The madding crowd

From Business Mirror / TESSA JAZMINES / PART OF THE GAME

At the height of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Finals best of three in September, a fan beside me remarked that the Ateneo crowd is simply overpowering. No other crowd in the university league can outnumber them, he said. No other gallery can outshout, outyell or outfox them. They are noisy, can be haughty, and they’re quick to pounce on referees or player opponents whom they perceive to have made bad calls or bad moves, respectively.

“What stumps me about Ateneo is how they manage to get the number of tickets that they do!” the fan continued, as she surveyed the blue that overflowed into areas that should have been Far Eastern University green-and-yellow. “I know only one other crowd that can give the Ateneo crowd a good fight in all departments. San Beda.”

I zoned out and thought of a San Beda game in progress. Especially one against the Red Lions’ choicest opponents: Letran, Jose Rizal University and, yes, San Sebastian by the Great Blue Yonder, a San Beda game will make you feel like you’re swimming in the Red Sea.

“These two teams should meet,” the fan continued, amid all the bathos of that championship game. “For sure there’s going to be pandemonium. They are mirror images of each other.”

My thought balloon: You’re right on the dot, fan. One such explosive meeting ultimately led to Ateneo’s transfer to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines over 20 years ago. Why? Because the crowds of these two schools are two of the proudest, most committed, most passionate fans ever. And sometimes that can be too much of a good thing.

In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in those days, Ateneo crowd plus San Beda crowd equals heat and a mushroom cloud explosion. The heat got so in one championship game in 1977-78 that the fans erupted in spontaneous combustion. The free-for-all spilled over from the stands to the parking lot where fans—and vehicles—got hurt. The game was stopped. A replay was ordered. However, that season’s championship game between Ateneo and San Beda was played behind closed doors. No fans, no cheering squads, no excitement, no fun. Ateneo eventually severed its ties to the NCAA and later joined the UAAP. San Beda, for its part, also withdrew, then rejoined the league, but suffered a drought of championships until its glorious resurrection in 2006.

“I can just change the color of the shirts they’re wearing and, yeah, this Ateneo crowd could well be the San Beda crowd,” the fan went on. (Was she watching the game at all?) “Look at all the alumni here,” she said. “It’s the same thing in a San Beda game; it’s the alumni who corner all the tickets so students like us can’t get tickets anywhere.”

“Isa pa, the alumni of both schools behave worse than the students. They’re more rabid, sila pa ’yung nagmumura. Shouldn’ it be they who should set the example for the younger generation?”

She notes even more parallels—supporters of both schools also come armed to the teeth when they watch their ball games: face paint, cheering streamers, jeering streamers, blue blood pumping and red hearts worn prominently, figuratively, on their sleeves. Audiences span the generations—from toddlers to veterans in wheelchairs—no gap exists. Fists pump and animo is unleashed by chanting or singing the ol’ school cheers. Will these two schools ever face each other again?

The Blue Eagles left the “NC” with 14 seniors titles, and the most number of double championships in the league. San Beda College is the only team that was on a par with Ateneo during their joint existence in the NCAA. Today, San Beda leads all other teams with 29 basketball titles, followed by Colegio de San Juan de Letran with 26.

Yesterday the Red Lions rode off on another quest for glory. This time to avenge their loss last year to who is now their archenemy in the NCAA, the San Sebastian-Recoletos Stags. The Lions did not just look to add another championship to their leonine crown, they also hoped to establish another NCAA record—an 18-game winning streak that has never yet been accomplished in the league. That is, if they are able to sweep the Finals series against the tough Stags and get bragging rights to roar in the Mendiola-Legarda jungle once again.

For sure the Beda faithful was there in full force, claiming three-fourths of the Coliseum, the way they did when they won that historic 28 at 78 in 2006. For sure they colored the Big Dome red—inside, outside, all sides, from Gateway to Ali Mall to Farmers Market and beyond.

I wonder if the Stags had been able to gather enough of a crowd to match the Red Lions’ legion, nose for nose. Frankly, I think only Ateneo has the numbers.

So. What I’d give to see another Red vs. Blue encounter in the collegiate league the way it was in the old days. I think the San Beda fan in an Ateneo game feels the same way. Will the two teams with the most impressive championship records in both leagues ever meet again? The dream just won’t die.