I started writing about way back, filing stories about the UP Fighting Maroons for an old incarnation of Peyups.com. With the new UAAP season opening this Saturday, I unearthed an old article I wrote in 2003, a running diary of the league's opening.

I'm posting it now for a couple of reasons: it's fun to look at how my writing has changed (or hasn't changed) since eight years go, and it fits in well because Ateneo is hosting this season again.

A few more notes:

- I was totally ripping off Bill Simmons in this diary, something I would freely admit, except no one called me out because he wasn't the sportswriting superstar he is today, and not as many people read him back then.

- A couple of interesting figures turn up in the diary: play-by-play guy Jude Turcuato, who was really the first mainstream media person who gave this blog the time of day, and analyst Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio, who needs no introduction to readers of this website. Funny how these things work out.

- The Karl in the article is the owner of Peyups.com; he's now one-half of the famous wedding photography tandem Mimi and Karl.

- While it's not exactly excellent writing, I still enjoyed my gratuitous potshots at Ateneo.

Oh, sorry, *the* Ateneo.

Enjoy.

Continue reading "A blast from Peyups past: My running diary of the UAAP opening day 2003"

Season 74 of the UAAP tips off in a couple of months, and once again all the attention and resources will be on the men’s basketball tournament. But while alumni boosters and sponsors literally pour in hundreds of millions of pesos into college basketball in the country, athletes from other sports have had to settle for scraps.

These include, unfortunately, the University of the Philippines Men’s Football Team, which was crowned champion of the UAAP football tournament in Season 73. I came across this letter on Facebook asking for help in order to supplement the team’s meager resources:

Continue reading "The UP Men’s Football Team needs help"

“The 2011 UAAP Football Champs were the same guys who helped Rock Ed load relief goods for North Luzon in 09. Matagal na silang champyon para sa ‘kin. Bravo, UP!”

-- Gang Badoy, founder of RockEd on the UP football team, which went undefeated in the UAAP football season

Haven’t done this in a while, but before we get to the bullets, I enjoyed this comment from reader Jowana Bueser last week:

Have you seen Kris Aquino's Dalaw? Just bothered with Diether Ocampo's role as her husband. Seems like potshots against James Yap. He's the almost spineless, not so good with English husband who earns less than his better-educated wife.

Okaay. On to the bullets:

Continue reading "Wednesday bullets, starring Jeron Teng, Jerry Codiñera, Younghusbands and Dalaw"

A popular chorus among lazy sportswriters is that the PBA is a dying league, a gem that has lost its luster. They rattle off the reasons: the PBA’s gate attendance is on the downturn,¹ the TV ratings are down,² and fan interest is dwindling.³

Continue reading "Is the UAAP a dying league?"

Quinito Henson’s article last week about the UP Fighting Maroons profiled the management committee of the team: Chitong Rivera, Bert Mendoza, and Jake Castro. Calling them “distinguished,” Quinito argued that even though the Maroons finished winless, the three men would continue on fighting.

Continue reading "Meet the clowns behind UP’s 0-14 record"

The video says it all:

Continue reading "Congratulations to the UP Pep Squad, the 2010 UAAP Cheerdance Competition champion"

Photo: iamvishnu.multiply.com

As a UP alumnus, I am most looking forward to tomorrow’s UAAP Cheerdance Competition, an event wherein, unlike basketball, UP actually fares well. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about cheerdance, so I can’t really write an informed piece about it. (Then again, you could argue that I know next to nothing about basketball, but that never stopped me from writing about games. Hehehe.)

Continue reading "UAAP Cheerdance Preview"

I was laughing out loud while reading comments by Air 21 team manager Allan Gregorio denying that his team had any plans to trade its top draft picks. “The top rookies will stay. A lot of people thought Al-Hussaini’s comments may have fueled talks that he might be traded. But no. No less than our chairman, Mr. Lina, gave the orders that these rookies will stay and become the cornerstone of our franchise,” he told GMANews.TV.

Continue reading "Air 21 team manager Allan Gregorio is the Val Sotto of the Gregorio clan"

It’s a common chorus that people from UP do not care about basketball, which is not exactly accurate. The school has had tremendous contributions to Philippine basketball the past few years, despite the lack of success of the Fighting Maroons due to a lack of star players. Consider: 3 of the 10 coaching positions in the Philippine Basketball Association are occupied by UP alumni. That’s 30 percent of the most coveted jobs in the country, considering that every guy who watches PBA basketball wants to be the fucking coach of his favorite PBA team, and he’d gladly tell you why if you check out his posts in your favorite Internet basketball forum.

Continue reading "The UP Fighting Maroons have their own coaching mess"