2008 YEAR ENDER

2008 is a year that is hard to forget to me. So many events and so many great things to remember that I think a year ender would be good enough to summarize the year.

MHEL'S STORY OF THE YEAR

Ateneo in a Basketball Grandslam. The only thing that can beat what the Ateneo has achieved this year is for them to do it again next year. It is the year when the Ateneo Basketball program of Coach Norman black finally came to play. TEAM Ateneo not only captured the Senior’s and Junior’s Title , they added the prestigious SBP title and National SBP Title as well.

ATENEO wins UAAP Senior’s Basketball Title

I remember Chris Tiu saying during the team launch that their team is ready and he ranks themselves as number 1 in the UAAP. Well talk about being humble, there was nothing wrong with what he said and if you look at it he was correct after all. This team has learned from their previous mistakes the past two seasons as Chris and Jai ably complemented the break out season of UAAP MVP Rabah Al-Husaini. The Blue Eagles were a sight to behold as their

FULL STORY of Game 2: http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/09/ateneo-wins-4th-uaap-title.html

ATENEO wins UAAP Junior’s Basketball Title

The only thing that made the win anticlimactic was that they did not win it against the defending champs DLS-Z. But like what they say, a win is a win no matter who you win it against. This team also learned from their sorry finals loss last year as Seniors Juami Tiongson, JV Dumrique and Ivan Enriquez took turns in leading their team to victory. This is the first double championship since 1976!

Full Story of Game 2: http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/09/blue-eaglets-regain-juniors-title.html

ATENEO wins Small Basketeers of the Philippines Title

A day after winning the UAAP Jrs. Title, the young eaglets fought with their hearts as the taller Xavierians and host school, came back from a 14 point deficit but ran out of steam. This team had a good blend of players who will hopefully make a mark with Team Ateneo in the future.

http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/10/ateneo-gs-bring-home-sbp-title.html

ATENEO wins SBP National Title

Mozzy Ravena, the mother of Thirdy Ravena said that the Ateneo SBP team will have a hard time repeating as champions since the team is so small. When the Nationals went underway in Iloilo they were in for a surprise as the Ateneo de Davao team paraded a team with one player standing 5’10 and two others standing 5’8. Total team aeffort carried the Manila team as they captured their second SBP National Title.

Full Story : http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/11/admu-wins-back-to-back-national-sbp.html

LET DOWN OF THE YEAR:

These three Blogs constitute the biggest letdown or news that I got this year.

The Olympians place second, crash during PCCL Finals

After beating the mighty San Sebastian College Cavite Baycats in game 1 of the NAASCU Championship with three significant players not playing, everyone thought that the Olympians will win back to back titles and make it back to the Philippine Collegiate Championships where they gained notoriety last year. Unfortunately for the Olympians, luck run out on them as they got blown away in Game 2 and missed 23 free throws in Game 3. That gave the Baycats the title. In the wildcard phase the Olympians lost twice by two points and bombed out of the PCCL. Hope that they recover their bearings by the 9^th NAASCU Season. Story of Game 3 : http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/10/baycats-new-naascu-champs.html

Ateneo vs DLSU PBA Challenge

Well, it was just like seeing basketball players just playing and not thinking of their school colors. The teams were composed mainly of the 2001 DLSU Champion team and the 2002 Ateneo Champion team. Watching this game was a mistake. Fullstory: http://mhelgarrido.blogspot.com/2008/03/ateneo-vs-la-salle-in-pba.

Lady Eagles bomb out as Coach John goes out

Let us remember where we were before and where we started. This is what Coach John Flores would always tell his players as the Lady Eagles he once coached started from the bottom of the UAAP Women’s basketball tournament and methodically made their way up the ladder. The result was two final fours, one finals loss and two UAAP titles. Not bad since the Seniors only had three titles. After his success the Ateneo management through the Lady Eagles sacked their coach. The result was a disastrous as the Lady Eagles bombed out of the final four after the incident. Side Story from Rick Olivares: http://bleachersbrew.blogspot.com/2008/01/coach-takes-flight.html