New York Times Article: Ateneo-La Salle Rivalry

Got this from the New York Times:

A Nation’s Passion Lives in a Rivalry of Green vs. Blue
By RAPHAEL BARTHOLOMEW

QUEZON CITY, the Philippines, Sept. 21 — Senators, foreign diplomats, cabinet ministers, a smattering of Forbes’s 40 richest Filipinos, movie stars and enough professional basketball players to play five-on-five. They are the elite of Philippine society, and they all gather at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to watch the men’s basketball rivalry between the universities Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle.

La Salle Coach Franz Pumaren said, “The janitors in Araneta always say, ‘If there’s an Ateneo-La Salle game, once everybody’s out of the coliseum, it still smells good because of the all the socialites watching.’ ”

In the basketball-crazed Philippines, where former players have become senators and nearly every public square has its own court, it is hard to imagine a crowd like this assembling for any other event. Kristie A. Kenney, the United States ambassador, attended the season’s first meeting between Ateneo and La Salle in late July.

Ateneo and La Salle are the most prestigious private universities in the country. The question of which institution provides a superior education is a toss-up; the tie breakers take place on the basketball court.

Read the rest of the article here

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Honestly, and no offense to my Atenean friends and supporters, I was wondering why the article seems so biased until I read that tiny description about the writer: Raphael Bartholomew, who did research at Ateneo de Manila University and was an adjunct lecturer there, is writing a book about Philippine basketball.

Just a quick note on Mike Cortez and the game fixing allegations: I am not totally sure but the rumor might really have originated from a fellow La Sallian. However, I am more certain of this: the La Salle community continues to support "The Cool Cat". I was there when he was welcomed back on campus, as he was playing in the Alaska - TNT exhibition game at the DLSU Sports Center, several months after the UAAP finals and game fixing allegations. And I can only tell from experience.

And what's with the "squeaky-clean" image of Ateneo? I'm ready to admit about the swagger of DLSU players - or most UAAP players (not just La Salle, and including Ateneo) for that matter. I'd say each school has its share of bad apples. And please, that a player's surname is "Salamat" (meaning "thank you" in Tagalog) doesn't have anything to do with the school's image, in the same way that saying that the La Salle point guard's nickname is "TY" (Thank You), is frivolous and irrelevant.