UST Growling Tigers: Season 69 Champs
I had time to reflect on the story of the 69 Seniors Basketball Champs, The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. For them it was a Miracle Season and I just had to enumerate why I thought it was so.
At the Start of the Season:
1. Their last championship was 10 years ago.
2. Their last finals appearance was in 1999, where with a very talented line up they got beaten by a Hail Mary 3pt shot from DLSU’s Dino Aldeguer who is not known as a reliable 3 pt shooter
3. This year they had a rookie coach, previous to that no coach could seem to last more than a season running with them.
4. Their team was filled with Sophomores and their main go to guy at the post was a 20 year old rookie, who was once relegated to Team B because of his weight problems.
5. They lost an able veteran in J. Vizcarra to a season ending injury in the 2nd(?) round
6. One or two of their players were always sick during a game
7. After the first round they had a 2-4 record and they crashed into third place of the Final Four with 6 wins total.
In the Final Four:
1. They had to knock off the 2nd best team in the league in two games
2. The team team they were up against employed a very tiring pressure defense the entire length of a game.
2. All games against UE were closely fought (79-75 and 82-81)
At the Finals:
1. Their rival’s coach is their coach’s former pro coach (who benched him a lot)… oh and he had PBA championships under his belt.
2. The team they were going up against in the finals whipped their asses big time during the season.
3. The team they were going up against had the best small forward in the league, not to mention also one of the top Power Forward, Shooting Guard and Point Guard.
4. The team they were going up against had the best record in the League…
5. The team they were going up against consistently entered the Final Four since 2000.
6. The team had a heartbreaking loss in the first game of the Finals with a 1 sec undergoal stab made by Doug Kramer who they left unguarded.
7. In game 3, a few minutes remaining in the fourth quarter they lost your their main scorers to fouls(Cruz and Evangelista)
If that doesn’t make a good recipe for a storybook ending, I don’t know what will? Definitely something that should be turned into a DVD…hehehe. Coach Pido was saying that he felt that the finals was “No Pressure” on them… after what they went through to to get to the championship game… the next steps were like a walk in the park…
The pressure however will be on them next year as the Defending Champs, everybody will want what they have. However, with an almost intact line-up (Evangelista and Vizcarra are the only ones graduating) for next year, things are definitely peachy for them. Not to mention the marketing power that they will have for this years fresh batch of recruits, there’s nothing like a title to defend that will help attract great players from the highschool ranks…
[source]
When I was in the Philippines last June, I met Fr. Franklin Beltran, OP on a plane from Tuguegarao City to Manila. Fr. Franklin was the most basketball active Dominican when I was a seminarian at the UST Central Seminary. He is the former sports coordinator of Letran during the time of Samboy Lim and he was the PE Director of UST during the high school days of Marlou Aquino and EJ Feihl. When I played as a Varsity of the Central Seminary (known as ECCLE in the intramurals), he was the manager of the College of Education Varsity. When, I asked him how the UST Tigers will fare on this year’s UAAP Basketball, he said “they will surprise everybody”.
And so, the Tigers have, indeed, surprised everybody. From the cellar of the first round eliminations (they were at the bottom because one after the other, the great players were either sick or injured) they rose to 3rd for the final four. They have already made Thomasians like me proud by securing the no. 3 spot. At the Final Four play-offs, all the more they surprised everybody by beating the favored UE Warriors which enjoyed a twice to beat privilege. Reaching the Finals was already quite an achievement for a team that was never expected by experts to be part of the final four casts.
Game 1 showed the inexperience of the young squad as they bungled a won game with that last one second defensive lapse as they lost 73-72. But in game two, they have proven that they are in the Finals not by sheer luck by clobbering the Blue Eagles 87-71. The game 3 overtime win has proven all pundits wrong. They bagged the Crown with a 76-74 win over the Blue Eagles. This UAAP Championship will be one for the books. It has all the elements of a classic that basketball fans will savor years and decades from now. It was a real Cinderella finish for a young team with a Rookie coach- Pido Jarencio who during his time as a Goldie (the tigers were Goldies at that time) was not able to bring the gold as a lonesome hero of the then UST Goldies in 1984 in a classic match with UE’s Allan Caidic for the 1984 UAAP Finals.
The win brought the old glory we savored during the four-peat years from1993-1996. I was lucky to be at the UST Central Seminary in those years. I remember going from one Dominican priest to another to ask for most sought after UAAP Championship tickets in all of those years. There was even a time when I had to buy a ringside ticket from the driver of Dennis Espino. But it was Fr. Virgilio Ojoy, OP, the UST Secretary-General at that time, who pampered us with ringside tickets.
I can imagine the Thomasians having a grand victory party at the UST Grounds at this very moment. During the four-peat years, there were roasted calves and packed dinner in each victory celebration. As they celebrate, I am sure they are shouting these cheers over and over again till their voices become hoarse:
GO USTE
Go USTe! Go USTe! Go USTe!Go! Go! Go! Go! (4x)(2x clap) U(2x clap) S(2x clap) T(2x clap) UST Tigers! 1, 2, 3, 4(5x clap) U(5x clap) S(5x clap) T(5x clap) UST TIGERS!
BLACK GOLD BLACK WHITE
L - Black Gold, Black WhiteA - Black Gold, Black WhiteL - Black Gold, Black WhiteA - Black Gold, Black WhiteBlack Gold (clap 2x)Black White (clap 2x)Black Gold (clap), Black White (clap)Go Fight, Fight, FightGo Fight (clap 2x) and win (clap 2x) for U (clap) S(clap) T(clap 3x) FIGHT!
SANTO TOMAS SPELLING
L - Santo Tomas SpellingA - Santo Tomas SpellingL - Santo Tomas Spelling - Santo Tomas Spelling Ready 1, 2, 3 (clap)S-A-N-T-O T-O-M-A-S Santo Tomas Fight!
VIVA SANTO TOMAS
VIVA SANTO TOMAS!!
We are the Tigers the mighty, mighty TigersWe came to cheerAnd to win it with no fear (3x)We are the Tigers the mighty, mighty TigersWe came to cheer 1, 2, 3And to win it with no fear
P-P-O P-O-W-E-R the POWER the TIGER POWER Whooh!
And lastly they will be singing this Hymn with great pride:
UST HYMN
God of all nations
Merciful Lord of our restless being
Sweep with your golden lilies
This fountain of purest light
Trace with the sails of the galleons
The dream beyond our seeing
Touch with the flame of your kindness
The gloom of our darkest night
Keep us in beauty and truth and virtues impassioned embrace
Ever your valiant legions
Imbued with unending grace
Congratulations to coach Pido and the Tigers and also to the Tigresses for winning the women’s championship too.
That’s a great post Father!