8/11/2014 00:10:01 UP Bonfire- Rants of a varsity Whenever you hear the UP Men’s basketball team being mentioned around the UAAP scene it usually ends with the phrases “…loses by..” or “gets beaten by” and with all due respect to out to UP nating mahal our team isn’t the best around the collegiate level. Time and time again we’ve witnessed the many disappointing moments our Fighting Maroons basketball team experience game after game. Who could forget the blow out performance of the UE Red Warriors during the opening game of the Season 77 where we lost 87-59. As I watching in the crowds cheering for our team I could only notice how heart broken people were when the game ended and to see the disappointment in the eyes the MBT (men’s basketball team). And what I admire about the entire UP community is that, no matter what happens in victory or in defeat we still support them and tell them to keep fighting and go one and get back to the golden days of Maroon basketball! We tell them that we’re proud of them no matter what the outcome is. But on August 9 we witnessed the entire country go into a frenzy when social media accounts from Twitter and Facebook heard that UP finally.. wait for it… WON A GAME! At long last, after being winless for two years the UP MBT bagged that much awaited win- and what became the highlight of this event was the bonfire that happened in the Sunken Garden a few hours after the game. If you were there you could see students, professors, alumni, and the rest of the UP faithful witness a celebration over the end of a winless drought- whether they saw it as farce or sincerely celebrated is not in my call anymore. But needless to say there were a lot of people. But what’s the big deal actually? But with the all the celebrations out there a lot of athletes from different sports were really dismayed that they never get the recognition they deserve after a championship or a podium finish after long months of hard work and sacrifices just to meet with the requirements academically and still have the energy to compete at the top form during competitions. And if you’re not aware of the over-all standing of UP in the UAAP, we are ranked third, only below DLSU and UST. Which only says that the other teams in UP are really grinding their guts out. Personally I’m in one of those teams who ended Season 76 in the podium and won a few events myself. And what pains most of the other athletes is that we never get any recognition from the community. The truth is I’m very happy for the UP MBT for their win! Probably I could compare the reaction of the UP community to the father in parable of the Prodigal Son. Seeing his son finally being reborn the father celebrates with all his workers while the older brother while doing the right thing all through out his life never even received a small sheep for him and his friends. From all the rants of the athletes from other varsities, we are just screaming for one thing… SUPPORT US TOO!—when we lose we want the community we are a part of comfort us, we want to be encouraged and see who are the people we are going to give our hearts out for during competitions. Or even at least at the season we could see people appreciate what we did for our alma mater. From what I’ve experienced what pulls me down at times is when we’ve achieved something and it seems like no one even noticed your efforts, imagine it’s like the feeling when nobody knows it’s you birthday not even your friends. Well I hope what we are asking for is not too much. We could do without having a superstar team manager or being hyped up by the media all we want is the community’s support and appreciation. Hope it’s not too much! -Maroons-5, 2011, Mass Communication
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:00:00 +0000