FEU attempts to complete UAAP treble today

The quest to replicate their UAAP treble is on the minds of Far Eastern University as they go on the field for the finals in men's and women's football today at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Kicking things off will be the women's final between the Lady Tamaraws and the University of the Philippines.

Both teams ended up level on points at the end of the eliminations, but the Lady Maroons ended on top of the standings with a superior goal difference, thanks to the efforts up front by national team standout Cristina delos Reyes and youth standouts Mary Rose Obra and Kali Navea-Huff.

Under the leadership of Anto Gonzales, UP is seeking its first-ever UAAP crown, while FEU under Let Dimzon is looking to annex its third straight title, fourth in the last five years, and tenth overall.

Season 75 MVP Barbie Sobredo will lead the defending champions, who also have veterans like Alesa Dolino and Amita sisters (Analou and Jenelyn) to counter against that offense.

After the women's final, the men take to the field, with La Salle seeking to deny FEU a chance to defend their crown while ending their 17-year title drought.

DLSU managed to make a return trip to the finals for the first time in almost a decade by downing rivals Ateneo, 1-0, last week. The Green Booters remained unbeaten after Gelo Diamante's 88th minute strike. Head coach Hans Smit, believes that the squad "needs to be ready, mentally and psychologically" to be able to win the school's fifth title.

Goalkeeper Paeng de Guzman will be tasked to foil the goal-scoring exploits of Eric Giganto, Arnel Amita, and Jesus Melliza, who combined to score 39 goals in the eliminations. Helping him with this responsibility are defenders Matthew Nierras, Nico Villacin, Noel Brago, Greggy Yang, and Gerald Layumas.

FEU, on the other hand, needed extra time to upend UP, 1-0, in the other semifinal, as Amita scored the lone goal of the match on a rebound off his missed penalty in the 99th minute, keeping their hopes of defending their title alive.

The Manila Jeepney midfielder believes that due to the relative easy accessibility of Rizal Memorial to La Salle, the Green Booters would have a distinct homefield advantage. He adds that their finals opponent is also very strong on both sides of the ball, but they will continue to attack and never surrender.

Both games will be telecast LIVE on ABS-CBN Sports and Action, starting at 2pm.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the first step of securing the treble was successfully made, as the Baby Tamaraws overcame a couple of obstacles to secure a hotly-contested 2-1 win over Ateneo at the artificial turf field of FEU-Diliman and successfully defend their Juniors crown.

The younger Blue Booters went ahead eight minutes in, as Jodi Layug scored the opening goal of the match eight minutes in. The boys of head coach JP Merida would even get a personnel advantage after Nickael Ferrer was sent off for a foul in the first half.

However, Gio Pabualan tied the game for the Baby Tamaraws just before the break. Mark Arranguez would then put the soon-to-be five-time champions ahead in the 61st minute.

Ateneo tried to find an equalizer, but they were unable to convert those scoring opportunities from the likes of Jarvey Gayoso.

The closer it got to the end, the more intense the game got, with both sides getting a player sent off in the dying minutes, ending up with a 10-on-9 matchup, and with both benches and crowds incensed at the officiating.

In the end, the boys of Kim Chul Su were able to retain the championship, which is their fifth in the brief history of the Juniors tournament.

NU completes UAAP dominance in lawn tennis

The Patrimonio siblings ensured National University will take home the tennis crown in UAAP Season 77 this past weekend at the Olivarez Sports Center.

The Lady Bulldogs swept their way to the championship, making quick work of UST, 3-0, to sweep the finals, 2-0, at the Paranaque facility.

Clarice, who was named as this season's MVP, defeated Macy Gonzales, 6-2 6-2 in the first singles, while Hannah Espinosa and Junnelyn Polito took care of Lenelyn Milo and April Santos, 6-2 6-1 in the first doubles. Tin, on the other hand, clinched the trophy with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Kendies Malinis in the second singles.

It was during the previous week that their male counterparts, led by MVP Fritz Verdad, took home the championship with a perfect 11-0 season and 33 straight match victories.

Scapegoating Aljon?

I took that from Aljon Mariano's Twitter account (@aljonmariano), because it is the right and appropriate decision to do.

Scapegoating is the natural response mechanism for us whenever something goes wrong, resulting in an outcome that is not ideal.

This is especially true in sports, when one miscue could lead to a totally different outcome. Could even cost you your life, when you think about it.



Mariano had been going through a rough stretch offensively, which statistically can be taken back to as far as their 2nd round meeting against DLSU. This was made more apparent in the past two games of the Finals, due to the mismatch of having to deal with the Hefty Lefty in Jason Perkins and even Norbert Torres when DLSU went into their Twin Tower combo with Arnold Van Opstal.

But the forward wanted to help UST win. He already bailed them out before.



But he was struggling from the field shooting. He missed all of his attempts. So this happened with over six seconds left in regulation, with the Tigers having the opportunity to clinch a championship.



At least he can still redeem himself, right? Unfortunately, this happened.



And you know what immediately happened afterwards.



Almond Vosotros' baseline jumper gave La Salle the last lead change in the game. Scanning through the timeline DURING the game (and this was before the two "miscues") was not very flattering for Mariano, what more when he audibled on the final play of regulation as well as when he threw the ball away. One might say, it was very vitriolic, made magnified by the circumstance.

I think it is natural and human that we have a need to point to someone as the one who caused this pain and suffering. It is instinctive. However, we can't hold a grudge like that forever. You can express such hate, but just on that "heat of the moment" portion.

Aljon understood that well. That is probably why, I guess, it took him THAT long to reappear on social media. He allowed everyone to express their emotion, their passion and their love for the alma mater; and allowed himself to think, reflect on the moment, understand and appreciate things. If they are hard on you, what more you are to yourself? One can't really imagine that unless you yourself felt it. And when you do, you got the meaning and its significance. The better thing is that he acknowledged his faults and vowed to bounce back from them. Meaning, he didn't shirk from the moment. That is an admirable and teachable moment.

In the post-Chris Lao ("I'm not informed") era, we sometimes overstep the boundaries and enter into some kind of cyberbullying. We ought to recognize that this does happen, normally unwittingly thanks to the "heat of the moment," but when you now know that you do, one should acknowledge it and publicly let it go and accept fate. He accepted it. We should and ought to, as well.