It's a Sport too, you know

I have long since tried to champion the cause of having due recognition to non-basketball sports. It was my platform when I ran for my high school's Athletics Council and even believed that we were somehow successful about it. But of course, there was only so much I could have done about it.

I just finished reading the sports section of my school's paper and not shockingly, basketball pretty much dominated the section. While summer usual is the time wherein every varsity team is gearing up for the upcoming season, I cannot help but wonder why the attention is primarily focused on basketball. It is the time old, million dollar question , I know but the more I think about, the more it drives me crazy. Same thing when I don't think about as well. Might as well rant for a while.

When I returned to swimming, I swore that I would not let the the lack of attention get to me like it used to. I still haven't but when I look at my team and remember all that we have been through, I feel downright depressed--betrayed even--that little recognition is given to us. The swim team has been through a lot. From perennial cellar-dwellers to a Cinderella story 2nd place finish, ours' was a story for the ages. At least, that is what I would like to believe. However, amidst all the struggles we've been through and the storms we've weathered (metaphorically and literally, I might add) all got was a thank you and we-expect-the-same-outcome-next year treatment. Classy, huh?

I'm not saying that everyone should stop paying attention to basketball and forget all about it completely. Of course not. Basketball will always be the most attention-getting sport in our country, at the very least. Hey, I'm a really big fan of it. In fact, my greatest sports hero is a basketball player (Though he was a swimmer when he was growing up). What I am saying, however, is that it doesn't always have to be basketball dominating the articles of the school paper. Is a little equality too much to ask? That is enough attention any non-basketball team would surely appreciate.

It's my last year to represent my school this year. Though I do not expect any changes regarding this situation, I am hopeful that those younger than me will be spared of what myself and the rest of the non-basketball athletes are experiencing right now. It is just not fair to them.

Take your mark...

New year, New Team, New Faces

With six seniors graduating from the swim team, the odds of winning the first ever UAAP Men's Swimming Championship is clearly not in our favor. As the six graduates are comprised of our three top guns and three solid point contributors, I cannot help but feel a bit helpless at the predicament. Clearly, the golden area of Ateneo Men's Swimming has come to an end.

But that of course, goes without saying. We knew we had the best chance of doing something spectacular this year and we made the most of it. As our team captain Chico Gueco said, "Second place never felt so sweet." Truly, it was. Yet, I do not know if I can share the same sentiment after we conclude this year's UAAP campaign. I just do not and cannot see it. Not yet, anyway.

Truth be told, I am really scared this year. Gone is the confidence I had going into last year about my team and myself since the core--therefore the strength--of the team was still intact. Last year, we were built around a seasoned and strong unit of veterans. Now, the team is founded on the sophomore and freshmen stars. A new dawn has certainly come.

Maybe I am just being over anxious. After all, we are not the only team to have lost our stars after this year. As much as I can say, everyone is on equal footing. But that is still not good enough for me. I am sure that our opponents are already gathering their strength and preparing for the coming season. Why are we not doing the same thing? What is up with us?

I plan on doing something about this because I for one will not go into something half-assed, especially when I am representing myself and my school. I have got to try to do something about it.

Take your mark!

Himala

Kasalanan bang humingi ako sa langit ng isang himala...

I have always wondered when I would witness a miracle of epic proportions. Of course, I have seen sporting miracles like the come from behind win of the LA Lakers over the Sacramento Kings care of a Kobe Bryant 3-point buzzer beater. And who could ever forget Michael Phelps' 0.01 win in the 100 butterfly during the Beijing Olympics.? It seems as if that there is an abundance of miracles in the sporting world but how about life? I have always wanted to witness one. Witness, I might stress the word and not experience; to witness one would be as wondrous as experiencing one...

Take your mark

An Epiphany

As I have mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I am already the longest member of the Ateneo Swim Team, having joined way back when I was in the fourth grade. My ten-year membership consists of the first 8 being consecutive membership years; I took a seemingly permanent hiatus from the sport during my college freshman year and returned the year after. Scandal and my behavior aside, my year off really allowed me to put things in perspective.

Had it not been for that, I would not have experienced such joys freshman year has to offer. I got to know my blockmates well. I was able to focus on my academics and I even served in the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral. Though I had a difficult time adjusting to a schedule which did not include dry-land or swim training, the endeavors I pursued truly reinforced one thing which I have denied for so long--that I was really a born, bred, water-fed swimmer and athlete among other things. But like I said, I enjoyed my year off because it gave me time to think things through.

