Bonfire na!!!

           I finally witnessed Team Ateneo winning the UAAP Championship live.  Hooray!

          Back in 2002, I had to content myself with watching the game in Moro due to the fact that I wasn't able to secure a ticket.  Araneta typically releases SRO tickets on the actual game date, and at that time I should have realized that the tickets would run out faster.  This time, I vowed not to make the same mistake and woke up early.  I arrived at Araneta around 8am today, and promptly fell in line with about a hundred people ahead of me. 

          My major mistake was my failure to eat breakfast before falling in line.  (I last ate a full meal 8pm the night before.)  You see, they were only selling Gen. Ad. tickets and we were forced to enter the premises after getting the ticket (with the condition that re-entries were not allowed).  It took 4 hours before I got to enter the venue, and another 4 hours before the game began.  Sure there was food sold inside, but they were overpriced (and if you know me, I only buy expensive food if the taste is worth it...which unfortunately, can not be said for the food sold in Araneta.)

          So there I was, starved for 8 hours and surrounded by Chris Tiu fangirls in the Gen Ad section.  I can't complain though.  A lot of those fangirls look great ...in a Nabokovian context (hehe, eeevil! )  Seriously, is it just me or have college girls gotten hotter since my time?

          Anyway, a really nice thing happened today.  I met up with my "Get That Ball" buddy Paolo Gillego, with whom I spent a lot of UAAP wars in the past, cheering our throats hoarse until until our heads hurt badly from the effort.  He introduced two of his female friends to me - Aga (a former schoolmate in UP law, I found out) and Carol (a former Guidon reporter).  Both were from ADMU batch '97.  Paolo unfortunately had to leave us in the Gen. Ad. section because he had to accompany his future father-in-law in the Lower Box.  That means I was left with my two new acquaintances.  But it was ok, they were nice to be with.

          It turns out that Aga was engaged in a continuous texting effort to get better tickets while we were already seated, and was actually able to have someone secure Upper B tickets for her right before the jump ball.  She was supposed to get tickets for herself and Carol only, but since she felt particularly generous (or she might have taken pity on me ) she asked her contact to get one more ticket for me.  (Yeheey!)  The best part of that is, it didn't cost me anything!  (Yeheey again!)

          And so, upon confirmation of the existence of our tickets, the three of us made the seemingly-ridiculous scene of leaving our "good" Gen Ad seats (which we have been occupying for about 3 hours) just when the game was about to begin.  We found good seats very near the DLSU side.  Actually, we were already in the DLSU side because, for some reason, DLSU fans were vastly outnumbered today.  The audience was around 65-70% Ateneo supporters.

          It was a good thing that DLSU gave a good fight and actually got us scared a number of times.  It made the victory all the more sweeter.  Aga and Carol proved to be formidable cheerers and we three had a great time shouting and cheering for Team Ateneo (and jeering the Greenies). 

          And when it became apparent that Ateneo was going to win, all hell broke loose.  I actually needed some space to run around, shout, and flail my arms over my head and so I did just that.    I went up to the walkway between the Gen Ad and Upper B sections and I ran around like a madman.  The last time I did this sort of thing was when Gec Chia made that miracle shot back in 2002 against UE.  It was at this point where I completely forgot about my hunger and soaked in all the great feeling of witnessing the Blue Eagles become champions.

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          It was only later, when I was having a hard time going home when I realized that a full 24 hours have passed without me having anything to eat.  I was craving for Taco Bell but the entire Gateway Mall was packed with ADMU and DLSU fans, and so I ended up in Goldilocks in Farmers' Plaza where I consumed Fresh Lumpia and Bola-bola Siopao.  Going back to Gateway where I intended to hail a cab, I noticed that Taco Bell had almost no more customers, and so I had a second dinner, hehe.

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          What a day!  I'm happy I came to watch.  I'm happy I met up with Paolo again after a long time.  I'm happy to meet two new friends both of whom I will never forget for as long as I live.  And I'm happy that the Blue Eagles finished the job!  Thank you for the great memories!

          One Big Fight!