Underdogs no more

Before the Sy family of SM, No. 1 in the Forbes list of 40 richest Filipinos, purchased the National University and Henry’s son Hans took an active interest in the academe’s sporting activities, the Bulldogs were the UAAP’s whipping boys.

In the very rare occasion that the Bulldogs won, there would be great rejoicing, much jubilation, highlighted by a massive feast of pancit canton, ordered from a favorite carinderia near the players’ quarters which, incidentally, offered absolutely no amenities.

The gym where the Bulldogs practiced was rundown and undersized, both in width and in length. NU historians say it used to be the barracks of World War II soldiers. Or maybe they were joking.

Although the late NU matriarch Leticia “Mommy” Paguia was well-known and well-liked in the basketball community, the athletes did not have lofty objectives nor great expectations, as far as sports competitions were concerned.

NU participated in various sporting activities, but did not have the resources to seriously compete.

“Our rebuilding started last year soon after the Sys took over,” said basketball coach Junel Baculi, now in his second year as athletic director of the university.

“The transformation can now be felt. Things are looking up and moving up for the university’s sports department. For one, our baseball team reached the finals, bowing only to Adamson University. Another first is that our volleyball team had been invited to participate in the Shakey’s V-League,” Junel said.

Yesterday, the NU Bullpups made history by winning their first four games in the UAAP. The Bulldogs are not doing too bad either, winning two of their first four assignments (over La Salle and UE).

“Management is very happy. This is their ROI. They’ve constructed a state-of-the-art gym with standard dimensions, a comfortable players quarters with air-conditioning (At first the players could not adjust to the cold, most of them got sick) and we dine in the best restaurants when we win.”

Junel said the carinderia owner from whom the players order their pancit canton has been employed by the academe as cook.

“We will continue to rebuild. We have two years to prepare for our 2012 hosting of the UAAP. Hans’ vision is to have a championship by year 2012. It’s about time.”

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All that fuss over the acquisition of 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar last year, had been for naught.

I hate to say this, but practically everyone who has witnessed Japeth perform in international competitions agree that he has been overrated.

That is of course, being kind. People who are brutally frank call him a lemon outright.

“Have you ever read a good review about him? In the Jones Cup for example, he and fellow-Atenean Rabeh Al-Hussaini were benched practically most of the time. The two sit beside each other and don’t even pay attention to the game. All they do is horse around.

“What a waste, considering what has been spent on Japeth,” said an observer.