The Blind Side
alim@theguidon.com
In the second to last round of games of the UAAP football season, I was sitting at the Erenchun field witnessing yet another mediocre performance by the Blue Booters. Behind me was a noisy group of guys—with no care about the game unraveling before them—raving about how nice the Blue Booters’ cleats were.
That day, when the boys in Blue walked off the field in defeat, the consolation was that, in glory or in defeat, at least Ateneo teams always look good. This was a reputation that the Ateneo golf team worked hard to brush off. Until last year’s triple championship season, these gentlemen in Blue always finished bridesmaid to La Salle, and were ridiculed as the pretty boys who could not deliver.
All form and no substance—that is the reputation starting to linger around about Ateneo teams.
But while some Ateneo Teams are able to walk the talk, underneath the nice uniforms, and the big Nike sponsorship deal, is an inconsistent and slightly dysfunctional athletic system that produces under par results.
With the disappointing Nike sponsorship deal, a shameful football season—which has led some players to consider quitting their respective teams—and coaching incompatibilities, athletes have began to speak up, uncovering some problems that most outside the community of athletes have no knowledge of.
Fact: Ateneo has never won a UAAP general championship. The closest to the podium the Blue and White have stood was fourth. While La Salle has also yet to garner the accolade, the school has made more progress than the Katipunan-based squad. In the last three years, the Green Archers have finished second to UST—this is in spite of their disqualification from the UAAP in 2006.
The Ateneo athletic program has no tangible excuses. There is funding, there are facilities, and for the most part, there are good coaches. Indeed, recruitment is always an issue that arises in discussing the school’s performance in some sports, as Ateneo’s strict academic requirements have prevented several talented athletes from donning the Blue and White. But, the University Athletics Office has always known that academics are a non-negotiable, so why haven’t its officials devised a method to work around it?
Thus, is this reason enough to excuse the fact that in all Ateneo’s 36 years in the UAAP, the school has not won a single general championship, let alone broken the top three?
The greater issue to address is equality. The athletic system should not operate with a double standard when it comes to its treatment to other teams. In the realm of men’s football, how is it that in season 71 we let go of the UAAP’s rookie of the year, and also of the Blue Booter’s highest scorer due to their failure to meet academic requirements; but yet, there are some athletes that linger around campus that have perhaps not even made the bare minimums, or don’t attend classes?
