Basketball fever

I watched three basketball games at the Araneta Coliseum yesterday: China vs Syria, Philippines vs Lebanon, and Talk n Text Phone Pals vs Alaska Aces.

The first game was inconsequential. I felt no urge to cheer for either the Chinese or the Syrians. But the game did get a bit exciting towards the end when the Chinese rallied and even got the lead for awhile. Still they were no match for the Syrians who were bigger and taller -- if my memory serves me right, haha.

The second game was much more fun and exciting -- it brought out the cheerleader and Filipino in me. I'm a mere fan and no expert, but I think it was great team work that allowed the Philippine team to win over the Lebanese. They just had two guys (no. 11 and 15 -- their names are kinda hard to remember) who were doing most of the work. But for the Philippines, everyone was really working hard. Top scorers were Jimmy Alapag (most deserving MVP of the Invitational Tournament), Mark Caguioa (started slow but finished with a bang), and Kelly Williams (great offensive and defensive plays). Others quietly contributed points here and there while playing great defense. Okay, I will stop the commentary right here. Haha. It was a great game, that's all. :)

Even after those two previous games I was still keen on watching the third game, the 5th game of the PBA Championship series between the Talk n Text Phone Pals and the Alaska Aces. I'm more of a San Miguel fan so I wasn't really planning to cheer for either team. But since it's not fun to watch a game without taking sides, I decided to cheer for Alaska, out of loyalty to my mom. :P Unfortunately, we were seated on the Phone Pals' side so I had to keep my cheering to a bare minimum. I could have lived with that. What ruined it all for me was the rowdy crowd that just wouldn't stop!

I mean, there is rooting for your team, and then there is plain lack of courtesy and manners. My friends and I were stuck in the middle of a group of well, die-hard is the word I guess, die-hard Phone Pal fans. They were just quarrelling everyone: the referees, the players, the audience on the other side, and even each other. One lady (well, not quite) was screaming curses at the referee for, what was in her opinion, a bad call, with her young daughter right beside her. I was appalled to say the very least.

Oh I cannot begin to describe the behavior of the others in the box with us. It was just horrible. To think we had patron seats! I think the people in the upper boxes had more fun watching the game. We did not enjoy the game anymore, even though it was actually a quite exciting game -- high scoring and suspense-filled. It could have gone into overtime! But I'm not gna start on another commentary... hehe.

Anyway, I went home with a terrible headache. And the resolve to not expose myself to that kind of abuse ever again. I think I shall settle with watching games on TV and subject my siblings to my occasional screams and running commentary instead.