is led by Gordon and Roxas and La Salle by Pangilinan and Cayetano. La Salle was the first school to ever sing the alma mater hymn. They did this in 1964 against Ateneo. This year’s La Salle team has the most homegrown players since they joined the UAAP with Ferdinand and Batricevic (injured, not playing in the finals) from La Salle Green Hills, Atkins and Webb from La Salle Zobel and Revilla up to second year at Green Hills. Ateneo’s Salva also attended La Salle Green Hills up to second year.”

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Offcourt, the official PBA lifestyle magazine, was launched at Ever Commonwealth last Friday. It was the first leg of a week-long mall tour where Offcourt is being introduced to fans in a big way. Offcourt editor Henry Liao said the tour is highlighted by opportunities for fans to take pictures with their favorite PBA players, get autographs and just hang out. The bi-monthly magazine is a joint undertaking between Tower Publishing Inc. and Pro Ads Marketing Concepts Inc. A three-year contract was signed with the PBA last June to produce the publication, which focuses on off-court activities and life stories of PBA personalities.

Offcourt is available in all major bookstores. Liao said some of the magazine writers are Tessa Jazmines, Kring Tan, Kirby Garlitos, Dolly Dy Zulueta, Mackie Macaraya, Roy Afable and Leslie Anne Lures Sy.

Other stops in the Offcourt mall tour are Sta. Lucia at 5 this afternoon, Trinoma at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Market! Market! at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, SM Manila at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Robinson Galleria at 5 p.m. on Friday and Ever Gotesco at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The maiden issue, destined to be a collector’s item, features Dondon Hontiveros and son Isaiah Miguel on the cover. Stories include RenRen Ritualo’s pre-school, commissioner Sonny Barrios’ care-giving business, Red Bull governor Tony Chua on how to manage a team, Joseph Yeo on how he won his wife’s heart, Alvin Patrimonio on clean living, Paul Artadi as a one-woman man, Cyrus Baguio’s chill time – a day in his life, Ryan Reyes’ parenting tips, Atoy Co, Jay-R Reyes and something about yours truly as a PBA broadcaster. A copy is a bargain at P125.