Waiting to exhale

In the old format before the Final Four, it was the winners of the first and second rounds that went up against each other for the championship. The tie for each round is broken with a playoff. And a sweep is the end of the story, as is winning both rounds. Thus, in this system, the second round was seen as a fresh start, the equivalent of the computer “reboot” to unclog the bugs. With the current scheme, the win-loss record is cumulative and so the second round is merely a continuation of the first, though it gives each team a second chance to avenge the results of the first encounter, or have the same result repeated.

Yesterday was the first play date of the second round. And the first game had a revenge theme while the second game had the boiled frog showing signs of a resurrection in the last minute and 20 seconds, but finally dropping back into the pot. Improbably, the comfortable 14-point lead of the Blue Eagles coming into the last minute and a half of the game suddenly looked shaky. In one ten-second burst in this last segment, with fouls and intentionally missed foul shots rebounded, the Red Warriors scored 7 points (with one trey in that salvo). The final score showed a five-point win for the Eagles.

Well, folks, that’s what big leads are for.

UE also tried these last-minute heroics in their last game with FEU which was leading by 20 late in the second half. It didn’t work there either and the final score was even much closer with their main man getting thrown out and suspended for this game with the Blue Eagles.

Let’s not get too exercised about the collapse of the defense, as if the Roman Empire crumbled. These adrenaline-fueled rallies in the last minute seldom work, especially when the fouls to stop the clock result in made shots, six in succession in this one. The frenzied dying minute and a half should not detract from the great game of Rabah at 30 points and 12 rebounds. Even fans sometimes forget that he was last year’s MVP and this game served as a good memory jogger.

In this eighth game of the season, the Final Four hopes are justifiably rising. Let’s keep the goal short-term for now. To borrow the title of a 1992 book of Terry McMillan made into a movie in 1995; we are “waiting to exhale”. We are figuratively holding our breaths for the rest of the round and what ups and downs it may bring. Again, as in the first round, it is the strong teams that face us in the first three games, starting with UE yesterday and then on Sunday against DLSU (yes, they still qualify for that modifier “strong”, maybe even dangerous, since their adrenaline seems to go on overdrive when they see feathers) and the following Sunday with the talented UST team. We will exhale in due time, sometime in the first week of October, hopefully with some fire burning in a pile on the field, with the wood not featuring any names this time.

As we learned from recent experience, there are really no teams to underestimate. DLSU in the first game had its own version of our Maroon Swoon. Let’s remember that there are still six teams left in the elimination round.

The statistics for the game against the Red Warriors should give comfort. Four players scored in double figures, with Nico Salva playing like the first team. Our MVP played his MVP game with his monster presence. Does a sprain always improve his disposition? (Hey, don’t step on his foot to check it out.) Rabah was cool and moving well without the ball. How about that aerial pass from Kirk Long that was turned into a balletic finger roll?

I don’t understand the characterization of tight games as “ugly wins” or squeakers, or narrowly surviving a rally, or eking out a victory. If there is such a thing as a half-point win, I’ll take it and never mind how graceless the exit became. There are only two categories in most sports: a win or a loss. Only in chess or football do you get a draw. In basketball, the game does not end until one team has a higher score than the other. And for 7 of the last 8 games, the Blue Eagles managed, sometimes with a blowout, sometimes needing an extra five minutes of overtime, sometimes as in this case with five points that was 18 points up in half time…to end up with wins.

A win is a win. And a loss is a loss. Losing four games with a margin of less than four is still losing four games. Period.

Are you ready for Sunday’s game? This fluke in the first-round ranking which determines the second round scheduling improbably pits the Blue and the Green in two succeeding Sundays. Usually, these two games are spread apart to allow the adrenaline to seep back into the system and for injuries to body and soul to heal.

But here it is again, “the game” and this time with the school colors in full glory. Here too, I’m just hoping for a win of any kind. I watch the game not for beauty, grace, and the ascent to an aesthetic Everest—I’ll go to a ballet for that. For a college game, I just want a simple win, whether it is a one-point buzzer beater (not good for the heart patients though) or a twenty-point blowout is irrelevant. Although, one has to admit that the latter option allows a short visit to the restroom in the fourth quarter and possibly a conversation with one’s seatmate on the prospects of the presidential candidates that have not yet declared with some “get that ball” cheering in between.

As for the win over UE, I can only wonder why this team does not exercise its heroics, with six minutes to go rather than just a minute and a half. But, I’m not complaining.

I will definitely wear blue on Sunday and hoping it will be the dominant color.