by Jasmine W. Payo
Source: INQUIRER.net | September 20, 2008
http://www.ngetstudio.com/UAAP/news/?id=5733
It's a rivalry reminiscent of another fabled feud from yesteryear.
In many ways -- for Ateneo coach Norman Black and La Salle mentor Franz Pumaren, at least -- the UAAP championship showdown between the Blue Eagles and the Green Archers feels like a throwback to the celebrated PBA clash between Crispa and Toyota.
"The only thing I can really compare [the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry] to in the Philippines is Crispa-Toyota, as far as rivalry where two teams really go at it," said Black.
"The atmosphere is electric. If you attend an Ateneo-La Salle game, you tend to look up. Coaches aren't supposed to do this, but every now and then we steal a moment, and just look around and say to ourselves that this is unbelievable. Half of the arena is green, the other half is blue and everybody is standing up."
And if talks and ticket sales were any measure, expect another record-breaking number of die-hard fans to troop to the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday when Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals series kicks off.
"It has become a social event already," said Pumaren. "It's a place where you want to be seen. Days before and after the game, it's the usual topic. If you didn't watch it, you feel like an outcast in the office or in school."
Black, who witnessed the Crispa-Toyota rivalry while playing as a PBA import in the early '80s, recalled the emotional on-court confrontations.
"The coliseum was half-Crispa, half-Toyota -- you really have two groups fighting one another," Black said in Friday's Scoop Forum at Kamayan Padre Faura.
"Back in those days, the personalities involved were very popular. There's (Toyota's) Sonny Jaworski, Mon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz on one side and (Crispa's) Abet Guidaben, Bernie Fabiosa and Atoy Co on the other. Those guys were really personalities. They were bigger than actors and actresses at that particular time. It was pretty intense."
For Black and Pumaren, however, it's the competitive nature of both schools that spawned the bitter basketball bouts between the Archers and the Eagles.
"It has always been the subject of debate which is the better school," said Pumaren. "Sports is another avenue for the schools to find out who's better, that's why it's generating so much attention."
"It's about the two schools more than anything else," added Black. "The student bodies, the alumni, one school thinking it's better than the other -- it has grown over the years. It also helped that over the years, La Salle has a very strong basketball program and Ateneo also has a good program. So it's only natural that we battle it out on the court also."
