Yesterday I rushed home from work just in time for the opening buzzer of one of the most anticipated games in UAAP Season 68, the second round encounter of archrivals De La Salle Green Archers and the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Just like their first round encounter, Araneta Coliseum was filled to the rafters. It was divided into a sea of green and blue. And as usual it was an exciting game . . . at the beginning. If you’re not a fan of either team, by the second half you would’ve probably said it was a waste of time. Fortunately, I’m a fan of one those teams. An avid reader of my blog need not wonder which team I’m rooting for. But for the benefit of the newbies, I’m cheering for the De La Salle Green Archers.

The first quarter was exciting. I refused to take my eyes off the TV monitor for I might miss an acrobatic lay-up by Joseph Yeo or a “booming” three pointer by TY Tang or the baseline drive of Ryan Araña. Sure enough, it was an exciting round with La Salle having the lead then Ateneo catching up. It has been that story up to the halftime where La Salle was leading (I forgot how many points).

Then third quarter started and if you’re a Blue Eagle fan, you’ll be disappointed. Not only were they not able to make a decent attempt to catch up with the score of La Salle, they allowed their opponent to lead by as much as 20 points. If you were a Blue Eagle fan, you’d feel like storming into the Blue Eagle dugout and demand the real players to come out to the hardcourt. Sadly, the real players are indeed in the hardcourt but they’re not playing their real game. I was expecting LA Tenorio to explode like he did in their past games or for Japeth Aguilar to be a big impact in yesterday’s game but he was just big guy in a big court. Aside from blocks and a slam dunk, he wasn’t really much of a factor.

Needless to say, it was just like their first round encounter. Close at the start but a big wide gap by the final buzzer. Again, it was another disappointing performance from the Eagles and a spectacular win by the Archers. Once again, the Eagles were duped. They did not expect that one player from DLSU would explode when the usual gunners are heavily guarded. First it was Jayvee Casio, yesterday it was Ryan Araña who even gave an impromptu dance number (which I say, funny as it was, was uncalled for). Once again, Ateneo forgot to do their homework. Once again, everything went right for La Salle but and nothing was going Ateneo’s way.

Now, I don’t know why Ateneo lost but I know why La Salle won. It was the combined effort of the coaching staff headed by Coach Franz Pumaren and the enthusiasm and hardwork of the players lead by Ryan Araña. By putting their hearts into, they succeeded something and proved to their critics that their first game win over their archrival is not a fluke. So hear out the new battle cry of the Green and White Team: THE ANIMO WILL PREVAIL!!