INQUIRER Sports

THE UE-ATENEO UAAP championship series is going to be a lightning bolt that will slash quickly and fade just as swiftly into the annals of the league.

The series will be frenetic with passions heating up on the court, as well as in the galleries.

Expect a high-octane series, what with both teams on winning streaks. Game One will be the most explosive with both squads going with the strengths that brought them to the finals. Adjustments will come later.

The team that plays the better defense should win the title. Defense brings you back to earth in the heat of the championship series. It will always be there even when the offense goes astray.

Ateneo will mark Paul Lee and it will be up to the red-hot guard how he will disassemble the Eagle defense by passing off at the right time.

Check out how he will try to find Val Acuña in the wings or dish off to Pari Llagas or Elmer Espiritu at the post.

UE will have to stop Ateneo?s ability to find the corner shooters that seem to wiggle open when Ryan Buenafe or Eric Salamat takes over the point guard chores.

If you?re UE, you have to keep your eyes peeled for Jai Reyes and pocket rocket Emman Monfort, the usual suspects who can hit treys in those corners.

Check how the key players are marked in the series. This will determine whether Ateneo defends its crown, or UE finally ends one of the longest title droughts in its history. Watch very closely because it will happen in a flash.

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The UAAP has delivered its usual share of thrills for the communities of its schools this season. Even hoop fans not associated in any way to the schools have found the games engaging, and it?s not because there?s no PBA or NBA as alternatives.

The games have been well fought, period.

It?s sad, nevertheless, that its current season has to be footnoted by the Mark Barroca story.

Well, what is a college season without its share of stories happening off the playing court.

We may never really find out the real score but we remain hopeful that the talented young man will come out of this bit of a mess a better player for the national squad or whatever team that signs him in the commercial leagues.

It was quite a sacrifice for Far Eastern to take Barroca out of its roster at a critical time of the tournament.

Whatever its reasons, the school decided in what it believed to be in the best interest of the team. This hurt FEU in its two losses in the Final Four to UE, but it was a decision it stood by to the very end.

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Schools, and perhaps churches, are just two of the few remaining bastions of value formations in this country. And it is never easy to read stories about alleged game fixing or messing up with player eligibility.

You cringe just a little, regardless of which school is involved, and wonder why this happens to school leagues.

Schools only have the strengths of their traditions and educational systems to shield them from forces that want to turn their leagues inside out.

That?s why the UAAP and the NCAA and their member schools have been around for so long. Sports is important in the context of education. But it should never be given priority over values.