What I am really thankful for was the fact that I was able to enjoy my English and Literature block. R-31 (our section) was truly an experience which I will never forget. I cannot put in to words how much the R-31 experience meant to me. It was an adventure, to say the least. Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be the happiest days in my week simply because I would get to experience R-31 for two straight hours. Every moment of it was truly priceless...

Take your mark!

She Grew on Me

Ever had that moment when someone suddenly starts looking so attractive? You've known her for quite some time and have not really minded her so much until one morning she's all that you think about. Well, that is a bit extreme but when you see her, you cannot help but be struck by how lovely she is. Then you start asking yourself why you haven't noticed it before. Was it her new hairdo? Have her eyes always been that alluring? Has her smile always been that radiant? The questions you ask yourself just keep going on and on.

Though we have not been formally introduced, I have "known" this girl since I was a high school senior. I would always hear her name every time one of my classmates would start talking about his love life. Just an aside, it just so happened that that classmate of mine talked about her immensely during the build up toward our graduation ball. I could only assume why. Anyway, I first met her when we were classmates in Science 10 during the first semester of my sophomore year. To be honest, she didn't strike me as attractive mainly because she wasn't my type. But she is pretty and I could see why my high school classmate was head-over-heels in love with her. Yet, she really didn't tickle my fancy.

We have been classmates a few more times after Sci 10 but it is only now that I actually found her attractive. She still isn't my type but in spite of that, I always find it difficult to not look at her and admire her beauty in all of our three common classes. She really did grow on me, you know.

But of course, I will not do anything about it. Last time I looked, she is sort of committed to someone and I have no desire of pursuing a relationship with anyone as of the moment.

But still, she is just so lovely...

Take your mark!

Oh How the Years Go by

All through the changes the soul never dies. We fight. We laugh. We cry. As the years go by...

2010 will mark my 11th year as a member of the Ateneo Swim team, making me the longest and oldest member of the team. Every time I think about it, I am always shocked by how fast every thing transpired. Using the cliche of all cliches, it feels as if it was only yesterday that I got accepted in the varsity as a 9 year old kid in the fourth grade. I remembered that day vividly. In a pool of about 30 aspirants, I was the only who got accepted in my batch thanks in part to one of the seventh graders who knew me due to our affiliation with our subdivision's swim team. Okay, so I wasn't actually a snotty-nosed green-horn since I already had a lot of experience--competition, training and all that--but it was rather intimidating since I was the youngest in the team. Adding that to the fact that I didn't have a batchmate during that time really gave me extreme bouts of inferiority complex and loneliness. As lonely as I was, I was eventually welcomed by my older teammates and some of them eventually became very good friends. Yeah, it's really tough being the only new kid on the block but when you have the sort of teammates I did, it wasn't at all bad.

Well, that is actually the whole point of this blog. I have this sort of curse growing up that I never had a batchmate or someone with the same age in any of the teams I represented. Well, that is not exactly true since I did have teammates who are also my batchmates but none of them lasted as long as I had. It really saddens me every time I think about it but what can I do? They made their own decisions and I made mine. What could I do if my decision and theirs did not reconcile.

It gives me comfort that unlike in high school, I will not be the only one leaving the team after graduation. That means a lot to me.

However, I am still the only one graduating who is at this certain level in swimming. But that is another tale.

Take your mark!

I won't say I'm in Love

For some stupid reason, I've been listening to this song more often than I used to. On an estimate, I would say that I listen to this song 5-10 times a day. Weird isn't it? I am not talking about my taste in genre of course. I have an eclectic taste, in my defense. I am talking about why I am so stuck to this song. And what is more, I actually do not get sick of it. Hmmm..Why is that?

Maybe because I really won't say that I am in love. Truth be told, I honestly do not know if I am in love with someone. Sure, I have a lot of crushes but there was around 2 or 3 I actually came close to courting. And speaking of those 2 or 3, I am ashamed to admit that I withdrew my pursuit just when "the water was actually boiling" if you know what I mean. I have always tried to convince myself that the reason why I "disengaged" was because I am already in love with someone. No . Change that. That I was still in love with someone...

And there it is, actually. I think I have answered my own questions by simply prattling on and on. It won't give my solace, this sudden revelation because it only reinforces one thing. I am still stuck on her...

So as the last line of the song goes, "At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love..." Well, for my case, not even...