It was Sunday afternoon, 3:00 when I just found myself standing at the entrance hall… of the Araneta Coliseum, waiting for my two other friends to arrive.
Oh yes…. I just said it right… A-R-A-N-E-T-A C-O-L-I-S-E-U-M Nobody knows how long I have waited for this opportunity to come… to get inside the big dome! Everytime we go to our province for vacation, the bus that we ride in always passes by the Araneta Coliseum, so with that, all I can do is to focus my eyes on it as it goes far and far to my sight,
But well, this day, I saw myself EXACTLY INSIDE THE ARANETA COLISEUM ITSELF! I was with my two other friends, which are both my blockmates in DLSU. We are about to watch the UAAP season 72 basketball game between our team, the DLSU Green Archers, against UST Growling Tigers, and we are watching it LIVE. ;P
We had already bought our tickets in DLSU prior to this day, so as my two friends arrived, since it was already 3:30 PM and the game was set to start at 4:00 PM, we immediately surrendered our tickets and got inside. But before I could get inside, our bags were inspected by the guard. He suspected from my bag the snack that I brought which was a chichiria (particularly “Cheese it!”) He told me that foods from outside are not allowed to be brought inside the coliseum, and so I had no choice but to just throw it straight to the thrash can. What a waste! But oh well, we got inside the coliseum, then.
We bought the upperbox A ticket which costs 150php, and so we climbed one stairs. Before we entered in the very inside where the basketball court is found, we took some pictures of ourselves first. Then we finally headed inside with full excitement, especially on my part because this was my only first time, while my companions have already experienced this before, As I walked further, I began to feel the cold environment since it is all air-conditioned inside. I began to hear the loud cheers from the audience. At the same time I began to hear the very loud drum rolls and beats. I tried to look at my left, then at my right, then on the other side… oh yeah… NOW I KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE HERE!
We were handed a pair of a inflated long green stuffs with “Animo La Salle” written on them. That was for free, so it was cool, so while our team is scoring, we can cheer with those! Cute!
We reached the last minutes of the first game before our game. It was between UE Red Warriors and AdU Soaring Falcons as we got inside. It was already 4th quarter of the game, but unfortunately, it even reached to an overtime. I was then hoping that game to be finished quickly. That game ended with UE winning it. We were actually hoping for AdU to win because they would have to, based on the current standings. But anyway, the game’s over, so it’s our team’s turn!
As the seats were vacated by most of the AdU students and left the coliseum, we quickly looked for seats where we could view the game comfortably the most. Then while waiting for the game to begin, we had some picture-picture moments on our seats. Not long after…
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your UAAP season 72. And now here are the starting line-up for the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers! (loud cheers from the ustenians) And now here are the starting line-up for the De La Salle University Green Archers!
And we were on our feet, cheering loud along with the other Lasallians!
As the players flocked the court, I began to stare closely at the players. Simon Atkins, who is known to be our most handsome player, was part of our team’s starting five. With his very white skin color and muscular body, despite being not so tall, he’s oh yeah really handsome in personal! Woo!
As the jump ball was held and the ball started to move, I began to feel the pressure within me. Suddenly, the drum rolls cheering for both UST and us were heard simultaneously, depending on which team was currently winning at the moment. The pep squads standing near to us never looked at any single part of the game, while they were performing the different Lasallian cheers, engaging us, the viewers, to cheer. I wondered about that, until my friend sitting beside me explained to me that the reason behind is that for them not to be distracted in engaging or making us cheer, and they will keep doing the cheers even though the team is not winning at the moment. Wow, that was a new realization to me, huh?
The 1st quarter ended with UST leading us by just a single digit, while the 2nd quarter ended, and halftime went on with UST leading us with a bigger difference. During halftime break, the cheering squads of both UST and DLSU showed some performances. I actively participated in cheering with the Animo squad. It was also fantastic to see those girls being thrown to the air really high LIVE. It was the best part for me.
Then the 3rd quarter began, and this was the particular quarter wherein our seats almost swallowed our butts because UST kept on scoring, and we were not making points any longer, until UST’s lead reached to as high as 21. The UST students on the other side kept cheering louder and louder and in a very synchronized way, along with the drum beats. Go, uste! Go uste! Go uste! Go, go, go, go! While us on the other hand, were all quiet during that moment. I was even planning not to finish the game and just leave the coliseum already. I began to whisper with my friends beside, “hay talo na ito.”
Not until 4th quarter began wherein we suddenly tend to catch up to the game, as we tied the score 74-74. Then we scored and scored and on the last minutes of the game, we held on getting even farther, and we won the game! We could not even believe we did because we were totally dumped by UST earlier, and all of sudden we won. We quickly stood on our feet and even hugged ourselves really tight. Then along with the DLSU players, we sang the Alma Mater Hymn. While I was singing, I really felt the pride of being the victorious side in a particular game. And as I sang loudly the part, “Hail! Hail! Hail!” and threw my closed fist to the air, that was the only time that I truly felt proud… of being a Lasallian, that somehow, I can finally tell I am a Lasallian… by heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment