quick question....

you know that the school year is over when.....

a. the department chairs are frantically trying to observe everyone in their department.
b. you receive your committee assignment for the school year's graduation/closing ceremonies.
c. attending the championshiop matches of tiong lian basket ball league....a.k.a.mmtlba or somethin'
d. all of the above

well, waddya know...any true blooded xavier faculty who's been here long enough know that the answer is D....op kors, op kors....eniwey, i'd rather not talk about the department chairs, nor graduation...let's talk about basketball...one indicator that i'm actually a papa's girl is my love for the game. i remember watching PBA games shown on channel 4 and of course hoping against hope that crispa will win over toyota...yeah, i belong to the any team "basta wag lang si jaworski fans club".

so it was not even a surprise that i became an active supporter and spectator of the sport. i mean, me, the girl from uste coming from a rare sweep in the UAAP. but enough of the basketball tradition that i came form.actually, what got me involved in basketball was Fatima, who in turn was really good friend of the Mutucs. Ronnie Mutuc, on the other hand coaches SBP, these little kids from grades 3 to 6 playing, in my students' words, midget basketball....hehehe... and so early mornings of saturdays and sundays, we find ourselves waking up early to go to school so we can ride with the bus in going to, say, Ateneo, San Beda or even that school in Alabang! since there's not much traffic, we'd be early enough to grab breakfast from wherever.....and of course after the game, we get invited by the parents to lunch especially if our team wins...which was really really often. And since this happened about 10 years ago, i have boys, nay, young men, literally growing up in front of my eyes as i am always invited to their games. either by their parents or by the boys themselves....mahiritan ka ba naman ng, for old times sake, gaya ng dati, mga alaga mo naman kami and all that....

let's take this newly crowned tiong lian juniors team. in spite and despite of the distance, the lateness and the anticipated gruelling trying to wake up ritual the following morning, i just had to watch their championship games. Imagine, most of these kids, i was with since they were in grade 3...and now they're high 4! i remember kevin "joey boy" chong who used to eat 2 platters of rice every meal hence the monicker joey boy from that royal commercial.....i also remember the debut of charles tiu, who's first basket was reminscent of his older brother's shooting style...to the delight of his dad who shared to us that he'd have to literally drag charles so that he'd practice with him...in the same league was Andre "A2" Co, so named because there was another andre in the squad and who happened to be the youngest son of my basketball idol, Atoy Co. A2 used to sleep with his head on my lap as we go from ateneo to someplace where we can have lunch. poor kid was so exhausted from playing ball he sleeped as soon as the coaster started moving. Woodward "Woody" Co on the other hand, started playing when he was in grade 4 and we knew he'll go places because he's got "it". Later on, other players became closer to me because i became their teacher in either grade 6 or 7. Irvin Cristae "IC" Sta Maria, a very promising point impressed me alot when he was in grade 7 because wanting to graduate with highest honors, opted to sit out his last basketball season in grade school in order to do just that. of course, he did graduate with a gold medal and was even asked to lead the Xavier Pledge, an honor that is not easily bestowed to any graduating student.

And so it was truly a very poignant moment to see these students of mine, active in the basketball court, trying to be as composed as possible in order to snag the much coveted title of tiong lian champion. one would think that this league is the "IT" league, never mind SBP-Pasarelle, PAYA, ISSA and all the others. To some extent, yes. even as a mere spectator, i can feel that the school, particularly the alumni, gives their support...the busses, the cheering paraphernalia, the presence of dance x and x squad....but hey, it IS the premier filipino-chinese basketball league. To win in this league is a laurel in anyone's cap and i am truly, truly proud that once again, it rests on the heads of these valiant xaverians.

and so, as this basketball season draws to a close, i take my hats off to these kids, who one upon a time slept on my lap, ate tons of rice and had to be dragged by his dad to practice the sport but in the end, are victorious. thanks guys for returning the glory back to xavier school. here's hoping that the jubillee team next year will repeat this outstanding feat!